Do you have any hobbies outside of gaming?

If so, tell us about it!

I always find it interesting to hear what makes people tick, makes them excited. In this context I refer to a hobby in the original sense; something you like to do, look forward to doing and do at least somewhat frequently.

I like running half marathons, playing tennis, drawing, reading, listening to music, and watching movies. If I'm not playing games in my free time I'll usually be doing one of those to unwind.

Give us details! What do you draw typically? What type of books do you like reading most and do you have any favorites? Listening music in which way? Just at home? Outdoor with a music player? Concerts? Festivals?

I read, I also really love writing! I wrote an op-ed on medium a month or so ago and I enjoyed it. Also, make up! :D

@zevvion: Usually I just draw characters from games and I try to copy that game's art style. Occaisionally I'll do some original work if my friends need concept art for our D&D games.

I usually just stick to reading fantasy books, but I get a little educational every now and then and read some ancient history or some shakespeare. Currently reading The Witcher series and just started on Baptism of Fire. Favorite books is really tough, but if I had to pick just one I think I'd have to go with The Rage by Richard Lee Byers. That series was one I read a lot while I was younger.

Music I like listening to at home and at concerts/festivals. For the last two years I've been taking a short trip over to Chicago to go to Spring Awakening, a 3 day EDM festival. Have had the chance to see tons of artists there, but most recently I saw deadmau5, Zeds Dead, Chainsmokers, Borgeous, Tiesto, and a bunch of others. I go to rock concerts quite a bit too. Next up on my list is seeing Skillet play their new album, and I'll be meeting them with the vip pass so I'm super excited about that.

I listen to a lot of EDM, hard rock, metal, and I never really know what to call it but I usually just refer to it as alternative electronic: meaning stuff like Phantogram, Blue Sky Black Death, purity ring, etc. They usually have a lot of dark/heavy repetitive beats with some clean almost haunting vocals.

I read a lot. I also like to mess around with different programming languages. Also going to the gym three times a week, but I don't really count that, as I don't really enjoy it.

Fishing, camping, hunting(for food, not trophies), playing around with new Tech.

I enjoy drawing, I'm slowly working on a comic book. I also enjoy playing D&D every monday. I'm currently DMing the campaign while the regular DM is swamped with work for the holidays. And it's great creating a story and world and having other people explore and play within it. Especially when my world and style is wholly different from the normal DM. So they are constantly on their toes, as I like to mess with them. haha

I occasionally poison YouTube's servers with anime bullshit every once in a while. I would say that I also poison DeviantArt's servers as well, but, well... yeah.

...I'm an artist in case that wasn't very clear.

@mezza: I really dig Blue Sky Black Death and Phantogram. How did you like Phantogram's recent album? I might have to check out Purity Ring since you listed them with the other two, as I'm not familiar with them.

Anyways, for myself I'm into board games (and RPG's?), reading (sci-fi & fantasy), usually have one tv show that I get through here and there, craft beer, watching basketball, I listen to a lot of different music but my go-to genres are typically metal, trip hop and the occasional "indie" band, exercising and traveling.

I like watching anime, mostly relaxing slice of life shows, although I'm a big fan of magical girl shows as well. I followed thirteen airing shows this fall season and I'm planning to at least check out another nine this winter season.

I train at an MMA gym, I train in Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and strength and conditioning a couple of times a week right now but, I dont really have the time to be really competitive anymore. I've done Judo and boxed in the past too but I don't train in those anymore. I used to be into music a lot too, I played the bass guitar and the cello. I genuinely enjoy bad horror movies and mockbusters, me and my friends used to watch Fear net almost every week when it was still around.

Unlike you guys I'm not that into reading haha, last book I was read this book about pirates and pirate treasure but I never finished it, it wasn't bad.

I collect pogs, build Gunpla, and study ancient religions!

I like to watch TV/movies, read, and ride my bike during the warm months (I live in Illinois).

I like reading (fiction and science books), I used to write before my semester was full of papers, I watch as many movies as possible (most genres), I like to think (I know it sounds weird but I enjoy just thinking), and sometimes listen to music (rarer now because I'm not driving long distances till next semester).

Reading, going to the gym and playing/watching sports. I used to play pick-up basketball every week with a group of friends, though that's tailed off over the last few years. I'd also like to get back into yoga in the new year.

I also write for a living , and like any d-bag writer worth his or her salt, have a novel I'm currently working on. The manuscript is complete and myself and a partner have been editing and shopping the book to agents - no luck so far. The book as we're describing it is 'historical middle grade fantasy' about the American Civil War.

Outside of gaming or outside of video games? Because most of my hobbies are game related, be it board games or card games or role playing games or, my favorite, war gaming. Have a usa airborne company in 15mm scale that I use to play Flames of War. I have a Frostgrave war band led by an Enchanter wizard. I have an undead army that I'm currently working on, 28mm scale that I play Kings of War with. I have plans to buy some sci-fi models, some medieval, colonial and napoleonic models also.

Mostly trying to get better at writing music. Occasionally help out a friend with some graphics and stuff like that for his games.

