Have you ever felt excluded from the definition of a "rEaL GaMeR”?
February 15, 2021 12:41 PM Subscribe
In her video essay, Asmara walks through the "real gamer" stereotype and its implications. (slyt)
"We all have an ingrained image of what a "real gamer" is— what they look like, act like, but is this stereotype even true? How was it constructed, and what are the harmful implications of this trope?"
00:00 - Intro
01:32 - History of the term "Gamer"
02:47 - Defining a "Real Gamer"
06:21 - Decoding the "Real Gamer" Stereotype
17:51 - What prevents people from calling themselves a "gamer"?
26:41 - The Rise of the "Girl Gamer" & "Girl Gamer" Marketing
31:42 - Let's talk about race
35:34 - What is a "Real Gamer" today?
37:37 - Concluding Thoughts
Bonus Clip: A Li'l Black History in Gaming
"We all have an ingrained image of what a "real gamer" is— what they look like, act like, but is this stereotype even true? How was it constructed, and what are the harmful implications of this trope?"
00:00 - Intro
01:32 - History of the term "Gamer"
02:47 - Defining a "Real Gamer"
06:21 - Decoding the "Real Gamer" Stereotype
17:51 - What prevents people from calling themselves a "gamer"?
26:41 - The Rise of the "Girl Gamer" & "Girl Gamer" Marketing
31:42 - Let's talk about race
35:34 - What is a "Real Gamer" today?
37:37 - Concluding Thoughts
Bonus Clip: A Li'l Black History in Gaming
My son really - really wants to be a gamer. I tell him he's got to do the work: eat his meals, load the lunch dishes, feed the dogs, take out the recycling, pay attention in class and do his homework. Excelling at the basics will earn him freedom to play games. Being able to transition into and out of game time makes it easier to let him have time to do so.
Then I also go and give him an epic kid's account and then curate which weekly free games I'll add to his account. He's learned a variety of games from casual, to multiplayer, to FPS, to bullet hell, to strategy, to JRPG, and so on and so on. The goal is to let him figure out what he likes, but to make him understand what makes a game different and how those differences and similarities in game loop manifest. He is *learning* about games, and story, and that what he once thought he liked in a game is something that will continually evolve over time.
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:24 PM on February 15, 2021 [9 favorites]
Then I also go and give him an epic kid's account and then curate which weekly free games I'll add to his account. He's learned a variety of games from casual, to multiplayer, to FPS, to bullet hell, to strategy, to JRPG, and so on and so on. The goal is to let him figure out what he likes, but to make him understand what makes a game different and how those differences and similarities in game loop manifest. He is *learning* about games, and story, and that what he once thought he liked in a game is something that will continually evolve over time.
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:24 PM on February 15, 2021 [9 favorites]
My dad managed arcades, and in my childhood I went every Sunday morning to play arcade games for free. Also I played Atari 2600 obsessively when we didn't even own a color TV yet.
Steam says I have 693 hours on Dirt Rally, 691 on Borderlands, 476 on TF2, 319 on Dirt Rally 2.0, 255 on Noita, 207 on Battletech. I don't know how much time I spent in Diablo 2 and 3, Overwatch, the Gran Turismo series on PS1 and PS2, etc. I played more than 80 characters up to the level cap in Champions Online. And back when you had to pay by the hour to connect to online services, I was deeply into GemStone III.
Also I was literally a game developer / game engine developer for 17 years.
And I don't even want the "real gamer" label. It's posion.
posted by Foosnark at 1:27 PM on February 15, 2021 [28 favorites]
Steam says I have 693 hours on Dirt Rally, 691 on Borderlands, 476 on TF2, 319 on Dirt Rally 2.0, 255 on Noita, 207 on Battletech. I don't know how much time I spent in Diablo 2 and 3, Overwatch, the Gran Turismo series on PS1 and PS2, etc. I played more than 80 characters up to the level cap in Champions Online. And back when you had to pay by the hour to connect to online services, I was deeply into GemStone III.
