Poll: What is a gamer?

[veloper]

No "miserable pile of secrets" reference? I'm Insulted!

But seriously? Anyone who enjoys games and plays regularly. That's pretty much how it works for all other hobbies.

Pretty much.
And yet we have an almost even split in this poll between all the all-inclusive "everyone is a gamer" crowd and the members who think that words should mean something.

 

[FalloutJack]

A gamer is he or she who games, no more, no less. Anything else is just nit-picking.

 

[blackrave]

Anyone who prefers games over other entertainment media
Simple as that

 

[Maszynow]

I say that a gamer is a person who plays a lot of different games. If we'd accept that a gamer is just anyone who plays games, then girlfriends playing Sims 3/DDR/Facebook games would be quite hardcore gamers in some cases :/

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It's guessing its someone that plays games, but more than just dabbling, sort of like a nice middle ground between so-called casual (only plays games occasionally and even then only Facebook or iphone games) and a hardcore (keeps up with the industry and appreciates games as an art) gamers.

Ostensibly someone who plays games and chooses to label themselves as such, which I no longer do.

EDIT: That is, I still play games, I just don't associate myself with that label.

I'm curious, why do you know longer label yourself as a gamer?

EDIT: I've changed my mind. Let's just say that gamers are no longer a group I want to associate with.

Why not?

Because if most other gamers are any example then being a gamer is hardly a condition to be desired.

! Wait....a condition? You say it like it's a horrifying disease.

Well I got that phrase from from a Star Trek novel. The original line read "If you are any example then being Vulcan is hardly a condition to be desired." and was spoken by Spock to his father.
Anyway, the point I was trying to convey is that the behavior of most other gamers makes it so that any respectable person wouldn't want to be labeled as such, which is certainly the case with me.

And what about those that carry that title as though it were a shining badge of honor? And I'm not talking about the jerky think "I'm better than you because of how good I am at Black Ops" kind of people, either. I mean the kinds of people who took part of life lessons, were challenged to think a different way about something,were inspired,felt they were part of something they be proud of,people that shared their interests,were introduced to amazing things because they resemble something they liked,kind of of people that can find meaning in the games they play,and can even create or elaborate on existing characters in interesting ways? Those that aren't total jerks to people, but just enjoy gaming not just for the reasons stated above,but for finding other like minded individuals that share thier interests,helping them find friends. What about those kind of gamers? What about....me?

Hence why I used the qualifier "most." At the very least, enough that I don't want to be associated with them by labeling myself as a gamer.

And I get that, but why don't you want yourself associated with us? Because of the bad side of gamers?

Short version, yes the bad side of gamers about sums it up.

 

[afroebob]

Gamer: Someone who plays games.

Its a fairly obvious definition... its just pretentious to call it anything else.

Anyone who prefers games over other entertainment media
Simple as that

I play a shit ton of games but I prefer movies over them. I guess I'm not a gamer than... simple as that right?

 

[mechashiva77]

I believe a gamer is a person who plays games regularly. Some people want to use the term to refer only to hardcore players, but I think that just makes it harder to get into the community and makes it seem like gamers want to be an "exclusive-only boys club." It bothers me that we're always asking to be taken seriously by other medium, that we want politicians to stop imposing laws on us, that we want baby-boomers and news pundits to stop referring to us as "potential school shooters", and then when it comes to actually changing ourselves, the content of the games (THIS DOES NOT MEAN I WANT CENSORSHIP), the community, or the way our community interacts, a lot of people act like their being dragged over hot coals.

Spoiler: This Penny Arcade comic kind of sums up my mentality behind my last sentence.

Then again, it just might be the whole "silent majority, vocal minority" thing.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It's guessing its someone that plays games, but more than just dabbling, sort of like a nice middle ground between so-called casual (only plays games occasionally and even then only Facebook or iphone games) and a hardcore (keeps up with the industry and appreciates games as an art) gamers.

