Yes, They're Gamers, Too
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
I've gone on huge tirades about this before, so I'll just say I agree with this article 100%
By the way, I've only plaid about twenty minutes worth of Mega Man and I couldn't tell you the first freakin' thing about Braid.
By the way, I've only plaid about twenty minutes worth of Mega Man and I couldn't tell you the first freakin' thing about Braid.
I don't think its immature to find it annoying that people who "play" casual games call themselves gamers. Its not so much that its a title to be earned, its a word which you would use to emphasise that not only you play games but also that this hobby makes up a part of your personality and the person you are today.
Managing a fictional farm because of your OCD disorder does not make you a gamer. A gamer enjoys the challenge and the experience of gaming. If someone loves a game like farmville or bejewelled more than I personally think is possible, then sure, they could call themselves a gamer. However I don't think games like that can really give the same experience that "real" games can, for lack of a better name.
When it truely becomes the hobby they enjoy and are not just addicted to/are using to pass the time, they should call themselves gamers. Until that point, they are just jumping on the bandwagon of the new popular "thing" to be into.
Managing a fictional farm because of your OCD disorder does not make you a gamer. A gamer enjoys the challenge and the experience of gaming. If someone loves a game like farmville or bejewelled more than I personally think is possible, then sure, they could call themselves a gamer. However I don't think games like that can really give the same experience that "real" games can, for lack of a better name.
When it truely becomes the hobby they enjoy and are not just addicted to/are using to pass the time, they should call themselves gamers. Until that point, they are just jumping on the bandwagon of the new popular "thing" to be into.
What if you get incredibly good at a FPS because of your OCD? As it's used both socially and in the article, the title "gamer" is as much about privileging one genre of game as it is about the motivation, skill, or commitment of the people who play them.nelsonr100 said:
As I said, I think if you genuinely enjoy the experience then you can call yourself a gamer. I used that analogy simply to illustrate that people who play these games without actually gaining anything from it should not call themselves gamers. They are time wasters.Rachel Edidin said:
I think you can be a gamer by playing something like farmville, though I doubt there are many genuinely enjoyable moments in the "game". Equally someone playing COD simply due to their obsession isn't getting anything from it, and if thats all they do, they arn't a gamer either.
(They are most likly a tbh)
I spoke a while ago with a friend about this topic, and she raised an example from the world of photography. Today, everyone and their grandma have a camera. Stores offer a wide selection of affordable cameras of all sorts, we've got cameras plugged in to our computers, and even got cameras in our mobiles. We've got cameras coming down our proverbial arses. All we need to do to take a photo these days is to take out our mobile and snap. Does that make everyone a photographer?
Some might say yes, if you take photos that makes you a photographer. I say: heck no!
There's a difference between taking a quick snapshot of your buddies on your mobile's camera to the craft, skill and dedication it requires to produce truly impressive, quality photos. There are people out there who truly care about the art of photography, who try to learn more about it and take part in it, not necessarily on a professional level. Are they to be placed on the same level of craft as some random person with barely enough skill to point the camera and click?
The same can be said of writers, artists, divers, boaters, mountain-climbers, skiers or whatever. Anyone can write, or draw, or get underwater, or go on a boat, or ascend a mountain, but few do it with the appreciation and dedication of true enthusiasts.
So why can't the same apply for gaming?
For me, the title of "gamer" isn't one of some pretended superiority, an exhibition of one's "uber" skill and achievements in some virtual world, or the devaluation of the "casual gamer". But it does mean something. It means an appreciation of the activity, perhaps a degree of enthusiasm to the medium as a whole. It means belonging to a unique subculture that the so-called gamers have formed around them. It says that "you may dabble in games from time to time, but me? I game.".
This doesn't mean to imply, at least not for me, that people who play gamers "casually" are any less than a "real gamer", or that this activity is some form of heresy, and that there is something wrong with it. Being a "gamer" is merely an arbitrary title that separates the dabbler from the enthusiast.
Some might say yes, if you take photos that makes you a photographer. I say: heck no!
There's a difference between taking a quick snapshot of your buddies on your mobile's camera to the craft, skill and dedication it requires to produce truly impressive, quality photos. There are people out there who truly care about the art of photography, who try to learn more about it and take part in it, not necessarily on a professional level. Are they to be placed on the same level of craft as some random person with barely enough skill to point the camera and click?
The same can be said of writers, artists, divers, boaters, mountain-climbers, skiers or whatever. Anyone can write, or draw, or get underwater, or go on a boat, or ascend a mountain, but few do it with the appreciation and dedication of true enthusiasts.
So why can't the same apply for gaming?
For me, the title of "gamer" isn't one of some pretended superiority, an exhibition of one's "uber" skill and achievements in some virtual world, or the devaluation of the "casual gamer". But it does mean something. It means an appreciation of the activity, perhaps a degree of enthusiasm to the medium as a whole. It means belonging to a unique subculture that the so-called gamers have formed around them. It says that "you may dabble in games from time to time, but me? I game.".
