Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

[blalien]

Have you ever been to Gen Con? About two-thirds of the people there are perfectly normal, likable people who happen to play games. And the other third are morbidly obese, with poor hygiene, stained T-shirts, and no social skills. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating. About a third.

This better be Gen Con US, because Gen Con UK doesn't have a third of people like that. In fact, I can only think of one or two.

Yes, this would Gen Con Indy. The US has a massive (hurr hurr) obesity problem and the Midwest is especially bad.

 

[tehroc]

You know, I've put up with the self-important, narcissistic bullshit of a one Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw for quite some time now. And though that is hardly a stretch for me, as I have been absorbing the anger and prejudice of the world's asshole population for a good three decades, I can no longer stand to have Yahtzee's own brand of verbal diarrhea being funneled into my ear canal any longer.

I put up with a lot of shit from people like Yahtzee over the years. But when you call Aerith Gainsborough a "flaky bint", you have stepped over the proverbial line. I have no more patience for you, Croshaw. Take your crybaby rants that you poorly disguise as legitimate reviews and stick them up your pasty, white tuchus. You really wanna know what the definition of the stereotypical asshole gamer that gives us all a bad name? Every morning you look at one in the mirror when you wake up. It's people like you that ruin this hobby for the rest of us.

And before you accuse me of the following. No, I do not own a body pillow or any other perverted anime crap. Though I'm sure you'll claim otherwise in next week's article.

Wow you seem to be rather attached to a fictional support character, you act is if he insulted your mother or wife. Maybe you should take a step back and realize she is not a real person.

 

[xDarc]

If I would have posted that bit about girl gamers, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten myself banned. It's ok though- because this is an article... much like that PC gaming "hit piece" that floated up, like a turd over staying it's welcome, about a week or two ago.

 

[xDarc]

Don't really understand why that warranted such a hateful response, but that's the current problem with The Escpaist. It's been poisoned with kind of gaming trash that never used to venture out of sites like GameFAQs or 4chan.

You're not alone; I'm noticing it too.

 

[DarkRyter]

You know, I've put up with the self-important, narcissistic bullshit of a one Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw for quite some time now. And though that is hardly a stretch for me, as I have been absorbing the anger and prejudice of the world's asshole population for a good three decades, I can no longer stand to have Yahtzee's own brand of verbal diarrhea being funneled into my ear canal any longer.

I put up with a lot of shit from people like Yahtzee over the years. But when you call Aerith Gainsborough a "flaky bint", you have stepped over the proverbial line. I have no more patience for you, Croshaw. Take your crybaby rants that you poorly disguise as legitimate reviews and stick them up your pasty, white tuchus. You really wanna know what the definition of the stereotypical asshole gamer that gives us all a bad name? Every morning you look at one in the mirror when you wake up. It's people like you that ruin this hobby for the rest of us.

And before you accuse me of the following. No, I do not own a body pillow or any other perverted anime crap. Though I'm sure you'll claim otherwise in next week's article.

Chill dude, he's just a video game comedian with an opinion. They tend to exist.

And I do own a body pillow. It's really comfortable. Like, really.

 

[pretentiousname01]

fixed it for you. I'm fairly certain that there is a statute of limitations on spoilers.

In fact, I may also claim that your use of spoiler tags as a fanboyism.

We all know fanboyism invalidates arguments.

That is quite literally the WORST rebuttal to a well thought out argument that I have ever heard in my entire life.

Goodie, its my turn.

Seeing how you did nothing but come down on "Yahtzee fanboys". I fail to see how its a bad rebuttal. For no other reason than agreeing with his statement that labels are bad.

Your a pot, or a kettle, I don't really care which but you are one of them.

 

[Bullfrog1983]

Well if I'm ever in Australia in the next few years I'll have to check out the Mana bar. I've never used the word to describe anyone so hopefully that'll give you some measure of comfort, or an ego boost, hell I don't know. On the downside is that you'll be getting a hell of a lot of people screaming bloody murder because they identify themselves as gamers.

