Is it a stretch to say that Gamers are *Prejudiced against eachother*? *fixed*

[BlackLurker]

Too bad that actual Trolls would use it sarcastically to try to seem less trollish and instantly discredit it, but I think there should be a button or phrase or something to make it so that you can identify yourself as not a troll. I suppose I'll just have to use my words right. Last discussion thread I wanted to be able to give and recieve input and share thoughts on got locked before I could finish typing it (granted, it was about MLP...)

Also going to ask, most likely invane, for us to have a decent discussion. I'm not looking for flames. I'm looking for genuine input. Heck, I might save this thread and see if I can use it for a college essay in psychology. That'd be awesome.

Filler aside. Newb. Scrub. Troll. Little Kid. Old Person. Computer Gamer. Pirate Fag. Stop-Having-Fun-Guy. Nintendo Gamer. Playstation Gamer. Microsoft Gamer. Nostalgia Gamer. Console I've Forgotten Gamer. "IDORT". Casual Gamer. "Hard Core" Gamer. Female Gamer. Games-For-Pleasure. Games-For-Art. RPG (both Western and Eastern) Gamer. "Realism" Gamer. "Fantasy" Gamer.

I'm sure I've made my point in the number of terms people use to divide eachother into little groups. It's obvious that people are going to like different things, and like doing the same thing in different ways. But people don't seem to be doing that, at least not as healthily as they should be. I'll be quite honest when I say (although there is indeed a lack of thousands of years of horrid crimes involved) that people who identify others with terms like these honestly sound prejudiced.

Why? Am I just imagining things? Or am I a bit late to the party? I did a quick search check for this topic, and I don't see any topics quite related to what I'm going for. And while I do know it is a bit of a stretch, the judgemental way people label eachother, insult eachother, and attempt to devalue eachother, seems barely different, if at all, to regular "oh, you have skin of a different color, so you're inferior to me" or "you are lesser than me because my parents made more money than yours" bigotry and hatery...

 

[KaiusCormere]

I think it's fair to say that gamers are fairly passionate about their hobby, and many will have extreme dislike of people who they think don't belong in it. I for instance can't stand trolls, people who cheat at multi-player games or people who ever say "it's just a game" to ignore anything that is wrong with the game.

 

[krazykidd]

Wait , umm what is the question? I am quite interested in this thread actually , but i can't find a suitable answer because theres so much going on in the opening statement i cant seem to pin point what the actual question is :/

 

[Nudu]

Filler aside. Newb. Scrub. Troll. Little Kid. Old Person. Computer Gamer. Pirate Fag. Stop-Having-Fun-Guy. Nintendo Gamer. Playstation Gamer. Microsoft Gamer. Nostalgia Gamer. Console I've Forgotten Gamer. "IDORT". Casual Gamer. Casual-Hater-Gamer. Female Gamer. Games-For-Pleasure. Games-For-Art. RPG (both Western and Eastern) Gamer. "Realism" Gamer. "Fantasy" Gamer.

Huh? Are these biological races now?

 

[enzilewulf]

I don't think you mean racist to an actual race. That had me confused.. Yet there is a lot of games genres and some people on here may hate people for their selected tastes but really its more of the playing around type feeling. Take sports as a example. Friend A likes the Steelers and Friend B likes the Ravens. Two Rival teams. Yet when they get with each other they might crack jokes but not hate the person for their favorite team. Honestly people hating other because of consoles is so stupid that it just seems unreal. Sure I don't like how Elite some PC gamer's are but by no means do I hate them. I love the fact that in this console generation you can really play what ever suits you. This is the most varied console generation ever. It makes me happy to live in such a time when the consumer can really get what he wants out of a console.

 

[BrailleOperatic]

I don't think racism is the right term here. It means discrimination against some one based on their ethnicity. In gaming, it tends to be more discrimination against others based on tastes and preferences. If anything, gamers are horribly elitist. But no, I don't believe racism is one of the more common traits tied in with being a gamer.

 

[FalloutJack]

No, they aren't racist.

NEXT!

 

[Dethenger]

Racism is discrimination.
Discrimination is not racism.
There is a crucial distinction.

 

[orangeban]

Well no, because what you've described are either gamers with actual differences (excluding the ones that are insults, that's just rudeness, and the ones you've oddly missed but that should be burned in tartarus, hardcore and casual.) as in, "I hate JRPGS and think people who play them are stupid because they are so terrible" or something along those lines.

