I'm ambivalent about the term gamer, mostly because I don't really give a shit about it.

But I do try to avoid calling myself a gamer and I encourage people to see the difference between a gamer (someone who is a real enthusiast for video games, has clocked a good portion of their life to it, may or may not want to learn coding so as to create more vidya) and someone who simply enjoys video games.

I agree anon, in fact i'm guilty of labeling myself and others as gamers before, until i thought the same thing.

It is even more stupid for "hardcore gamer", "casual", i think ourselves are at guilt for labeling everyone, when no matter how much you enjoy games it is another way of entertainment after all.

film buff
couch potato
bookworm
gamer/virgin

It's more convenient than "one who plays video games".

I personally don't use it much IRL, if at all, but online it's an excellent term, unless you're autistic.

It's become to broad. It was once a label for one's social circle. It had connotations of exclusivity and an implication of skill, but was paired with the negative imagery of shut-ins who've never seen a woman naked.

As audiences expanded, the sorts of people who were not "gamers" before were now playing video games. Marketing companies noticed this, and co-opted the term for their own purposes. They kept all the positive connotations of being part of a super awesome cadre of ass kickers, but conveniently ignored all the bad that once came with it.

Now it's just a buzzword. In any official press release or interview with some major industry figure, you can almost invariably replace it with "badass motherfucker" and not change the meaning of what was said. "Gamers" are no longer your friends. No longer people who suffered through being an outcast to share an interest with you. Now any schmuck who only plays Farmville on weekends is a "gamer."

And we've got nothing in common with that sort of person.

>>116092669
i just feel like the term has negative connotations. if you're a "gamer" you're some kind of loser whereas if you're a "film buff" most people respect that. a major difference is everyone who plays video games are called "gamers" and only some people who watch movies are called "film buffs".

i don't think it's healthy for anyone who plays video games for the whole user base to be viewed by society as being part of some club. it makes people who play video games all look like a bunch of geeks and that's not true!.. or at least it shouldn't be

>>116093151
exactly. but it only reads as "badass motherfucker" to people who enjoy video games... to everyone who still thinks video games are for losers it only makes things worse when they see that all these people have some stupid little title for themselves.

I agree about the term cornering the medium to just "nerds", but I also think the title of "gamer" is used so frequently is that playing a game takes actual physical activity with the hands. Plus, now that mainstream gaming is almost 100% multiplayer, they're interacting with other people in competition, cooperation or even just watching your friend play when you're sitting next to them.

You don't compete against anyone when watching a movie, or cooperate with a friend to read a book, do you?

>>116094520
that's true. so then it's like sports how there's the word "athlete" and then there's the word "jock". every person who plays video games at all is labeled a "gamer" which has negative connotations. when someone calls me a gamer it's like they're saying i'm some kind of lame douche, much like referring to someone who's way too into sports as a "jock" instead of an "athlete".

i don't think i'm articulating this very well, but there's something wrong about it.

gamer is a portmanteau of "videogame" and "slacker"

i agree. when i hear advertisers or people in the industry use the word "gamer" i feel like they're patting me on the head like i'm some kind of sad idiot. and it's all thanks to all the cool bros who play nothing but cod who think it makes them part of the "club" that they were all too happy to have no respect for before xbox came out when they were simultaneously playing football and being homophobes.

"gamer" is our "nigger" and now all of the white people are saying it. it's time to start busting caps.

>play games with a bunch of people, both video games, table top, and PnP rpgs.
>We all refer to ourselves as gamers internally, when introducing each other or when appropriate.

>you wouldn't necessarily be labeled a "reader" just because you like to read books

But I've been called, and heard people called that many times.

> i mean if you watch movies a lot you aren't given some kind of title like "movier"

That's just cause there's a different times for being someone who watches movies, just like you may call someone who murders, a murderer, but you don't call someone who cuts hair a hair-cutter.

The correct term for that would be "Barber" just like the correct term for being a heavy movie watcher would be a "film buff" "cinemaphile" or "porn addict"

It's like the term "furry" to me.

Some people who choose to call themselves such can be cool people and fun to be around, but the majority of them are self entitled douchebags who should be purged from this earth.

