Is the gamer a pariah?

Gaming as a hobby has become increasingly mainstream over the years, but there are still spheres of society in which it carries a certain stigma - for instance, in the world of academia, and among the older generation in general. While gaming (by which I mean video games) is perfectly acceptable among college students, the concept of a "gaming professor" or a "gaming priest" is still an oxymoron to many.
When you find yourself in the company of those who are negatively biased towards, or dismissive of video games, do you prefer to conceal your gaming hobby, or do you discuss it openly and perhaps even try to enlighten them? Personally, while I never have a problem admitting that I enjoy playing sports, I can think of plenty of situations in which I would be slightly embarrassed to call myself a gamer. I'm also curious as to how views of the subject differ according to culture. For example, do gamers enjoy a greater level of social acceptance in countries such as Korea or Japan as opposed to France or Germany?

I rarely mention that I play video games to many people. If I know the person or people I'm with are gamers as well then it's different, and quite nice to be able to talk about games in a form other than text.

It's not so much that I'd be particularly embarrassed to discuss games in mixed company, what I want to avoid are pre-conceived notions or biases that non-gamers may have about gamers. Those of us who do play games know there are many, many different kinds of games, and may play a wide assortment of them, but non-gamers don't necessarily know this and may assume all manner of poorly-regarded notions about me.

I am finding however more and more acceptance or comprehension about games as time goes by however. A co-worker recently was talking about her kids and games and she asked if I played games to which I said yes, and we had a good conversation.

It is important I think for people to understand the scope of games even if they don't play themselves, and to a small degree that is happening. While most people would not put on their resume that they are a raid guild leader in WoW, I have read of instances where a hiring company understands what that means, and realises that the skills needed there are useful and can crossover to the workplace. Essentially, the skills we learn in games can have real practical applications, but it's not something we really talk about in professional company since it's more often a negative than a positive.

I think it's largely a generation issue. University professors are for example 35+, which means that only the very youngest of them grew up with gaming.

I have to agree on the age thing. I get nothing but blank uncomprehending stares when I mention games to my age group peers--they also think I'm possessed to post on the internet or buy things online--but this is a very conservative area and many even younger people don't have much in the way of computer skills. My 30 something, rural-community-dwelling son-in-law does play console games with his kids, but pc is beyond him. Still, the generation now in college and those younger are computer literate and savvy, so eventually games and gaming may become as acceptable as holding a season ticket to college football.

The other factor operating is media and political bias--games are constantly being blamed for the ills of society and viewed as the occupation of the misfit and sociopath. When I was raising my son, I had a visit from concerned parents because I allowed him to play that Satanic D & D game. People withdraw from the unknown, and until younger people age and make gaming "respectable" I think the distrust engendered by the anti-game propaganda will still be present in the back of people's minds.

magerette said:

I have to agree on the age thing.... My 30 something, rural-community-dwelling son-in-law does play console games with his kids, but pc is beyond him. Still, the generation now in college and those younger are computer literate and savvy, so eventually games and gaming may become as acceptable as holding a season ticket to college football.

Click to expand...

I'm continually surprised when people in my own age group, or younger, haven't the faintest idea about computers and how they work, or just do not see the PC as a gaming platform (but still feel the need to have super-powerful machines, because that's what is sold to them) and consider it only for email, internet and data processing. I don't think age really has a lot to do with it, but rather exposure is the far more important element.
There seems to be a large disconnect in that we are a highly computerised society, and most homes have computers, but many do not and even those with them are owned by people utterly clueless as to their uses.
Amongst people my own age, there's a lot of "games are for kids on the TV and computers are for work" perspectives, and it's surprising.

The other factor operating is media and political bias--games are constantly being blamed for the ills of society and viewed as the occupation of the misfit and sociopath. When I was raising my son, I had a visit from concerned parents because I allowed him to play that Satanic D & D game. People withdraw from the unknown, and until younger people age and make gaming "respectable" I think the distrust engendered by the anti-game propaganda will still be present in the back of people's minds.

