[General Discussion] What is a gamer, anyway?

Edit: sorry I misread the first post I thought it was guidelines not how you wanted the reply phrased

1. What did gamer mean 10 or 15 years ago?

As was said above someone who simply plays and enjoys video games. Hardcore gamers are nothing new compared to what some may think though in fact it was kinda encouraged if you were really into it since most games had no save file systems, the only difference now is being a hardcore gamer is encouraged for different reasons and compared to now hardcore gamers were just completly ignored kinda like outcasts of society in the past

2. What does it mean for you and/or your friends now?

2 Words spring to mind when you ask this question, rivalrys and free roaming games. 2 of the biggest factors in games these days but not nessarily what makes them great, almost everything seems geared towards proving you're best at doing things like shooting a total fictional gun or leading a group of people now. Alot of my friends still fall for new videogame gimmicks which is nothing new, but in comparision I've turned pretty cynical mostly because I've seen both the friendly and obssessive sides of videogames

3. Has the next-gen done anything to change that?

A hell of a lot videogames haven't really progressed since they went online it's just on a more 'user friendly' grander scale now, companies valueing graphics, recycling old game formulas they think that sell and challenging people to their limits forgeting that at the end of the day it's a game...

Frankly I think I've changed more then the industrys values have which just seems more and more geared towards getting players to play as long as possible 'rewarding' their winners who devote themselves to gaming and ignoring the 'losers' for the most part who don't show the same level of dedication as if it's some kind of career path although I guess how serious I took it at one time didn't exactly help, if anything playing online and seeing how worked up people get was an eye opener, now I laugh most of the time when my gaming contacts say to me "OMFG! *insert game name here* came out!" because I've played so many games in the past most of the new ones I play just feel like going over old ground or 'grinding' I think WoW players call it?

I realise now anyone who does things like spend a day (although most people I hear end up having to camp an area longer) killing the same monster 10000+ times trying to get a rare item for example, finding every tinyist gamebug to exploit and/or disconnecting from a game because they know they're going to lose in order to keep a perfect record seriously needs to rethink their life. The world might be a shitty place that needs escaping from and games are a good way to do it, but the scale that everyone is escaping to these virtual worlds in and this elitist rubbish isn't going to make the world any better either

Jam it back in, in the dark.