David-D--NelsonChances are you are following a gamer's code whether you mean to or not.
Some of you may be fans of a little show on Showtime called Dexter that has become a cultural phenomenon. I've been watching for years, it's about to come to a close with the final episode and I'm a sucker for a tribute article. As a general observer of human behavior I noticed a loose parallel between the title character in that entertainment medium and how we conduct ourselves in our gaming.
If you don't know the show, Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who only kills other murderers. In order to do what he does and control his need he follows a special code of behavior. While I'm sure most of us would find a way to keep gaming without special restrictions I have noted that gamers tend to follow their own code anyway. It guides them, telling them right from wrong while they do what they enjoy. What drives the code is different for everyone.
Whether it's across the interwebs or right here in our upstanding community I see gamers proudly asserting what is to be done and what is not to be done when it comes to this hobby. A lot of the time we don't quite understand how other people don't feel compelled to follow the same code we do, but most learn to respect the codes of others.
What kinds of things qualify? I'd say any rule that, for the time being, is hard and fast. I've seen people who absolutely refuse to buy a single piece of downloadable content no matter what. Maybe they don't want to support the often controversial practice, or maybe they have no intention of investing more than the retail price in a single game. Often it is just on principle that this stuff should be on the disc.
Others rule out certain kinds of games or gaming for whatever reason. Using myself as an example I will not let myself get involved in an MMORPG. Aside from the monthly cost I refuse to pay I know I've got an addictive personality and an unreasonable love of RPGs. That is a potentially troublesome mix. I also stay away from multiplayer because it is just too stressful and I like my game time to be rather relaxed. Maybe some of you have your own multiplayer rules like staying away from it until you've completed the single player campaign.
There are all kinds of examples out there. Perhaps you just won't let yourself play more than one game at a time to keep from buying too many. I know there's a chance that with some of you certain kinds of games aren't going to get put away until a platinum trophy is obtained and 100% completion is reached.
A theme I constantly see in the average gamer's code today (myself very much included) is that of support: I refuse to support this , or I will even spend extra money to support that . I want developers who do this to get my money and developers who do that will never get a full price purchase out of me. Annualization? Not for me, that's against my code. You want to make this into an action franchise ? I'll make it into a used game purchase. You get the drift.
Whatever our rules may be I think many of us follow some kind of code in this hobby; now's your chance to tell us about your code and what it means to you.
