Gamers...

[Scribble]

A lot of posts refference "gamers." I've done it in the past, and see it a lot...

But what really IS a gamer? Does gamer mean the same thing today as it did in say 1985? How about 2001?

Has the taste of the average gamer changed? Stayed the same?

The average age on enworld is mid thirties right? (if I remember correctly) are we really still the best "look" at what a gamer is?

Just interesting to me I guess.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I expect that it means different things to different people. People who play a lot of board games probably consider themselves gamers. Computer gaming geeks certainly do. And what about card players (Collectable or otherwise)? (I know I had a hard time realizing, for example, when someone was talking about RPGers when refering to computer gamers for quite a while not so many years ago.)

 

[The Ghost]

I think gamer is a broad term encompassing numerous underlying activities including, but not limited to, RPGs, CCG, Video Games, MMORPGs, Board Games (Euro & Other), Chess, Go, Dominoes, etc. A person who plays World of Warcraft is a gamer, as is a person who plays D&D - even if those two players never actually play the others game.

 

[Scribble]

I expect that it means different things to different people. People who play a lot of board games probably consider themselves gamers. Computer gaming geeks certainly do. And what about card players (Collectable or otherwise)? (I know I had a hard time realizing, for example, when someone was talking about RPGers when refering to computer gamers for quite a while not so many years ago.)

I think you can go so far as to say a table top gamer today is most likely a lot different then a tabletop gamer in the 80s.

I mean for instance, if say Vampire The Masquerade came out tomorrow instead of 91 do you think it would still have the same reception and impact as it did back then?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Certainly gamers have changed.

Back in my time, we played PnP RPGs with exactly that: pencil and paper. No computers, no vinyl battle mats or tac-tiles. Our dice had to be colored with a crayon to read the numbers, and miniatures were unpainted, made of toxic lead and were lucky to have something slightly recognizable as a face.

Seriously though, obviously gamers have changed. First off "gamers" is a more open term than it used to be. Could refer to just RPG players, MtG players, even just WoW players are referred to as gamers. Certainly there is a lot of cross-pollenation among those groups, but not always.

Demographics: I can't say for sure, but my perception is that for RPGs the EN World average demographic is the most stable group of gamers. I think overall we are still a decent look at what gamers are. A significant portion of the people who have stuck with the hobby into their 30s tend to also be open to new ideas and creative games. The problem is that we are a pretty stable group. In order to grow the industry needs to bring in new (younger) people. I sometimes suspect that people in the industry are always walking a line between finding something that will capture the younger demographics and set off a new gaming boom, and maintaining their solid base.

 

[Scribble]

Demographics: I can't say for sure, but my perception is that for RPGs the EN World average demographic is the most stable group of gamers. I think overall we are still a decent look at what gamers are. A significant portion of the people who have stuck with the hobby into their 30s tend to also be open to new ideas and creative games. The problem is that we are a pretty stable group. In order to grow the industry needs to bring in new (younger) people. I sometimes suspect that people in the industry are always walking a line between finding something that will capture the younger demographics and set off a new gaming boom, and maintaining their solid base.

I think this is true for almost all lasting hobbies-

Take skiing for instance... My dad and I were both fans of skiing, but his "style" of skiing was a whole heck of a lot different then mine.

When a local ski resort started putting things like terrain parks, and jumps and stuff on the hills, my dad was upset. He thought it was ruining the hobby... This stuff was getting in the way of people who really enjoyed the hobby. I was happy though, as it was exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I think you can go so far as to say a table top gamer today is most likely a lot different then a tabletop gamer in the 80s.

I mean for instance, if say Vampire The Masquerade came out tomorrow instead of 91 do you think it would still have the same reception and impact as it did back then?

I expect that it would have a similar reception (you can't blink without seeing vampires on TV and in the movies these days), but I doubt that it would have the same impact.

As for table top gamers then and now, there are certainly differences. But most, I think, are technological in nature. As someone else said, we played with pencil, paper and lead minis, etc; where todays gamers are likely to have at least one computer at the gaming table. And 3E had an impact on Player/GM interaction, IMO. Back when the GM was boss, but more players nowadays feel entitled to dictate how things will work. (Note that this happened back in the day as well, but it seems more prevelant today.)

 

[Umbran]

But what really IS a gamer?

The term is context-dependent. In a broad sense it means, "someone who plays games a lot," and that isn't limited to role-playing games. I know my board-gaming friends who don't play computer games or gamble refer to themselves as 'gamers". When you hear someone talk about the "gaming industry", they are more than likely speaking about gambling, and so on.

Does gamer mean the same thing today as it did in say 1985? How about 2001?

Has the taste of the average gamer changed? Stayed the same?

I am not sure that the "taste of the average gamer" was ever well-defined enough for us to be able to say what if or how it has changed. I don't even know if our hobby is really large enough that the "average" is particularly meaningful. Statistically speaking, if the standard deviation is very large, while you can define an average it isn't really helpful.

The average age on enworld is mid thirties right? (if I remember correctly) are we really still the best "look" at what a gamer is?

Evidence suggests that EN World has never been the "best look" at what a gamer is. We are highly selected to be a specific sort of gamer, with rather specific traits not shared with the majority of the gaming population.

 

[S'mon]

As for table top gamers then and now, there are certainly differences. But most, I think, are technological in nature. As someone else said, we played with pencil, paper and lead minis, etc; where todays gamers are likely to have at least one computer at the gaming table. And 3E had an impact on Player/GM interaction, IMO. Back when the GM was boss, but more players nowadays feel entitled to dictate how things will work. (Note that this happened back in the day as well, but it seems more prevelant today.)

I still don't like computers at the game table, though I can tolerate a player's unobtrusive laptop*. I think though that 4e has changed the Player/GM interaction far far more than 3e ever did. 3e talked about player empowerment, but didn't do anything to reduce adversarliasism - in fact by licensing bad player behaviour it sometimes made it worse. With 3e I still had/have to be a fairly viking-hatted GM. 4e by contrast has made a huge difference, I can relax far more and trust the players to manage huge swathes of the game, and it doesn't break. It's the first edition where I as GM feel more like a participant than guy-in-charge. I find that a very welcome change, overall.

*Although it does seem like it's always the cute girls who have the laptops that I find unobtrusive, and the guys with the big I STAKE MY CLAIM clunkers that annoy me.... hmm...