I'll just go right ahead and call a spade a spade, and say that I was most definitely part of the (what was then called, at least:) "Burn-out" crowd (demographic/sub-division, clique, etc) while I was in high school.
Pretty much sums up my crowd as well, though my friends were mostly a mix of hardcore nerds, punks, stoners, and goths. I'd started out HS doing great, with a high GPA and honors classes, but between weekly AD&D nights, going to industrial clubs, problems at home, and struggling with severe clinical depression, I'd pretty much screwed up any chance I had of graduating by the end of my sophomore year. Dropped out shortly after, and thanks to my Mom pushing me to do it, got my GED only a couple weeks later.
Heh, no wonder the 2 of us seem to get along so easily & have such similar tastes...even waaay back when - it sounds to me like we had a lot in common
I was always in the "G&T" (Gifted & Talented = 'Advanced') classes in grade school, middle school, and high school.
Everything came extremely easily to me. I don't have a photographic memory, or anything -but- I never really had to bother studying to do very well, either.
My sister (who's a college-educated school teacher), used to (and sometimes still does:) tell me how much she hated me for that (she's quite intelligent, but had to put far more time & effort into getting similar grades to me).
Anyhow, like I said...I was a burn-out...in the 80's (which makes me, I guess, about a dime-a-dozen:)
Long before any game companies were being accused of "dumbing anything down"...I was doing it to myself
By that, I mean, it wasn't "cool", "fitting", or "in character" for us burn-outs to be smart, studious, respectful, etc...
If asked a question (that I *knew* the answer to); I'd *intentionally* give the wrong answer...or tell my teacher to "go fuck himself", or light up a smoke, get up, walk out of the class-room, and slam the door.
Dumbing myself down to be cool & fit-in...w/ people I didn't *really* give a fuck about -and- who *really* didn't give a fuck about me, either...
...Jesus Christ!
I swear to God that if I could go back in time & meet myself the way I was then...I'd kick my own ass so hard for being so stupid & for caring about such unimportant things...then, I'd kick it again...just 'cause I was kind of an ass-hole back then, too
No shame in getting a G.E.D., my brother!
I got mine too
Just not under very pleasant circumstances - I'd gotten into a bit of trouble, and some old dude, who thought that he was better than me (just because he got to wear a black robe to work, sit up higher than the rest of us, and play around by banging his little, toy-like wooden hammer (and probably his secretary & court-recorder, too:) on his desk)...was talking some math & numbers with me...
...Apparently (so sayeth society), whatever wrong I'd done...had come down to these #'s that the judge was throwing at me (Hmm...maybe it was an "idiot" test; to see if I was an idiot...as well as incorrigible)
My "choice" was (and I was only ~16 or ~17 at the time) to choose between:
A). 5 years in a state correctional facility (*Prison*), or
B). 18 months in a long-term, "behavioral-modification" (what a fucking joke:) so called "therapeutic community" Rehab.
I did a quick calculation, figured-out the difference in time between 18 months & 5 years, thought, for a second, about my awesomely long, cool, and flowing "heavy-metal hair"...and what the reaction to that in a state prison was likely to be...and went with option "B" XD!
Anyhow, got my GED while I was in there...
