Both being proud or embarrassed for being a gamer sounds like insecurity. Being proud is then as if you give yourself a slap on the shoulder for going against those other people's judgment. Great if that works for you and enables you to deal with the judgment. But I rather see you ignore other people's judgment for your preferences. Simply because it is not in their right to do so.
But, being a gamer should not be an excuse to not take care for yourself.
If you don't shave, it has nothing to do with being a gamer. It is ridiculous to imply that it is part of being a gamer. Same goes for lack of sleep, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating etc.
If it is a conscious choice, fine, whatever floats your boat. But the moment you start acting as if this is part of being a gamer, it starts to sound like an excuse.
In that case you might want to seriously consider the idea that you are addicted to gaming (or addicted to the escapism through gaming).
Not judging here, but just saying try to be honest to yourself.
I seriously never considered an audiobook while toking. My girlfriend listens to those and podcasts and now that I think back to hearing them while riding in the car with her, that sounds like a terrific idea.
I use audiobooks when I do boring stuff at work (like running the welding robots or loading the CNC machines). I don't use that part of my brain for that and it is a perfect time to have a good book to listen to. When I do stuff like coding it is impossible for me though.
I wouldn't use it when "toking" though, that's what Deep purple is for.
Yes, but I'm telling you... Frank Muller plus Virtual Light...
No?... Just me?...
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Authored 139 missions in VendettaOnline and 6 tracks in Distance
Both being proud or embarrassed for being a gamer sounds like insecurity. Being proud is then as if you give yourself a slap on the shoulder for going against those other people's judgment. Great if that works for you and enables you to deal with the judgment. But I rather see you ignore other people's judgment for your preferences. Simply because it is not in their right to do so.
But, being a gamer should not be an excuse to not take care for yourself.
If you don't shave, it has nothing to do with being a gamer. It is ridiculous to imply that it is part of being a gamer. Same goes for lack of sleep, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating etc.
If it is a conscious choice, fine, whatever floats your boat. But the moment you start acting as if this is part of being a gamer, it starts to sound like an excuse.
In that case you might want to seriously consider the idea that you are addicted to gaming (or addicted to the escapism through gaming).
Not judging here, but just saying try to be honest to yourself.
I seriously never considered an audiobook while toking. My girlfriend listens to those and podcasts and now that I think back to hearing them while riding in the car with her, that sounds like a terrific idea.
I use audiobooks when I do boring stuff at work (like running the welding robots or loading the CNC machines). I don't use that part of my brain for that and it is a perfect time to have a good book to listen to. When I do stuff like coding it is impossible for me though.
I wouldn't use it when "toking" though, that's what Deep purple is for.
Yes, but I'm telling you... Frank Muller plus Virtual Light...
No?... Just me?...
I read Virtual Light years ago the old-fashioned pulp and paper way.
I do enjoy audio books but they're more of a road-trip thing for me... and I don't do so many road trips these days.
As an aside... did anyone else notice the people living on the bridge in the Altered Carbon TV series? Nice nod to Gibson I thought.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Wish I had more time to play some games. How do you guys juggle long work hours, social life/family to play ALL these games and make thousands of posts? Do you guys have jobs? I can definitely see the insecurity involved around gaming. If you meet a new girl, and are dating you may want to keep the fact that you are glued to your gaming PC a dirty secret for a bit until you start laying pipe.
Wish I had more time to play some games. How do you guys juggle long work hours, social life/family to play ALL these games and make thousands of posts? Do you guys have jobs? I can definitely see the insecurity involved around gaming. If you meet a new girl, and are dating you may want to keep the fact that you are glued to your gaming PC a dirty secret for a bit until you start laying pipe.
Funnily enough, one of my grandsons is currently dating a girl he met in WoW.. a real one! i am just hoping he doesn't get this one pregnant! Well the point is that if you feel you have to hide your personal interests from your prospective dates then the likelihood of the relationship progressing to the 'pipe laying' stage might be in jeopardy! Though be careful if you do, as involuntarily being engaged in parental pvp might be the result!
Back in the day MANY were into sports and outdoor hobbies,now a days it really seems like people are lazy and a lot of hermits.
