40K on the BBC

So, as many of us know, 40K got a spot on the BBC News website for its 25th Anniversary.

This kind of thing has happened before, and we (the hobby "we", not the royal We) rarely do well out of it. The dual negative natures of the hobby's obsessive and geeky overtones are amped up to 11, while (to trot out the old trope) football fans are allowed to spend hundreds of pounds every year on match tickets, kits, and to spend hours and hours watching games with various degrees of obsession, and to play fantasy football, which is (to trot out a second trope) "just D&D for jocks".

I've never reeeeeeaaaaaally agreed with the traditional hobby defences mentioned above, mostly because they feel so very, very defensive and the hobby isn't something I really get ashamed about – not since I turned 24 or so. But I can understand the usual reactions. It's annoying and false that we're always painted up like clownish, unpalatable cunts – except, of course, the many among our diverse and multinational breed who are indeed already clownish, unpalatable cunts. But they exist in every community, culture, subculture and fandom. So… whatever.

Anyway, this time, the BBC treated us pretty nicely, and a lot of that comes down to who they interviewed, and how he handled it.

Here's the video link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17344366. Definitely worth watching.

And here's the main article (also with the video) on the main site (complete with slightly inflammatory, but adorable title): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17274186.

Andrew Ruddick – the guy being interviewed and speaking for the hobby – brought us across in a really nice and realistic light, essentially an avatar for most of the people I know in the hobby: Just guys and girls who happen to like Warhammer. I wanted to track him down just to say thanks for his presentation of 40K's real face, which required some incredible detective skills that would've made Sherlock Holmes shit his jeans in awe.

As soon as I did that, I found his Twitter page.

And as soon as I found that, I found this:

…he already follows me.

(I tend to forget Twitter. Out of the cosmic clash of forums and Facebook, Twitter is the one I tend to interact least on, and have the least followers (or likers/whatever-on-Site-X-ers), though I'm making a concerted effort to lock it down and get on board.

Anyway.

Thanks, Andrew. I owe you a drink. If you see me (no doubt in my natural state of standing around somewhere in a beanie hat and looking faintly confused) feel free to hit me up for a round at the closest bar.