Keep It Simple, Stupid:
A concise analysis of Gamer Culture
SCENARIO
Gamer Identity is a concept built in opposition; which is to say, without societal distaste for gaming, "gamers" would not exist. People enjoy movies casually, and while there are people who are dedicated to the art of filmography, "film buff" and "gamer" do not have the same connotations. Gamer Identity exists because gamers were treated like outcasts and weirdos, and as a result were forced to socialize primarily with other outcasts and weirdos.
However, it is the year 2014, and for the most part things are different now. If a gamer is treated like an outcast and a weirdo now, it's probably because the are an outcast and a weirdo, not because they're a gamer. Yet you can still see a great deal of bitterness at the old wounds; one of the most notable ways this manifests itself is in hatred for "fake geeks". "Who do they think they are", the argument goes, "to try to get in on gaming as an identity without having to endure that outcast status?"
Well, I grew up in the 90s, and I was part of that "original caste" of gamers. I was a person who played games and was treated like an outsider, although not necessarily in that order. And the thing about it is, I got past it. I came out the other side. I watch people who are what I used to be, and all I can wait for them to do is either wake up or destroy themselves.
The thing is, ultimately, there is only one concept that "gamerdom" stands for: the right to not be made fun of for fucking around in an electronic toy.
Take everything you know about GamerGate and run it through that filter.
Gamers think SJWs are "too sensitive". In reality, the gamer wants to preserve their right to not be made fun of for fucking around in an electronic toy. This issue is, to them, a core concept of who they are, and yet somehow they believe that other people are too sensitive. Not them. Other people.
You know, I'd love to go on about this, but there's really nothing else to it. It doesn't matter if gamers invoke "journalistic freedom" or "artistic integrity", ultimately every discussion is going to turn back to the right to not be made fun of for fucking around in an electronic toy. And hey, "gamergaters" aren't the only ones who really care about that right! Lots of people do. Lots of people get upset if you make fun of them for fucking around in an electronic toy. It's basically a prerequisite for being the kind of person who spends their life fucking around with an electronic toy.
ALTERNATIVES
Well, personally, I'd argue that maybe you should grow the fuck up, you huge stupid baby, but a more constructive alternative is to try to understand what you have in common with your SJW opponents so you can see that you're actually not that different. Both of you care about "artistic freedom", to an extent. Both of you participate in a hobby where you do immoral, stupid things and justify it because it's "just a game". Both of you are basically idiots trying to pretend like you know what big people are talking about.
CONCLUSION
but no seriously grow the fuck up
"If a gamer is treated like an outcast and a weirdo now, it's probably because they are an outcast and a weirdo, not because they're a gamer."
ReplyDelete- Haha, I genuinely laughed at the truthfulness of this statement. It doesn't matter 'what you are' if you are an outcast and a weirdo, you're going to be treated as an outcast and a weirdo. The good or bad of that is entirely dependent on the education and the ability of the person to accept you as that.
While there's nothing inherently wrong with being an 'outcast' or a 'weirdo', I think the more I learn about other people and how they live their lives allows me to relate more. I mean that's it. I sit down with a group of fellow teachers at school and I don't sit there complaining about my rights as a 'gamer', or that no one respects me; I talk about how I played a bit too much Dark Souls over the last two weeks and nearly gave myself RSI so have had to put the controller down for a while so I don't do anymore damage to my guitar playing arms. That's relatable.
I have sympathy for outcasts and weirdos; the problem is that I think a lot of them don't really understand the downward spiral.
DeleteYou're an outcast, so you play games instead of socializing, which worsens your social skills. You hang out with weird 4chan people, which worsens them more. You trap yourself in a world of stilted, awkward dialogue and bad moral values and unrealistic scenarios and then one day you wake up and you're in your twenties and the only people you can ever connect to are other gamers, because none of you know how to communicate with people in the real world.
And now you're an outcast weirdo forever.
Beware the 4channic discourse
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGamerGate has accomplished one real thing: it proves that I was right about gamers being garbage the entire time. It made my case better than I could have ever done myself. Thousands of gamers eagerly poured out of the woodwork to show everyone how short-sighted, self-indulgent and ignorant they are.
DeleteI just want everyone to know that Al Russell deleted his post about how he doesn't like GamerGate and he agreed with this article.
DeleteI won't let him censor himself. Free speech is an important right.
Why not?
Delete