This doesn't mean to imply, at least not for me, that people who play gamers "casually" are any less than a "real gamer", or that this activity is some form of heresy, and that there is something wrong with it. Being a "gamer" is merely an arbitrary title that separates the dabbler from the enthusiast.
I knew I was forgetting something. This could be even further expanded with something before Casual Gamers... Pre Gamers, the people who only play games like Wii Sport, Wii Fit and Brain Trainer (which I dont really class the last 2 as games anyways)coldalarm said:
Pre Gamers
Casual Gamers
Gamers
Hardcore Gamers
Pro Gamers
Carnagath said:
I agree with both of these people for their reasons and the reasons I have already stated.WickedArtist said:
well put guys.
This, mostlyDaggermonkie said:
Everyone who plays games is a gamer but we have core and casual
Casual gamers are those who may play occasionally while core gamers generally devote a bit of time to a game
It doesn't matter about skill or even what games you play, I play Etrian Odyssey and I play Wii Sports
My friend owns and has completed every single Final Fantasy title released in the UK but he also plays Farmville
Can this guy say neither of us are 'real' gamers due to the fact that simple games are often just as fun as complicated or hard games.
I'm really not a fan of the debate.
I remember when "casual" games first came out people were like ok fine they are casual gamers.
But them some one down the line was like wait no, we don't want to be different we're just gamers. And now its back to a definition of gamer. I don't get why people just couldn't keep levels of "gamer". Seriously the other day a guy told me his grandmother was a gamer, and I did a double take and was like wha?? yea his little brother convinced his mom to get the grandmother a DS and some memory game because grandma was always forgetting things.
Other mediums have levels, like even on the escapist we have our titles based on post #, the same should be on a variety or number of games under your belt. All you do is play farmville, maybe one or two other games? Casual. You enjoy a decent variety of games, Gamer. You have a library of games that you have played and enjoy. Gaming Enthusiast. You own everything, have played more hours than you have slept. Hardcore. [All subject to variations, etc]
I remember when "casual" games first came out people were like ok fine they are casual gamers.
But them some one down the line was like wait no, we don't want to be different we're just gamers. And now its back to a definition of gamer. I don't get why people just couldn't keep levels of "gamer". Seriously the other day a guy told me his grandmother was a gamer, and I did a double take and was like wha?? yea his little brother convinced his mom to get the grandmother a DS and some memory game because grandma was always forgetting things.
Other mediums have levels, like even on the escapist we have our titles based on post #, the same should be on a variety or number of games under your belt. All you do is play farmville, maybe one or two other games? Casual. You enjoy a decent variety of games, Gamer. You have a library of games that you have played and enjoy. Gaming Enthusiast. You own everything, have played more hours than you have slept. Hardcore. [All subject to variations, etc]
A real gamer is someone who, on discovering that people play videogames they disapprove of, or people they disapprove of play videogames, redefines the term "gamer" to exclude those people.
People are still trying to decide who is and isn't a gamer?
Man... Old, obnoxious classifications never really die.
They're no worse than the people feuding over what's "hardcore" or "casual."
Let's set the record straight: You play games? You are a gamer. This isn't some A-list club, or the VIP room, where you had to beat all of the challenges of God of War while eating a bowl of soup to gain access to the title.
Man... Old, obnoxious classifications never really die.
They're no worse than the people feuding over what's "hardcore" or "casual."
Let's set the record straight: You play games? You are a gamer. This isn't some A-list club, or the VIP room, where you had to beat all of the challenges of God of War while eating a bowl of soup to gain access to the title.
The fact is that identity isn't actually something you can take away from (or give to) others. They define it for themselves. Anyone who says, "you're not such and such because you don't do such and such" is merely listening to the drum beat of their own ego. There is no reason why the other person should listen to such subjective nonsense.
Being a gamer is no different. We are gamers because we call ourselves gamers. No more, and no less. The action of gaming merely chooses the word "gamer" for us initially, we then take the word and use it how we will. It will only change meaning more over time.
Semantically, I do think that the word, "gamer" is too general to extend to identifying whether you are truly hardcore or not. How hardcore we are should decide whether we call ourselves hardcore gamers or not, rather than whether we are gamers in general. Not only that, but being so exclusive a club is just a mirroring of the cliquish behaviour that I suspect was the cause of many a gamer's alienation in the bad old days. If we have any moral consistency, we should not act in such a way. Inclusiveness in this instance makes social, moral and semantic sense.
Of course, no one said that what we do has to make sense.
Being a gamer is no different. We are gamers because we call ourselves gamers. No more, and no less. The action of gaming merely chooses the word "gamer" for us initially, we then take the word and use it how we will. It will only change meaning more over time.
Semantically, I do think that the word, "gamer" is too general to extend to identifying whether you are truly hardcore or not. How hardcore we are should decide whether we call ourselves hardcore gamers or not, rather than whether we are gamers in general. Not only that, but being so exclusive a club is just a mirroring of the cliquish behaviour that I suspect was the cause of many a gamer's alienation in the bad old days. If we have any moral consistency, we should not act in such a way. Inclusiveness in this instance makes social, moral and semantic sense.
Of course, no one said that what we do has to make sense.