netmonkey

On the word Gamer...

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I hate the word. I hate when people write "for gamers to enjoy." and/or "gamers not only play 3d violence simulators, but they also play games that challenge the brain".

We are people, damn it! Why do we have to be put in some sort of group like we are either a race, a specific religion, or have a sexual orientation away from the norm?

Why don't they say "this is a book that readers will enjoy" or "this song will be enjoyed by listeners". Gah!

Discuss.

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When you're playing a computer game you cease to be a human being and become A GAMER.

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As time goes on such silly labels will disappear.

I think this can be linked to the ghetto mentality of insular groups that partially by choice, partially by situation position themselves (mentally if not physically as well) against the society at large. Be it Jews in ghettos, Latinos in barrios, gay people in gay culture.

As these groups cease to be primarily concerned with their unique, internal group problems, and as they permeate and become the society around them, the less will these labels be meaningful. Prejudice is in general fueled by both sides; the minority that feels that they're somehow special, and the society that doesn't get it. So what I'm basically saying is that all that gamers are gay Jews.

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meh.. 'gamers' is just something like bakers or <sport>players. The problem is more that people assume "gamers" are completely different, like a "gamer" can't also be a curling player.

something I really dislike is "coders" or even "scripters" instead of "programmers"

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Well at least in this little nook of little Ireland, we take "gamer" to regard players of the table-top/pen&paper sort of games.

"Coder" I don't mind, in that it's an informal name for something that has a formal title (like "hacker"). "Scripter" is different, and even though the difference between a programming language and a scripting language is largely conceptual, I don't think you would expect someone referred to as a "scripter" to knock out an OS microkernel or something.

It's worth noting that not everybody plays video games (seriously, you guys), and "gamers" is a lot easier on the tongue than "people who play video games" or most anything else.

"Games for gamers" etc is just marketroid speak and you shouldn't read so much into it.

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Why? I don't revel in the title myself, but I take part in many activities that would have me classified as a Nerd or Geek. If someone needs to categorize based on interests, then yes: I am interested in many nerdy things. This would make me, to many people, a nerd. Should I have a problem with that? Or is there a difference between someone calling me "nerdy" and someone calling me "a nerd?" If someone wants to take pride in the fact that others call them a nerd, why shouldn't they be able to?

Oh yeah, and Kingz, thanks for:

So what I'm basically saying is that all that gamers are gay Jews.

Otherwise, I may have taken you more seriously and gotten all offended.

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I consider myself a Thumb Waddling Interactive Technologist.

Or a Neo Interactive Nonconforming New Yorker.

And of course I'm a New Era Reality Deity.

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Why? I don't revel in the title myself, but I take part in many activities that would have me classified as a Nerd or Geek.

Because they are derogatory terms and no matter how often people refer to themselves as such, they're only reinforcing the stereotype, especially in regards to poor self-esteem.

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I consider myself a Thumb Waddling Interactive Technologist.

Or a Neo Interactive Nonconforming New Yorker.

And of course I'm a New Era Reality Deity.

I thought you were a man of tomorrow :erm:

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Because they are derogatory terms and no matter how often people refer to themselves as such, they're only reinforcing the stereotype, especially in regards to poor self-esteem.

I don't think anyone associates "geek" with biting off chicken heads anymore.

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Because they are derogatory terms and no matter how often people refer to themselves as such, they're only reinforcing the stereotype, especially in regards to poor self-esteem.

See, I disagree.

I'm a nerd. And a geek. And I'm proud of both.

The days when I cared what other people think of me are long past. These days I proudly proclaim my nerdiness to anyone within earshot. Why should I care?

Geek pride, people. Geek pride.

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Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a geek anymore, not at least in the united states... unless you play magic the gathering or D&D... then it's another story.

but when people hear gamer, it's connotated to "ugh, a gamer. what is it with you people? why do you have to shoot kids in the face?" or something. And of course, it seems that the casual audience doesn't exist. You're either a gamer outside the gaming world just because you happen to have a console or bought a game, ever, or inside the gaming world you don't exist unless you're buying every single "good" game that comes out that is not too quirky or different from the norm.

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wait a minute... in the USA you can shoot people in the face when you are a gamer?

cool... will have to move than so that I can make the world a better place.

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but when people hear gamer, it's connotated to "ugh, a gamer. what is it with you people? why do you have to shoot kids in the face?" or something.

I don't hear that.

Obviously I'm not going to hear that at work, but none of my friends are gamers, so I spend most of my non-working, non-gaming time with non-gamers, and I never hear anything like that.

If someone were to ask most people that, they'd say, "so what, you play video games or something?" No negative context, no context whatsoever.

When you see hysterical soft news pieces about gaming, they never use the word gamer, they use words like "children" and "violence".

Also keep in mind that in some places, "gaming" means something entirely different. I was on a flight back to NY from Vegas once and told the person next to me that I worked in the gaming industry...she assumed I meant gambling.

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/me equips his dead dog

don't make me hit you on the head with this :oldman:

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Just kids man, and they're small and move around a lot.

So... kinda like headcrabs then?

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AND they hang around in air conditioning ducts! Fucking children!

:oldman: :ponycrap: :barf::campbell::scary:

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I don't see anything wrong with the term. Life's too short to worry about whether some mainstream media publication thinks I'm a 'gamer' or a 'person', and to worry about it seems pretty lame to me. It's a label, just like early cinema fans were probably dubbed 'film enthusiasts' or something. If it helps to identify me as a fan of the medium, then so be it.

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But the point, which is what annoys me, is that the term (and I mean the term gamer as a video game/computer game player, not the one that has to do with gambling, etc, etc.) usually has a negative connotation towards people who think that are too good to play a game (which really means that most current games that are actually advertised are really not made for them), and thus it's just making it worse and worse...

It's a conspiracy, I tell you! :legalese:

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I don't mind the term at all, I'd proudly call myself a gamer, if, you know, I talked to people. To me it just means, "one who plays video games," and that's all. If other people want to read way into it, that's their issue.

I yo-yo, so I'm a yo-yoer, I juggle, so I'm a juggler, etc. It's just a short word to get a point across (skater, biker, cyclist, cook, actor, etc.). *shrug* I don't see what the big deal is.

With that said, if you listen to GameSpot's podcast, The Hotspot, they've talked about how much they hate the word many times. The subtitle under my name ("Core Gamer Demo" [as in demographic]) is kind of a general joke about that, how the companies have turned it into a marketing term.

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