We used sports to have fun,be with other people/friends and to keep in great shape.Now people go to gyms to workout ALONE,play games ALONE their best form of interaction is on their cell phones. There also became a new era of people trying to be different and cool instead of being themselves. Point being,people have changed a LOT,the way they think is different,the way they act is different. i'll use a perfect example.A much younger person at work complimented me because i use words like thank you,he said he never hears anyone say that ever,only his parents.I see it in the grocery store for example,people will stand in the middle of the isle talking not caring or respecting anyone else in the store but themselves.
In the old days if the kids were acting up,the parents would smack them or scold them,try to teach them right from wrong,now a days,they laugh when their kids do something bad ,they even encourage it.I was in Burger King "lol yeah i know crap food"family of 4,the mother let her 3 kids absolutely terrorize the rest of the customers until finally one stood on a table and knocked over another families kids drinks.You think that mother would apologize or even care..nope,the distraught mother went ballistic,i thought she was going to kill that disrespectful mother.
Morals,don't get me started,a person would stab their best friend in the back to keep their job. Long winded point?Gaming is not something you should be proud of,people are more important,morals are more important,health is more important,family is more important etc etc.Gaming should take a back seat to most everything,it should be a hobby,a time to relax but it should never become LIFE.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Wish I had more time to play some games. How do you guys juggle long work hours, social life/family to play ALL these games and make thousands of posts? Do you guys have jobs? I can definitely see the insecurity involved around gaming. If you meet a new girl, and are dating you may want to keep the fact that you are glued to your gaming PC a dirty secret for a bit until you start laying pipe.
You can definitely lay pipe without wanting the relationship to extend to the point of having to share your hobbies like this, though it's always best to ensure that goal is the same for your partner.
I agree that as soon as you consider longevity in the relationship, hiding the hobby is detrimental at that point.
Wish I had more time to play some games. How do you guys juggle long work hours, social life/family to play ALL these games and make thousands of posts? Do you guys have jobs? I can definitely see the insecurity involved around gaming. If you meet a new girl, and are dating you may want to keep the fact that you are glued to your gaming PC a dirty secret for a bit until you start laying pipe.
I currently live with my girlfriend of 7 1/2 years, who is also effectively a stepmother to my 13-year-old son, and I told her of my gaming hobby very early on when we were first dating in the Summer of 2010. She's not a gamer but she has her own hobbies and we both agree that it's okay for us not to share every one of our own interests with each other (in fact, for us it's probably better). There is a balance there, though. I can't game as much as I did before her and I got together, but I'm okay with that.
As far as the posting goes, I work in IT server administration (Windows) and sit in front of a computer 90% of the time, while using a two-monitor setup. A lot of times when I'm posting I have multiple tasks going on at the same time spread across my elongated desktop. While waiting for progress bars is usually when I end up posting.
He may say he is OK with it, but he has not forgotten it, it is 7 and a half years ago but the memories of that sacrifice are still raw.
One of the issues this thread highlights is that gaming is still not mainstream. You can refer to someone who watch's films as a film-goer, but is that a special category of people set apart? Same for TV and so on, are people who read a lot of books called readers?
In some way I am glad of that, look at what becoming more mainstream has brought us; never ending franchises, jumping on to the latest craze (like BR), homogenised game play like in Assassin's Creed, Shadow of Mordor and Mad Max, gambling in gaming, the prospect of only online group play etc etc.
What have we gained from becoming more mainstream? Some may say better production values, but gaming has always had ever better graphics from the word go. Some may say esports, well if that's your thing fair enough, not mine.
Not sure if gaming were as common as seeing a film we would all be happy about it. We would have a handful of "studios" led by EA with every other gaming house bought up by "gaming Hollywood"...fabulous.
Wish I had more time to play some games. How do you guys juggle long work hours, social life/family to play ALL these games and make thousands of posts? Do you guys have jobs? I can definitely see the insecurity involved around gaming. If you meet a new girl, and are dating you may want to keep the fact that you are glued to your gaming PC a dirty secret for a bit until you start laying pipe.
lol actually I only tend to date women who are professionals or Academics/"artists". None of them play video games. I usually let it out little by little until they are all in and can't escape
As far as family I've never wanted one so all my time/money is mine to do with as I see fit.
I socialize quite a bit as I have a nice large group of good friends. But that doesn't mean I never get a whole Saturday/weekend to myself (I don't just socialize on the weekends as there are 5 other evenings I can socialize as well.
