Nerd culture has never been more popular, with gay gamers waving their geek flag proudly
GOING COMMANDO | Plano-based game firm Gearbox actively seeks to create a diverse universe of characters, although commando Axton’s sexual identity began as a programming bug that inspired designers to make him bisexual. (Artwork courtesy Gearbox Software)
RICH LOPEZ | Contributing Writer and
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Executive Editor
Cynics may scoff, but the power of magic is real. It compels folks to congregate with its mystical appeal. And on this Friday, they are congregating at Common Ground Games on Inwood.
In an unassuming strip shopping center, Jamison Sacks has created the one store in Dallas proper for tabletop gamers and Magic the Gathering players to come and play — and in doing so, he’s created a community.
The shop was recently awarded a Best of Big D award for “Best Place to Geek Out” alongside its neighbor, gay-owned Zeus Comics and Collectibles. For a shop with just a year under its belt, such recognition for Sacks is vindicating.
“It was a great surprise,” Sacks says. “That was really cool. The growth has been phenomenal and far outpaced what we expected. It’s been really nice to see Dallas welcome us with such open arms.”
Friday Night Magic at Common Ground Games (CGG) is both a friendly but intense game night and the proving ground for budding community. With its proximity to Zeus, this enclave of fantasy culture has turn the gay nerd into the gaymer nerd. And LGBT gamers welcome CGG as a haven.
“Regardless of who you are, this is a safe place,” says D.R. Hanson, Sacks’ partner in life and business. “It’s in the name itself and people can come in, learn about games, have fun and never feel insecure.”
CGG adds to the queer landscape of social outlets as an alternative to bars or restaurants. Regular player Brian Nesbitt credits Sacks with cultivating an easy atmosphere — one that isn’t always found at other shops.
MAGIC FRIDAYS | Jamison Sacks hosts a Magic the Gathering game night every Friday at Common Grounds Games. (Arnold Wayne Jones/Dallas Voice)
“I’ve played at other stores where the regulars were, at best, barely tolerant [of newcomers] and [could be] downright hostile, at worst,” Nesbitt says. “At one shop, a player kept using the word ‘fag,’ which ended up being an uncomfortable situation. A friend recommended I check out CGG and everyone there has been awesome.”
CGG has a straightforward comfort that would appeal to even the non-tabletop gamer. Popular games range from the strategic Settlers of Catan to party game Cards Against Humanity, the comic book world of Heroclix and of course, Magic the Gathering (MTG). But proof of the shop’s impact can be seen on Friday nights and at other weekly events that provide a place for a younger crowd that’s missing in Oak Lawn. Sacks has even built a relationship with the Resource Center’s young men’s group Fuse to cultivate events such as Fuse Gamer Night.
“There’s no real place for underage people to hang anymore,” Hanson says. “Common Ground has given them a safe place to be.”
Sacks’ reason for opening CGG was a deeply personal one.
“I didn’t grow up with normal social interaction,” he confides. “We know other people think we’re nerdy. When I was 20, I wish there was a place like this where I could hang with people with similar interests, and the community has been justifying the entire endeavor which is quite humbling.”
As a 20-something, Sacks used to manage a comic book and game store before working for Richard Neal at Zeus. As the 40-checkbox was nearing, he had an epiphany.
“I couldn’t work for someone else and needed to do it for myself. I realized the only time I enjoyed getting up and going to work was when I went to the game and comic stores,” he says. “When Zeus moved in 2012, there were empty spaces, and on Free Comic Book Day [May 4, 2013], we opened our doors.”
Hanson added that Sacks’ timing was perfect and as mainstream culture is getting more inundated with comic book movies and supernatural books, that one thing is for certain: “Geeks are finally getting the limelight.”
And gay gamers — those who enjoy card- and board-based games, as well as those who like online, video and multi-player platforms — are jumping on for the ride, like Steven Diorio. As an organizer for the Facebook and Meetup group Dallas Gay geeks, it’s all about welcoming “techies, gaymers, otaku, nerds, dorks, geeks and anyone in between” for social events of a “geeky persuasion,” as Diorio puts it.