Ostensibly someone who plays games and chooses to label themselves as such, which I no longer do.

EDIT: That is, I still play games, I just don't associate myself with that label.

I'm curious, why do you know longer label yourself as a gamer?

EDIT: I've changed my mind. Let's just say that gamers are no longer a group I want to associate with.

Why not?

Because if most other gamers are any example then being a gamer is hardly a condition to be desired.

! Wait....a condition? You say it like it's a horrifying disease.

Well I got that phrase from from a Star Trek novel. The original line read "If you are any example then being Vulcan is hardly a condition to be desired." and was spoken by Spock to his father.
Anyway, the point I was trying to convey is that the behavior of most other gamers makes it so that any respectable person wouldn't want to be labeled as such, which is certainly the case with me.

And what about those that carry that title as though it were a shining badge of honor? And I'm not talking about the jerky think "I'm better than you because of how good I am at Black Ops" kind of people, either. I mean the kinds of people who took part of life lessons, were challenged to think a different way about something,were inspired,felt they were part of something they be proud of,people that shared their interests,were introduced to amazing things because they resemble something they liked,kind of of people that can find meaning in the games they play,and can even create or elaborate on existing characters in interesting ways? Those that aren't total jerks to people, but just enjoy gaming not just for the reasons stated above,but for finding other like minded individuals that share thier interests,helping them find friends. What about those kind of gamers? What about....me?

Hence why I used the qualifier "most." At the very least, enough that I don't want to be associated with them by labeling myself as a gamer.

And I get that, but why don't you want yourself associated with us? Because of the bad side of gamers?

Short version, yes the bad side of gamers about sums it up.

So, just because of the bad side of gamers,you want to avoid them entirely? Isn't that a little....closed minded? I'm sorry,but why avoid a group as thus just because one decently sized group is bad. It'd be like avoiding YouTube just because of bad channels or trolls. I'm sorry,but I just don't get that.

I didn't say "avoid" I said "associate" as in I don't want that label applied to me.

 

[Cyfu]

If you go by the dictionary: A person who plays games, especially computer or video games.

If you go by the more 'unwritten' definition, then it differs from person to person. Some say that even someone playing angry birds on their phone is a gamer. Some say that being a gamer is a lot more than that. I belong to the latter group.

So for me personally:
-If you play games on a pc and don't even know what computer specs you're running, you're not a gamer.
-If you play games on a console and hardly know about the hardware accessories, you're not a gamer.
-If you play only the extremely casual 'app' games, like angry birds or plants vs zombies, or other such games you're not a gamer.
-If you only play maybe one hour or less a day on average, even if you have a lot more free time than that, you're not a gamer.
-If you've never participated in competitive play, you're not a gamer.
-If you know nothing/hardly anything about what's going on in the industry as a whole. What's happening with the more well-known companies, what games are coming out soon, etc.

Sure, they're all criteria that tell you when you're -not- a gamer. But it's quite easy to take the opposites of the criteria to tell you what I think -does- make you a gamer. And I want to make it clear that this is my opinion on the matter. Not the be-all-end-all of what being a 'gamer' should be. It just basically comes down to 'is your gaming your actual hobby, or just some pass-time in between?' A person that maybe plays golf every once in a while for fun isn't called a golfer either. A person that has 3~4 paintings hanging in his house isn't called an art-collector either. Etc.

PS:
Let's also not forget that within the 'gamer' group there are sub groups. I'll use WoW as an example since it has all types of gamer in it.

-Brainless: Think playing but not going into raiding or arena.
-Casual: A bit of raiding and arena/pvp, but nothing serious.
-Dedicated: Actively raiding, and/or trying to at least get a decent arena/pvp rating.
-Hardcore: Raiding several times a week, trying to get everything done on the highest difficulty, and/or trying to get to the top rankings in arena/pvp
-No-life: Being at the very top of the raiding or pvp scene because WoW is pretty much all you do in life. No-life excludes professional gamers that earn their income with it by the way.

