Cult of Gaming: Gamers & Industry Need to Shun Extremists

[Tulkas]

Some people just need to take a chill pill (I forget if it's the blue or red one).

Quote:

Douglas Wilson has authored an article calling for an end to gaming extremists. The flamers, trolls and fanboys need to cease and desist in order for the rest of the world to take gaming seriously.

The problem is, the “gaming community” has become a kind of cult. Organized around worship sites like Kotaku, 1UP, and Penny Arcade, the Church of Gamers congregates in Internet forums and online games, rallying against the Great Satan of Jack Thompson. Smitten with near-religious fervor over their hobby, these so-called gamers increasingly treat digital games as a devotional object, a thing morally good in itself.

It’s great to be a passionate about one’s hobbies. But when fans lose touch with reality, they also lose perspective on the more important parts of life. And in doing so, gamers ironically stifle innovation in the medium they so love.

The author decries gamers who put gaming interests above such issues as education, unemployment, terrorism, and genocide. It’s very hard to gain sympathy from the general populous when you are so out of touch with things that concern them. read Wilson’s article in Gamasutra for a sobering and hopefully moderating look at gaming culture.

Gamasutra - Opinion: Ceci N'est Pas Une Gamer

[CoffeeShark]

Wow. This guy completely misses the point in almost every single way. I'd write a rebuttal but I really don't have the patience or care enough to rip it apart. Maybe I will later.

I'll let one just drop: When he says "gamers ironically stifle innovation in the medium they so love". He then goes on to prove this hypothesis by... OH WAIT, NO HE DOESN'T. He barely even comes back to it. He just states it, then moves on to wonder why we're not all concerned about Barack Obama, global issues, and some other half-explained bullshit.

nevermind, I'm really not going to bother, it's easy enough to see it for yourself.

Maybe before he gets his Ph.D. in "game studies" or whatever the hell he's wasting his education on, he should get one in English Lit. and write a thesis on how poorly constructed his article turned out.

[Craig]

I almost dont undestand his points to be honest...so he's saying that sites like Penny Arcade aren't hip or populated by people in the 'know'? Wow, that's way off-base.

[CoffeeShark]

don't bother, Craig, there's nothing there of note.

[Tulkas]

I laugh at him. He says in the beginning that he isn't an anti-gamer nutcase

I think what he was trying to say though, is that there are certain types of gamers who:
1) Need to go outside
2) Contribute to society, and not just gaming
3) Have a reality check, and get a job
4) Stop flaming everyone for things (in forums and such)
5) Don't bash someone just b/c they don't have the time, or simply suck at a game

He is stupid though. I think most "serious" gamers stress that themselves. But we all know someone or two who got completely lost to games.

[CoffeeShark]

He's not an anti-gamer, he wants to make a point about the ubergamer that has no life, except he tries to make it by saying they stifle innovation in gaming, although he has no proof, substance or even hyperbole as to why or how they do so.

So, it becomes just another boring non article, like most of what is posted online.

[CoffeeShark]

and if you want to know what his motivation was, and what his politics are, I can tell you, they're quite obvious from the article, both from its viewpoint and that it is written to sound intellectual but has no merit.

[Tulkas]

Sounds like a lot of fluff, and political backtalk to me...

[jdeegz]

sounds like coffee needs a bat... with a nail in it, maybe two?

[CoffeeShark]

my words are painful enough when I choose to inflict them on the hapless.