Also I was literally a game developer / game engine developer for 17 years.
And I don't even want the "real gamer" label. It's posion.
posted by Foosnark at 1:27 PM on February 15, 2021 [28 favorites]
Since they appeared here in the blue, I have spent a lot of time thinking about Yuval Noah Harari’s words on the reactionary nature of orthodoxy:
posted by mhoye at 1:31 PM on February 15, 2021 [12 favorites]
There is no more effective way to show your zeal for a religion and therefore hide all of the changes that you allow than to use violence and to take a group of people – usually a minority – and use extreme violence against them. These become your credentials: ‘Look, we are so zealous, we are so loyal that we are even willing to sacrifice people for it.’ And these are your credentials that then hides all of the much more important changes that you yourself are making to the religion.”It’s one of those structures that, after I had seen it once, I began to wonder why I had not seen it so many times before, when it was right in front of me.
posted by mhoye at 1:31 PM on February 15, 2021 [12 favorites]
This video is so good at identifying a lot of the problems in gaming and "gamer" culture.
But even as a white man, I don't much like the "Gamer" title. I just don't like to be defined by the content I consume. When "gamer" became an identity rather than a descriptor, I was done with it.
posted by explosion at 3:51 PM on February 15, 2021
But even as a white man, I don't much like the "Gamer" title. I just don't like to be defined by the content I consume. When "gamer" became an identity rather than a descriptor, I was done with it.
posted by explosion at 3:51 PM on February 15, 2021
I think at some point we might've referred to people who played video games as "gamers" without it having other baggage, but now that it's become semantically poisoned by the sort of assholes who make it into their identity (see also: GamerGate), nobody with sense would want that label. We don't have a word for "person who plays game but isn't one of those assholes" that's widely been accepted into the lexicon, yet, I think.
posted by axiom at 4:20 PM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by axiom at 4:20 PM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
I don't think it's limited to games/"gamer."
If you describe someone as a "baseball player" to me, I'm imagining they do it at least as a college-level commitment, if not professionally. That's very different than a hobbyist.
Same with every-day things like "driver" or "cleaner", where it's something we all do in our daily lives, but there's an implicit "professional" attached to it.
For the longest time, playing games wasn't something that could garner a living, but it's kind of assumed that everyone plays games to some degree, so to "gamer" meant someone who was serious about games, whatever that means.
Using a language convention that describes a profession or identity to identify one's hobby? No thank you.
On the other hand, I could get behind a concerted effort to label everyone an "amateur gamer". That's me. I play for fun, not for money.
posted by explosion at 4:41 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you describe someone as a "baseball player" to me, I'm imagining they do it at least as a college-level commitment, if not professionally. That's very different than a hobbyist.
Same with every-day things like "driver" or "cleaner", where it's something we all do in our daily lives, but there's an implicit "professional" attached to it.
For the longest time, playing games wasn't something that could garner a living, but it's kind of assumed that everyone plays games to some degree, so to "gamer" meant someone who was serious about games, whatever that means.
Using a language convention that describes a profession or identity to identify one's hobby? No thank you.
On the other hand, I could get behind a concerted effort to label everyone an "amateur gamer". That's me. I play for fun, not for money.
posted by explosion at 4:41 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
These days the idea of "real gamer" means "Multiplayer FPS" and if you decide you hate Call of PUBNite - then you're a casual noob. IDK.
I have 347 games on my system, been playing games since cassette tapes on my old TRS-80 CoCo, to old DOS 2.1 and higher. Played Commander Keen and Wolfenstein as shareware orders for the first time (before half the kids even knew what it was).
But I despise almost all FPS (Doom 2016 & Eternal were great) I loved Quake 3. But miss me with this "you're not a real gamer you if you don't play DOTA and Battle Royale" bullshit.