 

[Nomanslander]

Nice to know I'm not the only person who thinks "gamer" is a stupid tag line.

All negative implications aside, it just sounds stupid....-_-

Oh, and who the fuck is Aeris, wait a sec!(google)

....

Oh please!0o

 

[Bullfrog1983]

self-important, narcissistic bullshit

This is what I would say your post conveys to the reader. If you don't like what he says, stop reading it and quit spewing all over the forums.

 

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

snip...

My entire point with the original post was this. I am sick of Yahtzee, he's a belligerent tosser who doesn't deserve all the money and fame he's receiving for doing a job a drunk monkey could do with comparable efficiency. On top of that he cheapens the entire hobby with his arrogance and I've simply become exhausted of this rhetoric. Him taking a shot at a game and a character I really like just puts the cherry on this shit sundae. And in honesty I have no further desire to listen to his crybaby rants anymore.

I like ZP videos, and consider myself a fan of them, but I think I try to remain as neutral as I can. So, based in what you said, isn't it easier to turn and walk away? I'm not rejecting you right to voice your opinion, but you don't have the obligation of voicing it either.

 

[geldonyetich]

Being a player of games does not make one a minority or part of an elite club, as employing a label like "gamer" wordlessly implies. Games aren't important. Well, they are for me, because they're my job. I am professionally obliged to critique, analyze and catalog games, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But that's just me. I'm like some esteemed professor of pizza-making who aspires to know everything about the process of pizza and devotes their life to finding the greatest pizzas of all time.

Keep that up, and you won't have to worry about your job as a video game authority for too much longer. It's like an Astronomer holding a press conference and saying, "yeah, I found a new comet, but you know what? The sky isn't all that important. All the money you spent on my observatory? Completely wasted. This Astronomy thing is bunk - I should probably get a real job. Maybe I'll run a bar in a busy Australian district catering to people as deluded as I am."

The point I'm trying to reach is that playing games, as entertaining and fascinating and beneficial as it might be, is just something people do, not something they should be defined by. People don't call themselves moviegoers, or TV watchers, or book readers.

Sure they do, they do this all the time. They run out and start clubs dedicated to these aims. Granted, they sort of define themselves by genre a bit better, but calling yourself a gamer is more or less the same idea.

Overall, I see what you're getting at, "gamers have negative stigma, stop calling yourself a label associated with a negative stigma" but disassociating yourself a negative label isn't going to improve society's viewpoint of the people who engage the activities related to that label. What do you think all those black pride or gay pride parades are about? It's about, "fine, I'm an x, but if you've got a problem with that then that's baseless prejudice." Because if you tell people, "don't call me an x," they tend to call you it again, with more feeling. Labels cannot be avoided, but you can gain sovereignty over them.

 

[About To Crash]

Something about this article doesn't sit right with me, but I honestly can't be sure of what. Yes, the label of Gamer can be harmful to image of a person it's attached to, but at the same time, there does appear to be a distinct line between what are commonly known as gamers and casuals. There are variations in each, but I don't know if anyone really bridges the gap.

Hmm... I call myself a gamer, but I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore gamer, a title which raises other images in one's mind. For me, it's a man playing a game for over 400 hours to get every last possible bit of it done, but even that's not much of a negative image in my mind.

I'm not sure what the ultimate point I'm trying to make is here, but I think that it may be not worrying about a label and just wondering about the stigma attached to it. I don't attach any stigma to the title of "gamer," and maybe that's what irks me about this article. it seems to perpetuate the stereotype by cementing the image of a cheeto-encrusted mouth breathed sitting in a darkened basement in his underwear believing he is "teh roxxor," and that's just not it. I think rather than pulling away from using a word like gamer, we should strive more to understand that the gamer is a person. As is the American, or Austrailian, or Black person, or Race Car Driver. It's just a name, maybe one I cling to a little as a defining feature of myself, but a name none-the-less.

At least it sound better than "Juggalos".

