20/08/2012

Gamers, a different kind of people


Gamers, the world has millions of them. But what are gamers? Are they nerds that are addicted to games? Do they do nothing but playing games all day?

In this post I will tell you how what gamers are in my opinion. 

Misunderstandings 

First off, let me clarify some of the misunderstandings that people may have about gamers.

Often people think of gamers as game addicted nerds with no life besides their measly existence behind a computer screen or TV. Even though there certainly are people that are addicted to games it's too easy to say that this goes for all gamers.  This does not apply for the majority of gamers. In fact, doing so in my opinion, is wrong.

Someone that is addicted to gaming is sick and needs help, though that person will never admit it. Sounds harsh? Yes, but it's true, they are wasting their life sitting in front of a screen playing games. Addicted gamers are unhealthy gamers.

Also the assumption that all gamers are nerds with glasses with a unshaven look does not apply to all gamers. A university professor could in his spare time kick ass on WoW or start his Wii for a bit of Mario Kart. You mostly cannot tell by looking at someone that he/she is a gamer.

The most ridiculous assumption of all, in my opinion, is that only boys are gamers. So there are no girl gamers in the world? To me it sounds ridiculous, and it is. In June 2012 BBC revealed that of all American gamers 42% were women and for Europe the percentage lies at 31%. So that assumption is too stupid for words. That does however result in sexual harassment problems, which is terrible and should be severely punished.
Who knows I might get my ass kicked by a girl tomorrow when I go online to play Modern Warfare 3. And you know what? I would love that, I think it's great when a girl totally kicked my ass in a game.

So what are gamers then?

The majority of gamers are people in a whole different league than the average non-gaming person. Why? Because they have a hobby that connects them to people all over the world and it makes them strong in social aspects and in creativity. This does not make gamers better than anyone else, it just gives them an edge in their social lives.

A gamer does not play a game non-stop for days. A gamer does not have all the consoles and handhelds and all the games that go with them. Each gamer has a taste of games and consoles that they like and dislike. One gamer might love Role Playing Games while the other plays nothing but Shooters. Every gamer has his or her own taste and character. Doing what they want, gamers can spend their free time getting that last trophy or trying to complete that mission on the toughest difficulty. They don't bother anyone by doing it.

Besides their gaming hobby, they have a life. I know gamers that have a family and kids, that have a full time day job and real life friends. That's how it should be, gaming should be a hobby not someone's life.

Media and gaming equals water and fire

Think this heading is funny? I'm being dead serious.

The media is really quick to say that gaming is bad when they find out that a person has died while playing a game. Sometimes the person that died has been playing for hours on end without taking breaks and having food or drinks. It's sad but blaming a tragedy like that on games is ridiculous. As a gamer it's YOU who should make sure you take regular breaks and eat and drink like you should.

The media labels gamers as anti-social nerds and losers. Some even go as far as calling gamers psychopaths. As soon as someone start shooting people the first thing the media wants to know is;  has that person been playing games? Is he/she a gamer? If so they are quick to point out that that is the reason why the person did what he/she did.
True, there are people that cannot separate reality from the virtual world in which they play games. Those people should never be playing games in my opinion. But the media seems to think that all gamers are unable to do so. Utter and complete bull.

About that social thing, I mentioned earlier that gamers can have an edge socially. They communicate with people all over the world and so get better at the social aspect of life. Besides I also mentioned that gamers have a life next to their hobby of playing games. The media seems to conveniently look past this.

Games that are being banned in certain countries because of their content is the choice that the politics make, fine by me. However the media usually has more than just hand in it, they will write nothing but negativity about it and some will even suggest it to be banned.
The media portraits gamers as the insane and moronic part of a community. It is unfair and false, gamers are just like any other person they just have an awesome hobby.

I bet that the reporter that works on a story that is damaging towards gamers, has at least 2 or more gamers in his/her family. The irony right?

Closing statement

Gaming is fun, and it can help you relax and temporarily make you forget about the problems in real life. But most of all gaming is a hobby in which you can make many friends all over the globe. You learn how to work together, you have to think of creative ways to solve a problem, you train your social skills. Those are just a few of the things that gives gamers an edge in real life. Off course this works better for one gamer than for the other.

Gamers are (usually) fun people, nothing to be afraid of and certainly not to be pushed aside in a community. I made lots of friends in the gaming world, they all make me smile in their own way. I'm glad I got to know them.


~ Herr_Fristy


** This post is not intended to insult anyone or hurt the feelings of the person reading this. Nor is it my intention to make myself look better than anyone else, because I am not.**

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