Click to expand...

I agree with this. Even when not taken to that extreme, the media still presents gaming as a fringe hobby, things weird people with no lives do, and children. It meshes with the popular "games make kids do terrible things" position that gets hauled out every time a teenager does something shocking.

Games are fine for your children on their Wii or XBox as long as they're supervised, but once you give games to unsupervised teenagers or worse, adults, everything goes to hell. That seems to be a common perception.

My father's over sixty, a professor, and he plays computer games (although AFAIK not that much lately). He was certainly seriously hooked on rogue, NetHack, and Tetris at one point. Then again, his field is computer science, so I suppose he has an excuse.

I don't think gaming is particularly frowned upon in my neck of the woods, though. I've certainly never found it uncomfortable to "admit" to it. Nor have I felt it necessary to do any gaming evangelism.

Prime Junta said:

My father's over sixty, a professor, and he plays computer games (although AFAIK not that much lately). He was certainly seriously hooked on rogue, NetHack, and Tetris at one point. Then again, his field is computer science, so I suppose he has an excuse.

Click to expand...

My father had a friend who was a huge gamer and a total grognard. He had an entire gaming room with a huge war table, shelves and shelves of books and game pieces, chess tables set up and so on. He was also a very early adopter of video gaming technology and had an Intellivision when those first came out along with a few other console systems. I used to go over with my dad and play video games while they battled it out on the wargame table.

I don't think gaming is particularly frowned upon in my neck of the woods, though. I've certainly never found it uncomfortable to "admit" to it. Nor have I felt it necessary to do any gaming evangelism.

Click to expand...

Where I am it's not really frowned on, just totally misunderstood to the point of people wondering "why is an adult playing games?". So I just don't mention it very much.

Being an engineer, I'm already lumped into the "geek/nerd" crowd, so I don't have too much trouble admitting to being a gamer.

I'm not afraid to talk about or discuss my gamer-dom at work, not at all. If a significant number of people bring the 'gamers are sociopathic mass murderers' argument, I usually reply to them in my friendliest 'yeah, you seem to be quite the expert' manner, then tell them about how none of the violent, criminal kids during my time as a parole officer were gamers, not even the fifteen-year-old who killed his pal with a park bench.

I feel free and comfortable talking about my gaming interests everywhere EXCEPT work. Even though I am the IT director, and expected to be a geek... the rest of the company has no clue about the gaming world. And since I directly deal with the CEO every day I make sure not to discuss my gaming with anyone, because he is a staunch hater of video games (I know because he has stated it several times when it comes up in conversation regarding his children).

I've even had my boss (The CEO) over to the house for dinner several times, and I make sure that the door to my "gaming haven" is closed.

It's kinda weird, but I think it makes my life at work much better. But anywhere else I am very comfortable talking about it... and most of my long-time friends are all gamers as well.

I'm in the "don't talk about it" crowd for many of the same reasons as Gallifrey points out. Too many misconceptions that, frankly, I don't have the patience to sort through for people that aren't close friends. If the door is opened in a conversation, and I'm invited to offer my opinion, I probably will. But that's about it.

I think, however, that the reasons there are misconceptions is for different reasons than stated here. I think it has much less to do with the media portraying it as a fringe hobby for people with no lives or because it's a primary cause for violent behavior. Rather, I think it has a lot more to do with the genesis of video gaming. I think the media is right on top of the fact that it's becoming very mainstream. How could they not? It's making more as an industry than Hollywood is! And the games-cause-violence is more of a sensationalistic ratings grab tactic of the for-profit news than anything else.