As for more passive hobbies I listen to a whole lot of electronic music and old soviet or east german punk, watch all 80's to early 90's cyberpunk movies I come across and a lot of Star Trek.

I watch way too many movies. It's not really a hobby since I'm a film critic but still I'll watch a ton of movies in my free time too. Mostly foreign and artsy-fartsy stuff but I also enjoy the occasional Hollywood film.

I don't have time to do much more than that, but I've been trying to learn to play piano, just for fun.

@ianslamin: I really dig their new album. There are a couple songs that I skip more often than not, but it has a lot of songs that just get stuck in my head. Same Old Blues is probably my favorite, but You don't get me high anymore and Cruel World are up their too. Answer is nice and calm too which makes for good relaxing.

You should definitely check out purity ring. Fineshrines, belispeak, bodyache, flood on the floor, and stranger than earth are some good songs to check out their style.

I've taken up sewing pretty recently. Would love to be able to make my own clothes and cosplay outfits. It'll take a while before I'm able to make the sorts of things I'd like but I have to start somewhere.

@mezza: Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to check those out!

Ultimate frisbee, yoga, dabbling occasionally with SquareSpace and learning programming via LCTHW.

Edit: oh and movies. Lots of movies.

I dabble in photography. There was a point around when I was about to turn 30 where I realized that I wanted to remember certain things that happened in my 20s, but couldn't because my memory sucks and I never saved cell phone pictures.

I watch a lot of (mostly old and foreign) movies. Some series too.

I sometimes write. I'm finishing up a trashy 30,000 word porno. I don't know what I'll do after that.

Gardening on my little patio garden, which is just some herbs, a hot pepper plant, and a dwarf lime tree.

Also smoking meat on the same patio (and cooking in general I guess).

I've got way into BBQ the past couple of years. Get up in morning and put the meat on, do whatever yard work that needs done, check the meat, open a beer, check the meat, open more beers, invite some people over to sample the delicious wares that have been smoking all day, and then relax on the deck until the food's ready. It's kind of a perfect way to spend a summer day.

I like tech items, but being married has defiantly cut that back a lot. As in I pay more attention to what I'm spending money on. I used to buy the latest and greatest Nexus phone, but have since stopped.

I got into cycling about 3-4 years ago so usually once or twice a year I'll do long 100+ mile bike rides. It's really relaxing and i get to disconnect. I do a lot of programming as well in my own time (outside of work). I also enjoy brewing beer.

If I'm not playing video games or working, I enjoy weightlifting. I set a new max on my bench press, finally hitting 225 pounds, and it felt ecstatic. Other than that, though, I occasionally read and binge-watch anime.

Exactly! And if no one can make it, you get delicious leftovers for the week!

I love these kinds of topics! I game A LOT, which is something I thought I'd grow out of but as you get older and friends move away, get married, etc. I find I have more free time than expected. Plus gaming is great for playing with out of town friends and catching up. Unlike most people in my peer group, I don't really watch a ton of TV or movies/NetFlix.

Outside of those, I go hiking/backpacking every weekend if the weather permits. I also recently ordered a steel mace for exercise and find myself playing around with that for almost an hour every day - I used to go to the gym three times a week but would never consider it a "hobby". Now, I find myself looking forward to spending time drilling with the mace. A little strange I guess, but it's awesome!

Watch sports occasionally (mostly MMA), and my New Year's reso is to get into either Judo or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

My B.A. is in English and I also earned a Minor in Creative Writing, so I spent practically all of my college years reading and writing about literature / writing my own. The amount of reading I have done has gone way down in recent years (I used to have a job where I could mindlessly do my work, without talking or interacting with people, so it was fairly easy to spend a work day listening to 3 to 4 hours of an audio book), but reading is still a passion of mind. Nowadays I have trouble finding the time, but I still absolutely love reading. Writing stories was also one of my great passions, although I have writer's block ever since I graduated college (going on five years now).

I also love video editing. Nothing professional, mainly stuff for myself. This year, most of that effort has actually gone into Giant Bomb related content. I don't really have a favorite video (If I had to pick one, it would probably the Persona 4 related videos), but this is the last standalone video I uploaded:

I'm currently working on a couple of Giant Bomb projects that I would like to see the light of day at some point relatively soon. One I'm trying to get done before the new year for...reasons.

A few years ago I also got into collecting records. Right now I have about 100 to 120 records / sets. I kind of love everything about it: the art of the sleeves, the art of the records themselves for colored vinyls, the sound quality, and appreciating the full album (I get in the habit of listening to a lot of the same music over and over and over again). Browsing record stores, the "hunt" for that next great album, and the overall collecting aspect is fun too.

I play steel-string guitar and in the last couple of years or so I have become more serious about it. I try to put in a minimum of 4-5 hours a day, on weekends like 7 or so. Past couple of days I've been sick and not feeling up to playing much, though I really should have. Also just recently decided to start using three fingers (including thumb) to finger-pick instead of four, just because it sounded too muddled and using one less finger means I'm forced to variate more with the rhythm.

Fencing. I haven't been able to do it as much as I would like, though. The nearest club is quite some distance away and schedules practices at inconvenient times for my work schedule.

