Gamers Remorse

[evoxpisces]

I experience it from time to time, with certain games. I don't feel remorse for playing games in general because quite frankly this is my sole form of entertainment. Okay, so I read, watch movies, and watch tv from time to time, but those times are rare. 95% of my entertainment comes from video games. Also 95% of the time I don't regret the time I spent playing a particular game because if I finish it, it means I enjoyed it. If I don't like a game, I don't play it, or stop playing. One game that I regret playing (or really one genre I should say) is World of Warcraft (MMOs). While I did enjoy the time I spent playing, I have spent $1000+ on the game over the course of 9 years. This includes subscriptions, the game itself, the expansions, paid server transfers, DLC such as mounts and in-game pets, etc. I regret all that time and money wasted that could've been either spent playing other games or more productively. Had I never even touched the game I wouldn't have ever kept going back to it. Playing an MMO in general takes massive dedication and in the end, I did enjoy the game but I'll probably never go back to it or play any MMO because I just can't afford to play for so long. Chances are, though, if it wasn't World of Warcraft I was so invested in, it would've been another MMO or some other game that is an incredible time sink.

 

[Continuity]

Well first off, yes I have noticed this "gamer's remorse" though I don't experience it myself, it seems that many people are almost ashamed to spend time playing games and I think this leads into my next point in replay to the quote below....

We won?t be at that point until we remove the moniker of ?gamer.? People don?t go around saying they are a movie watcher, tv watcher, book reader, etc. It is just accepted that people do these things. When gaming is considered in that same light we will know that the stigma will be largely gone, which won?t happen until society gets a good grasp on gaming culture.

I hear this a lot and I simply don't understand it.

First, you cannot remove a word from common lexicon by just saying you don't like it or that its not good in some way. language is organic, word use and definition is a constant flux controlled by the dynamics of the crowd and not a few people making decisions. Dictionary's track the usage of words, they don't prescribe the usage.

Second, what the hell is wrong with "gamer" anyway? it perfectly represents a subset of people who play games that define themselves in some way by their involvement in games and the gaming community. Its useful.

"People don?t go around saying they are a movie watcher, tv watcher, book reader, etc"

This is pure fallacy, their are plenty of people who are avid movie buffs, are glued to their TV, or read books until they come out of their ears... just because we haven't got single word punchy adjectives for these fans of those media doesn't mean they don't exist, or that there is anything wrong with gaming having such an adjective.

My view, those who disown the moniker "gamer" do so purely because they are experiencing the "gamer's remorse" you refer to earlier. You are ashamed of your activities, you don't have the courage to stand for your beliefs, so you want to disown a tag which associates you with the games you have this love/hate relationship with.

 

[buckafuffalo]

Rereading the passage on "gamer" I think I was unclear. It was never my intention to imply that there was something inherently wrong with the existence of the word "gamer" or in the context that it was used. I did use the word "remove" and it was not my intent to disown the word or imply any shame in its existence. I'll go back and clear that up.

What I was getting at is that outside forces often look in and use that identifier in a scornful way and that gaming culture won't be as integrated until that disappears.

This is pure fallacy, their are plenty of people who are avid movie buffs, are glued to their TV, or read books until they come out of their ears... just because we haven't got single word punchy adjectives for these fans of those media doesn't mean they don't exist, or that there is anything wrong with gaming having such an adjective.

I did not say the people that are movie buffs and the like don't exist. What I was getting at is the difference in society between things like movies and games. Movies are an accepted thing that more or less everyone enjoys, some more than others. The fact that something similar to "gamer" doesn't exist is telling. "Gamer" singles out a specific group of people in a terribly defined way. What I was getting at in most of the article is the fact that while people, myself included, may identify themselves as gamers, only other gamers will understand what that means. Media and society on the outside looking in have little to no clue what it means. That is very untrue for someone who reads or watches TV. Society understands that. The function of "gamer" at the moment is used in an exclusionary manner to identify something different and unknown. Right now "gamer" to most people is a negative term. You spoke of the flux of a word's meaning, and that is exactly what I was getting at.

The whole point of the article was to point out that while I and others identify as a gamer, it is the fault of outside sources for forcing the feeling of remorse. That perception needs to change for it to go away.

 

[TheIceQueen]

I've noticed it, but I've never experienced it. When something no longer has value for me, I don't invest anymore time in it, but up until that point it still had value for me and I'm certainly not going to regret that. If I had fun, it was worth it, right? Even things that retroactively ruin my interest are purely only temporary, but I don't have regret. By interest, I only mean my interest in replaying, as I'm constantly replaying games, rewatching shows, rereading books, etc, and though a certain game's ending, for example, may have killed my interest in replaying for a little while, I still went back eventually and played it again - and will do so again at another point.

If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't play it, and there's no single moment, or even moments, that can ruin the past for me.

 

[Continuity]

What I was getting at is that outside forces often look in and use that identifier in a scornful way and that gaming culture won't be as integrated until that disappears.
...

The whole point of the article was to point out that while I and others identify as a gamer, it is the fault of outside sources for forcing the feeling of remorse. That perception needs to change for it to go away.

Ok well you're making a different point to what I thought. I have some difficulty with this topic because I only see it myself second hand, I see friends experiencing "gamer's remorse" and I see attempts to disown or sideline gaming in social situations as if there is a stigma attached. Personally though I experience no social stigma or consequent remorse because I'm profoundly unsociable, and don't care a jot for the perception of society. I gladly own gaming as a hobby and I don't care who knows it or what they think.

To the point though I think its just a question of time, once the non-gaming generations have been phased out of the mainstream by the younger generations that grew up with games I think society's attitudes will change inductively. I think we've actually seen similar things in history with other new media, music gives us plenty of examples of new genre that have been frowned on socially at first and then been integrated into social collective over time.

I also think there is an added factor here, gaming is perceived as being a very male/adolescent focused activity, and as such I think there is a general feeling especially among young men that it is harming or being an obstacle to their sexual and social chances. I suspect this is the biggest source of stigma/remorse and I doubt that's going to change much until there is more of a balance in numbers of male and female gamers (here I use "gamer" to mean computer game enthusiast, not merely playing games).

 

[rbstewart7263]

Ive gotten it I think it comes from having not found a place in life for myself and still choosing to fill that time with other pursuits and what not. I hate it but nowadays I play magic on sundays and I never feel remorsful about that!