A Serious debate Thread - What does it mean to be a 'Gamer'

[Cowwie]

someone who feels passionate about the games they play,  thats good enough for me to call them a gamer, the skill level they play at is irrelevant.

[kookynic]

[deanox]

[Tiwaking!]

Mark Alpiger - World Champion

[Pyromanik]

A real gamer would of got a new wife.

HAVE :@!

[Scunner]

I don't think that if someone only plays one game, like WoW, they can't call themselves a gamer. If they know the in's and out's of every spec, the top gear for each class, the lore and the stories in the game then surely they're involved enough to class as gamers. Maybe it's more appropriate to use a more specific title, as Emrico mentioned, like WoW-gamer but they are still part of the wider group of gamers, even if they just occupy a niche.

Certainly someone who just plays on consoles is still a gamer. In general, the same games that come out on PC come out for consoles as well and many PC users use controllers for some games now so its strange to say someone isn't a gamer because they sit on a couch instead of at a desk to play games.

I suppose my definition of a gamer is someone who involves themselves or takes an interest in the games they play outside of playing them for an hour every now and then to kill time.

[The Demon Lord]

I don't think that if someone only plays one game, like WoW, they can't call themselves a gamer. If they know the in's and out's of every spec, the top gear for each class, the lore and the stories in the game then surely they're involved enough to class as gamers. Maybe it's more appropriate to use a more specific title, as Emrico mentioned, like WoW-gamer but they are still part of the wider group of gamers, even if they just occupy a niche.

Certainly someone who just plays on consoles is still a gamer. In general, the same games that come out on PC come out for consoles as well and many PC users use controllers for some games now so its strange to say someone isn't a gamer because they sit on a couch instead of at a desk to play games.

I suppose my definition of a gamer is someone who involves themselves or takes an interest in the games they play outside of playing them for an hour every now and then to kill time.

My reasoning behind questioning the gamer status of the casual console user is the difference in attitudes in regards to challenge and exploration and general problem solving

[winter]

Casual gamer here. When I've got nothing else to do like spending time with my son, practice guitar, hitting the gym or doing whatever with mates etc etc.. then I'll have a hoon for an hour.. sometimes more on the weekend if the missus takes the boy out without me.

I used to play every night after getting home from work till at least 10-11 at night if not later.. long sessions of CS/BF/COD4 etc, those days however, are long dead.

[5loth]

I don't think PC gaming is a requirement at all. I grew up playing consoles from the age of 5, played arcade games for many years (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct etc.) and only ever got into PC gaming at around 12 years old (1997).
Even then a large portion of my gaming remained on consoles, because of the types of games I played (sports and fighting games).

In my 20's PC gaming was it for me, however I only really played BF2 and CSS, so I almost fit into the category of the WoW gamer, who doesn't actually play lots of different games.

These days I don't really play games at all, I played BF3 for a few weeks when it was released, but other than that have not played a PC game in years. I have however always enjoyed skateboarding games on console,  and still have an Xbox 360 so I can play EA Skate when I feel like it (often for an hour or so once a fortnight as I lay in bed).

Games just don't do it for me these days and I prefer to exercise/do sport, I know what kind of games I would enjoy playing, but the progression of games is moving away from what I would be interested in.

[Bounty Hunter]

I'm pretty similar to Vloth to be honest, I haven't played games for weeks, mostly cause I've been too busy since uni has gone back.

Though I game more often, it's hardly a wider range, driving sims and FPS for me, but I think the fact I pick bioshock over BF3 and rfactor over need for speed puts me in a higher class.

And to be honest, I've gone off multiplayer a bit really, bots are predictable, they either try to kill you or they don't, humans are much more retarded.

[Bell]

My reasoning behind questioning the gamer status of the casual console user is the difference in attitudes in regards to challenge and exploration and general problem solving

I definitely had an attitude that PC gamers were the real gamers who put more effort into games. That's until I started working for game companies where the staff are obviously absolutely obessed with games.
I soon discovered that the majority of game developers are console gamers and they take that shit very seriously and definitely do all the things you mention, Shit they are the ones making those challenges and secret levels etc in the first place.
It turned out they were bigger gamers than I was for sure, I just played a couple of FPS and RTS games and not much else, meanwhile they were buying and completing entire games every weekend.

[BerG]

Casual gamer here. When I've got nothing else to do like spending time with my son, practice guitar, hitting the gym or doing whatever with mates etc etc.. then I'll have a hoon for an hour.. sometimes more on the weekend if the missus takes the boy out without me.

I used to play every night after getting home from work till at least 10-11 at night if not later.. long sessions of CS/BF/COD4 etc, those days however, are long dead.

Same here.

I miss that feeling of rushing home from work/school and getting straight into my BF2. Stay up playing till 2am, go to bed for 4 hours sleep and start it all again.