“Dallas Gay Geeks was started in 2011 by a friend. After moving from New York to Dallas, I was fortunate enough to attend the first meeting and I felt like
I had a new home,” Diorio says. He led the group’s 2012 expansion to focus not just on tech and science interests but “the geeky arts.”
Like Sacks and Hanson, Diorio wanted to create a sanctuary with the group while expanding his and fellow nerds’ circles of friends.
“My goal was to craft a forum [for those] who share the same passions,” Diorio says. “By providing a safe place for like-minded individuals, people have a way to meet other gamers or geeks. We’ll have video game nights playing Diablo 3, League of Legends and Final Fantasy or board games like Resistance, Settlers of Catan and Cards Against Humanity.”
Boasting 188 members on Meetup and 62 Facebook members, the group will meet on Aug. 16 for Geeky Game Board Day at Madness Games and Comics in Plano and recently attended a Lord of the Rings parody at Pocket Sandwich Theatre.
Video games were a welcome distraction for Diorio. He bonded with friends in high school over Street Fighter II and unwound after a 50-plus hour work week with multiplayer games. In July, Diorio discovered the profound connection between queer identity and video games at GaymerX in San Francisco.
“It was a very fulfilling experience for me,” he says. “Several of the Dallas Gay Geeks attend the conference. It was unbelievable to be part of a crowd that all identified with the same pastimes. I even found people to talk with about my collection of rare old school games. The conference even had a video game-themed drag show that took my breath away.”
One of the panelists at GaymerX last month was Graeme Timmins, an openly gay level designer for Gearbox Software, a 15-year-old Plano-based game design firm. In one of Gearbox’s signature titles, Borderlands 2 (released in September 2012), two characters are LGBT: The commando Axton and the old-school trapper Sir Hammerlock.
“Gearbox wants to incorporate diversity into our games — not just gay issues, but women and minorities, as well,” Timmins explains of the company’s foray into gay characters. “Character artists and writers really respond to building characters that connect to people, and reach an audience with a strong relation to them.”
Anthony Burch, a writer with the company, has been an exponent of inclusiveness in the games.
“When he came onto Borderland 2, he wanted to open ourselves up to all these other perspectives and a greater reach,” Timmins explains. Sometimes, happening onto diversity can be as much about circumstance as design.
“Axton became bisexual almost through a bug in our game,” Timmins says. “When you take enough damage in that game you don’t die, you go to [a level where others can nurse your character back to health]. The program didn’t understand who was helping him out, so Axton would say things like, ‘Thanks, hot stuff’ to men and women. We thought, hey, that’s not a big deal. Let’s not make it a bug; let’s make it part of the character.”
What accounts, though, for the rise in gaming — not just mainstream, but with the gay community as well? Timmins has a theory.
“LGBT people love to be part of communities, and games help develop those communities,” he opines. “They come together and identify in that way.”
That theme is echoed by Diorio, who found refuge in video games both alone and with friends was far more than a pastime. “As a member of the LGBT community, I wouldn’t be who I am today without my years playing video games. It will always drive my free time and the company I choose,” he says.
The market continues to expand. The new Dungeons and Dragons, which launched in July, features a range of gender identities and sexual orientations among its characters. This sparked an idea in Sacks and Hanson.
“We’d love to be a store that fosters and facilitates creators gay or straight who might need a place to play,” Sacks says. Hanson adds that CGG endeavors to support both the LGBT and gaming communities.
“I love they are trying to build up that community,” CGG patron Curtis Glenn says. “I find that everyone I have met there is very open-minded customers and employees alike.”
CGG contribute to the community through their LifeWalk team CGG Cares, they’ve sponsored Gaybingo and have their relationship with Fuse but first they are a business — one that’s created a comfortable space for them and their clientele which range from students to doctors, ministers to monks (yes, really), men and women of all ages and, especially, orientations.
“Yes, the store is gay owned but it’s not the end-all to what Common Ground is,” he says. “Anyone can be who they are here. But we’re glad to be a part of the community and not just a store. When I worked at Zeus, I saw how Richard was always visible in the community, and we’re trying to be that too.”
Game over? Hardly.
Find Dallas Gay Geeks on Facebook and visit Common Ground Games at BoardGamesDallas.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 8, 2014.