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Why We Are Wrong
LightningCount
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Just to start out, I'm not going to deny it. I can certainly put myself in with the people I'm about to say are completely retarded. I think I'm smarter than everyone. The very act of writing this puts me in that category. That's fine. But I'm going to chuck rocks from inside my glass bungalow and hope for the best.
I think it starts with the question of how we, how everyone, defines "gamer". Now, I don't personally consider myself a gamer. I play some videogames, probably more than I should, these days, and I read Penny Arcade. That first point makes me a gamer. Someone who plays videogames is a gamer. And yet there's a part of me that says "Dude, you're not a gamer." So let's agree for a moment that that part of me is retarded. Since I play games, I'm a gamer. Where does this leave us?
My main greivance here is the idea that some games are made for gamers, and some aren't. They aren't "For us" they're "for them." This idea came to me, actually several times, while reading various gamer related blog entries. Mostly the Penny Arcade one. The comments regarding the dialogue in Gears of War and Army of Two particularly irritatted me. This sense that somehow the particular mindset is inferior, and that it's in the game because the game is made for "Them". You know what I mean. Don't pretend you don't. Deep in your heart of hearts, you think that people on the football team, no matter how many videogames they play, can't be gamers. You think that there's something more intelligent about you, because you're branded, by yourself or by others, as a nerd.
You're wrong. That guy who spent all day Monday talking about how drunk he got on the weekend, but who then goes home and plays Gears of War and Halo 3 is as much a Gamer as you with your Level 70 Troll Shaman. Being a gamer means playing Video Games. That's the extent of it.
But the much more virulent mindset that needs to be stamped out is the idea that being a gamer, in either my sense or yours, makes you more intelligent than being a "jock" or whatever the fuck other social groups people are sticking themselves in this week. Yes, you're called a nerd, and, traditionally, nerds were intelligent. That has fucking changed. It is no longer the case. Being called a nerd doesn't entitle you to the fucking mental efforts of all the dedicated geeks with no lives who spent their entire life learning to code, or learning everything there was to know about a particular species of butterfly or whatever the fuck it was that they did. It used to be that nerds were nerds because they spent their lives doing stuff that other people didn't really care about, but that stretched their minds. That is why "nerd" also meant "smart". You don't get to claim that, just because you're getting hit with the same label.
I know so many "nerds" who haven't ever read a god damned book they didn't have to, but assume that they're smarter than the athletic kids because they're considered nerds, and nerds are supposed to be smart. But they never once in their life did anything to learn or get smarter. They just played videogames. Stop it. Take that smug fucking smirk off your face. Until you make an effort to be better, you aren't.
And looking down on people who enjoy the dialogue from Gears of War is just stupid, baseless elitism that doesn't prove that you're smarter than anyone, just that you're an unforgivable douche.
A little self awareness and, maybe, one day, we can be rid of worthless attitudes. All we're asking is that you try.
I'd appreciate comments/agreement/arguements/whatever you've got.
I think it starts with the question of how we, how everyone, defines "gamer". Now, I don't personally consider myself a gamer. I play some videogames, probably more than I should, these days, and I read Penny Arcade. That first point makes me a gamer. Someone who plays videogames is a gamer. And yet there's a part of me that says "Dude, you're not a gamer." So let's agree for a moment that that part of me is retarded. Since I play games, I'm a gamer. Where does this leave us?
My main greivance here is the idea that some games are made for gamers, and some aren't. They aren't "For us" they're "for them." This idea came to me, actually several times, while reading various gamer related blog entries. Mostly the Penny Arcade one. The comments regarding the dialogue in Gears of War and Army of Two particularly irritatted me. This sense that somehow the particular mindset is inferior, and that it's in the game because the game is made for "Them". You know what I mean. Don't pretend you don't. Deep in your heart of hearts, you think that people on the football team, no matter how many videogames they play, can't be gamers. You think that there's something more intelligent about you, because you're branded, by yourself or by others, as a nerd.
You're wrong. That guy who spent all day Monday talking about how drunk he got on the weekend, but who then goes home and plays Gears of War and Halo 3 is as much a Gamer as you with your Level 70 Troll Shaman. Being a gamer means playing Video Games. That's the extent of it.
But the much more virulent mindset that needs to be stamped out is the idea that being a gamer, in either my sense or yours, makes you more intelligent than being a "jock" or whatever the fuck other social groups people are sticking themselves in this week. Yes, you're called a nerd, and, traditionally, nerds were intelligent. That has fucking changed. It is no longer the case. Being called a nerd doesn't entitle you to the fucking mental efforts of all the dedicated geeks with no lives who spent their entire life learning to code, or learning everything there was to know about a particular species of butterfly or whatever the fuck it was that they did. It used to be that nerds were nerds because they spent their lives doing stuff that other people didn't really care about, but that stretched their minds. That is why "nerd" also meant "smart". You don't get to claim that, just because you're getting hit with the same label.
I know so many "nerds" who haven't ever read a god damned book they didn't have to, but assume that they're smarter than the athletic kids because they're considered nerds, and nerds are supposed to be smart. But they never once in their life did anything to learn or get smarter. They just played videogames. Stop it. Take that smug fucking smirk off your face. Until you make an effort to be better, you aren't.
And looking down on people who enjoy the dialogue from Gears of War is just stupid, baseless elitism that doesn't prove that you're smarter than anyone, just that you're an unforgivable douche.
A little self awareness and, maybe, one day, we can be rid of worthless attitudes. All we're asking is that you try.
I'd appreciate comments/agreement/arguements/whatever you've got.
LightningCount on
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Posts
As for GoW in particular, I enjoy its dialogue in the same way I enjoy the dialogue of your average summer blockbuster film. It's not deep, it's not compelling, but it's fun and it gets the job done. That's all I really ask of something. Entertain me and succeed at what you set out to do, or at least try your best.