I play Tetris and Mario 3D World is my jam right now. And Dragon Quest XI. No I don't collect every single "trophy"/achievement. I don't spend every waking moment playing games (I spend every waking moment pondering what game I'm going to play and then not play it, instead).
My sisters played centipede and tapper in the arcade. One got a Wii after not having any console or gaming in ages. She enjoyed it. Was she a gamer? Yes. Was she hardcore? No. But she still liked game. So do her kids.
Gatekeeping is bullshit.
posted by symbioid at 4:49 PM on February 15, 2021 [8 favorites]
I have 347 games on my system, been playing games since cassette tapes on my old TRS-80 CoCo, to old DOS 2.1 and higher. Played Commander Keen and Wolfenstein as shareware orders for the first time (before half the kids even knew what it was).
But I despise almost all FPS (Doom 2016 & Eternal were great) I loved Quake 3. But miss me with this "you're not a real gamer you if you don't play DOTA and Battle Royale" bullshit.
I play Tetris and Mario 3D World is my jam right now. And Dragon Quest XI. No I don't collect every single "trophy"/achievement. I don't spend every waking moment playing games (I spend every waking moment pondering what game I'm going to play and then not play it, instead).
My sisters played centipede and tapper in the arcade. One got a Wii after not having any console or gaming in ages. She enjoyed it. Was she a gamer? Yes. Was she hardcore? No. But she still liked game. So do her kids.
Gatekeeping is bullshit.
posted by symbioid at 4:49 PM on February 15, 2021 [8 favorites]
One of my fraternity brothers went to work at Electronic Arts, and it made me swear never ever to qualify as a real gamer. The sausage is Sinclair-like, as in Upton, not as in ZX.
posted by ocschwar at 4:50 PM on February 15, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 4:50 PM on February 15, 2021 [6 favorites]
explosion I'm in an "over 40" indoor soccer league, and I totally feel that part of my identity is as a "soccer player". Especially since I retired. So when some one asks me what is your identity, "soccer player", specifically Goalkeeper, tends to be part of the description...
posted by Windopaene at 5:02 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 5:02 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
As far as I'm concerned these fucking kids should be deferring to me on what makes one a "real" gamer. I've played games on over 20 consoles, played computer games before we could even get a PC.
As far as I am concerned: it is for sure not what games you play that makes one a "real" "gamer", but whether you have a story about whatever game you play.
(I appreciate that this is basically "do you have an emotional investment" but like of course that's the only relevant criteria; having an emotional investment is the only criteria for a lot of things)
posted by Merus at 6:04 PM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
As far as I am concerned: it is for sure not what games you play that makes one a "real" "gamer", but whether you have a story about whatever game you play.
(I appreciate that this is basically "do you have an emotional investment" but like of course that's the only relevant criteria; having an emotional investment is the only criteria for a lot of things)
posted by Merus at 6:04 PM on February 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
There's a certain inevitable tendency toward gatekeeping and orthodoxy that comes with fandoms that are both easily accessible and trendy among young people. People who are, largely, navigating the paradox of carving out an identity for themselves while at the same time fitting in, and still learning how to do it. Often under the weird belief that because something is new to them, it's Something New Under The Sun, never seen before.
"Gamers" will always be toxic, partly because of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, but mostly because there is an endless supply of new converts to thereligion fandom, and there are few things quite like the zeal of the new convert.
posted by tclark at 6:41 PM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
"Gamers" will always be toxic, partly because of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, but mostly because there is an endless supply of new converts to the
posted by tclark at 6:41 PM on February 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
I am all for making the term gamer more inclusive and leaving it up to how people would describe themselves, but I think I still wouldn't call myself a gamer.
I guess I think of gamers as people who put a lot of time and energy into gaming, whether that involves playing, streaming, blogging, belonging to a community, following reviews and industry news, developing games, going to cons, or playing professionally.