So I'm not a gamer then? even though I play on average 8 hours a day?(what? I don't have a job yet and homework is not important, obviously xD). Seriously, I don't know the specs of my PC. I know it's shit, because it's old as fuck and all i care about is if it's able to play the games I want to play.
I haven't played anything competitively, ever. I have played a lot of games that is often played competitively, like HoN and Starcraft 1,2. I dont't know ANYTHING about hardware accessories.

Why can't it just be a term used for people who play games a lot?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It's guessing its someone that plays games, but more than just dabbling, sort of like a nice middle ground between so-called casual (only plays games occasionally and even then only Facebook or iphone games) and a hardcore (keeps up with the industry and appreciates games as an art) gamers.

Ostensibly someone who plays games and chooses to label themselves as such, which I no longer do.

EDIT: That is, I still play games, I just don't associate myself with that label.

I'm curious, why do you know longer label yourself as a gamer?

EDIT: I've changed my mind. Let's just say that gamers are no longer a group I want to associate with.

Why not?

Because if most other gamers are any example then being a gamer is hardly a condition to be desired.

! Wait....a condition? You say it like it's a horrifying disease.

Well I got that phrase from from a Star Trek novel. The original line read "If you are any example then being Vulcan is hardly a condition to be desired." and was spoken by Spock to his father.
Anyway, the point I was trying to convey is that the behavior of most other gamers makes it so that any respectable person wouldn't want to be labeled as such, which is certainly the case with me.

And what about those that carry that title as though it were a shining badge of honor? And I'm not talking about the jerky think "I'm better than you because of how good I am at Black Ops" kind of people, either. I mean the kinds of people who took part of life lessons, were challenged to think a different way about something,were inspired,felt they were part of something they be proud of,people that shared their interests,were introduced to amazing things because they resemble something they liked,kind of of people that can find meaning in the games they play,and can even create or elaborate on existing characters in interesting ways? Those that aren't total jerks to people, but just enjoy gaming not just for the reasons stated above,but for finding other like minded individuals that share thier interests,helping them find friends. What about those kind of gamers? What about....me?

Hence why I used the qualifier "most." At the very least, enough that I don't want to be associated with them by labeling myself as a gamer.

And I get that, but why don't you want yourself associated with us? Because of the bad side of gamers?

Short version, yes the bad side of gamers about sums it up.

So, just because of the bad side of gamers,you want to avoid them entirely? Isn't that a little....closed minded? I'm sorry,but why avoid a group as thus just because one decently sized group is bad. It'd be like avoiding YouTube just because of bad channels or trolls. I'm sorry,but I just don't get that.

I didn't say "avoid" I said "associate" as in I don't want that label applied to me.

Yes,yes,but why don't you want that label associated with you? I'm sorry if I'm prying here, but I really want to know. We're not all bad,you know that,right?

Well I'm afraid to get into it because big brother might be watching (and by "big brother" I mean the mods), let's just say all the excessive whining, not to mention immaturity, has made me rather jaded.

 

[sanquin]

So I'm not a gamer then? even though I play on average 8 hours a day?(what? I don't have a job yet and homework is not important, obviously xD). Seriously, I don't know the specs of my PC. I know it's shit, because it's old as fuck and all i care about is if it's able to play the games I want to play.
I haven't played anything competitively, ever. I have played a lot of games that is often played competitively, like HoN and Starcraft 1,2. I dont't know ANYTHING about hardware accessories.

Why can't it just be a term used for people who play games a lot?

*rolls eyes* Yea, to me you're not a gamer. What, is your world ending now? I'm just some girl on the net you don't know. So what if you're not a gamer in my book?

