Image from South Park: Make Love, Not Warcraft
This is a common misconception contributed to Gamers as a whole and mostly due to the ignorance of people who are not and/or do not know any Gamers. Below are 4 common misconceptions about Gamers explained.
1. Gamers are Lazy
Back in the golden age of multiplayer computer gaming we would events called "LAN Parties," named as such because we created and played over something called a "Local Area Network." At these ancient events PCs were all attached by wires allowing for individuals to play games together. As you can guess carrying around PC Towers, Monitors, Peripherals such as Mice and keyboards, and all the wires that went along with it was a lot of work and often was nothing compared to getting the Network itself set up and running. So already you can see that by no means are Gamers lazy. Luckily we were eventually blessed with the 56k Modem, Data Compression, and eventually...Broadband! A long time ago when the "Big Game" (Pick your favorite; baseball, football, etc) was coming on people would take out these things called Long Wave Radios, more commonly refereed to as AM (which is misleading since AM is mostly Medium Length with some short and long). If they were lucky enough to have a hand radio, then these people would walk around looking like aimless loiterers (or people trying to get cell phone reception for you youngins.) when really they were trying hard to find a clear reception so they could enjoy their sports game stuff. Things got better though (not for sports radio, at least until satellite radio came about), Antenna Television was invented and eventually cable! So as you can see these sports fans (which are commonly stereotyped by many gamers as lunatics who paint their bodies a weird array of colors and are also more widely accepted by society) went through many similar changes.
2. Gamers are antisocial and would prefer to play games alone in their mothers basement rather than hang out with friends in public.
So now that were not meeting up and hauling around are heavy and very sensitive PC Towers anymore, that doesn't mean we are antisocial. As stated above this wonderful thing known as Broadband was created allowing for more advanced multiplayer experiences occur. This mainly came in the form of massively multiplayer online role playing games or MMORPGs. Although we are not necessarily playing in the same room, we are still playing together. (often across the world).
Which is why when our non-gamer friends ask us to go out with them on a night we plan to game with our other friends online and we tell them "Sorry I can't, I'm gonna play WOW tonight with my guild." we are not doing it to be antisocial, more than likely we have plans with other living and breathing people in a virtual space, only instead of going out to the bar spending 30 bucks on overpriced alcohol and asking us at the last minute to play wing-man or women for them, there are 20 plus other people counting on us to come join them so they can successfully raid a dungeon. Who do you think takes precedence in this situation your friend who asked you last minute to come with them or all of the real people counting on you to help them because you planned to do this weeks ago.
3. Gamers are addicted to gaming.
Addiction is a real problem, but its not unique to Gamers. As mentioned above, not everyone thinks its the best idea to get smashed on cheap booze and hangout at the bar all weekend. Gamerwidows are notorious for accusing their ex significant others of this. This relates directly to point number 3. In many cases they are not purposefully being ignored. They cannot simply pause the game to pay attention to them. They made a commitment to play with friends and they cannot pause because its a multiplayer game and just because you stop playing doesn't mean everyone else has that luxury. This is sad because many times the issue is not actually the gaming that is the problem. The Gamerwidows simply wanted to spend time with their significant other. It is simply a lack of understanding between both parties.
4. Gamers are Men.
More recent studies have shown that there are more women gamers than men. This doesn't necessarily mean that the person who just "360 no scoped" you in black ops 3 is the middle aged stay at home mom next door, but I like to believe that it is. This has been highly attributed to the growing mobile market. This however does not discredit the fact that there are many female gamers. In fact I knew of many female members that belonged to the same Guild as me in a popular MMORPG that were either open about their gender, or played as male avatars because they did not want to be treated any differently than anyone else. Playing openly as female drags out the constant accusing of being a male catfish or the nonstop spewing of "are you really a girl?", "will you be my girl friend?", "that's really bad armor here you should use this", "are you gonna fight such n such, you should do this and this, and when you get to the next you should do this and this..." If they ask you for advice please feel free to give it to them. Many people playing an MMORPG wouldn't mind receiving the gift of super rare armor, but just as many people would prefer to earn that armor themselves either as getting it as a drop from a mob or getting it from earning in-game currency to purchase themselves. Many times they are judged as less competent by their male peers because of their gender. Sadly, A big reason why most gamers are thought to be men is because of the misogyny created by male gamers.
So please next time your angry that your friend or significant other doesn't want to go to the bar or busy killing "Nazi Zombie Robot Cannibals", they are not purposefully trying to hurt you; and you two are probably not the only parties involved in the occurring events.
Malone, Krista Lee. "Dragon Kill Points: The Economics of Power Gamers". Games and Culture. 2009. 4. 296. http://gac.sagepub.com/content/4/3/296
Malone, Krista Lee. "Dragon Kill Points: The Economics of Power Gamers". Games and Culture. 2009. 4. 296. http://gac.sagepub.com/content/4/3/296
I love reading more and more posts breaking the stereo type of typical gamers! I myself am a avid gamer and don't consider myself to fall under any of the typical stereo types that are often associated with gamers. When I being to talk to a fellow gamer I normally find them to be anything but anti social. I think everyone has a little rough start when first trying to approach or speak to a person but once you find a common similarity with a gamer, they can talk to you endlessly about what they know and feel about the topic. When you talk about gamers being addicted and not being able to pause a game to give others some time, you hit the nail head on when you said there is a lack of understanding between the both parties! I can't count how many times when I was younger where I have been in a Arena match in WoW or a Team Deachmatch in CoD and my parents need me for something and I tell them not now and then they proceed to yell at me. Them not understanding that once I decide to promote my time into the game I choose that I can't just pause and pop back in whenever i want.
ReplyDeleteI also happen to live with three girls, and all of the like playing some type of video game, whether that be Mario Kart, Little Big Planet or Skyrim.
