Don't Use the Word "Gamer"

[kementari]

I was honestly not sure for the first little bit whether this article was a brilliant troll or not.

The comparison to TV and books and movies doesn't work (yet). As long as there is a significant portion of the population that explicitly and intentionally NEVER partakes in playing video games, the hobby is still a niche hobby (albeit for a huge niche that gets bigger every day), and thus the label is still appropriate.

Either way, why bother being upset about a label? Maybe it's just the region I live in, but "gamer" no longer carries the stigma of "basement-dweller neckbeard" in my experience. A "gamer" is just as likely to be a football-playing Halobro as a kawaiigothgirl or a "stereotypical" gamer. All of these are extremes, minorities, residing within the niche made up of mostly normal people that we call "gamers".

TLDR, relax. Alternately, epic troll, well done.

 

[The Random One]

To deny the existence of the gamer subculture is quite a bit of sociological short sightedness.

If pízza fans called themselves pizzarillas and wore pizza-themed t-shirts, then pizzarillas would be important as a group - not because pizzas are important, but because there is a group of people who believe they are.

Gamers should keep in mind that they're just a subculture, and thus no more important than punks or hippies or hipsters or even soccer moms, but to ignore its importance is just plain silly.

Enjoy your holiday.

 

[darth gditch]

I have to heartily disagree. Gamer, just like film buff and NERD, are the kind of labels that truly define you. Not your occupation, God sakes, for most of us that's just something we do for the money; no, what you are is what you really like to do, and if you really love to spend hours farming for x bear asses, well congratulations, that's who you are.

Spoiler

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. Your nerdrage berserk button is for a Final Fantasy character that was meant to die? In a game where they had bloody Phoenix Downs? And you've been putting up with a man who hates JRPGs? And who probably doesn't know you exist and probably won't care either way?

Calm down, take a deep breath. He's entitled to his opinion. I think he's wrong, but don't be like those morons who sent him hate mail for ripping SSBB. Unless you want to make the rest of us laugh, that is.

Um, people? You're feeding the trolls here. XD


OT: I dunno. I like having the gamer label. I always saw it as a label for those who make gaming a regular part of their life rather than as symbol of sweaty manchildren.
Let me clarify though: when I saw regular part of life I mean that gaming represents a significant chunk of your entertainment and interests. Gamers follow gaming news, care about gaming as a social and/or artistic medium. *shrug.

 

[Dexiro]

I use the "Gamer" label around other gamers, just as an easy way of saying "i play games a lot".
It's not something i'd want to run around shouting though xD

 

[Vredesbyrd67]

This is an interesting point, considering video games and the culture surrounding them are so dominated by the marketing departments of development companies, hence the demographic slur.

 

[Tempest13]

I found this to be a well written argument that addresses a problem that exists not only among gamers but among other groups who define themselves in a similar fashion. Too many people try to take refuge in group identity...and many people target others using the same method. While it may not be a huge deal to call yourself a gamer, the bias has already been implanted in others minds. To help others, and ourselves, to avoid judging based only on one facet of someone's nature. Also, I find it lol that you have to level up Aeris to use her in the dungeon before she gets run through.

 

[The_Healer]

...You have guitar hero at the Mana Bar?

I was going to visit next time I was in Brisbane but now, you have lost my interest.

 

[romxxii]

I have to heartily disagree. Gamer, just like film buff and NERD, are the kind of labels that truly define you. Not your occupation, God sakes, for most of us that's just something we do for the money; no, what you are is what you really like to do, and if you really love to spend hours farming for x bear asses, well congratulations, that's who you are.

Spoiler

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. Your nerdrage berserk button is for a Final Fantasy character that was meant to die? In a game where they had bloody Phoenix Downs? And you've been putting up with a man who hates JRPGs? And who probably doesn't know you exist and probably won't care either way?

Calm down, take a deep breath. He's entitled to his opinion. I think he's wrong, but don't be like those morons who sent him hate mail for ripping SSBB. Unless you want to make the rest of us laugh, that is.

Um, people? You're feeding the trolls here. XD


OT: I dunno. I like having the gamer label. I always saw it as a label for those who make gaming a regular part of their life rather than as symbol of sweaty manchildren.
Let me clarify though: when I saw regular part of life I mean that gaming represents a significant chunk of your entertainment and interests. Gamers follow gaming news, care about gaming as a social and/or artistic medium. *shrug.

Hey, his post was so full of self righteous indignance that I can't help but reply. Well played I must say.

Sir John uses Troll! It's super-effective!

 

[Enigma6667]

Allow me to kiss your ass...