Though "furry" is kind of outdated, I suppose. Perhaps "brony" would be more acceptable.

>>116095735

"gamer" isn't like "jock" at all.

Gamer is to Athlete as Jock is to bum.

I can't believe you're seriously having a thread about the term "Gamer" being shit. It's nothing but a title. Everything has titles and is categorized, whether you want to be a hipster or not. Our society does it, our games do it, and our brains do it. It's just the way of things.

How much simpler can you fucking get then gamer? what do you propose replace it?

"Gamer is bad, we prefer the term 'Interactivity Admirers'"

Good luck making something like that stick.

>>116097339

"Socially Impaired."

Oh wait, that's Autism.

>>116096905
"gamer" is a douche/nerd, "film buff" is a respectable and knowledgable fan of cinema.

quick, what do you call someone who is a douche/nerd about movies? a "filmhead"? a "moviedweeb"?

video games just aren't respected like movies are and they should be. people don't call someone who watches a reasonable amount of movies a "film buff" yet they call anyone who plays video games at all a "gamer". it's condescending. it makes everyone who plays video games look bad. it prevents video games from becoming widely respected like movies are.

video games are an activity, movies aren't

>>116097339
you missed the entire point of this thread and are therefore banned from the internet forever.

Gamer is for gaming, what Skater is for skating you faggot.

It used to be just a label for people who play video games.

>>116097567
watching is an activity

There' a comic of like spikeTV or something talking about how cool it is to be a gamer "We have fauxhawks!" Then the neckbeards go to purchase ____ game and the spike tv guy and corporate head Hi-five. Anybody have that?

>>116097524

It's condescending because people like you get offended, and people who say it offensively intend for it to be offensive.

It has negative continuity in some circles. This is my point.

No matter what you are or what label your given, some circle somewhere is going to think you're gay. It is absolutely nothing but a label.

If a bunch of snooty children stood around me, picked something I do, and spat it in my face over and over again school-yard-chant style, I'd be pretty pissed off too. But going around to my friends and saying "Hey, let's not be called gamer anymore, let's be called 'X'", isn't going to stop the snooty obnoxious kids from gathering around me, taking my new title, and spitting it in my face over and over again school yard chat style.

It's like saying "He's a murder. In order to stop him from murdering, we should take away his guns. Then he won't murder anymore."

>implying he won't find something else to murder with.

>>116097319
No, that isn't right because everyone who labels themselves as that is an insufferable faggot, it's the people who don't who are reasonable. Your furry analogy is correct though.

>>116097907

tl;dr If people look down on you for what you do, changing your name won't stop them from looking down on you.

>>116092203

That doesn't make sense. It would be bookers. Not readers. If your going with gamers and moviers, it would be bookers.

>>116092508
>gamer/virgin

Back then, when nobody could read, they call them "scholars" now everbody can read so the term is not used in that way anymore. Only highly specialized people are called scholars.

A while ago only few people acutally played video games so those people were "gamer". Today many people play games and only highly autistic people are called "gamers".

Words change their meanings.

>>116098177

You had a good post till "autistic"

Shame.

>>116097524
Fucking Plato said the written word would make people forgetful. Some famous philosopher whose name I forgot said the printing press would ruin the education system. Dime novels were thought to make women stupid. Going to the theater was once considered an embarrassment which is why nobles dressed up and wore masks. Comic books? Nerdy but now they're being made into high grossing films and given awards reserved for books (Persepolis is required reading in West Point military academy and Watchmen almost won a reward that would make it required literature in Georgia schools). Movies were once considered something only commoners and labor workers went to see.

Give it another 10 years after video games become fully integrated into society and it'll be respected. Once the next generation of kids are practically raised on games like the Baby Boomers were raised on TV, "gamer" will eventually mean the same thing as cinemaphile or audiophile: a diehard fan of the medium.

>>116098177

Do an openfacebook search for gamer.

You're right about words changing their meanings. But:

>>116098246

Is a person who plays golf called Golfer? Yeah.
Is a person who plays fotball called a Footballer?
No.
It's just different from thing to thing.

>>116098314
>>116098246

Jesus, come on guys. No fun allowed? You all got the point.

