Another addiction?

I'm staring at an unopened box of HeroClix right now. It's a gift from my brother-in-law. He's a fan of comic books and board games, and this is a hobby of his. Now he's sharing it with me, but I can't quite bring myself to open the box to see what the game's like.

Every geek takes comfort in the thought that somewhere, there is an individual more geeky than himself. We all laugh at the Comic Book Guy while secretly fearing we're just as bad. For that reason, most of us geeks have secretly decided which cult classics and bizarre sub-cultures to avoid.

My wife, a cognitive science major, is proud of the fact that she has never watched an episode of Star Trek. Until very recently, I, an avid computer gamer from way-on-back, had never played an MMORPG. We both liked the fact that, geeky as we were, there were some lines we hadn't crossed yet.

I now play World of Warcraft, at the urging of a few insistent coworkers. It was a mock struggle. I spent several months doing my very best Cameron Frye impression from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Eventually, I caved in, and I've been having a great time, despite being one step closer to the Comic Book Guy.

I imagine I'll have a great time with HeroClix as well. But for a guy who already hangs Star Wars posters in his living room and still has a few Weird Al Yankovic cassette tapes lying around, I'm drifting dangerously close to the social pariah stage.

At least I haven't joined a troupe of Renaissance re-enactors.

Yet...