I've also taken up hockey in the last year or so, but ditto on the scheduling thing. I'm waiting for the ponds to freeze so I'm not tied to a rink schedule.

does LARPing count as gaming? If not, that. If so, uh...I dunno.

Reading and doing historical research. Started and finished A Scanner Darkly on the plane last night and really enjoyed it. I'm a historian by trade but doing research and sorting through all the primary sources is fun to me. It's like being a detective and when all the pieces fit together, it's really satisfying.

I have a pretty good vinyl collection. I play guitar and bass. I also collect obscure sports memorabilia.

I'm into long distance trail running. I've done a couple 50 mile events and I'm in training for the Zion 100 (my first attempt at a 100) in April. I live in the mountains outside of Denver-so it's a good spot for this hobby. Ultramarathons and city marathons have lead to some fantastic family trips to California, Hawaii, Utah, Nevada and other states. Running with earbuds goes really well with Bombcasts!

I got into running 5 years ago when I turned 35 and realized I had gained a lot of weight over the years. It's been a good solution and has added a lot to my life.

I'm a hobbyist writer in my free time, which is a second love (outside of games, the true first love) to kung-fu. Been practicing it for about 12 years now, don't intend on stopping. I go to a school run by a single dude, so it's a tight-knit community there.

Used to do some running, but that stopped due to not having any earbuds worth a fuck and it doing bad things to my joints. I keep meaning to learn some better art skills, but never got around to it; I can draw alright, but there's too much that's above my skill level.

My next hobby goal, however, is learning how to do some real video editing. I do Let's Plays, so I have the basics that I need down, but if I want to make some good, presentable stuff I'll need to actually edit.

Thanks for this post, it's really neat to see what fellow peers are into outside video games. I myself enjoying outdoors stuff, like camping/backpacking/canoeing/shoot'n.

Maybe not a lot of people favorite things to do...but shooting. I love going to the gun range.

@seauton: I went shooting once like 5-6 years ago. Did some clay target shooting and regular target shooting with a Glock if I remember right. I thought it was fun but man, I don't think I hit a single clay target. Definitely something that seems like it takes a lot of practice unless you have some natural talent for it.

Well my hobbies are playing squash, swimming, writing (i have written a few works), also riding my bmx, that's whenever I have the time.

Aside from video gaming, plus board gaming and a particular interest poker, which all fall under gaming I suppose, and the usual movies, music, tv and books that most everyone enjoys to some degree, I've gotten into rock climbing. I suck at it but it's rather fun, and happens to be one form of exercise that I actually enjoy which is a bonus. Mostly I've stuck to the indoor gym since outdoor climbing is much harder and as I said I am not very good. Also I only have one friend who I go with and he seems to get hurt not infrequently, partly because he's much better and thus trying much harder things which put a lot of strain on a human body, a lot so that means there are long stretches where I just won't go.

Once I tried rock climbing it certainly made notice much more how in lots of video games, like Uncharted or Last Guardian to name a couple that I've played this past year, characters spend large periods of time jumping/dangling/clambering up and on cliffs, ledges, or whatnot and even often doing that stuff with just one hand! To which I say "fuck you game that shit's impossible so stop rubbing it in my face!"

The friend I climb with is actually a freak of nature who could do lots of that stuff. His arm was hurt a couple months ago and while he was recovering he was "taking it easy" by climbing stuff with one arm that I can't climb with two.

I'm a big karaoke fanatic. Given that I tend to be a wallflower in group settings, it's funny that I have any interest at all in getting on a stage and putting on a performance, but as a music fan who has always had that daydream of fronting a band, it's a perfect and more realistic substitute. I just wish I could one day flip though a karaoke songbook that isn't 40 pages of Insert Country Star Here and the same one or two tired-ass hits for everybody else. (exaggerating, but not by much)

My other major hobby is horror/generally bizarre things. Movies, books, collectibles, art, just everything. Remember that show "Oddities" with the antique shop that specializes in weird shit? Give me way too much money, and my place would look suspiciously like that shop, except with a stronger focus on 80s and 90s horror icons.

A more minor hobby of mine is writing song parodies and comedic rap lyrics. Started as a creativity-boosting exercise, but I found that I had a knack for it (not saying I'm good, just that I can bang out a passable parody pretty quickly) and that I greatly enjoy doing it.

I dusted of my old mixdeck and been playing with that. I just recently took a bartending g class and boy oh boy, who knew people could be so picky with their martinis.

I perform stand-up comedy, improv, and sketch comedy. Idk if these count as hobbies as I'm pursuing them to make a career out of. I've been paid to do stand up before, but not as many times as some peers of mine. I have a real love/hate relationship with it, but it's what I spend most of my time on outside of work.

Some more general hobbies are watching movies, listening to music, playing drums-I think I'm going to take guitar lessons next year since I had to get rid of my drums a while back.

I'm big into singing and music in general. I sing with a smaller singing group in my town and sing with a choir that performs with the symphony orchestra here. I sang a ton in college, and I've lucky had the time to keep it one of my favorite hobbies.

I'm also into kit drumming, and have a Roland electric set in my garage. I don't play with a band, but I have played for about 12 years and used to be very into drumming in rock band.