I watch a few movies a week but wouldn't call myself a film buff. I paint sometimes but I am not a painter. Similarly, I play games here and there, but never online multiplayer, and usually not time-intensive AAA ones (I have a hard time putting things down once I get started and I need to not lose my job, plus I'm tired of games about shooting/fighting). So it's kind of a thing I do as opposed to a thing I am.
Thinking about it, my partner probably wouldn't describe himself as a gamer for similar reasons (and because of cultural baggage), even though he works in gaming.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 6:47 PM on February 15, 2021
I guess I think of gamers as people who put a lot of time and energy into gaming, whether that involves playing, streaming, blogging, belonging to a community, following reviews and industry news, developing games, going to cons, or playing professionally.
I watch a few movies a week but wouldn't call myself a film buff. I paint sometimes but I am not a painter. Similarly, I play games here and there, but never online multiplayer, and usually not time-intensive AAA ones (I have a hard time putting things down once I get started and I need to not lose my job, plus I'm tired of games about shooting/fighting). So it's kind of a thing I do as opposed to a thing I am.
Thinking about it, my partner probably wouldn't describe himself as a gamer for similar reasons (and because of cultural baggage), even though he works in gaming.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 6:47 PM on February 15, 2021
I watched the first two or so minutes of that video--just the "letter from real gamers" thing--and I would rather die than be considered a "real gamer" by those people's standards. Actually, I'd rather die than be the sort of person who considers being a gamer--real or any other kind--as any sort of achievement.
I like gaming (well, some of it) but I'm not fooling myself that it's anything other than consuming entertainment. I may as well call myself a Real TV Watcher.
I think I'm going to have to add "not a real gamer" to my profile and maybe tattoo it onto my forehead.
posted by suetanvil at 8:40 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I like gaming (well, some of it) but I'm not fooling myself that it's anything other than consuming entertainment. I may as well call myself a Real TV Watcher.
I think I'm going to have to add "not a real gamer" to my profile and maybe tattoo it onto my forehead.
posted by suetanvil at 8:40 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
As a lifelong "gamer" since I was 6, the biggest gender shift in gaming that I've seen is in Genshin Impact, which has me questioning what a "real gamer" is relative to those playing this game. It's possibly the most lucrative game launch in 2020 ($400 mil revenues within 2 months on mobile alone, not including PC or console) - in what is typically a very, very long tailed revenue model.
Of the people I've seen on social media spending thousands of dollars on the characters, it's predominantly women. This is because the "game" itself is relatively easy, the typical male "power gamer" has no need to spend thousands of dollars on these characters to win. The only reason you want those characters is that... you like them.
Of all the 5 star "chase" characters they've released as limited editions, they primarily appeal to women and many seem to be designed on a template following the male stereotypes in romantic dramas. Only 1 so far seems designed to appeal to the typical "male" gamer.
1. Venti - a pretty boy genius, wastrel artist who secretly happens to be the god of the wind element
2. Klee - a cute innocent pyromaniac child
3. Childe - the handsome "bad boy" expert martial artist mixed up with bad company (the mafia basically), who secretly has a caring heart and is extremely loyal to those he loves
4. Zhongli - the dashing but coldly calculating consultant who is supremely intellectual and happens to secretly be the god of contracts
5. Ganyu - half human half adepti secretary of the Qixing ---- the ONE character that seems pandering to men. Literally the only adult woman in the list.
6. Xiao - a mysterious good looking, sullen and withdrawn demon slayer, who you discover is tormented by the pain of eons of slaughter he has to endure to protect humanity.
This company might be the first to discover middle aged professional women have heaps of disposable income and are willing to spend it to prove their devotion to their favourite characters. I think every other company is now wondering how they can monetize this too. The "real" gamers or customers in this game might be those that spend thousands of dollars on it, while gamers like me would be considered parasites not worth the company's consideration =P Alas I am not a real gamer now to them, hah.
