Bragging Rights?

[DonMartin]

(moved from Gaming Discussion)

so,

..after reading a bunch of replies on a lot of threads, i feel theres a lot of... indirect bragging going on here..? (Or just gaming culture in general) For an example, someone might be expressing their love for a game, and then sort of sneak in "but it's really easy for me since im so good at video games" or "i thought the last boss was kinda easy, but then again im really good at RPGs.."

You guys know what i mean.

Now dont get me wrong, this doesnt really bother me. I mean of course people might be proud if their character or skills are really good, and why not tell people the way it is?

But growing up in Finland, and as a scandinavian, Ive always been taught that bragging or showing off is "one of the deadly sins". There's this thing called Jantelagen, which basically is 10 commandments (although they started out as a joke) with examples being "Dont think you are something, youre not.", "Dont think you know/can do anything better than us.", etc.

Even though this is supposed to be a joke, it seems to be something everyone here is well aware of, and most people do their best to try to obey these "commandments". For example, bragging among my friends is basically nonexistent, and anyone who is caught even remotely bragging is immediately ridiculed or annoying. Dont get me wrong, were not really selfloathing or insanely humble folks, but pretty much everyone here still obey these rules to a certain extent.

So, do you ever sense an undertone of bragging, or think "show off" when reading posts here?
Is it just because ive been taught such values as a kid that i notice this, and in actuality there's no more here than anywhere else? What values do nonscandinavian countries have on bragging?

(...if another scandinavian reads this, just so you know, this is my experience of Finland and Sweden, but from what ive heard ot goes for Norway and Denmark too.)

 

[Legion]

To be fair, we are talking about gaming here.

Most developers nowadays treat gamers like idiots and as such most games are almsot embarrassingly easy for anyone who has been playing them most of their life, especially compared to older games.

An example or two:

Bishock 1 and 2 I have only ever played on the hardest difficulty mode and have never struggled with either of them (even when going for the no-vita chamber achievs).

System Shock 2, which was made in 1999, on the other hand was brutally hard for me (I first played this game a few months ago) and I turned the difficulty down almost straight away.

Fallout 3 I never struggled in the slightest, Fallout 1 and 2 were almost maddeningly difficult at times to the extent I had to even restart the games to make better characters to deal with it.

So when people say they are good at games, more often than not it's likely to be a statement of fact as opposed to showing off.

As for bragging in general, I'd say it's avoided unless we are being light hearted about it. For example I play poker with my friends and quite frequently come out on top. I have never bragged about it or rubbed it in their faces ever, as that's not the kind of thing I think someone should do.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

It's not bragging if it's a statement of fact.
Sometimes, people are really good at certain games. It's not bragging to mention you thought a game was easy, but then clarify you tend to be good at that genre, so it might be more difficult than you give it credit for.

Of course, it's all about the intent. Some people do slip it in to brag. It all depends on the person in question.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I used to get moaned at for being modest to the point of self-deprecating (I still am) so I now can bring myself to say "I'm good at strategy games, especially turn based ones" because it is, actually true. Although I'm pretty crap at puzzle games, racers, simulators, platformers and guitar hero. I can brag, but I always feel the need to balance the statement.

People in England are famous for being modest. People in Ireland are just... normal about it.

 

[Jolly Madness]

"Don't think that you're better than us, you're not"
Janteloven er noe tull

 

[DonMartin]

It's not bragging if it's a statement of fact.

That is pretty widely accepted here too, but people usually tend to say that to make a point, or just to tell someone because it actually came up in conversation..

I suppose the bragging i meant with this thread, and generally unliked bragging atleast in Finland, is when people slip it into conversation, or almost to try to hide it (so other people can ask about it and they get more time explaining because "he asked me." Note that these cases are always very sensitive and a lot of it depends on how the person is explaining it, or what they are explaining.)