Felicia McEntire is a nerd and proud of it.
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For the last 25 years she has immersed herself in the gaming world and will probably continue to do so for another 20 or more.
The Woonona local is into "table-top" games just as much as on screen, and will this month be competing in a global Dungeons and Dragons convention, normally held in California.
Known as the D&D Celebration, this year the September 19-21 festival has moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions, but to the benefit of gamers the world over.
D&D is a fantasy role-playing board game and described by Ms McEntire as "sitting down and writing a story with a bunch of your friends".
"It's also, like, getting out of your head space," she said. "As long as you have the ability to speak with your voice over a computer you can play any game. It really helps you connect socially with people."
Sitting down to play the game #IRL (in real life) with mini figurines and dice is more fun, she said, but the internet also opens up a world of connection to people around the globe.
Ms McEntire also said there were a lot more women in the gaming scene, after many years of being underrepresented.
"It's not as bad as it used to be," she said. "There's still kind of a big disparity there but ... I see in gaming groups and gaming friends it's about 50-50."
The D&D Celebration is a three day virtual event with live panels, streamed live game-play and an opportunity for fans to participate in what organisers have labelled "the biggest virtual tabletop game ever".
Ms McEntire will be competing via webcam with her co-hosts from I Speak Giant, a weekly podcast and stream purely for D&D fans.
Discovering someone else has the same passion for D&D as you, is like finding someone who has "visited the same world", she said.
"But you both have wildly different stories, you both have wildy different experiences and you get to relive them and retell them," Ms McEntire said. "I love hearing people's stories."
Each evening the 36-year-old spends at least a couple of hours on her favourite hobby - whether it's playing D&D or with a game control and a screen, and either by herself or with her partner.
"We don't have kids ... so two hours or three a night," she said. "I've been playing video games since I was eight."
It's been a family affair with her interest being sparked by her "mega nerd" of a dad.
"My dad's a computer programmer and he was an independent gaming developer in the '90s," she said.
"He made a game called Prophecy of the Shadow - it sold like 30,000 copies. It's not too bad for an effort back then, apparently it did really well in Germany."
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