As far as posts, I work at a work hard/play hard biotech. As long as I do my work and exceed expectations I can post or socialize at work. We are free to play chess, foosball, air hockey, etc as long as we don't neglect our work.
And typing very fast also helps.
However, I tend to play games in concentrated bits and then take breaks to do other things.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
The only reason we even frame this in our minds is because the counter-cultures stigmatizes these sorts of things.
If everyone on the planet was a gamer on some level, we wouldn't even have to pose the question, which will eventually occur- everyone on the planet will be a gamer in one form or another.
It's just a matter of time, allow old age and those who continually stigmatize gaming today- to simply pass on from this world.
A day will come, when people will be more embarrassed about their low Steam level, versus being embarrassed of being a gamer- as i truly believe Steam will one day become the new Social ladder for humans to climb.
Fishing on Gilgamesh since 2013 Fishing on Bronzebeard since 2005 Fishing in RL since 1992 Born with a fishing rod in my hand in 1979
Wish I had more time to play some games. How do you guys juggle long work hours, social life/family to play ALL these games and make thousands of posts? Do you guys have jobs? I can definitely see the insecurity involved around gaming. If you meet a new girl, and are dating you may want to keep the fact that you are glued to your gaming PC a dirty secret for a bit until you start laying pipe.
lol actually I only tend to date women who are professionals or Academics/"artists". None of them play video games. I usually let it out little by little until they are all in and can't escape
As far as family I've never wanted one so all my time/money is mine to do with as I see fit.
I socialize quite a bit as I have a nice large group of good friends. But that doesn't mean I never get a whole Saturday/weekend to myself (I don't just socialize on the weekends as there are 5 other evenings I can socialize as well.
As far as posts, I work at a work hard/play hard biotech. As long as I do my work and exceed expectations I can post or socialize at work. We are free to play chess, foosball, air hockey, etc as long as we don't neglect our work.
And typing very fast also helps.
However, I tend to play games in concentrated bits and then take breaks to do other things.
Although I haven't ever really dated a gamer but I'd never date anyone who doesn't have a hobby. No offense to women, there are guys just the same. Some people turn their partner into their hobby. I can't really stand that--sucks the life out of you.
Constantine, The Console Poster
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
To respond to the title: I hate the general lack of distinction between 'not ashamed' and 'proud'. There's a big gap between these, and though 'proud' is often used to mean 'not ashamed', it carries with it the meaning of thinking what you do or what you are is some sort of an achievement. Which is why I dislike the word in contexts like this one. It's perfectly fine to unashamedly be a gamer, or homosexual, or black, or whatever you happen to be, but be proud of that? Why?
Whilst I immensely enjoy gaming, I don't receive any sense of pride because of it. For me, it's just a way to pass time and keep my mind active.
Being 45, highlighting the fact that I play computer games, even as a hobby, would potentially alter my employers perceptions of me. My perceived worth and possibly even my EQ (emotional intelligence) may be questioned by them.
This perception does vary from demographic to demographic, profession to profession and age group to age group. So people tend to share this information based on assessment of their peers.
Gen Z, generally speaking are cool with it, as they've grown up with this being acceptable, even normal behavior. The older the age group though, the less accepting they tend to be.
All this said, once retired, I plan on gaming (and exercising) a hell of alot.
I've personally witnessed noticeable differences in retired people that play games. From my experience, their minds are much clearer, faster and dare I say, their disposition's happier/friendlier. If I can tap into these endorphins through gaming and exercise, fingers crossed I'll die a happy man
Whilst I immensely enjoy gaming, I don't receive any sense of pride because of it. For me, it's just a way to pass time and keep my mind active.
Being 45, highlighting the fact that I play computer games, even as a hobby, would potentially alter my employers perceptions of me. My perceived worth and possibly even my EQ (emotional intelligence) may be questioned by them.
This perception does vary from demographic to demographic, profession to profession and age group to age group. So people tend to share this information based on assessment of their peers.
Gen Z, generally speaking are cool with it, as they've grown up with this being acceptable, even normal behavior. The older the age group though, the less accepting they tend to be.
All this said, once retired, I plan on gaming (and exercising) a hell of alot.
