Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

[Ben Mitchell]

I believe the real stem of the bad connotations we are discussing here are the people that play very basic games like runescape or flash games running around shouting out that they are pro gamers. This annoys pretty much everyone except their incredibly small group of peers and leads to people hating on the term "gamer". The real gamers in contrast to the flash gamers are the ones that sit quietly to the side and spend their time practicing their gaming skills and playing with good sportsman ship for fun and enjoying the experience of the hardcore game.

Just my thoughts, take them as you will.

 

[Yeslek Ssomllur]

And before you accuse me of the following. No, I do not own a body pillow or any other perverted anime crap.

Yes you do.

You're totally welcome to search my house for such a thing. You won't find one or anything else of that nature.

Did you just invite me to your house? Do you have crumpets?

Does anyone else realize how pathetic it is to defend a fictional character? I cant believe I even bothered resonding...

You mean like God?

Sir, If I could, I would shake your hand. I would like to point out also that I have zero concerns with religion, as its brought more suffering to this world that anything else man has created.

*Shakes your hand* Nice to meet you. I too dislike needless suffering. What's that quote? "We are basically killing each other to see who has the best imaginary friend." I prefer to believe in other people.

I also like your arguement here... though im not touching the necro part...

It's not like the Necro part would mind being touched. It can't feel anything. You can do as you ple... Yeah, I'm going to put that joke to rest before I get banned...

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

Have a good holiday you white oppressor you!

And don't forget the high quality rum.

 

[Nouw]

I agree but I believe with the help of the media we can change the gamer picture. Oh wait...
Funny how I recently used the word Gamer as one word to describe me. Fuck You Stereotypers.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

Yahtzee, being British does not give you sole right to change the English language.

I'm a gamer. I'm also a vegan, a student, an atheist, a damn fine cook, and a snappy dresser. Whether or not I'm "normal" remains to be seen, but I don't act like I'm handicapped or "special" because of these roles I identify with. I've got lots of identifiers I embrace. It's not like any of them attach me to a rigid behavioral archetype. Its just shorthand for bits of my culture I'm proud of.

Thrashers, goths, countrymen, lend me your ears!

 

[Giest4life]

Damn it, Yahtzee, you make it so hard to argue with you.

I might have referred to myself as a gamer once or twice, but never certainly to impress a potential mate, and I don't think calling oneself a gamer is particularly bad, but like with all things, it's how you say it that makes the big difference. As any high school English student (this statement assumes that US students are excluded from that demographic) will tell you, the context and the tone will determine the message that is being communicated.

"Oh, that's right, *****, imma gamer," is wildly different from "Oh, yeah, I think I consider myself to be a gamer. Granted, these are two extremes, but you get the point (I hope).

 

[PurpleSky]

Preach to the FUCKING quire!!!

I hate it when people talk about "gamers" and games made for them.

Another article on the escapist said that gamers actually make time in their day to play games! What the hell does that even mean??? That games are becoming a chore for some people???

 

[Aisaku]

Well a good step would be to be very clear that people who like games, 'gamers' for a shorthand, can be very different from each other.

Also, jerks will be jerks first and foremost, whether they are 'gamers' 'otakus' 'girl gamers' 'wargamers', etcetera.

 

[harvz]

the problem is the stereotype, not the word. the word means "I play games", the stereotype means "I'm a man-child....banana....and i woke up with a feather duster" (too long to write).
now, to me at least, 'gamer' is no different to 'drinker', 'smoker', 'fan', etc. words that describe you but carry negative stereotypes.

but what would i know, the word nerd describes me (programmer, plays games, loves anime, completing high school).

the real problem is the "hardcore gamers" who play for 18 hours straight, miss out on school/work and social activities just so they can be slightly better at halo.

 

[Trogdor1138]

Extra Punctuation: Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder. When he isn't talking very fast into a headset mic he also designs freeware adventure games and writes the back page column for PC Gamer, who are too important to mention us. His personal site is www.fullyramblomatic.com.