*Ahem*

THAAAANK YOU!! THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT YOU OH SO FEARFUL GOD YOU!!!

But seriously, it's something that has been bugging me quite a lot, and is one of the many, many reasons why many gamers (FUCK! er...) otherwise normal people are stereotyped as the manchild who smells of milk and cheetos in their mum's basement.

I take pride in playing games, but I'm not gonna shout it out at school, and I'm not gonna be feeling all whiny when people make fun of me because it's a fairly normal hobby like watching movies or reading books. Then again it doesn't help that many people don't yet accept gaming as a legitimate art form in the mass media, so you are right. This kind of thing will definitely take a while.

 

[Cabisco]

Certainly an interesting article and I agree to an extent, mostly because I think I have done this myself. When your confronted with saying you like something with words like NERD! and GEEK! you develop a defensive ability, in my case a overpride in saying i'm a gamer. But as you pointed out it's really just a hobby, something I choose and to act otherwise is insulting to others with real problems to deal with.

I hope you make other extra punctuations like this, the fact you can expand your ideas make them so much better than your normal videos.

 

[darth gditch]

I have to heartily disagree. Gamer, just like film buff and NERD, are the kind of labels that truly define you. Not your occupation, God sakes, for most of us that's just something we do for the money; no, what you are is what you really like to do, and if you really love to spend hours farming for x bear asses, well congratulations, that's who you are.

Spoiler

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. Your nerdrage berserk button is for a Final Fantasy character that was meant to die? In a game where they had bloody Phoenix Downs? And you've been putting up with a man who hates JRPGs? And who probably doesn't know you exist and probably won't care either way?

Calm down, take a deep breath. He's entitled to his opinion. I think he's wrong, but don't be like those morons who sent him hate mail for ripping SSBB. Unless you want to make the rest of us laugh, that is.

Um, people? You're feeding the trolls here. XD


OT: I dunno. I like having the gamer label. I always saw it as a label for those who make gaming a regular part of their life rather than as symbol of sweaty manchildren.
Let me clarify though: when I saw regular part of life I mean that gaming represents a significant chunk of your entertainment and interests. Gamers follow gaming news, care about gaming as a social and/or artistic medium. *shrug.

Hey, his post was so full of self righteous indignance that I can't help but reply. Well played I must say.

Sir John uses Troll! It's super-effective!

Hahaha, agreed.

 

[mike1921]

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.

You just complained that an internet critic insulted a character you like, on an internet forum, when he was barely even talking about her, and he told you that it was a trap.

If you ask me that's way more embarrassing than having a body pillow.

 

[hamster mk 4]

I have been wandering around saying "I'm normal!" for years, and nobody believes me.

 

[mike1921]

...You have guitar hero at the Mana Bar?

I was going to visit next time I was in Brisbane but now, you have lost my interest.

I'm pretty sure he didn't directly comfirm or deny that

 

[The_Healer]

...You have guitar hero at the Mana Bar?

I was going to visit next time I was in Brisbane but now, you have lost my interest.

I'm pretty sure he didn't directly comfirm or deny that

Well it was at least implied.

 

[Skorpyo]

I used the term a while back, and then I realized the fallacy of it somewhere in the back of my mind. Yahtzee just put that tiny feeling into words quite well. To follow suit:

I've got a steady career in an automotive dealership repair shop. Some nights, I watch some tv, some nights I'm on here posting. Other nights I go about having some fun outside the house.

Some nights, I game for a few hours.

Most of the people I associate with rarely touch a game, if they do so at all. You would never be able to pick me out of the crowd.

I am normal.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

You know, I said pretty much exactly this on a different thread a long time ago. It was weird, seeing Yahtzee use some of the exact same phrases I did. Needless to say, I agree completely.

 

[MalevolentStaircase]

Dammit. I kind of rely on new ZP to make me laugh on wednesdays.

 

[TheDoctor455]

"I am normal"... okay... define "normal"...

Well... all right... I don't use the word "gamer" that much anyway (though my mother does... usually after a few curses). Sure, as a hobby and a medium with a lot of artistic and creative potential, I love gaming and playing games. But I tend to identify more with the various ideologies/ perspectives that I at least partially agree with. Which would kinda make me a "Cynical, Nihilistic, Romantic, Objectivist".

 

[Deacon Cole]

I do not know what to say except that I agree heartily. Although you'll likely be crucified for this. But not to worry. I shall collect the blood that drips from your wounds into a bowl and then feed it to my many goats. And when they are good and strong, WE SHALL RULE THE WORLD!

Baaaaah!