FriskyrumX
Banned
Of course not, I'll always love it and try to pull people into my lovely hobby, you think I'm gonna be ashamed because of what some 12 year olds do online?
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Are you ashamed to be a "gamer"?
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😶😂 😂 😶
Depends what the definition of 'gamer' is as there several interpretations. If it's being used similar to 'reader', then absolutely not, (although 'player' seems a far less awkward term to me, I'm not a booker or a filmer or a musicer either). I buy and play games, I enjoy them and like talking about them. If it implies some sort of community engaged with all the YouTube/twitch/esports/twitter/online gaming drama and arguments, then no, not really, that aspect of the hobby doesn't really apply to me so I could hardly be embarrassed by it. I play single player games on the way to work and like talking about them with sane people who can string a sentence together.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Some of you put waaay more thought into this hobby than it warrants
HueyFreeman
Banned
I really feel this is the definitive position on the subject. For the life of me, i can't grasp why there is a need to define yourself this way.
As to whether or not I'm ashamed to play games... when it comes to people who don't play games, after gamergate I would absolutely say so. If I'm listening to people spout off racist, homophobic and sexist stuff online, absolutely. If I'm with someone who can actually have a nuanced understanding of what videogames in 2017 are - ie. a complex multiheaded beast capable of amazing and terrible things, and really not one thing anymore at all - absolutely not.
Mediking
Member
Wrap it up. We're done.
Muskieratboi
Member
The fandom is fine. The people can sometimes be shit.
……forgetit
Member
I am not ashamed to play video games any more than I'm ashamed to watch movies, read books or watch YouTube videos, my hobbies aren't my personality.
Kadin
Member
How so?
Mass Effect
Member
I'm more ashamed to be American than a "gamer" right now.
Hell, I'm ashamed to be human. Wish a was a dog at this point.
Hell, I'm ashamed to be human. Wish a was a dog at this point.
woof
Strangelove77
Member
I'm not embarrassed to listen to music, watch movies or read books, so I'm not sure why I'd be embarrassed to play videogames.
Im not even sure why there is an actual title(gamer) for it. It's nothing special. It's just a...thing.
Im not even sure why there is an actual title(gamer) for it. It's nothing special. It's just a...thing.
Pretty much, though I'm not that heavily against the term. I don't call myself as such, but when someone in public asks if, "I'm a gamer," I'm not going to tell them to not use that word or anything silly like that. I honestly think the word carries a lot more of a negative stigma IN the gaming community than it does outside.
dragonchild
Banned
Ashamed? No. I'm ashamed of many things well beyond the point of self-loathing, but playing video games is benign. FFS do some real damage to people around you before you start feeling shame. You know, like threaten people in the name of journalism integrity.
But I also get that I'm never going to be mainstream, either. Society's rules are made and enforced collectively, so some old bald gamer like me is going to be tolerated at best and that's if I don't screw up like I'm prone to do.
But I also get that I'm never going to be mainstream, either. Society's rules are made and enforced collectively, so some old bald gamer like me is going to be tolerated at best and that's if I don't screw up like I'm prone to do.
Japanmanx3
Member
I'm not a fan of the term. I just play games. Not ashamed of it though. Being black and knowing how it feels to be stereotyped makes me more conscious of not generalizing my thoughts on whole groups of people. Individuals will make stupid choices regardless of if they play games or not. Doesn't mean they represent me or anyone else besides themselves.
Nope.
The only embarrassing thing about video games is that even thoughtful ones are called things like "Hellblade". To me personally that's not really relevant, but you can pitch it to someone uninitated and be on a total roll, and then "Hellblade" undermines everything.
The Last of Us is prrrobably the only console/"AAA"/whatever title that implies some semblance of gravitas. Stuff like "Bioshock Infinite" sounds so stupid to a non-gamer that you're better off making up a name on the spot.
The only embarrassing thing about video games is that even thoughtful ones are called things like "Hellblade". To me personally that's not really relevant, but you can pitch it to someone uninitated and be on a total roll, and then "Hellblade" undermines everything.
The Last of Us is prrrobably the only console/"AAA"/whatever title that implies some semblance of gravitas. Stuff like "Bioshock Infinite" sounds so stupid to a non-gamer that you're better off making up a name on the spot.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
I generally don't care what other people think about anything so I'm not ashamed at all.
Yes.
Sort of.
Maybe.
I like video games and all my other nerdy interests but I am rather susceptible to societal pressures and think I should have probably replaced them with different hobbies by now - perhaps marriage and children, for one... In recent years, this has been somewhat heightened by the bizarre behaviour of those involved in GamerGate and simply from looking at wider trends.
I try not to tell people I play games a lot - I don't have, and never have had, IRL friends who play games in the same way or as much as I do - because it's a social faux pas. These days I don't know anyone who even owns a games console apart from me! This is where GAF comes in - I don't post much of the time but it lets me keep abreast of what's going on and get involved when I want to or have the time.