As an aside, as a self labelled "hardcore" gamer even though on the surface this doesn't seem like my kind of game I legitimately think the combat system in the game is one of the best I've played. It's a mash up of souls-like and 2d fighting games, it's got it all - invulnerability frames, animation cancels, a very complex element combo / counter system, and beautiful animations.
posted by xdvesper at 8:40 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Of the people I've seen on social media spending thousands of dollars on the characters, it's predominantly women. This is because the "game" itself is relatively easy, the typical male "power gamer" has no need to spend thousands of dollars on these characters to win. The only reason you want those characters is that... you like them.
Of all the 5 star "chase" characters they've released as limited editions, they primarily appeal to women and many seem to be designed on a template following the male stereotypes in romantic dramas. Only 1 so far seems designed to appeal to the typical "male" gamer.
1. Venti - a pretty boy genius, wastrel artist who secretly happens to be the god of the wind element
2. Klee - a cute innocent pyromaniac child
3. Childe - the handsome "bad boy" expert martial artist mixed up with bad company (the mafia basically), who secretly has a caring heart and is extremely loyal to those he loves
4. Zhongli - the dashing but coldly calculating consultant who is supremely intellectual and happens to secretly be the god of contracts
5. Ganyu - half human half adepti secretary of the Qixing ---- the ONE character that seems pandering to men. Literally the only adult woman in the list.
6. Xiao - a mysterious good looking, sullen and withdrawn demon slayer, who you discover is tormented by the pain of eons of slaughter he has to endure to protect humanity.
This company might be the first to discover middle aged professional women have heaps of disposable income and are willing to spend it to prove their devotion to their favourite characters. I think every other company is now wondering how they can monetize this too. The "real" gamers or customers in this game might be those that spend thousands of dollars on it, while gamers like me would be considered parasites not worth the company's consideration =P Alas I am not a real gamer now to them, hah.
As an aside, as a self labelled "hardcore" gamer even though on the surface this doesn't seem like my kind of game I legitimately think the combat system in the game is one of the best I've played. It's a mash up of souls-like and 2d fighting games, it's got it all - invulnerability frames, animation cancels, a very complex element combo / counter system, and beautiful animations.
posted by xdvesper at 8:40 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Using a language convention that describes a profession or identity to identify one's hobby? No thank you.
I was nodding along to this sentiment, but then I will totally call myself a guitarist or bassist, despite never having played either professionally (for money, yes, but they were not professional contexts).
This company might be the first to discover middle aged professional women have heaps of disposable income and are willing to spend it to prove their devotion to their favourite characters
Have you ever seen how much buying all the expansions for a recent Sims game would cost?
posted by Dysk at 8:56 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was nodding along to this sentiment, but then I will totally call myself a guitarist or bassist, despite never having played either professionally (for money, yes, but they were not professional contexts).
This company might be the first to discover middle aged professional women have heaps of disposable income and are willing to spend it to prove their devotion to their favourite characters
Have you ever seen how much buying all the expansions for a recent Sims game would cost?
posted by Dysk at 8:56 PM on February 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I am also firmly on team 'why would you want to call yourself or be a gamer these days?' and will, if it somehow comes up, say that I play games. It is a thing that I do - do not associate me or any aspect of my identity with "gamers" please. At this point in time it refers to a toxic culture.
posted by Dysk at 10:19 PM on February 15, 2021
posted by Dysk at 10:19 PM on February 15, 2021
...yeah, I genuinely thought this whole “gamer” thing was done with a couple of years ago, that’s how toxic I figured it was.
...so call me naive i guess.
posted by aramaic at 10:32 PM on February 15, 2021
...so call me naive i guess.
posted by aramaic at 10:32 PM on February 15, 2021
Averaged over my whole life I've probably spent about an hour a day playing video games so that's... a lot. It's never been part of my "identity" though... I just like them. Now I'm embarrassed for those couple times I've called myself a gamer on metafilter. So what do I say instead? I'm a "guy who likes to play video games quite a bit?" Thanks gamer jerks for making me waste all these precious syllables!
posted by Alex404 at 3:53 AM on February 16, 2021
posted by Alex404 at 3:53 AM on February 16, 2021
>> This company might be the first to discover middle aged professional women have heaps of disposable income and are willing to spend it to prove their devotion to their favourite characters
> Have you ever seen how much buying all the expansions for a recent Sims game would cost?
