[OT] sociology paper- how does mainstream society view Gamers

[Alaska Roberts]

DISCLAIMER - this is a personal observation that is completely my opinion.

Ahhh, this has to be one of my favorite topics. The Geekdom of Gaming. I’ve done a lot of different types of jobs, in a lot of different places in the world, and the one thing that has remained consistent throughout my travels, is the Geekdom of Gaming. I believe there are a few different types of gamers out there, and I’m not speaking about Role-players VS Roll-Players. I’m talking about Closet Gamers, Out Gamers, Used-too, No Clue and Totally Against.

The Totally Against person – hates us, hates what we do, thinks we are one step above slime. BUT has never actually played, or played once and had a bad experience, and are still taking it out on gamers everywhere.

The No Clue person – Has never gamed, doesn’t know anything about it, and may or may not be open minded about the whole concept. Some are, some aren’t, either way its better than the above choice.

Used Too Gamers – “I played that in high school/college” some are willing to try it again, most are not and think gamers of age, are immature and childish.

Out Gamers – (disclaimer – this is a complete stereo type.) These are the ones with the reputation, IMHO, the dirty, smelly gamers, who still live at home, wearing an old TSR shirt, and don’t care who knows that they play (insert game here). These are the ones that people see lurking in the dark corners of the mall or park or wherever, know about and base what they know about all of us as a whole.

Closet Gamers – Me. I wear suits to work, dress up to go to the club on Friday, and play softball with my company. I play “Cards” with the boys on Thursdays, and never talk about gaming unless someone else brings it up, and I wait to hear what category above they fit into before I say anything. If I want to talk games I always have the ENWorld Forums.

Now, as I said before, this is all just my humble opinion.

Edited a word mix up.

 

[Sodalis]

that was beautiful... that was eactly what I am looking for-

Your opinions are the things taht i am looking for... especially on how you feel about certain people- broad categories and stuff like that...

anecdotes and personal stories are fun too...

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Specifically role playing games.

I know that by asking you ( a gamer) on how you think other people view you, i will get a biased response, but I am interested in how you think the population, mainstream culture in genereal, sees a gamer.?

Also, i need outside sources on gaming. Either academic articles, or books specifically written about Gamers, Gaming or just talking about Gaming and its effects on society as a whole.

For a telling look at how "outsiders" view gamers, check out this Triumph covers Star Wars opening clip.

Inside gaming (as in any activity) there are levels. Outside, all gamers are painted with the same (broad) brush. And we're probably all lumped in with the Trekkies and Star Whores by those outside of gaming.

 

[Sodalis]

the link is broken...

can you give me the jist of it? just a basic run down...

 

[Utrecht]

My thoughts and observations......

first there definately is a stigma against gamers - however, it is a very easy stigma to get over. In fact I have found that it is more a subject of good natured teasing than anything else.

Examples: In college, I was in a fraternity, but all of the borthers knew that on Thursdays I went to play D & D. Some thought I was a freak (but I suspect that they would have felt that regardless of gaming - simply different ways of looking at the world) but most could care less.

My wife's family knows that I play D & D (in fact my wife likes the fact that I am able to get out every so often to play - it allows her to do the same) My motherin-law when she knows that I am going to play tells me to "have a good time in the sewars" and my bother in law asks me to "lift a flagon of mead in his honor" all are meant in fun and are not taken seriously.

My neighbors are the same - last night when we were planning a block BBQ - They asked about this Saturday - my response oh, that is bad, D & D night. Thier response, Oh, well how about the 15th.......

However, I think that if I acted embarrassed or tried to hide it, then the stigma would be greater, but the fact of the matter is that I like playing D & D and could really care less what people thought about the habit.

Henry - right there with you on the unsanitary/unclenliness of fellow gamers. If some one stinks/looks like a disease farm, I will not play with them - sorry. If someone is rude/disruptive - will not play with them.

 

[Rel]

Very interesting topic, Sodalis. What follows is likely going to be fairly "stream of consciousness" without much actual point, but you are welcome to it.

I imagine that if there is some kind of multi-axis bell curve along which gamers fall, I'm right in the middle somewhere.

I consider myself geeky in that I am a sci-fi/fantasy fan. I like Star Wars, Star Trek, computer games and, of course, RPG's. But I don't consider myself to be an extreme geek. I have a lot going on in my life besides those things as well. I find that I have a mild disdain for those who fall to the extremes of this spectrum. When I see the pasty-white, overweight guy at the gaming store who never seems to have anything to talk about besides gaming, I feel sort of sad for him (I don't think this is one of my better attributes but I'm just being honest.).

By the same token however, I also feel a mild disdain and pity for the opposite extreme: The person who has no fantasy in their life at all. I have talked to many folks who say that gaming (RPG's, computer games and even board games) are "kid stuff" and not worth bothering with. Many of them don't even read except for the newspaper. They are far too wrapped up with what is going on in the "real world" to give any credence to the idea of "playing make believe." I think this is at least as sad as the opposite extreme.

On the axis that represents appearance, I am right in the middle again. I have never been a heavy metal fan and don't own any Metalica t-shirts but if I did, they would hardly constitute the entirety of my wardrobe (I am well aware that this is an overused stereotype.). But I don't wear a lot of suits and ties either. My job requires that I wear dressy/casual clothes and when I'm not there, I am pretty much a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy.