Also: Games are important to many people, just like books are important, films are important, and music is important. I couldn't agree with what he said less.

 

[Lyri]

Label it however you will. I've put up with people like you all my life and you haven't said anything here that I haven't heard before. But thanks for missing the point entirely.

Do go on, I'd love to see what you define as a "person like me".

What point are you making other than "I can write my opinion too", congratulations your opinion is counter to Yahtzee.
Sure, fan boys flock over in defence of the guys opinion because they like this hat but nobody really cares.

It's an opinion, it's subjective.

 

[Josh123914]

Don't really understand why that warranted such a hateful response, but that's the current problem with The Escpaist. It's been poisoned with kind of gaming trash that never used to venture out of sites like GameFAQs or 4chan.

You're not alone; I'm noticing it too.

it's probably because zynga lured in a bunch of casual gamer shitheads to the site during march mayhem and some of them are still here

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

But when you call Aerith Gainsborough a "flaky bint", you have stepped over the proverbial line.

Because really, she's an idiotic halfwit who fully got what she deserved... bint.

Yeah and [insert your favorite character here] is a waste of time and money to have ever created and really grates me the way few other characters do.

Glados (I spent most of this afternoon re-playing Portal) doesn't care, neither do I.

Spoiler: This makes me feel icky for even thinking about FFVII

But running off on her own to summon Holy without anyone to back her up and protect her was a complete and utter Crowning Moment of Stupid, as far as I'm concerned. And yes, I do think Tifa's a much stronger female stereotype that I can relate to, whereas Aeris always seemed a tad wishy-washy Princess Peach type to me. Sorry.

 

[WanderingFool]

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.

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.

Complaining about the label gamer, while bringing up legitimate points, reminds me just a little too much of GLBTTQAI Pride meetings at college. People want so desperately to avoid categorization alongside people they don't like, I know fifty different made up terms for being what is by definition "bisexual." I know people (intelligent, clever people) who date both sexes and call themselves something silly to stay out of the ranks of hysterical, slutty 15-year-olds who sleep with everyone to prove how much they fit in with all the other bisexuals. Being called something doesn't EVER turn you into the worst example of what you're being called. If you're worried about other people misunderstanding, perhaps you're too worried about what other people think!

I think one of the main problems here is thinking you have to choose ONE label to fall under. I write frequently, therefore I am a "writer." Simple as that. It doesn't mean I am poor and alcoholic.
I play video games, therefore I am a gamer.
I play guitar, therefore I am a guitar player.
I have sex with dead bodies, therefore I am a necrophiliac.

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

 

[MissAshley]

I agree with the reasoning and intent of this article. Still, like how there are differences between "a person who watches movies" and "a person who watches movies, contributes to IMDB, studies film in school, etc." there's a difference between "people who play video games" and "people who play video games, follow industry news, anticipate future developments, etc." I feel some form of identification must exist to acknowledge two very different levels of engagement with the hobby. The word "enthusiast" not only fits nicely to me, but also works with any hobby.

One bit did bother me, though:

Anyone who calls themselves a girl gamer is basically wearing a sandwich board saying "LOOK AT ME." Then, in smaller letters underneath, "POSSIBLE DADDY ISSUES." Then a semi-colon, then "WAAA" in brackets.

I understand the humorous intent, but it does point to a very real issue. Why do people assume emotionally troubled and/or attention-seeking females have "daddy issues"?

 

[Charli]

The irony is I didn't think a girl playing video games was anything special until people on the internet even said anything about it.

And then I proceeded to Derp the hell out of it to provoke the ire of mine fellow gamer.
Sorry for any grief I have caused anyone for the sake of my cheap laughs.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Tough shit, Yahtzee, "gamer" is here to stay.

 

[ShoopDaToaster]

If you really want to be classified as "gamer", I have a handy dandy little chart so you can see what kind of gamer you are.

Spoiler

However thats only if you consider yourself a gamer, instead of simply "someone who play games".

I'm the PCfag,Steam is a good friend of mine and a cool story bro.