The only people I know who play video games are the kids I teach. Inevitably, when it somehow comes up that I play games, they only ever ask if I play COD or FIFA. I usually "lie" and tell them that the last game I played was an Assassin's Creed title (and I don't mind the series) if they ask me what the last game I played was; the last game I actually finished was Ever Oasis, and I don't think I'd get very far explaining that one...
Sort of.
Maybe.
I like video games and all my other nerdy interests but I am rather susceptible to societal pressures and think I should have probably replaced them with different hobbies by now - perhaps marriage and children, for one... In recent years, this has been somewhat heightened by the bizarre behaviour of those involved in GamerGate and simply from looking at wider trends.
I try not to tell people I play games a lot - I don't have, and never have had, IRL friends who play games in the same way or as much as I do - because it's a social faux pas. These days I don't know anyone who even owns a games console apart from me! This is where GAF comes in - I don't post much of the time but it lets me keep abreast of what's going on and get involved when I want to or have the time.
The only people I know who play video games are the kids I teach. Inevitably, when it somehow comes up that I play games, they only ever ask if I play COD or FIFA. I usually "lie" and tell them that the last game I played was an Assassin's Creed title (and I don't mind the series) if they ask me what the last game I played was; the last game I actually finished was Ever Oasis, and I don't think I'd get very far explaining that one...
I am not a gamer. Wish I could link "gamers are dead" from Kotaku, I think? It is a toxic culture that must be reevaluated from the inside.
I much prefer to call myself a gaymer, which is a word that better represents where I stand compared to the heterosexual male white American gamer.
I much prefer to call myself a gaymer, which is a word that better represents where I stand compared to the heterosexual male white American gamer.
UnemployedVillain
Member
The word "gamer" just means you like to play games. All the other stuff associated with it, gamergate, the toxic elements of some online communities, the industries issues, those all seem tangentially related. I don't see any reason someone should be ashamed of essentially saying they like playing games just because of those things. They can still take issue with them. I wouldn't necessarily use the words "I'm a gamer", but that's more because gaming is just one hobby of mine out of many, whereas I feel that has the connotation that that's your main/primary hobby
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Are you ashamed to be a "human"?
Ban Puncher
Member
I am the hottest free agent in e-sports.
AtomskEater
Member
I generally don't use the word "gamer" just as a preference, but I have no problem telling people I enjoy playing (and discussing) games as a hobby.
Bubbavelli
Banned
Im ashamed by the term gamer and how "gamers" are largely racist/sexist losers but Im not ashamed by the fact I play games
ZedLeppelin006
Banned
Nah fuck that. Many of the things I enjoy, ie. Games, anime, wresting & cannabis for instance have stigmas attached to them but it doesn't matter to me.
My response is always let me do me and you do you.
My response is always let me do me and you do you.
Not ashamed at all. I can say others around me might think differently since not all people can relate. It goes both ways, I'm not into sports but tons of people are, I don't drink alcohol but tons around me do. I can't relate to them. I'm a gamer I play video games and I love it. Just like they like to drink and or watch sports.
Linguistics 101: words matter. We define the world around us through language. So "gamer" isn't simply its dictionary definition. It's much more than that: you must consider its cultural and social understandings in the globalised world.
Language is NOT a dictionary
disappeared
Banned
I'll sponsor you for $15 and a couple McDonald's coupons.
Allnamestakenlol
Member
Nope - not ashamed.
ProgenitorCastle
Banned
I self-identify as a gamer, don't think I'm ashamed of it 
Was just chatting up w/ some friends on that topic recently haha...a summary of something from that convo was that even though it might've originated as a marketing term, I'm pretty comfortable with reclaiming it and validating the label "gamer" as a positive term
Was just chatting up w/ some friends on that topic recently haha...a summary of something from that convo was that even though it might've originated as a marketing term, I'm pretty comfortable with reclaiming it and validating the label "gamer" as a positive term
FunkyDealer
Banned
To me gaming is a hobby and form of entertainment, not a lifestyle.
Am I a "gamer"? Probably. Depends on the eye of the beholder. But definitely in a different capacity from the stereotype, like most others.
Am I ashamed of enjoying videogames? Hell no.
Am I a "gamer"? Probably. Depends on the eye of the beholder. But definitely in a different capacity from the stereotype, like most others.
Am I ashamed of enjoying videogames? Hell no.
DAREALGUMMY
Member
Nope.
But there's levels to it and I'm not that high up.
But there's levels to it and I'm not that high up.
ProgenitorCastle
Banned
L M A O this made me laugh hard XD
MaulerX
Member
I think gaming is just something people do for entertainment when they're off. Much in the same way that people go to the movies, bars, like to read etc...
There's nothing to be ashamed of in gaming. Like those other forms on entertainment, some people just prefer one over the other.
There's nothing to be ashamed of in gaming. Like those other forms on entertainment, some people just prefer one over the other.