Blog Banter: A Gamer Stereotype
Welcome to the 4th instalment of Blog Banter, the monthly blogging extravaganza headed by bs angel! Blog Banter involves our cozy community of enthusiastic gaming bloggers, a common topic, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The results are quite entertaining and can range from deep insight to ROFLMAO. Any questions about Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!
Am I a Stereotypical gamer? What is a stereotypical gamer?
I can certainly tell you what I’m not and that is a “hard-core gamer”, someone who spends large amounts of their freetime playing video games – I admit I used to do this much more when I was younger.
Back in my Amiga and early PC days I would spend huge amounts of time playing games such as Railroad Tycoon, Civilization, UFO: Enemy Unknown - mainly because I lived in the middle of nowhere, so I had the time to play these long running, time consuming games – this was obviously before I had access to the Internet as well as I now spend a chunk of my time ‘surfing the net’.
In the early days of being on the Internet, I stumbled upon the new concept of online gaming, more specifically MMORPGs - it was great! These games such as Ultima Online, Asheron’s Call and Everquest 2 brought a whole new element to gaming, that of interaction and co-operation, this added so much more to a game for me as it meant that there was a more tangible sense of how much you were achieving in comparison to others – it certainly made it a lot more competitive.
These online games also covered the period when I was a student, so I had the time on my hands to play them fully, this obviously changes once you leave that wonderful academic environment and start working – I basically stopped playing online games for a couple of years, kept myself busy with the some good single player games with a strong narrative such as Half Life 2.
Then last year in 2007, I started gaming again on two fronts, I bought an Xbox 360 for some console gaming and also started playing World of Warcraft (WoW) after long dismissing it out of hand (mainly due to the style of graphics admittedly). I don’t get chance to play that much these days though, I find too many things to do online outside of gaming. I usual play WoW an hour a day on average, but luckily games are being made to accommodate the more casual gaming style, certainly if I’d had to dedicate as much time as you had to dedicate to the early MMORPGs I wouldn’t still be playing WoW after nearly 9 months, perhaps that’s one reason for it’s huge success.
So back to the original point of stereotypical gaming, there probably isn’t a stereotypical gamer these days now that it has become much more mainstream, what with World of Warcraft and the Nintendo Wii appealing to people you perhaps wouldn’t have associated with gaming in the past, all of which is a good thing in my opinion – I mean anyone can play board games without being classified as this or that, so I see video games as an evolution of that and am pleased to see them becoming more mainstream, so I no longer having to be a classed as a “hard-core gamer” anymore, I’m a casual gamer just like anyone else!
Do you think there are still stereotypes? Do you fit the stereotype of a particular type gamer yourself?
Check out these other Blog Banter articles! The Average Gamer, Silvercublogger, shinybento, Unfettered Blather, Boom Stick Brigade, Gamer Unit, Zath!, Man Bytes Blog, Game Couch, Video Game Sandwich, Delayed Responsibility, thoughts and rants, Hawty McBloggy
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I probably fall somewhere between casual and hardcore, which might need some clarification — I rarely have the time to play, so when I do have the time, I’ll play flat out for 4-8 hours at a time.
So maybe I’m a whole new class of gamer? In-keeping with modern lifestyles, I may well be considered a binge gamer.
Oh, the shame…
Wayne Smallman’s last blog post..By: Wayne Smallman
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Definitely not here… my only playing buddy just got the ring of death… so if he’s out for 3 weeks… i guess I am too.
I think I need more friends… <— what a geek!
Loved your post… I can relate!
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I would have to say I am hardcore when it comes to my passion for gaming, but casual when it comes to the amount of time I actually get to spend gaming. Real life daily commitments have pushed my gaming time to primarily Friday and Saturday nights after the children are tucked safely away in bed. I try to sneak in another night here or there but that is pretty difficult in the whole scheme of things.
I like MMORPG’s.
A new one just came out, and its looks amazing (plus its free)
http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/4EAC9FBB-338F-48C5-968A-70001CCF2F3F.htm
Anyways, I also have those phases too… sometimes I enjoy a multiplayer game, while at times I just want to play an rpg
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I’m the same as Wayne Smallman (with the exception of DS games while commuting).
I’m doing so much online and at work that when I do get the chance to play a non-handheld game, I’ll sit there from 7pm till midnight, or game all day on a Saturday. Binge gaming FTW!
While I do agree that it’s nice to see more and more people playing video games, it also kind of saddens me; being a gamer is one of the things I’ve always been able to say in order to set me apart, but with it becoming so mainstream, it’s like “yeah, but everybody else plays games too.” It’s like letting a bunch of random kids join a country club; it takes away a lot of the fun.
Seth’s last blog post..Movie Review-Drillbit Taylor
^I would not let this both you Seth, we all play games and do what we do for our own reasons. Don’t worry about what everyone else does as it will only lessen your own enjoyment.
There is still a niche for dedicated players and there will always be a niche.
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