I grew up in the heyday of video arcades and the beginning of the console boom in the early eighties. I think this is where the foundation was laid for how the public at large conceives of video gaming. And thus, the misconception that gaming is still only appropriate for pre-teens and is all mindless killing of lots of silly and colorful sprites on a screen. That's the image stuck in the greater consciousness, and that's why I'm reluctant to get into a conversation with folks on this particular hobby of mine. Games have obviously taken quantum leaps since then and can be, arguably, some of the most complex, interactive and mentally challenging forms of entertainment out there. But many non-gaming adults still think it's all Donkey Kong and Space Invaders.

I've found that casual references to high technology are potentially controversial almost like casual references to religion, sex or politics. Some people have strong opinions about it and don't like having them questioned or challenged. So I'll only mention PC gaming to certain people.

I think "pariah" is a little strong a word, we arent talking about criminals or Boy George or something. I dont think that gamers are considered hated outcasts, I think we are more considered a bit immature and wasteful of our time if anything. I think people may be embarassed for us, like watching a couple grown men playing in a sandbox with GI Joes or something.

Funny thing is, I bet if half the people who think gaming is for the immature and socially retarded were sat down and forced to play WoW for a couple hours, theyd turn into one of those foaming at the mouth fanatics who cant stop playing!

I make no pretense - I'm a guy in his 40's who loves technology in all forms, am a voracious consumer of techno-gadgets and a lover of video games. I grew up in the 'ivory tower state' (as someone recently reminded me ) with a tech-savvy dad and plenty of friends who were in similar situations. So for me it is odd to think that anyone my age wouldn't 'get' gaming and computers.

But then, everyone already knows I'm weird

From the OP

While gaming (by which I mean video games) is perfectly acceptable among college students, the concept of a "gaming professor" or a "gaming priest" is still an oxymoron to many.

Click to expand...

Hey, I'm an oxymoron!!

I wonder if we could be considered a persecuted minority group.

when i was in high school i bought my only game ever on a military base bx or px can't remember what they're called. i was with my grandparents and i picked out ultima viii: pagan with a nice big pentagram on the cover. thinking back i bet that probably troubled the hell out of them...

Corwin said:

Hey, I'm an oxymoron!!

Click to expand...

I even changed the word from minister to priest specifically to escape your wrath, Corwin (*hopes there aren't any professors reading the Watch*)

I agree that the media's portrayal of video games (often as a scapegoat for deeper social problems) certainly plays a large part in feeding the misconceptions many people have. However, the suggestion that these (negative) prejudices are simply the result of gaming being misunderstood by the masses isn't entirely accurate in my opinion; part of the reason also has to do with the state of the gaming industry itself. When you look at the way games are marketed, their treatment of women, etc. it's clear that this is still a very immature industry. The majority of game commercials people see on TV are for titles like Halo 3 or Gears of War, so it's not hard to understand why many people's impressions of video games are rather narrow. And, it's not exactly a straightforward matter to explain the subtleties that distinguish the genres to people who are largely ignorant of video games.
(Question: So RPGs are different from FPSs you say. What do spend most of your time doing in an RPG.
Answer: uh...looting and killing.)

The scope and variety of games is obviously greater now than it ever was, but the fact remains that big budget titles are largely confined to either sports games or games in which you play a sociopathic mass murderer (exceptions such as The Sims or Mario notwithstanding). The subject matter of most games turns a lot of people off, or simply fails to capture their interest. There still exists a huge untapped market that the gaming industry so far hasn't been able to attract, and it still has a lot of growing up to do before gaming as a hobby will be as widely accepted as reading books or watching movies.

Well, this topic is pretty much nails down the reason why I visit gaming sites/boards occasionally. I am not ashamed of playing a certain games, which are, IMO, more mature than some TV shows and movies are. However, I'd be much happier if the game content becomes much richer. At the moment, to some extent, I cannot but admit that the "prejudices" are valid in some cases. Some content in the games are obviously designed exclusively for children and adolescents.

I never have a problem with talking about my gaming (addiction ). Strange thing is that most people that I know do also game, it is just a little part, and well they might not really understand, but I just ignore those. Most of the people react normally and interested or just totally not interested in gaming