Is your home and Doom life separated?

I've always had a tendency to draw clear lines between what would be considered my day to day life and my internet life. I give to my online interactions things of myself that I wouldn't often give to someone on a more personal level, and vice versa. Not many people I know have any idea that I am involved with this old game and community and on the other hand, I don't very much express myself online in the same manner I would in a face to face interaction. 

For me personally, it's more to preserve something that's more 'mine'. A little nook of existence that I can fully engage myself without the burden of having to explain it and make it relatable to people that you know can not fully appreciate the game to the extent that I do.

Is that common behavior amongst the Doom community?

They are very much not separate for me. I give absolutely no restraint when I tell people Doom is my favorite game and series and the fact I'm working on a standalone game with GZDoom means I'm showing it off to my wife and friends constantly even when they couldn't give less of a shit.

Would rather be able to say what I want on the 'net, in any other way I am like Ed. I am however curious why people chose to use their real name on the internet, because for me that is unthinkable. I've come to realize over the years there's been a shift in this point of view and I'm a little old-fashioned.

Most people who know me beyond mere acquaintance are aware that I've made maps for Doom, so I guess I don't keep it a secret. However, as I've collaborated with my youngest brother on a small map set and even dragged him into a speed mapping session, plus made him my guinea pig for the majority of maps I've ever made, it's definitely leaked into my home.

Having used my Doom programming experience as an important point when searching for a new job, my answer has to be 'no'.

Pretty much. Hobbies are a very personal thing for me. Usually I won't talk about them unless someone asks first. And yes, I guess I do take some pride in them being "my own".

In my teenage years, I found it difficult to talk about things I was interested in in an appropriate setting. My parents for example, get really queasy around blood and violence and never watch horror or action movies. Nevertheless, I was really fascinated by that kind of stuff. I remember once when I was 5 yrs old how upset my mom got with me when she asked me what my favorite color was. I told her "RED because it's the color of BLOOD!"

So when I found the internet and connected with other people who also like other violent video games I was able to find that I wasn't a horrible person for liking these things. So early in my internet life, I often used it as a means of testing the waters. Do people get upset with me when I talk about this? How about that? etc. etc. 

The internet has been a pretty useful retreat from the normalcy of ordinary life, so I could kinda get my confirmation that my weirdness was ok. I'm finding recently however, that it's become easier to reveal my weirdness in public than it is on the internet. Almost every time I meet a new person and reveal a kinda unique opinion I have, they are far more likely to be receptive to it and respect my honesty than it has been for me to do the same on the internet. It feels like I can't seem to post anything anymore no matter how softly I go about it without pinching the nerves of other Doom fans. It's almost like real life has become a retreat from the internet for me.

Nobody ever asks except my parents and I don't really have friends to talk about hobbies with so yea, keeping them separate is pretty easy.

When it comes to me hanging out with friends, I casually talk about DOOM. But at home, I should say im more into studying and shit. Uh, you see, 10th grade issues.

I wonder if a lot of people don't so much deliberately keep it separate, as instead just not have anyone in the real world who particularly cares about Doom editing.

I certainly don't act any differently on here than in real life, and would happily talk to anyone about all of this in real life if they asked.

I only tell people about it if they ask, and then I keep it as short as possible, unless they keep asking. Usually it goes something like "I'm into Doom... not the new one, but the old one from the 90s." And then if they inquire further I tell them that I make maps and that there's actually a very active modding scene, etc. That's usually the end of it.

I recently gave my parents a tour through some of my maps when they visited, because they were interested to see what I've spent all my free time on. :P Not that I literally spend all my free time on it, but it's often the only interesting thing to mention when we're talking about what we've done lately, since the rest is just working and watching Twitch and being lazy.

It kinda is seperated in my case. Virtually everyone I know has no idea what this game is, and the few people who have a clue usually want nothing in terms of details. On the brightside, Doom is not a dirty secret of mine... Why bright side, actually...???

I merge the two because I enjoy Doom and I believe it is still a great game to play whenever you get a chance.

Well, my younger brother is interested what I'm doing on builder and often asks me if I'm going to do videos of my works or post them somewhere. Well, on the internet I like to share my screenshots and such, nothing more. People around me aren't very interested in my hobbies(besides my brother), so I mostly keep my Doom stuff with me, but I don't deny that I like it. It's kinda mixed, but not that much. 

I don't think anyone I know IRL knows about my 42PercentHealth persona. Also, I don't think anyone who knows 42PercentHealth knows who I am IRL.

EDIT: Actually, just remembered there's one person who I met as 42PH who now knows my full name. :-P

My home life and Doom life is separated by a 2-sided line marked impassable with a midtexture on the right side only.

They aren't really all that separated for me, at least not on purpose.  When they are separated, it's simply because the person in question either doesn't know what Doom is, or has no interest in it.  But most people still know that I enjoy it and make maps for it.

