Has Gaming Changed Your Character?

[JagermanXcell]

It's hard to say exactly where I'd be without video games (since I've been playing them since before I could form complete sentences), but I can think of at least one game that's had an unquestionable positive effect on my life: Persona 4.

It all really boils down to the whole "I am a Shadow, the true self" business within the game. I asked myself "Huh, if I had a Shadow, I wonder what mine would look like?". And considering that Shadows are the physical manifestation of one's true, suppressed inner thoughts, this led me to take a deep, hard look at myself.

I'm not exactly at liberty to share these thoughts with all of you, but I really changed my outlook of myself after that.

Leemaster, marry me.

OT: Nope. Even after I gave into pressure and bought my first COD which was MW2 I remained the "don't give a ****, let me just have fun and play the game how I want" kind of guy. Whenever I came across those scrub frat bros or 6 year olds i'd mute them if they talk to much about theirs and others genitalia instead of actually dominating a domination match. I also got several harassment messages for being a sensible human being, and was fortunate enough to buy it a long with other multiplayer games on PS3 inb4 the god send block feature.

But if I can think of a game that did change me besides P4 in a positive way, I'll say DMC3 and to some extent DMC4.
Its DMC3 where I realized how much pure fun I can have playing a video game. It was a grueling game but man it was the constantly adapting gameplay and characters, the overdose on style and that fast paced gameplay made me smile every time I'd play it. And then theres Dante... I never had an older brother growing up so Dante was pretty much that. He was what I wanted to grow up to be: stylish, fun, care free, a good time to be around with, but deep down kind hearted type of guy who cared for others. I was really anti-soical before I played the games, I'd see how Dante would act around normal people with all that confidence and stride he had in his step, and I put that into my personality, I'd end up talking a lot more to people, and ended up making friends.

It worked goddamn it.

 

[The_Echo]

I've been gaming for as long as I can remember. For all intents and purposes, I was born with controller in hand.

So I'm not sure my gaming has changed my character, so much as helped shape it into what it is and always has been.

 

[Headsprouter]

I can only think of one thing, and it's fairly recent. Borderlands 2, with it's god-awful respawns has given me a bit of a pottymouth. It's the only game I play that pisses me off to that extent, and my miffed responses have made their way into my everyday language, it may not seem like much to some, but it is to me.

It'd be fine, probably if Borderlands wasn't a game with nice, flowing combat. Y'see when you respawn, it takes ages, you want to jump right back in there and try again, but no, you have to wait a frustratingly long time to respawn. What's more, the enemies regain their health, and you lose money. Saving and quitting more than halves the time taken, and there's no loss of cash. But I shouldn't have to do that!

It's okay, online, though, online gameplay never really frustrates me at all unless people are being outright dicks, and respawn times in mutiplayer make sense.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Not gaming so much as Gaming Culture.

Or rather the Escapist; it has taught me to be diplomatic in all arguments, has defined a large part of my taste in movies and games, also my personality has also changed quite a lot too.

Basically, I owe the Escapist a lot.

 

[Spacemonkey430]

Ok everybody hates losing. And worse yet, everybody hates losing to some blankety-blank-blank-blank who uses some chea trick to beat you. I see that yes, people get worn down and eventually give in to their rage until they are raging all the time. But in my opinion there are two things to consider. One: are you really enjoying yourself when you play your shooters or otherwise? Or do you play them because they used to be fun but now its just something that you do? I hate to be "that guy" but maybe shooters aren't for you try a different style. Two: everybody has a choice. You may have been influenced by the culture and environment but you choose whether or not you let yourself be that way.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

It's certainly shaped my interests in the method in which games are made. And it's been a major influence on my interest in character design.

Socially...I've never flown my nerd flag lower than I have in the past few years. Gamer Rage and pretty much everything associated with the Xbox Live community has pretty much driven the nail in the coffin when it comes to my desire to interact with other gamers.

This is true even for games I love. I've been to every midnight release for World of Warcraft since Burning Crusade...usually outside with a book and headphones because you couldn't pay me to talk to the other folks who show up to those events.

 

[hawkeye52]

It has and for the better. Before hand I started playing 2142 I felt socially alienated by the rest of the people in my school simply because no one shared the same interests as me. I was going to turn into someone who couldn't talk to anyone outside of my parents with confidence.

If gaming hadn't entered my life and I hadn't joined a battlefield 2142 (imo the best teamwork game made) clan (Monkey-Gamers) I would have done the above.

 

[The]

Yes. They've made my character self more obese.

Quite the opposite for me. Hours upon hours of playing video games made me forget that I had to eat something once in a while. Now I'm just a shriveled up shell.