I've personally witnessed noticeable differences in retired people that play games. From my experience, their minds are much clearer, faster and dare I say, their disposition's happier/friendlier. If I can tap into these endorphins through gaming and exercise, fingers crossed I'll die a happy man
So if I keep up my gaming I won't die a grumpy old man. Sounds good.
Today.. not really as the gamers of today are honestly bad compared to the ones back in my times. They are babied too much by games today, for proof look at kids today trying to play like super metroid or something, they just can't get anywhere because they are used to today's games where your hand is held thru everything. Gamers today can't often think for themselves if they aren't shown where to go, they won't figure it out on their own, some won't even try. You can see this aspect in games where you can climb things, before, you'd have to try to figure it out on your own.. Today? pretty much anything climbable today has some magical paint on the edge you can grab to show the player its climbable, it breaks immersion because there is no way there would be just a perfectly clean pain line in the middle of no where to show you that you can climb it. This is how bad gamers have gotten, that they even need that sort of thing labeled for them. I blame the fact on gamers today mostly consist of casuals, the market has changed and thus the maker changed to cater to them, you can especally see this in mmorpgs, as most today are just boring quest hub to quest hub guided romps. Its why i've pretty much given up on mmorpgs, as I am tired of just running from quest hub to quest hub, they are bascally poorly made single player games today.
My fave mmorpg is still FF11 back when level cap was still 75, because back then you needed to be social, you needed other people to advance, none of this crap today where you can hit level cap without talking to a single person if you wanted to.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Good article Tim, missed your wit, its been a while.
At work I rarely discuss gaming, its just a thing at my age and mgmt level.
I imagine the younger employees have less issue, but that said while many people wear jerseys of their favorite sports teams (even Alabama, ugh...heritics) on casual day I've yet to see a single eSports jersey, not even for the Overwatch league.
Hey, theres an idea, I think I buy one and wear it next week, see if anyone has a clue.
If anyone in Senior Mgmt asks I'll just say it's for a New Zealand Rugby team....
Don't they have the location names on them? XD Then again Shanghai could ALSO be the name of a small town near Auckland . . .
I'm proud to be a gamer. There is still a stigma about it. I read an interesting article on how TV shows encourage that stigma. After all, it's their competition.
I haven't found any gamer shirts I want, but i often wear Marvel hero shirts and hats, Star Wars too. Looking for some game related patches for my bomber jacket though. Something Sci-fi
Comments
Both being proud or embarrassed for being a gamer sounds like insecurity. Being proud is then as if you give yourself a slap on the shoulder for going against those other people's judgment. Great if that works for you and enables you to deal with the judgment. But I rather see you ignore other people's judgment for your preferences. Simply because it is not in their right to do so.
But, being a gamer should not be an excuse to not take care for yourself.
If you don't shave, it has nothing to do with being a gamer. It is ridiculous to imply that it is part of being a gamer. Same goes for lack of sleep, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating etc.
If it is a conscious choice, fine, whatever floats your boat. But the moment you start acting as if this is part of being a gamer, it starts to sound like an excuse.
In that case you might want to seriously consider the idea that you are addicted to gaming (or addicted to the escapism through gaming).
Not judging here, but just saying try to be honest to yourself.
No?... Just me?...
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
Just shave guys, ffs.
I do enjoy audio books but they're more of a road-trip thing for me... and I don't do so many road trips these days.
As an aside... did anyone else notice the people living on the bridge in the Altered Carbon TV series? Nice nod to Gibson I thought.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Well the point is that if you feel you have to hide your personal interests from your prospective dates then the likelihood of the relationship progressing to the 'pipe laying' stage might be in jeopardy! Though be careful if you do, as involuntarily being engaged in parental pvp might be the result!
I'll add that when you're a single then even if you're employed it's still emberrassing.
We used sports to have fun,be with other people/friends and to keep in great shape.Now people go to gyms to workout ALONE,play games ALONE their best form of interaction is on their cell phones.
There also became a new era of people trying to be different and cool instead of being themselves.
Point being,people have changed a LOT,the way they think is different,the way they act is different.
i'll use a perfect example.A much younger person at work complimented me because i use words like thank you,he said he never hears anyone say that ever,only his parents.I see it in the grocery store for example,people will stand in the middle of the isle talking not caring or respecting anyone else in the store but themselves.