Captcha: Thank you, come again

 

[CCountZero]

So I'm not a gamer then? even though I play on average 8 hours a day?(what? I don't have a job yet and homework is not important, obviously xD). Seriously, I don't know the specs of my PC. I know it's shit, because it's old as fuck and all i care about is if it's able to play the games I want to play.
I haven't played anything competitively, ever. I have played a lot of games that is often played competitively, like HoN and Starcraft 1,2. I dont't know ANYTHING about hardware accessories.

Why can't it just be a term used for people who play games a lot?

Does buying a skateboard and spending half of your day on one of those ramp installation thingies make you a Skater?

Does getting on the Green with a set of golf clubs make you a Golfer if you don't own and wear those Golfer pants? (Which are even part of the dress code in many golf clubs.)

Does singing every time you're in the shower make you a Singer?

Are you a Guitarist if the only track you can play is Smoke on the Water?

-----------------------------

Playing games is not the same as being a Gamer. Being a gamer requires that you show a little more interest in the subject, and keep up with the happenings, etc.

That's how it is with all such terms.

 

[frobalt]

I'd say it has to be someone that plays quite often.

I mean, if I played football once a month I'd hardly be classed as a footballer, right?

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

"Gamer" is a pretty broad term, but I'd say it takes more than the occasional game of Words With Friends on the toilet.

 

[Cyfu]

So I'm not a gamer then? even though I play on average 8 hours a day?(what? I don't have a job yet and homework is not important, obviously xD). Seriously, I don't know the specs of my PC. I know it's shit, because it's old as fuck and all i care about is if it's able to play the games I want to play.
I haven't played anything competitively, ever. I have played a lot of games that is often played competitively, like HoN and Starcraft 1,2. I dont't know ANYTHING about hardware accessories.

Why can't it just be a term used for people who play games a lot?

*rolls eyes* Yea, to me you're not a gamer. What, is your world ending now? I'm just some girl on the net you don't know. So what if you're not a gamer in my book?

Captcha: Thank you, come again

well, no. I don't really care if you say I'm not a gamer. I just understand why you have so strict rules for being a gamer. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[Cyfu]

So I'm not a gamer then? even though I play on average 8 hours a day?(what? I don't have a job yet and homework is not important, obviously xD). Seriously, I don't know the specs of my PC. I know it's shit, because it's old as fuck and all i care about is if it's able to play the games I want to play.
I haven't played anything competitively, ever. I have played a lot of games that is often played competitively, like HoN and Starcraft 1,2. I dont't know ANYTHING about hardware accessories.

Why can't it just be a term used for people who play games a lot?

Does buying a skateboard and spending half of your day on one of those ramp installation thingies make you a Skater?

Does getting on the Green with a set of golf clubs make you a Golfer if you don't own and wear those Golfer pants? (Which are even part of the dress code in many golf clubs.)

Does singing every time you're in the shower make you a Singer?

Are you a Guitarist if the only track you can play is Smoke on the Water?

-----------------------------

Playing games is not the same as being a Gamer. Being a gamer requires that you show a little more interest in the subject, and keep up with the happenings, etc.

That's how it is with all such terms.

In my eyes a person who plays a lot of video games do show interest in the subject. Or.. eh, I'm not sure. By video games I do not mean games for Iphone and android. They are games and I enjoy them a lot, but if you only play games on your Iphone you're not a gamer. Because I think most of the time they play on their device just to pass time, not to play video games. but that just my opinion.
anyways, as long as they play a lot of games on a console or a PC I think that qualifies that person to be a gamer.

And for your examples, If someone buys a skateboard and skates a lot, yeah I would call him a skater.
If someone golfs a lot then he is a golfer.
If you ONLY knows smoke on the water, that means you most likely do not spend a lot of time learning the guitar and therefore you are not a guitarist.
I think singing is a special case. Because it's very hard to be good at singing if you are not born with talent and if you don't take singing lessons. So even if you sing a lot you are not a singer, not in my eyes anyways. I know that contradicts what I said above but like i said, Singing is a special case. If that makes any sense xD