I try playing the odd game to try and get back into it, but just dont enjoy it anymore

Damn growing up.

[Kayne]

One question

If a guy can ONLY cook lasagna. Nothing else, but he can do it perfectly, Is he a chef?

[Bell]

If a guy can only play Rugby, Nothing else, but he can do it perfectly, Is he a sportsman?

[BerG]

One question

If a guy can ONLY cook lasagna. Nothing else, but he can do it perfectly, Is he a chef?

Of course.

He starts a lasagna restaurant and is head chef. He becomes wildly successful.

[Kayne]

If a guy can only play Rugby, Nothing else, but he can do it perfectly, Is he a sportsman?

I'd just call him a rugby player ;P

[Tiwaking!]

I soon discovered that the majority of game developers are console gamers and they take that shit very seriously and definitely do all the things you mention, Shit they are the ones making those challenges and secret levels etc in the first place.

Yeah man. People rag on the console scrubs, but they are the ones devoting whole weekends to plow through a rented video game. They're the ones who work 50 hours a week and spend what little spare time trying to finish a game they'd been looking forward to playing all week.


UNFORTUNATELY this Achivement heavy emphasis has been milked for all its worth by modern day game franchises. What they should do is rank achievements and let players show off the ones they are most proud of. The achievements for CS:S were ridiculous and easy to get by playing on a custom type server (like Zombie or Warcraft Mod).
http://xbox.about.com/od/cheatsfaqs/a/gamerscorelist.htm

What Makes a Game Good or Bad For Your Gamerscore?

Good: Good games for improving your gamerscore reward you for playing through the game, performing specific in-game tasks, or accomplishing goals within reason

Bad: Bad games for improving your gamerscore are ones that require a long term investment of time, topping online leaderboards, or feature a majority of online-only achievements.

Case in Point: The Rock Band 3 achievement for playing all the songs non-stop. That is a pretty damn impressive feat, but in the context of 'gamerscore' it probably counts less than completing Gears Of War coop.

http://bitmob.com/articles/the-6-worst-xbox-achievements-ever-conceived

The first few games released for the Xbox 360 featured only a small number of achievements where confused developers would issue you a 200 point award for throwing a football or for managing to sit through a loading screen; they truly didn’t know what in the hell they were supposed to do with this system and were confounded by these "achievements". It's why NBA Live 2K6 has five achievements and four of them have requirements that are met the second you plug your console into a working power source.

StarCraft 2 has some pretty terrible achievements. You even get an achievement for watching a Demo.

[Xenolightning]

StarCraft 2 has some pretty terrible achievements. You even get an achievement for watching a Demo.

I think achievements like this are a little more clever than you suspect. Eg. Watching a Demo; I see that as a "tip" that a player can get a reward for, so they are more likely to try it out, and more likely to actually use the functionality to a) watch pro's play, b) watch their friends play.

I do also agree that there are terrible achievements.

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

I think we should have a mass debate thread regarding achievements in games.

[winter]

Same here.

I miss that feeling of rushing home from work/school and getting straight into my BF2. Stay up playing till 2am, go to bed for 4 hours sleep and start it all again.

I try playing the odd game to try and get back into it, but just dont enjoy it anymore

Damn growing up.

Yep - nothing will ever quench that thirst like wake 24/7 and the old Iconz CS servers used to.. they were the pinnacle of gaming. Back then, it was all about getting to know the community, chatting with the members, meeting up at xLAN/other lans and what not, nowadays it's LOG IN, PUB SMASH, QUIT.

[Xenolightning]

I think we should have a mass debate thread regarding achievements in games.

Achievement Unlocked
You have successfully witnessed SpaceMonkey Trolling

..

[Spigalau]

I understand Player B has just taken delivery of...



Uber pro !

[O-L-W-A-G]

Miss the old days where games had a lot more replay value of months and sometimes years

[Pyromanik]

Yep - nothing will ever quench that thirst like wake 24/7 and the old Iconz CS servers used to.. they were the pinnacle of gaming. Back then, it was all about getting to know the community, chatting with the members, meeting up at xLAN/other lans and what not, nowadays it's LOG IN, PUB SMASH, QUIT.

Yes.
And not just because we're getting older, I think the kids game like this too.
But I'm probably wrong, because I'm an old fart now :<

[winter]

Yes.
And not just because we're getting older, I think the kids game like this too.
But I'm probably wrong, because I'm an old fart now :<

I think it could have something to do with how games are made nowadays - games are all about achievements, unlocks, camo color unlocks and what not - BF1942/2 and CS were pretty bland in comparison to games like the newer Call of Duty's and even BF3. [edit] bland in terms of ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED, NEW CAMO COLOR BLUE BALLBAGS UNLOCKED AND A DOG TAG. Not the actual gameplay.

But yes, we're getting old.