View From the Road: It's Time to Grow Up

[Xanthious]

Sorry to hear that. But until we start being open with it, it won't change. If that means waiting until after you're hired to do it, then so be it. But I have a feeling if it's the sort of job that does that, it's not the sort of place I'd want to be working at anyway.

That's a great attitude to have when you have scores of jobs lined up in front of you for your choosing. However, in most places where jobs are harder than ever to find weather or not you'd prefer to work at a certain place typically doesn't factor into it. In this economy most people searching for jobs are happy to find one regardless of how accepting of their hobbies they might be.

I know that, god forbid, if I was out looking for new employment I wouldn't want ANY of my potential employers to know that I play WoW. It's just not worth it. If it's between feeding my family and being proud of my past time then I'd prefer it not be known that I am a gamer. Furthermore, even after I was hired in I still wouldn't want it out there knowing that it could be that one thing that might count against me for promotions etc. However unfair it might be there IS a certain stigma associated with being a gamer and doubly so for an online gamer.

 

[Weaver]

I'm not ashamed of my hobbies at all (though I don't play WoW).
I have, however, worked at a company that tried to screen WoW playing candidates out of their hire list.

 

[Angerwing]

Don't forget certain companies won't hire you if your a known WoW player, and women/men/signifigant others are crazy on the BEST of days.

Which companies? I've never heard a single credible report to this matter, and have actually seen reports that employees attribute leadership to what they learned in WoW guilds, like the Starbucks guy.

My mum works in the Department of Defence here in Aus, and apparently people have been rejected security clearances for high-security jobs because they play WoW.

 

[Callate]

I don't really feel the need to be the sacrificial lamb for someone else's cause just because they try to goad me by suggesting I'm immature.

And, yes, RealID really was a bad idea for any number of reasons.

 

[Bellvedere]

I wouldn't see it so much as people being ashamed of gaming in general. Compare it to other forms of art/entertainment like music or film/tv. Everyone has their own secret shameful thing that they love like Brittany Spears or the OC or whatever whoever's friends would torment them for. Some people embrace this among friends and some people keep it just to themselves but it's hardly something you try to impress your boss or new girlfriend with. Gaming is not such a niche genre that everyone has to embrace all aspects of the culture or none at all.

Not saying that WoW is considered universally uncool even amongst gamers. Attitudes are different from peer group to peer group.

Don't forget certain companies won't hire you if your a known WoW player, and women/men/signifigant others are crazy on the BEST of days.

Which companies? I've never heard a single credible report to this matter, and have actually seen reports that employees attribute leadership to what they learned in WoW guilds, like the Starbucks guy.

At a place I once worked we had a resume submitted by a guy who wrote that he had leadership skills from taking on a leader role in online games. My boss threw it out. Not because he played online games but because he put it on his resume...

 

[Calamity]

Don't forget certain companies won't hire you if your a known WoW player, and women/men/signifigant others are crazy on the BEST of days.

Which companies? I've never heard a single credible report to this matter, and have actually seen reports that employees attribute leadership to what they learned in WoW guilds, like the Starbucks guy.

At a place I once worked we had a resume submitted by a guy who wrote that he had leadership skills from taking on a leader role in online games. My boss threw it out. Not because he played online games but because he put it on his resume...

Pretty much this, I'll let employers know my hobbies once doing so wont get my application thrown out for simply having them there.

 

[kementari]

As pretty much everyone in this thread is saying, there are a lot of good reasons why RealID was a bad idea that had nothing to do with not wanting people to know you play WoW.

 

[Negatempest]

Wait, so revealing your real life name in WoW=Interviewers for jobs knowing that you play WoW? Now I understand why people don't want their names in WoW.


P.S. Yes, that was heavy sarcasm. That is some serious conclusion jumping. Don't give me this BS that the interviewer could connect the name online to you because that is some freakin serious detective work that is ALOT more labor than it is worth.

 

[Pingieking]

As pretty much everyone in this thread is saying, there are a lot of good reasons why RealID was a bad idea that had nothing to do with not wanting people to know you play WoW.