The other version is they are just general rivalry, as in, "Woo! Xbox! Screw Playstation". It's a bit like football teams. No one is gonna claim that insulting a Man City fan if you're a Man U fan is racist (though Celtic and Rangers is a whole 'nother kettle of discrimination)

 

[Miggiwoo]

It's pretty natural for people to attempt to categorize what they see. One of the fundamental building blocks of the English language is a noun, which is essentially a way of categorizing what we see. Adjectives serve to further categorize.

There is nothing inherently racist in categorizing. It is stereotyping based on perceived commonalities between categories that leads to racism. Is the term 'Gamer' racist? No. Is the perception of gamers as basement dwelling socially bankrupt nerds racist? Yes.

I think in particular genres of gaming, highly competitive play combined with effective anonymity combine to make players behave in a racist manner. But it is essentially a byproduct of the game, not of the individual. AWP-ing in CS:S is a great example. There is a social stigma that the AWP is a 'noob weapon'. People in that game will not hesitate to chastise, irrelevant of the skill of the player.

So I guess in answer to your question, as far as niche communities go, gamers aren't generally racist, with a few exceptions that are more a part of environmental factors. Perhaps ruthlessly competitive is a more appropriate description.

 

[Epicspoon]

No, they aren't racist.

NEXT!

actually basic psychology states that everybody is slightly racist.

 

[Toriver]

No, they aren't racist.

NEXT!

actually basic psychology states that everybody is slightly racist.

Allow me to put that into song for you (and everybody had to know this was coming):

 

[FalloutJack]

No, they aren't racist.

NEXT!

actually basic psychology states that everybody is slightly racist.

Allow me to put that into song for you (and everybody had to know this was coming):

Which is funny, but not the point of the discussion. I meant, of course, that the context of the OP's statement is indeed a stretch.

 

[ChaosKain]

Gamers aren't racist, game developers are. For example was playing Fallout New Vegas the other day, helping the Brotherhood of Steel I replaced their leader with that Harkin fellow which gave me different quests. Old leader wants me to fix their bunker, new leader wants me to go to the strip and kill all the black people, seriously? Reminds me of how Borderlands got away with child murder by naming them all 'midgets' good call.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Most people are racist to some degree, but most people also make sure never to reveal their racist thoughts or attitudes publicly, because as racist as they are they care what others think of them.

This however changes completely when people are able to say what they want anonymously in public. All of a sudden their inhibitions disappear because now they can say whatever they want and get away with it.

Gamers aren't inherently more racist than any other group of people, they just have more access to an anonymous public environment over which to broadcast their opinions.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Filler aside. Newb. Scrub. Troll. Little Kid. Old Person. Computer Gamer. Pirate Fag. Stop-Having-Fun-Guy. Nintendo Gamer. Playstation Gamer. Microsoft Gamer. Nostalgia Gamer. Console I've Forgotten Gamer. "IDORT". Casual Gamer. Casual-Hater-Gamer. Female Gamer. Games-For-Pleasure. Games-For-Art. RPG (both Western and Eastern) Gamer. "Realism" Gamer. "Fantasy" Gamer.

I'm sure I've made my point in the number of terms people use to divide eacho9ther into little groups. It's obvious that people are going to like different things, and like doing the same thing in different ways. But people don't seem to be doing that, at least not as healthily as they should be. I'll be quite honest when I say (although there is indeed a lack of thousands of years of horrid crimes involved) that people who identify others with terms like these honestly sound racist.

Why? Am I just imagining things? Or am I a bit late to the party? I did a quick search over Racism and Gamers, and while there's regular racism with actual back grounds of players, and issues towards racism in games, but I don't think I see anyone else already noting what I'm going for here. And I do know it is a bit of a stretch.. maybe the word prejudice might be a bit better. At the same time, the judgemental way people label eachother, insult eachother, and attempt to devalue eachother, seems barely different, if at all, to regular "oh, you have skin of a different color, so you're inferior to me" racism...

What you're talking about isn't racism, it's "prejudice." Racism has to do specifically with RACE, whereas prejudice is a catch all for everything else.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I'd say that a large amount of gamers are immature and divisive, but things would have to get a lot uglier before I'd start using words like 'racist'.