>>116098386

I got your point, but it was misapplied.

that's my point.

>>116098334
>Is a person who plays fotball called a Footballer?
>No.

>>116097907
of course there will always be people who look down on you for enjoying something they don't. but i just think that video games can and should be something that everyone enjoys regardless of sex, age, etc. it shouldn't be so easy to stereotype video game fans as being any type of person, because as we have recently seen with games like wii sports, video games can be enjoyed by anyone. i realize that this isn't the case yet, but it's getting there. in the mean time the word only makes that harder.

>>116097783

as for skating, that's never going to be popular with grandmothers to begin with. completely different situation, faggot.

but everyone reading books,watching movies, or playing videogames is labeled a nerd since he doesnt enjoy mainstream ̶h̶̶o̶̶b̶̶b̶̶i̶̶e̶̶s̶ drinking untill youre senseless and bragging about all the girls youve fucked

>>116098592

I completely agree with you but:

> in the mean time the word only makes that harder.

I don't think it does. I think maybe it does for you, who don't like it when people treat you like shit for what you do with a word that they perceive has come to mean something negative, and that's perfectly acceptable.

The word "Harder" is relative. "Harder" implies that what we're labeled as is making it more difficult for us, compared to all other groups in the past, to be accepted as a respectable user of a medium, but it's not.

>>116098281

Refer to this. Think about religious wars in the past. Think about political wars. People have had piss poor stigmas attached to something they were labeled as. They didn't change their names. They accepted that what they were was what they were, and if other people were going to spit on them for that, then that was going to be the way it was.

Did the Jews change their names *Godwin's Law*? What about Feminists?

It's just a stage in the greater progression of an Up-Start medium.

>>116092203
[copy pasta]

>>116099743
lol no but after i posted it it even kind of looked that way to me.

good comments everyone. really giving me some fresh perspective.

If you play avidly play games, you're a gamer.

Just like how you're a reader if you avidly read books.

Choice comes in whether or not you choose to identify personally as these things. There's nothing wrong with "Gamer" or "Film buff" or "Reader", unless you find any perceived ethos associated with the terms to be unpleasing for whatever reason.

"Gamer" actually doesn't bother me as much as "Hardcore" and "Casual"

I mean, trying to label people as either of them is stupid, concidering normal people have a variety of tastes. Also, the fact that "Hardcore" gamers feel the title is something to be proud of is just pathetic

>>116100220
>Also, the fact that "Hardcore" gamers feel the title is something to be proud of is just pathetic
Most people who call themselves "hardcore" gamers aren't.

>>116100220
rated M for mature = hardcore bro
super mario galaxy 2 = casual gamer

>>116097524
>video games just aren't respected like movies are and they should be
How is that a bad thing? You want more casual games??

Games aren't quite mainstream enough for the term gamer to disappear.
It will eventually though. I'm sure similar things happened at the birth of other forms of entertainment.

Also, remember that a gamer generally spends much more time on games than most do on movies. Gaming is a hobby, moviewatching is just an activity unless you're REALLY into it, and then I'm sure there could be some label associated with them.

I know I have 2 contradicting theories here but these are 2 possible reasons.

>>116100784

There are all kinds of reasons why that's a bad thing but really; I'd say one of the reasons why games aren't respected is because many of them are too difficult

>>116100784
derp

>>116100481
>Most people who call themselves "hardcore" gamers aren't.
And as proof, see the Football Manger thread.
Calling Football Manager "causal". I haven't laughed this hard in a long time

>>116101061
that's true.

>>116100784
more casual games does not mean that difficult games can't also exist. it is kind of annoying how some devs deal with this though... like i hear in sonic generations you don't lose all of your rings when you get hit? wtf?!?! mfw why isn't there a normal mode that isn't pussified

the only people i know who refer to themselves as gamers thought that assassin's creed revelations gamestop commercial was funny and not annoying as shit. they also play cod (not that i don't) but say i'm a nerd because i play street fighter. the fact that society lumps me together with these obnoxious assholes irks me and i can see why this causes a lot of people who might otherwise get into video games to avoid them and to look down on the people who play them. makes me look more like a douchebag than i actually am.