Have you ever considered the implications of a $29.99 origin annual subscription cost and then monetized it further by designing towards Buzzfeed's 100 Baby Challenge videos? My wife knows when Chelsea is going to release a new video... in a way more like Hour/Minute not the easy way like 'Saturday'. She's X% through the challenge herself. She has known when every DLC will be released. When she had to change out her computer for something this year, maintaining her Sims and connecting her origin account was more important to her than TurboTax - which she originally purchased the computer for. And when she's bored, she plays Sim City 4 because she's already effectively paid for it and not the vastly superior City Skylines....
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:13 AM on February 16, 2021
> Have you ever seen how much buying all the expansions for a recent Sims game would cost?
Have you ever considered the implications of a $29.99 origin annual subscription cost and then monetized it further by designing towards Buzzfeed's 100 Baby Challenge videos? My wife knows when Chelsea is going to release a new video... in a way more like Hour/Minute not the easy way like 'Saturday'. She's X% through the challenge herself. She has known when every DLC will be released. When she had to change out her computer for something this year, maintaining her Sims and connecting her origin account was more important to her than TurboTax - which she originally purchased the computer for. And when she's bored, she plays Sim City 4 because she's already effectively paid for it and not the vastly superior City Skylines....
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:13 AM on February 16, 2021
"Gamers" will always be toxic, partly because of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, but mostly because there is an endless supply of new converts to the religion fandom, and there are few things quite like the zeal of the new convert.
Rather than being socialized by their community, boys get socialized by packs of other boys and young men online. What could go wrong?
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:05 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Rather than being socialized by their community, boys get socialized by packs of other boys and young men online. What could go wrong?
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:05 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
This company might be the first to discover middle aged professional women have heaps of disposable income and are willing to spend it to prove their devotion to their favourite characters.
Developers of mobile gacha games have known this for years. Some of these games are based on franchises which already had fairly established female fanbases (like Fate and Fire Emblem), and some of the original titles, like Touken Ranbu (famous Japanese swords anthropomorphized as handsome men), are aimed pretty much solely at women. Genshin caught the attention of the mainstream games press in a way that the others haven't, but in terms of its character-collecting gacha aspects, there isn't much about it that's new, including the types of characters on offer.
Have you ever seen how much buying all the expansions for a recent Sims game would cost?
On a somewhat related note, I bought Fuser over the holidays and have started eyeing the DLC songs. It's my first Harmonix game and turns out that their reputation for being spendy are true.
Anyway, video games. I've spent way too much time playing, thinking about, writing about, reading about, collecting ephemera related to, and, lately, making them. However, I'm ambivalent about the "gamer" label and all the baggage it brings.
posted by May Kasahara at 7:52 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Developers of mobile gacha games have known this for years. Some of these games are based on franchises which already had fairly established female fanbases (like Fate and Fire Emblem), and some of the original titles, like Touken Ranbu (famous Japanese swords anthropomorphized as handsome men), are aimed pretty much solely at women. Genshin caught the attention of the mainstream games press in a way that the others haven't, but in terms of its character-collecting gacha aspects, there isn't much about it that's new, including the types of characters on offer.
Have you ever seen how much buying all the expansions for a recent Sims game would cost?
On a somewhat related note, I bought Fuser over the holidays and have started eyeing the DLC songs. It's my first Harmonix game and turns out that their reputation for being spendy are true.