You know, fun.
I suppose 'and/or' would have worked better. My point is that there are many people I would consider 'gamers' despite them not playing many videogames, due to a vested interest and consideration of it as a major hobby for them, while there are many people who play lots of games that I WOULDN'T consider gamers, because it's just flash stuff in the background of their work computers and they do not consider it a hobby.
Fun fact: I consider the obvious dismissal with which you treat "macho grunting" to directly lead to the weakening of modern humans and intellectual stagnation. But hey, that's me.
Then again there can be issues when one 'type' of gamer becomes dominant when it comes to games being developed at the cost of other genres.
But I haven' really experienced that as so much of a problem. Except when adventure gaming died.
I thought everyone knew that.
Celeste [Switch] - She'll be wrestling with inner demons when she comes...
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age [Switch] - Sit down and watch our game play itself
Fun fact: This right here makes you sound a bit nutso.
I was following your OP a bit, even while disagreeing with parts of it, but saying that someone describing "macho grunting" directly leads to weakening and intellectual stagnation as an entire race... dude you freakin lost me, and I think reality, a while back it seems.
But yes, the OP does seem like he only just got out of high school, or is still in, and is only just now figuring out that stereotypes are stupid. Maybe even getting angry at it.
So probably still in high school.
And... "macho grunting" is as much a part of manhood as pissing while standing up. It's not the catalyst of intellectual stagnation. It's the thing to do when you're trying to intimidate something or establish dominance. Apes and chimpanzees do it, and, since we're closely related, so do we (although, for us, we often replace grunting with trash talking or by breaking out in spontaneous song and dance).
What you wrote there has never described me, and I've been playing games since I was old enough to hold a controller.
Right. You're not necessarily an athlete if you only play flag football every other weekend with your friends.
Thats about it really, jock/nerd:gamer/preps what ever the fuck divisions belong in high school and to a much lesser extent collage.
Out in the real world people tend to have several hobbies/groups of friends.
Um, o_O and
I can't believe I missed this. Thank you, Bama, for bringing this to my attention.
Jesus christ, that's the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. Dumbest. Fucking. Thing. Extreme ignorance. And I mean that in the most literal, objective, as non-pejoratively as possible.
The consideration that anyone thinks, "Oh those stupid jocks just can't play games. They're too stupid. They're not like us."
Maybe you can think people who fall into the stereotype of "jocks" don't play games, but it certainly wouldn't have any goddamn thing to do with a perceived intelligence difference. If anything, it's because they play their sport all the damn time, because that's their hobby.
Maybe I would be a bit surprised, and think it a whole lot of awesome, if Brett Favre was a major Final Fantasy player or something. But I wouldn't think, "He's smart?!"
Well, there is the fact that he plays for the wrong team. Tom Brady, on the other hand...
That said, I do think there is an "elite" culture emerging in videogame fandom, similar to the elite subculture of critics and "movie buffs." These people like arty games like Shadow of the Colossus and are disappointed in mindless action game sequels. I'm one of these people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
I'm not going to click on that link. But I think I know what you're getting at.
I see. Well in that case, we are hungry, make us a sammich. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated.
Sudo make me a sandwich.
What your saying is that I need a knife.
Whenever I read that it sounds in my head like "Pseudo-make me a sandwich." Then I picture someone pretending to make a sandwich.
We know.
Take that mime shit outside.
I'm not following this train of thought.
The OP is correct, as a species humanity needs to get the fuck over itself in this regard, and we're making progress. Once upon a time, it was who had the better land/hunting/resources, then later it was "who worshipped the right way." In school, it may just be jocks vs nerds, or emo kids vs preppies, but in the larger community it's race, or economics, or nationalism. Here, it's people who think things through and can present an articulate argument versus mouth-breathing trolls who come in, puke sentence fragments and retreat like cowards.
By and large, we play well here with others, if they're willing to abide by our rules. That's fine, it's a matter of hospitality. The US just elected a black man to be our next president; that's huge, since he wouldn't have been considered human by most Americans two hundred and fifty years ago. The Sunni's and Shia of Iraq are still circling like Alabama and Auburn fans during playoffs, but maybe there's hope there, too.
Kudos for recognizing the problem, and even more for being outraged by it. There are people who wander around their entire lives without being self aware enough to see it in themselves.
So, no, I don't think being a jock has any bearing on someone's intelligence or ability to play video games at all.
As gaming because a more and more popular form of entertainment, playing videogames really isn't a defining trait of a person at all. I think that some people use the term gamer in the same way some people use the term movie buff. It just indicates how invested the person might be in that particular medium of entertainment.
Hmm...
-also-
Oh really? What message? How did you send it? How did the "whole school" receive this message? And why would bringing a home-made cat5 cable to a computer repair class be "smuggling"?
Is "No, there's ten shitloads," a real quote from the game? That is hysterically bad. I have trouble believing it's not intentionally bad.
Either way, if you're enjoying the story and writing in a game like Gears - in most video games, really - because you find it compelling and moving, or socially relevant, or somehow literary, then you really need to start reading some good books. Preferably the ones that don't have dragons on the cover.
Because we weren't supposed to connect to the internet in the class because the computers we were working on didn't have any of the sort of security software on them that the rest of the computers dude.
There's an instant messaging type program built into windows, at least up till 98/2k not sure which it was anymore, been a while. We were really just meaning to send a message to another computer in class, but, it ended up being sent to every computer on the home group, whoops. The message was just, "Hello?" as we were trying to see if it worked.
Anyway, this is kind of tangential to the whole thread.
Out of context, that sounds like something I might say. "Man there's a whole shitload of XXX." "No, actually, there's ten shitloads." But then I like to say deliberately retarded things for comedic effect.