In the old days if the kids were acting up,the parents would smack them or scold them,try to teach them right from wrong,now a days,they laugh when their kids do something bad ,they even encourage it.I was in Burger King "lol yeah i know crap food"family of 4,the mother let her 3 kids absolutely terrorize the rest of the customers until finally one stood on a table and knocked over another families kids drinks.You think that mother would apologize or even care..nope,the distraught mother went ballistic,i thought she was going to kill that disrespectful mother.
Morals,don't get me started,a person would stab their best friend in the back to keep their job.
Long winded point?Gaming is not something you should be proud of,people are more important,morals are more important,health is more important,family is more important etc etc.Gaming should take a back seat to most everything,it should be a hobby,a time to relax but it should never become LIFE.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I agree that as soon as you consider longevity in the relationship, hiding the hobby is detrimental at that point.
In some way I am glad of that, look at what becoming more mainstream has brought us; never ending franchises, jumping on to the latest craze (like BR), homogenised game play like in Assassin's Creed, Shadow of Mordor and Mad Max, gambling in gaming, the prospect of only online group play etc etc.
What have we gained from becoming more mainstream? Some may say better production values, but gaming has always had ever better graphics from the word go. Some may say esports, well if that's your thing fair enough, not mine.
Not sure if gaming were as common as seeing a film we would all be happy about it. We would have a handful of "studios" led by EA with every other gaming house bought up by "gaming Hollywood"...fabulous.
As far as family I've never wanted one so all my time/money is mine to do with as I see fit.
I socialize quite a bit as I have a nice large group of good friends. But that doesn't mean I never get a whole Saturday/weekend to myself (I don't just socialize on the weekends as there are 5 other evenings I can socialize as well.
As far as posts, I work at a work hard/play hard biotech. As long as I do my work and exceed expectations I can post or socialize at work. We are free to play chess, foosball, air hockey, etc as long as we don't neglect our work.
And typing very fast also helps.
However, I tend to play games in concentrated bits and then take breaks to do other things.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
If everyone on the planet was a gamer on some level, we wouldn't even have to pose the question, which will eventually occur- everyone on the planet will be a gamer in one form or another.
It's just a matter of time, allow old age and those who continually stigmatize gaming today- to simply pass on from this world.
A day will come, when people will be more embarrassed about their low Steam level, versus being embarrassed of being a gamer- as i truly believe Steam will one day become the new Social ladder for humans to climb.
Fishing on Gilgamesh since 2013
Fishing on Bronzebeard since 2005
Fishing in RL since 1992
Born with a fishing rod in my hand in 1979
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Being 45, highlighting the fact that I play computer games, even as a hobby, would potentially alter my employers perceptions of me. My perceived worth and possibly even my EQ (emotional intelligence) may be questioned by them.
This perception does vary from demographic to demographic, profession to profession and age group to age group. So people tend to share this information based on assessment of their peers.
Gen Z, generally speaking are cool with it, as they've grown up with this being acceptable, even normal behavior. The older the age group though, the less accepting they tend to be.
All this said, once retired, I plan on gaming (and exercising) a hell of alot.
I've personally witnessed noticeable differences in retired people that play games. From my experience, their minds are much clearer, faster and dare I say, their disposition's happier/friendlier. If I can tap into these endorphins through gaming and exercise, fingers crossed I'll die a happy man
So if I keep up my gaming I won't die a grumpy old man. Sounds good.
My fave mmorpg is still FF11 back when level cap was still 75, because back then you needed to be social, you needed other people to advance, none of this crap today where you can hit level cap without talking to a single person if you wanted to.
Being a pessimist is a win-win pattern of thinking. If you're a pessimist (I'll admit that I am!) you're either:
A. Proven right (if something bad happens)
or
B. Pleasantly surprised (if something good happens)
Either way, you can't lose! Try it out sometime!
Don't they have the location names on them? XD Then again Shanghai could ALSO be the name of a small town near Auckland . . .
I'm proud to be a gamer. There is still a stigma about it. I read an interesting article on how TV shows encourage that stigma. After all, it's their competition.
I haven't found any gamer shirts I want, but i often wear Marvel hero shirts and hats, Star Wars too. Looking for some game related patches for my bomber jacket though. Something Sci-fi