Yeah. Having real names posted on the web is a pretty bad idea in general. It's not that I think playing WoW is a bad thing (or good thing, for that matter), but I would really like to control how much of my personal info goes onto the internet. You know, in case someone wants to know stuff about me, I have a bit more control over what they can find out without my knowledge.

The basic premise of the article is 100% valid; gamers do need to grow up and act more mature. However, the RealID uproar really has nothing to do with that. First impressions are very important to one's social life, and I would like to have some control of how I present myself to someone. Since playing WoW isn't quite as prestigious or impressive as say, being a Rhodes scholar or being the guy who cured breast cancer, I don't think that it's that great of an idea to publish it for the world to see.

On second thought, even if I was a Rhodes scholar or did cure breast cancer, I probably wouldn't want to post that all over the internet either. Anything can happen on the internet, especially when 4chan still exists.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

WoW is the most popular game in the world, if people can't admit to playing it then what hope do the rest of us gamers have?
I've never hidden my gaming but at my office, there's very few people who are involved with it as I am, so I'm kinda used to not really talking about it. Though co-workers do come to me with their gaming related questions from time to time, which is nice.

An excellent article and point John, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Blizzard using real names wasn't quite as bad as everyone made it sound.

 

[sosolidshoe]

View From the Road: It's Time to Grow Up

If the RealID fiasco demonstrated anything, it was that we gamers need to start acting like adults.

Read Full Article

It's a lovely sentiment, John, but the issue here is not that gamers are ashamed; it's that others believe they should be. The vast majority of people still do not play games, or if they do, they own a Wii and play it with their kids. The perception of time-intensive games like WoW is still skewed to the narrative seen in, as you mentioned, South Park.

You can be as hard working and qualified as you like, but if a prospective employer or client finds out you're a WoW player and that South Park episode is the image they have in their mind, say goodbye to that job/client. If they find out you have every Achievement from GTAIV, they immediately visualise that spurious CNN report about "Troubled Teen, Gamer, Kills 20", or "Man Murdered By Son For Console".

Revealing to your long-time coworkers that you enjoy a bit of WoW in the evenings isn't a huge issue; they know you, they know you work hard and that your hobbies don't effect your job performance. Having your gaming habits available through a quick Google search for any future employer to read without your consent is another matter entirely, and I think it was fear of the latter rather than the former which caused such a furore over RealID.

 

[glenbruton]

"I'll readily admit that my viewpoint on the matter is skewed thanks to where I work"

This is the problem, you can't imagine what its like to have the pressure 99.99% of the time to not mention your fave hobby . No matter where I have lived in Australia gaming is heavily stigmatised, so much so I simply will not admit to gaming to work colleagues. Only once in my working life have I met a serious gamer. I love gaming but when asked what I did on the weekend I will always say 'nothing much' rather than say I played Red Dead Redemption or Civ.

Oh how ironic I'm posting this under my real name.

 

[JIst00]

Also, to everyone commenting on the RealID issue as a whole, that's not the point of this week's column. Go to the comment thread for last week's if you want to talk about it

Apologies. Got sidetracked. =P

 

[Falke]

Wow. Just wow. This article got me to register after reading this site for over a year just so I could comment on it. I?m not going into real ID here because if someone thinks that a nicer forum is worth risking people getting harassed and quite possibly injured in real life just so they don?t have to read posts they don?t like I?m lost for words.
But this article is about what is one of the main reasons I was against it. I think writing this article from the perspective of someone employed in the gaming industry is a massive mistake. That is the ivory tower. In the rest of the world gaming is still seen as a source of violence, psychosis and quite possibly global warming. I know my employer googles for new applicants, even I have done so. If they see someone with five level 80 wow characters their chances of getting hired would be very slim indeed. And if they dared to call in sick the assumption would be that they are gaming addicts by default. Now you could say that you should not work for such people but I think anyone who thinks people should worry more about the image of gaming than providing for their families deserves to be punched in the face. Gaming has a bad rep and I think forcibly drafting everyone into your fight to make them look better is selfish and arrogant. Some have to provide for their families and they can?t afford to risk that because of something childish like the fight about forum trolls. Once more the proportion of what could be achieved by RealID and the hazards is completely ridiculous.
Now there will be the usuall things like:

-Someone has to show them it is not that way. ? yes. Feel free. But I won?t be drafted into your war.
-Explain it to them. -They don?t care?
-Things will never change this way.- Things will change. It?s just a long process and it requires generational change.
-But I have a feeling if it's the sort of job that does that, it's not the sort of place I'd want to be working at anyway. ? That?s great for you. I guess you have five other offers on the table and all of them are great. Kickass. Everyone who actually has to fight for a decent job is obviously a looser. They should just suck it up and stand proud for their games. After all what difference is it to you if they get that raise and can afford that holiday with their girlfriend or not.
Then it comes to monthly paychecks little things like games have to stand in the background. I work for hours every day, trying to make my resume look better. I sure won?t soil it like some 15 year old, stomping my foot and crying that I?m proud of my hobby and they all just don?t understand.
This is not about lingering shame. This is the difference between a 20% raise or not. The difference between calling in sick and be trusted or not. In some cases it is the difference of paying your rent or not. Grow up.

 

[Falke]

Wait, so revealing your real life name in WoW=Interviewers for jobs knowing that you play WoW? Now I understand why people don't want their names in WoW.


P.S. Yes, that was heavy sarcasm. That is some serious conclusion jumping. Don't give me this BS that the interviewer could connect the name online to you because that is some freakin serious detective work that is ALOT more labor than it is worth.

Really. I have last name that only three other people in my home country share. Two of which are female. It takes about five seconds to find anything about me online.

 

[veloper]

As long as we keep acting like a gaming hobby is something to hide, it will be.

Ugh what a terrible article.

This is not an image any single one of us can hope to influence. Not even everyone on the Escapist combined could. Any local majority near you is always the jury on popularity.

Our hobby is what it is: a hobby that excludes (almost) nobody (and the best form of entertainment).
Unless you're a pro-gamer this gives you nothing to brag about, especially not to non-gamers. Gaming will never be like a sport in this regard. At best, gaming will in time be considered equal to watching tv.

If I want co-workers to know I play starcraft, I'll tell them myself. I don't need Blizzard to do it for me. There is no advantage there.

 

[Feylynn]

Likely going to go a bit off topic, but first my thoughts on the predominant excuse against real ID.

I agree we shouldn't hide we are gamers, only way the image will change is if we are willing to fight back about their social acceptance and On a lot of fronts we have been.
If someone calls me out for being a gamer, the only logical conclusion is to prove them right. They will universally shut up in the face of pride over it, more so if you confuse them with obscure perhaps nonsensical tangents picked from random games.

But to get back to Real ID. My problem isn't with people seeing me real name and attatching it to a gamer. My problem is gaming as an escapist.
I don't want them to cross into my real persona.

If I'm playing WoW with guildies I want them to know me as the psychotic FrostFire Mage that spell steals Rune Shield and then dances in the rune of death to break the shield and activate the damage buff before blinking to a rune of power and blowing all cooldowns for some sick looking strings of 40+K crits. (Bonus points for Heroism)
I don't want them to think of me as the mundane socially anxious one with lifestyle choices they may or may not agree with. ethnicity/gender/appearance/nationality/etc all of it comes with preconceptions to how people will view you.

Ultimately perception is easily altered and perception is reality from the first person perspective.
If the only think you know about someone is their race/class/spec/and that they pull some nice DPS. You make preconceptions that become true to you. In the minds of others you are living in a fictional word and lighting things on fire with your magic finger wiggling animation.

Once you mix real life in, you lose to veil of escapism inherent to RPGs. Real life creeps in more and more ways and the game is no long a fantastical world where being a pyromaniac is good.
It's more a set of obligations, and now that they have a real face to attach to you being a pyromaniac is no longer that Awesome Mage. It's now that creepy kid that might go around lighting things on fire.

I have ALWAYS been disappointed with the result of mixing gaming with real life any farther then my bestest irl friends who are buried just as far as I am in gaming any ways.

Sorry for the tangent, thanks to anyone that bothered reading it and perhaps knows where I'm coming from.