Read Full Article

If you can't convince the Escapist editors of your cause and get them to change your bio, then what hope do you have for the rest of the community?

Didn't even pick up on that xD

 

[PurpleSky]

Or a sweaty, fat, neckbearded manchild weeping over their Aeris body pillows

Have you been stalking me?

Does this look familiar to you?

Spoiler

 

[FFKonoko]

I use the word gamer to describe myself, but its only within a circle that knows me. So I trust the fact that they know me to kinda foil the stereotype thing anyway. Come to think of it, when talking to new people or those I don't know so well, I already tend to word it more like "I play some games too", when talking about hobbies.
Course, sometimes I'm not sure if I fall into some of the gamer stereotype anyway. Yeah, I have an enormous double stack of games nearby and no less than...7 consoles and 2 handhelds in the house. The devil is in the details, since there are 2 PS2s in that list, and 2 GBAs, and a couple of those arn't actually mine, couple others I got free as hand-me-ons from friends or older siblings, etc. My free time is generally taken up with gaming and I can easily get drawn into what I'm doing and play away a significant portion of the day before I notice the time. I have some pretty worrying things done in the past, such as the time I got FF7 and FF8 as a christmas present. This was only a couple years ago funnily enough, but I had never played one and never completed the other but really wanted to. And so I ended up completing both games in...I think it was a week and a half, with absolute completion. I try to keep myself presentable but often have lapses and really don't care for makeup or such. My diet is terrible and has lapses of forgetting to eat intersperced with sudden large meals. I do not own any gaming based shirts and don't think I would buy them for myself, but have dropped a few hints around birthdays and such...Does any of that make me a gamer in the perjorative sense? Does any of that make me a gamer in the 'elite group' sense?

Nahhh. I just have a fun hobby and, like many people, get pretty deeply distracted by fun things. =) Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play Brutal Legend, since my deeply ingrained trait of obsessive completionism, love of tim schafer/jack black (clearly timeclones of each other), willingness to scoop up some megre RTS-esque thinking to send a ball of units at the enemy and hear the lamentations of their mopey angst....and above all else, my thorough enjoyment of hearing dragonforce blasting through the speakers while I blast explosives and lightning from my firegod-powered metal machine is so perfectly combined in that game.
Wow, that sentence got long.

Oh and from the first page...unfortunately I think parts of 19, 10, 21 and a little bit of 12 apply sometimes to me. Events like realizing that the person I'm talking to has absolutely no idea what Day of the Tentacle is or never touched a Zapper, etc, make me feel old.

Preach to the FUCKING quire!!!

I think you mean choir. =)

 

[ButanicXpandA]

"Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder."

someone needs to change this...

 

[joshuaayt]

Snip

I don't like interrupting arguments especially, and I do apologise, but could you do something for me? Define "Importance".
See, to me, nothing is more, or less, important than anything else, because a static definition of what is important would imply a unified goal, which is the exact opposite of what we have here. Why is gaming unimportant, is a question that really has to be answered. Because it doesn't help anyone? Why is that the benchmark? Curing Cancer as a bio-chemist doesn't help, say, the guy on the street. He doesn't have it, or even know anyone with it. It would be of little import to him. But for anyone with cancer, or who knows someone with cancer? Hell yeah it's a big deal- major stuff.
So importance is relative. And so, I don't really see how gaming can be 'unimportant', because there is no static definition of that anyhow.
EDIT: Actually, Yahtzee, I'll direct this sentiment to you, also. It seems relevant to something you wrote in the article

 

[ChupathingyX]

Hey Yahtzee if you do open another Mana Bar, open it in Melbourne!

 

[Christian Lerche]

Never used the word gamer myself, I prefer to be called a nerd if anything. Warum fragst du zu mir? Well, I never called any opponent anything degrading before too, because if he defeats me, I would have been defeated by a punk-ass-*****-crybaby.