I am not fastidious about my appearance and you can find me on the computer in my underwear fairly late on a Saturday afternoon if my wife and daughter are out of town. But if I'm going to someone else's house for any purpose other than doing heavy yard work, I'll be showered and deoderized (but probably not shaved on the weekend).

As far as any feelings of superiority go in this category, I would not want to game with anybody who stank or went naked. Other than that, I don't see that someone's outward appearance has a lot to do with my desire to game with them.

Socially, I have never been the type to go clubbing every weekend and I was never the most popular guy in school. But I always had plenty of social contact. I had a semi-steady string of dates/girlfriends until I met my wife and I don't feel like my gaming habits either enhanced or limited the pool of girls who would date me.

Most of the gang that I do game with are VERY long time friends (some I've known for over 20 years). They are all pretty close to my location on the bell curve too. They are moderately geeky, moderately decent looking and moderately social. Most have wives or girlfriends too.

Interestingly, most of the wives and girlfriends of the guys I play with have at least tried out gaming once or twice and some (including my wife) have played regularly in the past. The all regard the hobby as more or less geeky but don't seem to have a terribly bad opinion of it. Some do occasionally complain that it takes up too much of our time (we play once a week on Tuesdays but we tend to talk about our current campaign when we see each other socially).

As far as how "out" I am about gaming, again, I'm a moderate. I don't tend to spout off to the folks I work with about my Wizard's spell selection. But when they ask if I caught "The Mole II" on TV last night, I reply that I missed it because I was "gaming". If they want to ask more questions about it, I'll be happy to elaborate but I try and stay away from too much detail because I think it bores non-gamers.

I'm even a moderate when it comes to what games I play. I think that almost all game systems have their merits, even though some have more merit than others. I think that the biggest factor in gaming is what the players and GM bring to the game. I don't think that all White Wolf games are too "Roleplaying heavy" as I've seen some contend and I've run some damn fine Mage campaings if I do say so myself. I also used to heavily frequent a message board for Rolemaster (I co-authored one of the books for that system) and I didn't like seeing them bash D&D for being overly simplistic and rigid.

So, I guess I never realized how boringly moderate I am in my views on so many aspects of gaming. At the heart of the matter I think that the hobby would be better received if more people were located toward the center of the spectrum. But I also don't think that anybody out there should feel obligated to dress better or take more frequent showers because "they owe it to our hobby". I am very libertarian minded and I don't think that my way should be the only way. I say do whatever works for you.

On the other hand, don't expect for society to bend over backwards to include you either. If you spend 14 hours a day gaming in your basement (God, I wish I could do that sometimes) don't complain that you aren't getting any dates because society is excluding you. If you want to date supermodels, I'd say you ought to go get a tan, hit the gym, take a shower and dress up nice. But maybe you'd be better off just to take the shower, throw on the Metalica t-shirt and go snag yourself a gamer girl at the local con. You'll probably be happier in the long run if you'll just be yourself, even if you are somewhat of a geek. Like me.

I hope that some of that was helpful and that I didn't offend everybody. If I offended a few of you, that's a fairly moderate sort of thing, wouldn't you say?

 

[Master of Monkeys]

I have never met someone who was against gaming. I am currently in highschool and I guess my highschool is different from most on this subject, I know plenty of the football player types that play D&D, a whole lot of people do at my school. Although, there is always that feeling that you should keep it quiet.

 

[Skarp Hedin]

I have very little to add, except:

http://www.dorktower.com/

Today's comic is kind of relevant, heh.

 

[WizarDru]

I have never met someone who was against gaming. I am currently in highschool and I guess my highschool is different from most on this subject, I know plenty of the football player types that play D&D, a whole lot of people do at my school. Although, there is always that feeling that you should keep it quiet.

At the risk of sounding like an old fogey , I would point out that it used to be much different. When I was your age (as is most of my group), D&D was under direct attack, and much misunderstood. Some people were fine with it, even then, but others feared that it would DESTROY US ALL. It was a major battle to get a D&D club at the high school back then, and evne then it was vieled as the 'Table Games' Club. As if we were playing parchesi or something.

Most people really don't have much of an opinion either way, truthfully. I've discovered lots of gamers by accident, usually when I'm at work, and reading a D&D tome on my lunch hour. Many are often just curious, as they've never seen it up close, and only had second hand knowledge. It's no different than if I were driving Rally Cars on the weekend, as one former co-worker of mine does. These days, it's just another hobby, truthfully....unless you fall into the classic 'fanboy' stereotype, in which case you'll end up on the evening news.

 

[Moe Ronalds]

Well, I am pretty much your stereotypical geek (slightly intelligent, not in the best of shape. Big Star Wars and D&D fan, dress in button-uped shirts with pockets(filled with writing utensiles) normally, my hygene leaves a bit to be desired) I don't think D&D is the cause. I'm just geeky. However, two of my close friends (both geeks) think D&D is the epitome of pure evil, though they've never read one of the books, and they have admited to having no evidence to support their claims. Another friend (fellow geek) of mine, has nothing against D&D, but he was rather shocked when I told him there are adults that play. My other friends (yep, all two of 'em) are big gaming fans, and actually play a sort of ruleless LARP occaisionally. As far as normal people are concerned they don't all hate RPGs. Those that do, usually hate it on religious standards (I live in the midwest). Hope this helped. And if not, nyaaaah