Nerds In Their Basements: Why Gamers Are Ashamed..

[Orange]

of their Hobby.

www.currentground.com/life/nerds-in-their-basements-why-gamers-are-ashamed-of-their-hobby

Here's a great article on the stigma that's still attached to gamers of all kinds. It's kind of long, but it's a great article nonetheless. Minor language warning, as well.

So, in terms of gamers and the stigma attached to them - what do you think of it? Personally, I'm not a huge gamer - that's not me dismissing gamers, I'm just not. However, I think the stigma has gotten better over time, but it's nevertheless still there. I see no problem with adults filling their free time with video games - it's no less legit than any other hobby.

Just remembered that the article mentions the election - but I hope it's okay to keep up as it's nowhere near a focus of the article at all. So, you know, don't talk about the election in here. ;D

[Orange]

No comments? Ah, well - I tried.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

I wasn't aware there still was a stigma, considering it's cool to be a nerd these days.

[Krimzon]

Nov 10, 2012 0:22:41 GMT -5 Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill said:

I wasn't aware there still was a stigma, considering it's cool to be a nerd these days.

But there are people that haven't grasped that fact yet.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

Nov 10, 2012 0:28:12 GMT -5 Krimzon said:

Nov 10, 2012 0:22:41 GMT -5 Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill said:

I wasn't aware there still was a stigma, considering it's cool to be a nerd these days.

But there are people that haven't grasped that fact yet.

Those people exist in any medium though.

[MolotovMocktail]

Nov 10, 2012 0:43:59 GMT -5 Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill said:

Nov 10, 2012 0:28:12 GMT -5 Krimzon said:

But there are people that haven't grasped that fact yet.

Those people exist in any medium though.

Replace video games with wrestling, and you could make the exact same arguments about it and the stigma with its fans-waste of time, childish, etc.

[J.O.B. Squad]

Nov 10, 2012 0:53:12 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

Nov 10, 2012 0:43:59 GMT -5 Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill said:

Those people exist in any medium though.

Replace video games with wrestling, and you could make the exact same arguments about it and the stigma with its fans-waste of time, childish, etc.

Wrestling gets it alot since their are still so many who don't get it.

[Deleted]

Personally, ashamed of the stupid-ass nickname "gamers" and I think like any fandom it has a large amount of idiots, but I'm somebody who drove out in the dead of night while it was hailing, a storm that eventually knocked the power out for a week, to play in a tournament for a video game - a wrestling game, at that, for a two-for-one - so really wouldn't describe myself as embarrassed to be a fan of games. Hell, I carry my 3DS with me everywhere I go.

Though then again, one problem I have with both video games and anime, and to a lesser degree comics, is this tendency to look at people who like them as being sort of a broad group. Which if you think about it is like saying everyone who reads books or watches live-action shows is all part of one big fandom.

[B'Cup x]

I'm a gamer of the table top variety. I do like video games but I'm more of the oldskool pick up and play games than the long involved games of current times (not to say theyre bad, theyre just not my thing). And yeah, despite Boardgames getting HUGE in recent years, there is still a fair bit of stigma, a fair bit of which does seem to come from the more immature video gamers. Trouble is, Video games are pretty much accepted now a days, wheras boardgames, by many are seen as being for children, which really is not true. Many people when they find I enjoy games reply with something along the lines of "oh is that game like monopoly" or "we should play a game of life sometimes, its great". Which I guess can be attributed more to ignorance of the medium than anything else. Most times its nothing, but sometimes the ignorance can be quite offensive when my GFs friends boyfriend (a huge video gamer) patronisingly replied "I guess that could be an amusing waste of time" when asked if he would like to join a game sometime.

Whilst I cannot really speak for the Magic, RPG or Minatures gamers (though I am looking to get back into the latter) boardgame fans dont typically conform to the basement dweller stereotype, indeed many are actually parents.

This was all written before reading the article, which I will do later as currently I am relearning the rules for Game of Thrones 2nd edition which a few of us will be playing this evening x

[Ryback on a Pole!]

Above all, video games are often dismissed as being “childish,” something that’s okay when you’re a kid but unacceptable not long after. It’s something you don’t do when you become a parent, or when you go to college, or when you get a job. You’re not supposed to play games anymore, you’re supposed to be an adult, a productive, healthy member of society

I HATE this argument. Nothing gets me more annoyed when someone says about stuff I enjoy "Why do you watch/read/like/play that? It's childish?"

