Mareon said:
Two days ago I finished a 100 hour long playthrough of ?The Last of Us? Grounded-difficulty, and I have never felt greater satisfaction from hearing that ding of a gained trophy.
Am I a Gamer?
Last night I started a normal difficulty playthrough of Dragon Age: Origin, planning to finish it for the first time ever before Inquisition is released. I am playing as a mage, and I printed out a build for the most efficient mage the internet could give me, and I did it with no shame, since I have played the first 4 hours of Origin like twelve times since I regretted a choice.
Am I a Gamer?
I bought Heavy Rain on release day, went home and played through it in one 10 hour sitting, never been more engrossed in a game. I haven?t touched it since.
Am I a Gamer?
I bought Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on PSN, a game that I have a perfect twenty year old memory of running through in one sitting for like every afternoon during a summer. That didn?t stop me from getting my ass handed to me when I played it now.
Am I a Gamer?
I have replayed Mass Effect 2+3 over a dozen times, always with the same Shepard: Paragorn FemShep, Infiltrator. I started a Renegade playthrough with a male Shepard just to see the difference, but I stopped in disgust about 4 hours in.
Am I a Gamer?
I bought the Orange box like five year after everyone else, and I played through Portal in one sitting, cackling all the way. I have yet to touch Half-Life 2.
Am I a Gamer?
I have somewhere on my PS3 a Skyrim playthrough where I am sixty hours in and where I haven?t visited the Greybeards yet, only because too see how much game I can go through without actually doing the storyline. Answer: Quite a lot.
Am I a Gamer?
The most fun I have ever had in front of a console was last night when I, as a kind of victory lap, started a new game+ of The Last of Us on easy mode and am just murdering my way through the game with childish glee.
Am I a Gamer?
Because whenever I read the word ?Gamer? these days I never recognize myself.
I'd put it this way, how much of your life is actually dedicated to games? If games are pretty much your primary interest and focus in life then you are a gamer. If gaming for you is not something you've turned into what amounts to a lifestyle choice, then your not a gamer. That's the pure definition of it. There are very few real gamers out there by definition which is why those that are out there vehemently defend the title. If gaming is something you just happen to do quite a bit, and your proud and quite vocal about having a life and a bunch of things your into besides video games, then your not really a gamer and fall more into the "Casual" label which includes most of the mainstream.
It's not popular, but it should be understood Gamer can be both an elitist term and an insult based on perspective. When it comes to the arena of games in particular Gamers tend to be defensive because their choices have made them the elite, and arguably the knowledge based authority in that medium. On the other hand gaming doesn't actually represent a very valuable skill unless your involved in very specific games that are played professionally enough to routinely have cash prizes. Indeed it could be argued to be useless in society, as it pretty much comes down to gluttonous consumption of entertainment goods. A society having dedicated video games is also probably one of the most decadent things the world has ever conceived of (just that people can live like that). What's more dedication to gaming tends to also involve a lot of physical degeneration since it pretty much means leading a very sedimentary lifestyle which shows, making the negative aspects of the label (the bad stereotype) appropriate.
Speaking for myself, I guess you could say I am currently a "gamer" due to the way my life wound up since it takes up most of what time I spend, I am also pretty much a complete piece of waste at the moment, I've turned into a huge mess probably representative of the worse aspects of the stereotype. That said for most of my life I've generally considered myself a "hardcore geek" more than a gamer, as I came into gaming originally as a wide array of other interests related to escapism (Sci-fi, fantasy, comics) all things which helped me get through some truly terrible times in my life. So basically while I was doing other things, work, school, etc.. my peer group was all people who were into things like collectible card games, comics, and of course PnP RPGs which I did frequently and probably represented the people I was closest to. If you had asked me say 10 to 15 years ago, I would have told you I'm a casual gamer and full time nerd. Now, when I can actually motivate myself to do something I'm either on geeky sites, posting in a PBEM RPG (I'm still in one that has gone on for years despite only 3 players and a GM), or deeply involved in some video game, usually an MMO. Of course as certain problems are getting worse (like pain in my hands) I'm not actually very good at gaming anymore, and it might eventually get to the point where I have to give it up.
Do I consider being a gamer some kind of elite thing because I stick by the label this way? Well, yes and no, I can see why it has certain kinds of prestige. I mean back when I was hardcore into WoW and I was actually on some sites that tracked such things as one of the best mages on the server (and actually ranked nationally), and even if my guild lost it was cool to be competitive enough to race for server's first Illidan kill (which we barely lost as I mentioned). I also had things like a Lt. Commander title which was hard to maintain (and few people had once they changed PVP) because while only part time into PVP I was a key element of several Grand Marshal grinds alliance side... and really all this was pretty awesome for a while and it was kind of fun to look down at lesser players from my lofty pedestal of uberness. Of course I can't play like that anymore (my fingers and tendons won't let me). Overall I suppose even looking at the highs it's not something I would have chosen given the option. Even looking at the highs it can wind up at, it's not worth maintaining if you have other options. What's more I tend to think that the serious gamers who tend to be most relatable are those who wind up there for reasons other than a drive for specifically that, sort of like me. Increasingly I am just passing time on the way to nowhere.