 

[rupyTN]

I don't mind the article. I just don't see the pertinence of it in the real world (wherever the hell that is). I consider myself a gamer and admire all of you 'really good' ones out there. But i'm past 50 in years which might immediately add the 'ugh' element for other readers who consider I should be out pruning roses or something. I'm certainly not ashamed of people knowing i'm a gamer junkie, but I'd draw the line at having real names published in the wild. Not for shame reasons, just common sense. The toads out there who spam the net looking for identities to steal would have a field day breaking into peoples' private details.

My dear old mum (who just turned 80) is also a gamer, not quite as quick as she used to be due to some seriously dodgy knuckles but she uses one of her three consoles every day bar none. She still plays 'in the closet' because she doesn't think her friends would understand ... (they probably wouldn't understand even how to turn the units on mind you).

Personally, as someone who works on computers for a job, and oversees a bunch of people using different flavours of PC's, I see distinct advantages in gamers being within my area, they're savvy, quick, and don't need hitting with a phone book to assist with the computer learning curve. Most of our machinery is computer assisted or controlled and it's stark just how 'quick' a gamer can pick up the gig versus someone who just 'doesn't get into computers' ... (the machinery is large printing presses so i'm not talking nerdy doods with stick thin arms and thick glasses here).

I'd rather have a gamer pull an 'all nighter' once in a while than someone who's out on the p*#@ (booze). Like anything 'all nighters' have to be put into a context of priorities, 'how important is that raid in WOW or Eve, v how important is your employment if you are a pattern absenteeer'?

Anyway there's my two bobs worth ... now it's off to the parlour to get my bloodline tattoo.

RTN

 

[SaintWaldo]

If we, the ones who should know better, act like our hobby is something to be ashamed of, then how can we expect anyone else to think differently? If we're not going to act proud of what we love, who will?

Gaming is for adults, too. It's time to start acting like it.

It's just as adult to not wish to wear your interests on your sleeve. It's also adult to not pretend that you know the single motive for another persons actions. Shame is NOT the only reason to want privacy, and it borders on arrogance for anyone to assert such a notion.

In fact, implying that someone who doesn't hold your world view is childish seems to me to be...childish. Privacy advocates don't need to be filled with shame in order to do things they don't want others to know they do. They just want the right to choose what activities they make public.

I play WoW in my bedroom. I think you agree that almost everything else I do in my bedroom is and ought to be private unless I explicitly share it. I'm pretty certain most folks would agree with that. Even if I'm on the net, I should only be sharing that which I choose to share, not what some corporation or recent college grad bait and switches me into sharing.

Then clearly, this article was not addressed at the people who didn't explicitly say "I don't want people knowing I play WoW." That's... not really hard to understand, sorry.

That's your choice. But it should be no different than saying "I'm a Steelers fan." And until people start talking about it, then it won't be.

Except you imply my choice is "childish" by claiming your argument is the "adult" view. That's an appeal from authority and has zero value in logic or debate. You don't get to pejoratively label the other side of the argument like that. Your whole point rests on the appeal that your assertion (wanting to keep your hobbies private is somehow shame-based and therefore childish) is the only option without ever hinting that other reasons might exist. And when one is presented, you claim I missed your point.

No matter how you think it "should" be, there's plenty of reasons even a Steelers fan might not want to self-label, and many of them indicate nothing about maturity or lack of it.

 

[WeAreJimbo]

Don't forget certain companies won't hire you if your a known WoW player, and women/men/signifigant others are crazy on the BEST of days.

Which companies? I've never heard a single credible report to this matter, and have actually seen reports that employees attribute leadership to what they learned in WoW guilds, like the Starbucks guy.

I've honestly heard more stories of people bonding wuith the interviewer over the fact that they both play wow than I have of companies rejecting potential hires on the grounds that they play.

-m

why risk it? if it is not sure to be a positive thing i would like to keep it away from interviewers

extreme example that holds no basis in reality: you are a mass murderer, maybe you let your interviewer know, maybe he is one too and you bond and you get the job yay ! but i guess it would go wrong, i dont see how, but there is a way

Assuming you have a choice, why would you want to work at such a blinkered company in the first place? Better to be honest from the outset to find out where you both stand.

With reference to your extreme example if the interviewer isn't also a mass murderer you probably wouldn't get the job and could probably expect a call from the cops in the not too distant future. If the interviewer survived the interview that is!