What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “he’s a gamer?” For those who may be unaware of the vast aspects of the genre, they may picture an overweight pasty-white guy sitting in front of his computer in the basement of his mother’s with an empty pizza box. Stereotypes FTL! (For the lose), for the non-gamers out there.
I’ll admit that I originally condemned video games and thought they were a waste of time until my friends invited me to a LAN party one evening. This is a gathering of gamers that play games against each other through the Local Area Network system associated with computers. From the first head-shot in Call of Duty to the last tower standing in Warcraft III, I knew that this was not going to be a one time thing. That’s when I knew that I was indeed a gamer.
As for that stereotype which I mentioned earlier, none of my friends are like that. However, I won’t completely nullify the chance of that being possible because I do know of a few online friends who are such. But for the most part, they live as normal a life as can be.
One of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to overcome and still try to do is convincing my mom that I indeed have a social life outside the real world. When I started up World of Warcraft (a massively multi-player online role playing game), she insisted that I was wasting away at my desk, not experiencing life or interacting with the world.
Don’t think that I became a hermit when I played that game. I still had a life outside the game. I went to work, school, hung out with friends when I had the chance and went places when I had the money. I still had time to interact with others, and time to interact with my online friends in-game.
It bothers me the most when people say you have no life if you play video games. Some people play sports, go shopping, watch tv or do nothing in their free time to enjoy themselves. I’m one of those people that enjoyed playing games in my free time to help unwind and have fun, and mind you it’s quite a bit cheaper.
A huge part of the experience is the gaming community that you will find in-game. My mom doesn’t understand and I’m sure many don’t realize that there is a giant community in the game that is created with people of all backgrounds from around the world. In WoW, I was a part of a guild, which is like a small friend group that works together and helps each other out. I’ve met many interesting people in the five years that I’ve played and I still keep in touch with them via facebook or aim. I’ve witnessed drama and break-ups and anger even if it was through pixels. Just because they are not physically here, does not mean they are not there.
Don’t say that gaming is a mindless activity either. There is quite a lot of thinking involved with strategizing amongst your guildies on how to defeat the raid boss, determining what gear is best for your dps (damage per second) or heals for that matter and figuring the best way to accomplish things together. There have also been studies that show how gamers have better reflexes than non-gamers.
Oh, and don’t think that all gamers are guys. To all those guys out there, yes there are GIRLS on the interwebs. More and more girls are joining the gaming community. It’s up to the hardcore gamers to figure out who the real ones are vs. the “posers” who are only on the bandwagon to find a guy. I’ve already found my gamer, ladies, so don’t worry about competition.
All I’m saying is keep an open mind on what it means to be a gamer. Maybe even give gaming a second chance. I’m glad I did.
