Respect In Terms Of Your Own and Other People's Video Game Interests
 

Since the majority of us are gamers. There is something that I've been noticing quite a lot since the term gamer has become more mainstream and it is now more widely accepted being a gamer now compared to maybe 10 to 20 years ago.

The thing is I've been hearing a lot of people recently say things such as you should be ashamed to refer to yourself as a gamer if you have not played this game or that game. Especially to more popular titles. I just find it weird that even your most casual gamer considers himself/herself such an gaming expert, he/she feels that they have the right to ram their gaming interests right down your throat if for some apparent reason your not into the types of games that these people play.

I have played a lot of games from a lot of different genres, and you know throughout all the games I've played. There are certain genres that I prefer over others but that doesn't necessarily make me a video game expert over anybody else and I have enough respect toward other gamers. I might offer a suggestion or an opinion over one of the genres I like, but I don't feel like I'm better than any gamer because of my interests.

I do believe especially when it comes to games, you can't really make a valid opinion on a game unless you've taken the time to play it. I'll probably be insulted for it, but some of the games I'm not a big fan of just because they're not the types of games I enjoy is a lot of the first person shooters. I don't doubt that games such as bioshock, gears of war, and many others are great games. Even games like super smash bros I don't enjoy. I do enjoy playing mario party and wario ware. Its just I don't enjoy playing them and I get sick of tired of people giving me a hard time and saying you should be ashamed to call yourself a gamer.

It use to bother me, but I just let it roll off my back since I hear it so much.

There are a lot of questions I would like to pose in this forum.

1.) How do you feel when people try to push their gaming interests down your throat?

2.) Have other gamers ever given you a hard time because of the types of games you play?

3.) How do you feel about individual respect as a gamer yourself and towards other gamers in genral?

I truly do not want to turn this discussion into a flame war. The greatest respect comes from realizing that your no better or worse than anybody else.

A lot of it is just the natural reaction of being repulsed by the person. I feel that the question here implies that the person is just being negative, but usually if the person is just REALLY enthusiastic, I try to give the benefit of the doubt if it is a game I'm not familiar with or even one I feel stigma toward.

Not so much for what I play, actually. I've given shit to my friends and others in jest over genres I might not necessarily be a huge fan of, like RPGs or MMOs, but for the most part, I haven't really run into any serious ridicule over the games I play. I think being respectful and tolerant yields the very same kind of treatment.

I find that the biggest problem I run into is related more to how I play than what I play.

Pretty much a necessity, usually when it involves competition. Respect, in my opinion, is a byproduct of being informed, like anything else in life. It's not just a problem for gamers, we're just now experiencing a surge in interest, so we see the culture develop based on having a wide range of users, all playing for different reasons.

1.) It can be annoying when someone insists you get a certain game. I find it particularly annoying because I already have a good 10+ games I haven't gotten around to playing, so I really don't want anymore unless it's something I was really looking forward too.

Other times they're suggesting a game I just really am not intersted in. Like Gears of War, I'm not bashing it. I'm sure it's a good game but I have Halo 3 and I plan on getting The Orange Box. While they're fun, I can only stand to play so many shooters. My main interest are RPGs and the occassional action game.

2.) Not really, although people always seem to be shocked that I won't touch GTA.

3.) I try not to disrespect anyone in general, especially not about their personal interests. I do however hate posers. You know, people that act like they like something because it's supposed to make them cool. Like this one girl that used to hang out with my friends. She always went to anime conventions and would go to the arcade with us to play DDR. However DDR is the only game she's ever played and she's never watched an anime. She was just a bimbo with no real interests of her own.

What's wrong with that? I have a few friends whose sole interest in video games is Guitar Hero and have only seen anime while I was watching, say, Samurai Champloo at my house and if people ask them if they play games they often answer, "Yeah"... Should I ostracize them because they lack the greater core of my interest?

I'm usually fairly receptive to suggestions, because I'm always up for checking out a new game. Though I'd rather them show me their copy of the game and let me play it, instead of just telling me I should by X game. Prove it to me.

Sure. I play WoW. I own a Wii. I am obviously not "hardcore."

Gaming is pretty much as mainstream as any other major entertainment medium these days. I think it makes even more money than the movie industry does. I don't know that I immediately will respect someone for being a gamer -- it doesn't really justify anything. I respect people for other reasons. Obviously, if the only focus of someone's life is gaming, then that's means for some disrespect, honestly. There are quite a few things in life that are more important.

1.) Actually my friends tend to ask for my opinion, heh. But in all honesty, if I get a recommendation from someone, I will more often than not just go ahead and check it out. I'm willing to try anything at least once, but it helps that most of the people I talk to are pretty knowledgeable themselves.

2.) Yeah. I tend to gravitate towards more quirky or artsy games, so I get flak from people who think I'm wasting my time.

3.) I won't presume to have the best taste when it comes to games, but I would say it is broader than most, so I have no problem respecting other people's tastes. Being eclectic does tend to cause problems though, because I end up with way more games than I have time for (just look at my Backloggery :( ).

The thing is the girl I'm talking about didn't watch anime around people either. She went to anime conventions, not because she liked anime. Infact not even because she was going with friends. She would go to anime conventions by herself, just to go to parties people would have with no one she knows. She basicly claimed she was a gamer because it enabled her to meet guys. She went out with my best friend and he wasn't really allowed to play games or anything like that while spending time with her because she was claiming she was something that she isn't. I honestly don't for a moment believe she really liked DDR, she just played it because the concept was easier to grasp then using a controller.

In short no, I don't think you should ostracize your friends because they lack your core interest. That wasn't even my point, my point was I hate people who pretend they are something that they're not.

