Ben-DutkaWell, this is a new one.
We gamers apparently can't escape the negative labels, even when they come out of the blue and apparently have zero basis in truth and fact. I know we're steadily leaving the "geek" and "nerd" associations behind (at least, I hope we are), and I know as gaming becomes more mainstream, there will come a time when saying "I play games" will sound like the exact same thing as, "I watch movies." But I was at a social function just the other night and someone said something in passing that confused the ever-loving sh** out of me.
Somebody needed a ride home and asked if anyone might go out of their way to give her a lift. Before I could say a word, this idiot on my right piped up and said (indicating me), "well, he won't do it. He needs to get back to his games." At first, I just figured this was your standard ignorant remark I had assumed disappeared some time ago. But as I no longer care about things like embarrassment and humiliation (and in fact, I'm larger than most), I decided to seek some clarification. So I asked him what he meant, and he replied, "oh, no offense or anything, but every dude I've met who's into games is totally full of himself. Like he only cares about himself." The worst part? Three other people nodded after he said it.
…does anyone know what the hell he's talking about? Since when did the geeks become egotistical? Is it because people think gaming is still mostly a solitary hobby, and they'd rather fulfill their own desires than to cater to someone else's? Now, I know for a fact that many hardcore gamers have superiority complexes the size of Australia, but that's only online, where there's no danger of physical repercussions. In the real world, they're awkward, shy, and essentially worthless in social situations. So those people don't bother me; I've had their number figured out for years. But it really bugs me that although we went and cleared one hurdle, another one mysteriously pops up in its place. Is this just me, or has anyone else heard similar claims against gamers?
Well, anyway, just thought I'd share. And I did give the person a ride home, by the way. Why? Not because I was the only one who offered, but because I had the best car . 😉 Eh, it's a shallow and materialistic satisfaction, but it'll do for now.
Who is this loser that doesn't play games?
Well Said!
HA.
What kind of people live in Connecticut?
Seriously, in NYC you'd get the crap beaten out of you if you say that to me
I bet. Everyone in NYC thinks they're badasses.
Nothing special about CT. The people don't have much in the way of distinction, as far as I can tell.
You can't pull that ish in Dallas either.
I get the same crap from my step mom.
really?
I've never heard of that but then, growing up, I didn't know anyone that fit the "gamer" label that was put upon by society. My friends and I play games, we aren't hardcore about it, but it's just one of the many hobbies that we have. I've always known the egotistical ones to be bad at anything they attempt but somehow think that being average means superior.
I haven't heard of this rubbish slander until just now. Seems like a ridiculous label to put on us but whatever. Also, I'm kind of trying to figure out if that last part of your article was meant to be a joke or not. I know you have a kickass car, but I found it funny that you were confused about this new "gamers are egotistical" label and still decided to end the article with "because I had the best car. ;)"
It's called "smart retaliation" to the stupid statements made by that low life big mouth dumbass
Last edited by Scarecrow on 9/11/2009 10:53:42 PM
Yeah, that last part was supposed to be a joke. That's why I made the materialistic comment. 😉
Ha! I figured it must be a joke, as only a true egotistical maniac wouldn't have caught what they did. Props for making me think!
My guess was that the person, and the people who were nodding, were just trying to get you to drive the other person, just so they wouldn't have to.
Nah, most of them offered.
Strange. Ben, you seem to be an a**hole magnet. Whether the remark about gamers is true or not, it most definitely was rude thing to say, especially in front of others. I hope it wasn't the lawyer dude whom you made into a christmas tree ornament one fine night. Puzzling thing was the other people nodding. Were they mostly girls? Cuz the idea of gamers being particularly egotistical doesn't smack as widespread. "Immature", maybe, but egotistical, no.
Oh, I'm definitely a jerk magnet. I wish I knew why.
But the weird part was, that guy was fine up until that point. And no, it was nobody I knew; I just met him that night…he was like a friend of a friend of a friend.
And yeah, it was mostly girls nodding. I think a lot of them have just had bad experiences with gamers or something. Hell if I know.
LOL. I think they were just girls who just had a lot bad experience with guys, in general, period!