I love gaming and I don’t consider myself to fall into any of the category you mention. Yes, those are the typical stereotypes for gamers in the eyes of those that don’t understand. I feel like there are plenty of gamers out there afraid to express their thoughts because of bias against them. A majority of my co-workers game with me and some of them are professional doctors, managers, and etc. When I found out that my bosses game it was surprising because we were able to connect in an area in which I never would of expected. We even got girls to game with us because it is a fun way to bond with the people around you. In this new generation I feel like more and more people are able to game and not be ashamed to tell others especially girls.
ReplyDeleteThe stereotype of gamers really does feel like it’s fading in current pop culture. As only an occasional gamer, I personally haven’t ever really experienced “coming out” as a gamer, but it appears to be an excellent ice breaker. I worked in a restaurant for years and I saw so many friendships form over bonding over games. I do remember the stereotypes being very real when I was younger though, and remember the bickering between the “geek” kids and the “jocks” in high school. I think that a lot of the social aspect of playing online games wasn’t really understood until everyone had a way to see how social the internet can be. Before the widespread popularity of Myspace and Facebook, I don’t remember ever knowing that the internet was really a way to connect with other people myself, and many others who didn’t play games online probably didn’t really understand that either. I feel like the social networking that everyone participates in now probably helps with the stereotypes because far more people understand it now that they use the internet for social things as well, whether it be gaming or not. It was easy to pick on at first because not everyone understood, but as the internet continues to be a part of our lives in every way, it’s less “weird” to those who didn’t get it at first. People are always afraid of what they don’t understand unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteSomething that few people point out as well is the treatment of women even before they get the game. I know Gamestop is now making commercials with a female employee who is a very obvious gamer but sometimes reality sinks in at the stores. I have been directed to the Girl game section once when I entered the store to browse. I have also been talked down to when I have purchased games for myself. I have started mostly shopping online for games to avoid dealing with employees. I also get offended that there is a Girl game section but the stores never have a Boy game section, assuming all other games are for Boys only. I have been on websites though that have a boy and girl game section and usually I am fine with that. Most of them are separated out by things like home cooking, fashion, hunting, and child care. But things like sports, driving, and shooting games are not included in either so most of the games fall into traditional American cultural values but tend not to separate out from daily activities.
ReplyDeleteSomething that few people point out as well is the treatment of women even before they get the game. I know Gamestop is now making commercials with a female employee who is a very obvious gamer but sometimes reality sinks in at the stores. I have been directed to the Girl game section once when I entered the store to browse. I have also been talked down to when I have purchased games for myself. I have started mostly shopping online for games to avoid dealing with employees. I also get offended that there is a Girl game section but the stores never have a Boy game section, assuming all other games are for Boys only. I have been on websites though that have a boy and girl game section and usually I am fine with that. Most of them are separated out by things like home cooking, fashion, hunting, and child care. But things like sports, driving, and shooting games are not included in either so most of the games fall into traditional American cultural values but tend not to separate out from daily activities.
ReplyDeleteAs a person coming from the outside world of gaming I honestly did believe in most of these stereotypes until learning about them in class and of course from this post. The one part of this post that surprised me and learning about it in class was under the section that gamers are antisocial. I did not realize how much planning it took for people to play games with others. Even in class when I heard how angry people got when others canceled on them multiple times after planning on playing something weeks in advanced I realized this was a specific social time with friends. I guess I just compare this to having plans with a group to go to a concert or to dinner every week at a certain time. If someone asked me to go out that night I would decline because I already had plans much like gamers have planned certain times to hang out in a virtual world.
ReplyDeleteI may have an unpopular opinion on this, and I really do think it's interesting hearing the "gamer" sterotype, or any sterotype out there really. Although I will start off and say I do agree that these all have been common misconceptions of games I feel like they don't exist as much as they use to. With being "nerdy" more of a "cool" thing to do and gaming becoming a more mainstream thing I feel like the sterotypes surrounding being a gamer or a geek or nerd don't exisit as much, but are more so strung out by those who like to classify as one. Although we all are guilty of sterotyping I feel like a lot of the time people who consider themselves real gamers or nerds or geeks like holding on and bringing up these classic sterotypes, or any sterotypes! I feel like the lecture on sterotypes really emphasized how people are sterotypical of geeks and nerds and gamers but realistically I don't feel like that is as true at all, I feel like that sort of sterotyping doesn't happen as much anymore. It seemed more like anyone who likes to consider themself a nerd (not all) are more sterotypical of the "jocks" or the "preppy girls" then any of them are towards those who classify as a nerd! Maybe it's a personal thing, and as I got older I noticed it more but it seems like the classic nerd sterotype was a middle school/early 2000's thing not something as relevent now!
ReplyDeleteI believe the biggest misconception I personally had about gamers was that they are antisocial. My brother plays all the time and talks through his microphone to people while cursing at the screen. When he tells me things like my friend this or my friend that, I always ask has he met these people in real life and he replies by saying no. I thought it was weird he considered these people friends. But, after taking this course and learning how social everything is, I know that I could have been more wrong. There is so much interaction the happens in the games and I thought the friendships only existed in the physical world; just because it’s a virtual reality does not mean it is not real.
ReplyDeleteSara Nur
I believe the biggest misconception I personally had about gamers was that they are antisocial. My brother plays all the time and talks through his microphone to people while cursing at the screen. When he tells me things like my friend this or my friend that, I always ask has he met these people in real life and he replies by saying no. I thought it was weird he considered these people friends. But, after taking this course and learning how social everything is, I know that I could have been more wrong. There is so much interaction the happens in the games and I thought the friendships only existed in the physical world; just because it’s a virtual reality does not mean it is not real.
ReplyDeleteSara Nur