If it's honest enthusiasm, I'm all for it. You can get progressively excited as the assault of joy from someone continues, for games you may have never given a second look beKLAXfore.

If it's a "hey, I was playing _____ the other day, there was this cool par-"
"MAN, _____ IS HORSE SHIT WHY DON'T YOU PLAY _______ INSTEAD"
"Not really interested in ____ games..."
"WHY?! BECAUSE YOU'RE A FUCKWIT THAT'S WHY, PLAY THIS GAME. I STOLE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND PURCHASED YOU A COPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUNT, I ALSO BOUGHT MYSELF A NEW TV, THANKS FOR THE PRESENT FAGGOT, SO HAVE YOU PLAYED THE GAME YET OR WHAT"

style thing, then yeah, not cool.

Nah, I think everyone's pretty aware of my lust for terrible games. :cmb:

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8...erimagedd0.jpg

Whenever I mention the fact that I enjoy playing and modding for Classic Doom, people usually say "Oh come on! Doom sucks! Play a real game like Halo or Counterstrike!"

Some of my friends sorta make fun of me for playing and modding for classic Doom. I also once told a writer for my high school newspaper that I make mods for classic Doom and he just gave a funny look.

Well, there is only one type of gamer I don't really like:

The Professional Gamer

I've said this many times before about pro-gamers, but I guess I can place most of my hate towards the fact that they usually come off as being arrogant, cocky and brag and gloat over the fact they play video games for a living. Also, I guess the other reason why I hate them is because I'm sorta jealous. :P

1. I' agree with what Guru said about how in order to interest me, you gotta show me the game. The last time I tried a game off with someone just mentioning it to me, I was slightly disappointed in them.

2. I play DDR. That should be enough for anyone to criticize. But generally, people get at me for my taste in music games since a majority of my friends can't play them with me. <_<

3. I respect your interests you respect mine. I'm not gonna shove anything down your throat if you don't do it to me.

It changes for DDR though, don't be a cocky bastard and then not prove it when you face me. Makes you look more like an idiot.

1.) How do you feel when people try to push their gaming interests down your throat?
I don't really care for it. I have the mentality of 'if I am going to pay X dollars, then I should enjoy the use of my money. Be that of the latest Final Fantasy, WWE game, or something totally else'.

I should mention this rarely happens. 90% of my friends are still in the SNES era, if they even have their gaming systems. The other 10% having Gamecubes, Wiis, X-boxes but they really don't push too much. The MOST I get as of late might be "If you get System A and Game B, then we can play online together".

2.) Have other gamers ever given you a hard time because of the types of games you play?
Not really. If I really don't care about a game, then I'm not going to play it. In truth, most of my friends still hang-on to the 16 bit era. I'm the one (well aside from my parents whom is amazingly light years ahead of me) that is the most up-to-date regarding games most of the time.

3.) How do you feel about individual respect as a gamer yourself and towards other gamers in genral?

I feel it is important. Seriously, each person is of his own. I hear all th etime about Superstars Jump! but have no interest in it. I see tons of threads about the latest Smash Bros and I have not the slighest urge to try it out. I have seen people go on and on about Mario Party, and I still remember not like the FIRST game due to it's absolute randomness (I'm sorry, but the second-to-last-round, swapping my stars with the lowest player in the game is just screwed up), and therefore don't care about the latest. However, I'm not going to stop THEIR fun either. Why should I? IF they spend the money, and can truly enjoy the game, then wonderful.

I've actually never experienced that before, then again, I don't think it's publicly known what type of games I play except to my friends, who generally have the same interests. I've gotten some that were in jest, but no, nobody's tried to seriously push something on to me.

Not much, really. I understand that I play one of the more niche genres available in the US (J-RPGs), but no, I don't think I've ever gotten anybody actually complaining that I play what I play.

I haven't gone any further than making some recommendations to people, and anytime I tell somebody to play a certain game, I don't force them to do so. My experiences have been largely positive since I haven't gotten flak about anything I play (though I do get flak about the amount of games I buy, but that's completely different). It's definitely disrespectful to try to force a game onto somebody who has already plainly said he/she doesn't enjoy. This doesn't even have to be limited to gamers. Forcing anyone to do anything beyond their will is disrespectful.

favorite genres: rhythm, puzzle, action/adv., rpg

1.) well...with a reccomendation, i'll try anything (if i have access to it). i don't encounter many people that play different genres than i do. most of the friends i've met have similar gaming interests, not to mention, none of them are assertive with their gaming opinions.

a few times though, i've run into the

"DUDE, _______ is SOOOO AWESOME! You NEED to play it!"

and if they are able to tell me why, i'll be able to compensate whether or not i think i'd like it. in most cases, the emphasis ends up having discredited itself...

2.) on a few minor occasions i was chastised for digging around "impossible to understand japanese games". for a while, being associated with DDR was somewhat awkward: back at its conception when people thought the players mistook the gameplay for "actual dancing".

3.) i'm guilty of having stereotyped people that play sports, fps, sometimes fighting games as uber-aggro trash talkers. i know most of the time, i'm just exaggerating the stereotypes for my own personal amusement, but i find overly arrogant and assertive people are uncomfortable to be around. i find it hard to give them as much respect as i would someone that would try to help cooperate in making the gaming experience enjoyable. (rather than a testosterone driven spectacle of masculinity...)

i never really considered how "nerdy" i was perceived to be as i played videogames when growing up ... being that i can't really see how gamers are seen from the "greater majority", i don't think i am able to recognize the transition to how they are perceived today.