The Gamers Manifesto

[Grim]

Completely off topic ... Tyler, have I ever told you how much your screen name cracks me up?

HAHA! I just got it! That is soooo great! Never would have thought of it, wish I had.

 

[Zappo]

Completely off topic ... Tyler, have I ever told you how much your screen name cracks me up?

Hey, I didn't notice either until you pointed that out. Brilliant!

 

[Tsyr]

Seems like you may have some "hostility toward teachers" issues.

Eric Noah
Teacher

Nah. Not hostility towards teachers.

Hostility towards people who are getting payed to teach but think standing in front of a class reading verbatim from a book counts as teaching, could care less about their job, care less about the students, and tell the parents of kids that get bad grades that their kid might have ADD.

Those aren't teachers, though. They are people with a teaching license. I doubt you fit into that second group, Eric. Unfortunatly, the public schools where I grew up have 10 of those for every 1 "teacher". Hence why I transfered to a new charter public school for highschool. A public school that was under-funded, I might add. For the first year, the teachers didn't get payed a dime. For the second year, they barely got payed. We only started to get fuding from the state on the third year, and even then it's not as much as other schools in the area got per student, despite the fact that we were a public school.

I'm not saying that's the best way for a school to be. Quite the contrary, it sucked. But I will say one thing. Every one of those teachers WANTED to be there, because it was a school designed to teach at a higher level (It's now being called a college prep school by the media around here... that's not what it is, though). One shouldn't need to go to such extreme lengths to find good teachers, but in some areas , you do. Not all, no. But some.

No, I don't hate teachers. I'm actualy going to college with the intent of (eventualy) becomming a teacher. Not right away, I want to get some other stuff under my belt first, but it's my "mid range" goal. Long range is win the lottery and retire for life, but I don't think I'm ever gonna reach that mark. Unfortunatly.

Anyways, didn't mean to go off like that, really.

 

[demon_jr]

this is by no means meant be insulting or derogatory. this is just strictly my own opinion regarding the manifesto:



i have problems with the manifesto, since, to myself, it appears that the manifesto is basically saying:

"you think you're better than me, well then, these are the reasons i'm better than you"

that being the case, i think the manifesto is basically doing what it was created to stand against in the first place, persectuing others for not meeting certain expectations.

once again, this is just my own opinion. i've been wrong many times before and can agree to disagree.

please take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Umbran]

...I think it really only works for groups who have been marginalized in their youth, for one reason or another.

Except that feeling maginalized is pretty much universal for teenagers. It's part of the adolescent condition.

 

[Buttercup]

While this manifesto might be appealing to adolescents, who are supposed to be alienated and hostile, it doesn't bear any resemblance to my gaming experience.

But I was glad to read it, because it reminded me why I wouldn't be a teenager again for all the money in the world. It sucked real bad then, and it seems to suck just as much now.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Except that feeling maginalized is pretty much universal for teenagers. It's part of the adolescent condition.

I disagree. But I imagine I'll be in the vast minority, and stating my reasons would probably start a flame war, so I'll drop it.

 

[jester47]

I largely rewrote it as a commentary on the "gamers persecuted" posts about the sniper and all. Tyler: yeah it did seem silly when I pulled it up.

It might as well say "I had problems in school and I can't get over them so you are going to suffer." Its about power really, and people that would seriously write somthing like that want power. Its the "Ill show up at the class reunion with x and show those guys" syndrome. When in reality, if you do that, you just switch places with the jerk that was an to you.

One of the things that made me reevaluate my relationship with society and essentially quit identifing with the hacker/gamer/nerd ("oh Im so persecuted") ethos is a converstaion that I had with some friends at the time where we were all talking about how we got screwed over and ostricised. Then I realised that the problem was internal not external. , reboot. It is not that hard to change. Those other kids were just threatened by you, and were using anything they could to defend themselves. It could have been anything.

I think one of the things that causes the problem gamers face is that we buy into the "culture" of the persecuted. Lots of groups do this from homosexuals to differnt racial groups to hackers to gamers. It is a mentality that makes you very defensive and then in the eyes of others, hostile.

And also, the view in the manifesto is sort of a selfish point of view to have. That somehow you are more important because you have a talent in somthing noone else has but feel like you are not appreciated for it. The truth is we were all more appreciated than we often thought. And apparently (as pink floyd has pointed out) lots of techers have been s for a very long time.

DeamonJr: I have problems with it too. I think it does exactly what you say it does. Funny thing is when I was a teenager I thought some old guy had written it!

Umbran: I think that all teenagers FEEL marginalised, however I think that there is a population that feels less marginalised. Odd thing is that I (dont know if anyone else did this) sought out marginalised groups the associate with to justify my feeling marginalised just because I felt my youth slipping away into adulthood.

Wow, that was a lot. Hrm. So I guess the solution to all the D&D is bad hype would be to not act like the peasant in "monty pythons holy grail" and just answer the questions of those in charge. When someone says that the sniper plays D&D, just say "yeah, there's a nut in every bag..."

Aaron.

yeah the spelling blows but I'm too tired right now

 

[ced1106]

I'm smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...

Ran games in the sf con game (double geek!) room last night, where the host gave us Pringles to munch on. One of the attendees said the makers of Pringles is coming out with a larger can. Why? Because the makers had been sent letters that **people were getting their hands stuck in the can**.

Not one of us in the room ever had that problem.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[jester47]

Re: Re: The Gamers Manifesto

Ran games in the sf con game (double geek!) room last night, where the host gave us Pringles to munch on. One of the attendees said the makers of Pringles is coming out with a larger can. Why? Because the makers had been sent letters that **people were getting their hands stuck in the can**.

Not one of us in the room ever had that problem.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

Thathas only happened to me once and it was because I was hoarding the pringles and wanted to interdict a guy from being able to get any. Thing is, once its in there, you really kind of have to relax to get it out...

Aaron.