Anyway, video games. I've spent way too much time playing, thinking about, writing about, reading about, collecting ephemera related to, and, lately, making them. However, I'm ambivalent about the "gamer" label and all the baggage it brings.
posted by May Kasahara at 7:52 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is like rockism but for gaming - and rockism was pretty bad. Long live poptimist gaming.
posted by treblekicker at 8:45 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by treblekicker at 8:45 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't call myself a gamer, or even really consider myself one internally, both because the term is hopelessly associated with a certain mentality and also because I don't want to deal with people (of that certain mentality) gatekeeping what the term means. It would be nice if the term wasn't associated with so many hateful people, and it's lovely to see people pushing back against the gatekeeping, but I just don't have the energy myself.
signed, "a person who has spent way too many hours playing computer games"
posted by randomnity at 9:01 AM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
signed, "a person who has spent way too many hours playing computer games"
posted by randomnity at 9:01 AM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
These days the idea of "real gamer" means "Multiplayer FPS" and if you decide you hate Call of PUBNite - then you're a casual noob. IDK.
Yep. My favorite games were either single-player or at least had a strong SP component; that was true even for MMORPGs. And PvP has always been the worst aspect of multiplayer for me. (See this old thread on the blue about some professor who got a paper out of griefing in City of Heroes.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:35 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yep. My favorite games were either single-player or at least had a strong SP component; that was true even for MMORPGs. And PvP has always been the worst aspect of multiplayer for me. (See this old thread on the blue about some professor who got a paper out of griefing in City of Heroes.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:35 AM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Among parents I know with teenage boys, they really want to keep them away from "gamer culture" because now it's a shorthand for being a misogynistic, racist troll with no ambitions.
posted by benzenedream at 9:58 AM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by benzenedream at 9:58 AM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
My daughter considers herself a "gamer." She doesn't play multiplayer FPS games, and she is unhappy at the trend of "just let the fascist violent boys take the label gamer and everyone else who loves games, or loves video games, should just call themselves a person who plays video games or something like that."
I don't think of myself as "a gamer." (Or rather: I am aware that it'd be confusing for me to ID publicly as "a gamer" because when I was "a gamer," most people didn't have computers. My games had dice and character sheets.) But my daughter points out to me that I have a "gamer approach" to games - when I get into a video game, I study the strategies, look for the wiki with the item charts, make spreadsheets to plan my future activities, screencap the interesting dialogue exchanges, and so on.
I don't play multiplayer FPS either. I don't play roguelikes or action platformers, either. (She does.) I play a lot of things that get called "not a real game" and not even in the sense of "Nintendo games are not real games." I play walking sims; I play hidden object games; I play point-and-click adventures.
I am not happy with the attitude of "well, those are games when we want to sell them to you, but playing them doesn't make you a gamer."
I get that "gamer" shouldn't mean "anyone who plays games." Most people sing, at least occasionally, but we don't call most people singers. But we do call people singers if they put substantial time into singing, even if they're not at professional level; "beloved hobby"-level devotion is enough to use the ___er label.
We don't say "you need to read NYT bestsellers to call yourself a reader."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:10 PM on February 16, 2021
I don't think of myself as "a gamer." (Or rather: I am aware that it'd be confusing for me to ID publicly as "a gamer" because when I was "a gamer," most people didn't have computers. My games had dice and character sheets.) But my daughter points out to me that I have a "gamer approach" to games - when I get into a video game, I study the strategies, look for the wiki with the item charts, make spreadsheets to plan my future activities, screencap the interesting dialogue exchanges, and so on.
I don't play multiplayer FPS either. I don't play roguelikes or action platformers, either. (She does.) I play a lot of things that get called "not a real game" and not even in the sense of "Nintendo games are not real games." I play walking sims; I play hidden object games; I play point-and-click adventures.
I am not happy with the attitude of "well, those are games when we want to sell them to you, but playing them doesn't make you a gamer."
I get that "gamer" shouldn't mean "anyone who plays games." Most people sing, at least occasionally, but we don't call most people singers. But we do call people singers if they put substantial time into singing, even if they're not at professional level; "beloved hobby"-level devotion is enough to use the ___er label.
