Hello,
Chaz Marler from Pair Of Dice Paradise with the next installment in my Meeples For Sheepish Peoples series, where I talk about the social activity of board games in the lives of people who aren’t socially outgoing.

Actually, a quick note before we plunge too far ahead. The responses I received to our first segment on this topic were great, and it included some thoughtful suggestions, which I should address. So, I apologize for this unexpected short detour before we delve further.

First off, I previously talked about introversion as a cause of the “sheepishness” described in this series title, but it’s important to clarify that this series is actually going to be addressing two related, but separate, topics as they relate to gaming: introversion and also social anxiety. It’s important to note that one does not equal the other. While introversion means that a person finds their strength from within, as opposed to from interaction with others, social anxiety can prevent a person from interacting with others in the first place. The two are not mutually exclusive, and one does not necessarily mean the presence of the other. This series will touch on how both can negatively, and positively, affect a person’s gaming experiences.

Speaking of experiences, everything I’m going to talk about is simply based on my own experiences. I’m certainly no expert on the subject, and I’m not claiming to be a trained professional, so don’t interpret any of this as mental health advice.

Additionally, being an introvert doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to be alone. Instead, an introvert may become very outgoing in a small group of people that they’re familiar with, but very reserved in a crowd of strangers. The larger the group, the longer it may take them to “warm up”.

Speaking of “warm up”, now that we’ve set a base line and we’re warmed up, next time we’ll get into the meat of the conversation, starting with ways to make it easier to participate in a gaming gathering that’s larger than your comfort zone.