I know girls that have been jealous of the console/PC, as it has been getting the attention instead of them. Could be why they were nodding.
One of the things I've seen happen with male gamers and girls sometimes is they'll arrive at a circumstance where there's a girl there, and the gamer becomes overly nervous about it. He may want to hit on her… and maybe she wants to be hit on… but instead, he buries his nose in a game and ignores her.
This tends to get interpreted the wrong way. The gamer didn't do this because they were more interested in the game. Rather it's just shyness. And putting their nose into the game just became a mechanism of that shyness. The game really had nothing to do with it.
There are, on the other hand, some people who are really interested only in the games and ignore all living people around them. But that's different and pretty rare in my experience. Totally sad when it's the case though.
Hmmm…I would say that, in my experience, two types of people tend to suffer from this:
I meet a lot of casual gamers who seem to think that they're rock stars or super-soldiers, based on the video games they play. And it is ultra annoying.
And then there's the PC loyalist. I generally find that people who only or mostly play video games on their computer tend to think of themselves as much more intelligent than those who aren't in their clan. I don't know why, exactly, but it seems common enough among this particular group.
And I cannot stress enough that my examples are generalizations of specific groups of gamers. I'm not trying to bash people who aren't avid gamers or love their PC.
Oh, hell yes. I HATE the PC elitists. With an effing passion.
I can't help but think that PC loyalists are the main reason gamers are having such a tough time getting over the old stereotypes. And they may be to blame for this new one too. They all have the Gabe Newell syndrome.
P.S. A bit off topic here, but has anyone hated another person so much that they don't even want to capitalize said person's name? Maybe I just hold unhealthy grudges?
OMG EVERYTHING LOOKS BETTER ON PC YEAH YEAH YEAH!
Let me get that next RTS or FPSs
Now we're gaming!
By the way, I can max out everything, and you can't!
Last edited by Scarecrow on 9/11/2009 11:24:07 PM
Nite: LOL That's it. From now on, it's gabe newell for me. 😉
But yeah, I definitely agree that the PC elitists are holding us back in more ways than one.
Im a semi-pc elitist i guess. I always play shooters on PC if i can. I'll be getting COD:WM2 for PC instead of PS3 because the PC version really is better (at least it was for MW1).
Strategy games pretty much suck if they arent on a PC too, and i like a good strategy game every once in a while.
But i do really dislike it when PC guys refuse to play console games at all. Just because its not on PC doesnt instantly make it inferior, just different.
Actual conversation i had:
him: "pc games are so much better, i cant stand to play games on a POS console"
me: "yeah, the pc version of KZ2 was much better. Oh, wait…"
@NSBandit
I wouldn't consider yourself an elitist cuz elitist wouldn't touch a console with a stick. They make it sound as if PC to PS3/360 difference is the same as ps3/360 to wii. The next gen consoles are pretty close to PC. As far as RTS, yeah still waiting for a good one for ps3 (Civ Rev was close).
Last edited by Wage SLAVES on 9/12/2009 2:17:41 AM
Spot on.
I know two guys who were in my history class, and all they would go on about was their PC games, and then were like asking all the really technical stuff to do with the PC that i don't generally know. I mean I'm not completely computor illiterate but still.
i think the steriotype comes from the PC gamer cos (and not cheap shot intended here) Bill Gates is like the biggest nerd on the planet, and if people see games on the PC it's like their making a GIANT leap from one to the other….and Big Bang Theory (that show is jokes :D)
Yeah, I've noticed there's a widening gulf between PC gamers and other gamers. It's like one group still thinks (and ACTS) like it's the mid-'90s…probably because that was the last time the PC had any exclusive games worth playing. 😉
What's funny is that they probably brag about playing CoD4 in like, 100 frames per second when the human eye can only see about 30 fps.
And they have to brag to justify their purchase of a ridiculously expensive monitor that goes higher than 1080 and video card to actually support it.
But I agree that RTS games are easier to play on a PC simply because there are more buttons.
Yes, I agree on the RTS part.
…but it's tough for me to even acknowledge a supposed gaming platform that really only features one genre that is significantly better than it would be on consoles.