Oh... so because I'm an adult now I'm supposed to stop doing and liking things that are fun and entertaining and that I enjoy purely because it's frowned upon by some nobs in society?

Love this quote by C.S Lewis on the subject “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

I don't really believe there's a stigma at all, it's a generation gap issue. everyone my age plays video games. the only people who still hold these stereotypes about gamer culture are out-of-touch old people.

[Phosphor Glow]

Nov 10, 2012 9:42:35 GMT -5 Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! said:

I don't really believe there's a stigma at all, it's a generation gap issue. everyone my age plays video games. the only people who still hold these stereotypes about gamer culture are out-of-touch old people.

To some extent, I agree with you; there is far less of a social stigma attached to gaming these days. But you'd be surprised at the amount of people around my age that still consider it to be something only nerdy, socially inept man-children do. I dunno that it will ever really go away.

It's even worse with D&D, Magic, and other tabletop stuff.

[theryno665]

I get what this article was trying to say but I think the execution was flawed for the author's constant focus on games like Halo, Call of Duty and Battlefield, for two reasons:

1 - That's inferring that ALL gamers play games like that. Most do, but I don't. Neither do a lot of gamers I know. Nothing against those games, I just like playing different games.

2 - Talking about being judged for playing those games when honestly, those are probably the most widely accepted games in the mainstream. Tons of different people play those games and, at least within my age group (20's to 30's), no one really questions it. I was kinda lucky to live in a time where just about everyone I knew played video games of some sort. Now that we've gotten older, a bunch of them who have grown up, had kids and gotten careers play games like CoD and Halo. Those just seem to be the go-to games for most people.

[The Spelunker!]

I sell video games for a living, there's a stigma in some people's minds, but people are way more open than they used to be.

Also, I throw my hobbies out in the open whenever I can (I've miniature gamed, I roleplay regularly, and have LARPed a bunch) and I get more people curious than anything else. How the idea is presented certainly seems to help.

If you make it seem shameful, people view it that way. I try to make it seem like the best thing ever, and that people are missing out.

[Bone Daddy]

If anything, I think most gamers aren't ashamed ENOUGH of their hobby.

Not that there's any reason to be ashamed, but many gamers seem REALLY PROUD of the fact that they never leave their mom's basement and get in fights with 10 year old kids on xbox

[Legion]

Surely it depends on the game.

WoW gamers, sure, I could see the stigma attached, and the stereotypes that go with it.

COD gamers on the other hand....isn't that more the mainstream these days?

[Mochi Lone Wolf]

Nov 10, 2012 6:59:39 GMT -5 Ryback on a Pole! said:

Above all, video games are often dismissed as being “childish,” something that’s okay when you’re a kid but unacceptable not long after. It’s something you don’t do when you become a parent, or when you go to college, or when you get a job. You’re not supposed to play games anymore, you’re supposed to be an adult, a productive, healthy member of society

I HATE this argument. Nothing gets me more annoyed when someone says about stuff I enjoy "Why do you watch/read/like/play that? It's childish?"

Oh... so because I'm an adult now I'm supposed to stop doing and liking things that are fun and entertaining and that I enjoy purely because it's frowned upon by some nobs in society?

Love this quote by C.S Lewis on the subject “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

Pretty much. I enjoy it and that's all there is to it. If someone else thinks it's childish then oh well. That's their opinion but I won't let that ruin my enjoyment of it.

[Bo Rida]

Honestly when Call of Duty and Halo are the standard bearers for your hobby it's no wonder people are ashamed.

I totally agree with his comments on what we should and should not be buying too, the famous boycott screen below basically sums it up.
img5.imageshack.us/img5/6062/1258035395841.jpg

Although that's for another CoD game it could be for any number of titles and none of us are above it (personally I'm guilty of buying NSMB2 at launch rather than a more innovate title that needed by support).

That said he ignores the success of the Wii and DS and then iOS, listening to 40-55 year old women talk about videogames when I was on jury duty made me realise videogames are mainstream now.

[Andrew is Good]

I started getting back into gaming, mostly retro stuff though. I have 8 game systems hooked up to one television, mostly through many plugs and rca expanding hook ups and two through the RF input. It's all out in the open in my living room, so I would go against that stereotype certainly.

It can be expensive, but I've always grown to not give a f*** about what others think of me. Hell, I'm already a big wrestling fan.

[Cyno]

I'm not really ashamed of my video game hobby. I'm ashamed of other gamers.