We don't say "you need to read NYT bestsellers to call yourself a reader."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:10 PM on February 16, 2021
The usage of 'gamer' is even more arbitrary and senseless than the usage of 'RPG.'
posted by straight at 7:31 PM on February 16, 2021
posted by straight at 7:31 PM on February 16, 2021
This is like rockism but for gaming - and rockism was pretty bad. Long live poptimist gaming.
That is a very apt comparison. A bunch of dudes whose identity is centered in their favorite tiny subset of music/games which they think is the Real Music That Matters/Real Games.
Meanwhile a lot more people are listening to/playing all this stuff they hardly know exists. Anyone remember May 1991 when Billboard switched to counting sales with actual barcode scans (instead of asking record sales clerks) and suddenly country, rap, and film scores existed?
posted by straight at 7:52 PM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
That is a very apt comparison. A bunch of dudes whose identity is centered in their favorite tiny subset of music/games which they think is the Real Music That Matters/Real Games.
Meanwhile a lot more people are listening to/playing all this stuff they hardly know exists. Anyone remember May 1991 when Billboard switched to counting sales with actual barcode scans (instead of asking record sales clerks) and suddenly country, rap, and film scores existed?
posted by straight at 7:52 PM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
I love games of all kinds and have loved them since I knew about them, which I guess in a galactic sense was when I learned peek-a-boo! with my parents when I was X months old. So I have loved games for over four decades and actively played and enjoyed them for what I would consider a significant portion of that.
The day I consider myself a "real gamer" is the day I put my head in a cold oven and wait there, hunched over on aching knees, for climate change to raise the temperature of the planet enough to cook my skull and the fatty goop within it.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:16 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
The day I consider myself a "real gamer" is the day I put my head in a cold oven and wait there, hunched over on aching knees, for climate change to raise the temperature of the planet enough to cook my skull and the fatty goop within it.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:16 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: je ne suis pas un gamer.
posted by Sauce Trough at 8:17 PM on February 16, 2021
posted by Sauce Trough at 8:17 PM on February 16, 2021
I don't think of myself as "a gamer." [...] But my daughter points out to me that I have a "gamer approach" to games
But this is already ceding the ground on the meaning of "gamer" - that you must be at least this heavily into it, or analytical about it, for that to be a "gamer approach", to be a "gamer".
As long as it's arbitrarily gatekept like that, whether by rabid misogynist neckbeards, or by well-intentioned enthusiasts.
I am a guitarist and a bassist. I am not good at either of these instruments, I don't invest a lot of time into playing - I just play a bit every now and again. That's enough. No special approach or minimum level of performance or investment required.
So until my mum, with her occasional game of solitaire or pipe dreams, is considered just as legitimately a "gamer" as myself or anyone else, I refuse the label.
posted by Dysk at 8:40 PM on February 16, 2021
But this is already ceding the ground on the meaning of "gamer" - that you must be at least this heavily into it, or analytical about it, for that to be a "gamer approach", to be a "gamer".
As long as it's arbitrarily gatekept like that, whether by rabid misogynist neckbeards, or by well-intentioned enthusiasts.
I am a guitarist and a bassist. I am not good at either of these instruments, I don't invest a lot of time into playing - I just play a bit every now and again. That's enough. No special approach or minimum level of performance or investment required.
So until my mum, with her occasional game of solitaire or pipe dreams, is considered just as legitimately a "gamer" as myself or anyone else, I refuse the label.
posted by Dysk at 8:40 PM on February 16, 2021
the day I put my head in a cold oven and wait there, hunched over on aching knees, for climate change to raise the temperature of the planet enough to cook my skull and the fatty goop within it
Is this going to come out on PlayStation or nah?
posted by evidenceofabsence at 8:52 PM on February 16, 2021
Is this going to come out on PlayStation or nah?
posted by evidenceofabsence at 8:52 PM on February 16, 2021
When it's done.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:00 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:00 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
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