Yeah I remember playing Doom on pc (was possibly the first FPS I played). I think the first one I had though was Unreal Tournament (and actually have UTIII for PS3). I also remember Quake II quite fondly on there, along with a few others (I think I still have the PSone version). But anyways I think the consoles in general have definetly been hitting some strong strides in that genre. As said as well, there are some exclusives (which aren't availalbe on Windows) that aren't found on a pc.
RTS games though (can I get a howl for StarCraft and WarCraft III?), are primarily what I've been playing when I play something on pc. I agree that RTS has a tendency to not do very well on consoles, and the selection doesn't help. I think I remember trying an AvP RTS game for PS2. I think now though, with the consoles having hard drives and the option of using mouse w/ keyboard (which I think the PS2 does as well, except the hd) it's much more feasably convenient. Still thinking of possibly getting Age of Mythology and Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War for pc.
Oh, God yes! I think we're all crazy egotistical gamers. I know I am.
I'm not. I'm just really really awesome and great.
i know a bunch of geeks who elevate themselves by saying that theyre above the kind of behavior that they lack naturally, in an elitist way.
while this guy may have had bad luck and a poor sampling, i dont find it necessarily uncommon, in fact i think that i couldnt go to a lan party or launch event without meeting a decent amount of these kind of people.
now thats not saying that theyre representative of all gamers, just that they pop up with fairly frequent occurance.
Yup. Get out more, Dutka, if you really wanna see it more. I have often found this attitude among those who feel extremely ignorant by a gamers' excessive need to impart obsessive wisdom.
I get out plenty.
I'm thinking maybe too much.
Yesss…stay back home and bring the gamer sterotype back…..yesss
Well I do only care about myself. So that must make me egotistical. High five for being egotistical. That pic reminds me of me. I'm so awesome.
Well, in my opinion, not to be hating on Xbox users or anything of the sort, but I have a friend who is extremely egotistical who spends half the day on Xbox Live.
He is super mean and everything, but in the end, he's pretty smart so it's good to have him around when you need answers. But he kind of provided this stereotype for my school, he's kind of Infamous for it.
Too bad he won't be playing Infamous anytime soon 😛
You're… not sucking up to him, are you?
"But he kind of provided this stereotype for my school, he's kind of Infamous for it.
Too bad he won't be playing Infamous anytime soon 😛
"
LOL, good one!
Gaming, at least at a casual level, has become such a common activity amongst all people, I wouldn't know what stereotype to draw about them. I guess the only thing I would assume about the common gamer profile is that they tend to be mostly unmarried, and don't have kids, because between job, marriage, and parenting, one runs sorta short on time for like …ANYTHING ELSE. Even then, I'm sure there are exceptions to that, as we know from our wide readership at psxextreme. Funny thing is that terrorists seem to fit the same profile (young to mid-age, single males), but I wouldn't draw a correlation between the two (gamers and terrorists).
well most terrorists don't live that long though
My best friend hates games and thinks they're a waste of time but he'll make me sit down and watch retarded movies like the Buttercream Gang and the brotherhood of justice because he likes to rift them.
I think being egotistical just come with human nature. Some are and some aren't. Don't see how games would make anyone more egotistical or why egomaniacs would be drawn to gaming. There's egomaniacs in every group of people.
Last edited by Jawknee on 9/12/2009 12:03:15 AM
I concur. However, there seem to be different kinds of egotistical types. There's the selfish type, and then there's the super vain narcisstic type. Most people tend to fall in these two groups. Then there's even the super controlling, obsessive, fixated type, or the "egomaniac", also known as the super-competitive type. Less common than the other two groups, but still there.
Last edited by Aftab on 9/12/2009 12:22:33 AM
Nice point Aftab, although the latter group you mentioned seem to migrate to games very easily.
You should have punched that guy straight in the nose. And I take women home in my car just so they can see how nice it is, haha. I'm not ashamed to say that one bit. That guy just seems like a prick.
Sounds good online, but in the real world, "punching someone in the nose" is assault. Hardly worth having a police record. 😉