Poll: Do you object to being called a "gamer"?

[GonzoGamer]

I agree with extar credits in saying that I play games and I am therefore a gamer. I also watch movies; listen to all kinds of music and read. Do I get any kind of label for those? No.

That is a good point but most everyone does those other things.
50 years ago you might have been called a bookworm if that was all you did (before video games and ipods).

I don't mind being called a gamer any more than I mind being called an artist, a musician, a hypnotist, a traveler, or a scholar of various things. Gaming may not be as prestigious as a couple of those other things but it's one of the things that defines me I guess.

Maybe the trick is to make sure it isn't the only thing that defines you.

 

[Z3RO180]

nope i dount really object to it case that word describes my favorite hobby.

 

[Palademon]

I don't object to it.
I object to the image people get in their heads whenever it's mentioned.

 

[Drakmeire]

not at all.
I like games, therefore I am a gamer.
I like movies therefore I am a film geek.
I like anime therefore I am an anime fan (Otaku has some BAD meanings behind it so that I object to)
I like to read therefore I am a bookworm.
just a way of saying you like something.
nothing bad about it, expect for the otaku one.

 

[omega3711]

I'm not offended by the title, I don't feel it implies that I do nothing else. People can be painters, writers and gamers as well; it's just easier and shorter to say I'm a gamer than to say that I like to play video games a lot.

 

[Hollock]

nope, even though I'm not playing too much lately.

 

[tlozoot]

Not at all, but I think far too many people use the badge of 'gamer' with such a cliquey passion that they end up making gaming too exclusionary for newcomers to get into.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

Personally I find it quite riling when people say that I'm a "gamer". I like games, but I also like movies and music and books and art and cooking and history and philosophy and lots of other things, but for some reason no one ever objectifies me based on any of these. Instead, I am defined by the fact that I like playing games.

Anyone else?

Same exact thing. Plus, "gamer" is almost exclusively used pejoratively, or at least condescendingly. I prefer to be called a geek or a nerd, 'cause at least those do a better job of encompassing more of my interests.

 

[malestrithe]

I am a gamer. I do not hate the label.

I am also a movie junkie. I do not hate that label either.

What I can't stand is people wanting to make artificial distinctions between types of gamers.

"That person is a not a true gamer: he plays Call of Duty, Bejeweled, or whatever."

In my neck of the woods, that is called a No True Scotsman Fallacy.

 

[jpoon]

Doesn't bother me one bit, whatever. I play video games...what of it?

 

[Artina89]

No I don't mind being called a "gamer". Its just a term that describes one of my hobbies, as long as people realise that it isn't my only defining characteristic, then I have no problem.

 

[TheDooD]

Hey I had my unpatched version of the "Gamer" Perk for 20 years, I'm glad to be called one.

 

[trollnystan]

Not really, although I don't consider myself a gamer in the way the title is usually used.

¤ I play games on casual. I might go up to as high up as hard once in a blue moon.
¤ I will not run around looking for every single collectable in a game without a cheat sheet in the wings if doing so means losing 4-6 hours of my life searching like a blind idiot - heck I'll sometimes skip the collectables all together unless they give you stuff.
¤ I'm a button masher.
¤ I gamed very seldom until I was around 18 years old; in fact for years the only games I played with any regularity was Doom and the Encarta children's trivia game.
¤ Half the time I don't know what you guys are talking about - games, developers, inside jokes, etc.
¤ I'm a girl. (j/k)

There are probably more points I could bring up against my gamer status - ones that make more sense even - but I'm super-duper-über tired.

TL;DR: No.

 

[Dr. Feelgood]

No, it is what I am after all. I understand why you might be upset, though. It kind of feels like you're being a bit alienated, or it implies it's the only thing you do.

 

[WayOutThere]

Personally I find it quite riling when people say that I'm a "gamer". I like games, but I also like movies and music and books and art and cooking and history and philosophy and lots of other things, but for some reason no one ever objectifies me based on any of these. Instead, I am defined by the fact that I like playing games.

Anyone else?

I hardly understand what you mean by "objectified". It's not as if people think gaming is all there is to you.

Terms like gamer (and, for another example, atheist) exist because many people aren't gamers and therefore whether or not you're a gamer can not be taken as a given the same way movier or booker can. The term actually exists for a reason.

My vote is that we do nothing to stop people from calling us gamers. When the term goes away on its own we can be happy that its no longer necessary.

 

[Nieroshai]

The poll has spoken Escapist, stop trying to tell us what we do or do not think. You've been pushing this a while now, it's time to note that it has NOT caught on.

 

[King Toasty]

No. It's a term used to describe people who really, really like games. So it fits.

I don't see much of that negative stereotype anymore, at least not where I live.

 

[Rabid Chipmunk]

Well, no, I don't mind, because no one ever calls me a "gamer..."

 

[Nyce1]

I enjoy games so being called a gamer is not a big deal. I been playing since the eighties and find the term to be fine. Any label can be seen as negative it depends on the ears and self-confidence the label falls upon. Proud to be one!

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

no but strangely i do object to being asked wether i object to being called a gamer