Honestly, I can't think of a reason to keep the Doom (and Quake) mapper side of me hidden.  They're part of who I am.

2 hours ago, Benjogami said:

I recently gave my parents a tour through some of my maps when they visited, because they were interested to see what I've spent all my free time on.

Mom & dad, this is toilet of the gods. Toilet of the gods, this is my Mom and Dad. ;-)

I've got one friend who's into Doom like me and >sort of< understands the mapping side of it. I managed to get a mod I made onto the school computers where I replaced the chainsaw in Doom II with a bagpipes weapon just so I could show people, so most of my friends pretty much know me as 'That guy who mods some old 90's shooter'.

I personally work in the Dietary department at the hospital here in town, and at home is where I do all of my DOOM based programming.

My friends and family know I work on EDGE, my game that I have on-top of the engine (Hypertension), and the numerous projects (including SLaVE) that are built with the engine. Needless to say they think that DOOM is what made me a computer nerd in the first place :-D

EDGE is pretty much my life outside of work and personal...provided my daughter let's me code and manage half the time ;-)

I really should be doing something in IT or computers cause I'm a wizard with that stuff, but ADHD makes it nearly impossible to go to school or take classes, but its whatever. I'm content...I suppose... :/

well, as i have the doomguy & cyberdemon miniatures on my pc desk, and this big, framed doom poster on my wall right behind it, i can't exactly hide my interest in gaming. however, that's only at home. my friends know that i play old shooters, it's just a hobby and i don't make a big deal out of it.

Pretty much. My parents know I like Doom, my boyfriend knows I run a YouTube channel, but that's about the extent of it. 

In the instances where I have let people into that aspect of my life, I've found myself having to explain the same thing: "Well why don't you build on more modern games?". Having to defend not perusing a career in professional game development to a lot of people is like explaining why you decided to throw away a million dollar lottery ticket to work a 9-5 .  They somehow think a single person can drum up a AAA title in their bedroom on the weekend and then drive into the sunset in their gold plated Lamborghini.

1 hour ago, Ed said:

In the instances where I have let people into that aspect of my life, I've found myself having to explain the same thing: "Well why don't you build on more modern games?". Having to defend not perusing a career in professional game development to a lot of people is like explaining why you decided to throw away a million dollar lottery ticket to work a 9-5 .  They somehow think a single person can drum up a AAA title in their bedroom on the weekend and then drive into the sunset in their gold plated Lamborghini.

I get that all the time...my team is always like " what-if"...but EDGE (and DOOM) is so hard-wired into our brains that its VERY hard for me to readjust. Quake2 was about the extent of my engine/game development, but I ended up reverting back to DOOM.

Old habits die hard, right? ;)

Well, all my friends know about my love for Doom and I have told them that I am a member here, but I wasn't very specific. I mean, not that they would care to search anyways...

So, I guess Doom for me is "a secret place I like to go" and have fun. 

ANYONE GOT THE SONG???

 *everyone silent as the grave*

OK, FINE!!!...

Well, I play Doom in my tiny apt, so the two aren't really separated I guess.

Yes, I just get made fun of for it so I gave up trying to get my friends into it; used to get called autistic for focusing on the same game for years. It's a dirty Doomy "secret".

My Doom life is something I don't discuss with most of my friends or family, my girlfriend knows I'm into Doom editing, asking me can you make money out of this, I said no its only for fun. My mother used to look over my shoulder when I was mapping, trying to explain her what I was doing was a mission impossible. Played Doom with two of my cousins, one of them even introduced me to the game back when it was released, sadly he died in a traffic accident. Guess my memory of him lives on while playing the game. Other than that I'm not very vocal about my interest in the game to others, but that doesn't mean I'm all secretive about it. I don't see the point talking to someone about Doom if the person doesn't even know the game in the first place.

On 11/24/2017 at 10:14 AM, ShotgunDemolition said:

ANYONE GOT THE SONG???

From Megadeth's "pop" album that everyone hates because it's not thrash but I like because I'm a consumer whore for strong melodies.

But yeah @Dutch Doomer get out of my head. The only person who knows I have this hobby is my girlfriend, and the memory of lost loved ones is a primary motivating factor in my mapping, where I usually begin with a "monument" or some sort of distinctive architectural feature that in my head is dedicated to them. It's a way of keeping them alive, something I can point to and say "if not for them, this wouldn't exist".

12 minutes ago, Vorpal said:

From Megadeth's "pop" album that everyone hates because it's not thrash but I like because I'm a consumer whore for strong melodies.

YESSSSSSS!!! SOMEONE GETS IT!!! That album had quite a few good songs in it and it is one of my favourites from Megadeth.

Also:

55 minutes ago, Dutch Doomer said:

asking me can you make money out of this, I said no its only for fun

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my father. A bit annoying, but in a way it feels great, knowing that someone is amazed by your own creations.