Are gamers "nicer" people?

[Kyle1527]

I know, your going to laugh. But perhaps the question is not so much gamers, but "nerds". Now, I know these are HUGE spectrums with many different definitions but I am going to try and make a point.

Now for me, this is all personal experience, but I want to know what YOU think. A "true" gamer for me is someone who doesn't just play one genre of commonly played mainstream games, it's someone who plays and tries out a variety of new games and platforms. Now I would say most people on The Escapist are definitely true gamers, considering the chavs on Xbox Live probably don't even know what a forum is. Now I'm not saying they have to visit forums, I'm just saying it's more likely that they are going to visit forums.

For example, most people who I have met on Xbox Live are complete dicks, this is understandable as the Xbox 360 is more of a casual gaming experience and pretty much anyone can pick up the mic and chat shit.

However, I've had Steam for a few weeks now and I have made friends with some really cool people - none of them seem to be dicks at all (0/31). Now this isn't really a valid comparison, but honestly I feel like these are the type of people who in a real life situation e.g. Them seeing someone getting mugged would help out regardless of their physical strength. Now my comparison is the general public of Great Britain. I go to a High School in England and I can say 90% of the people in my school would just walk by or maybe run away in fear that they would get mugged - because they aren't 'nice' people.

All of the "Gamers" in my school under Year 11(11th Grade in America?) are shit talking tryhards who play nothing but Call of Duty and Fifa, who go on the mic and belt insults at people they have not even met before. However, in Year 11 there are some pretty nerdy kids who also have some pretty beefy computers and they are actually pleasant individuals, who actually don't talk shit on voice chat and have marginal gaming skill.

Tl;DR: So, in your experience are gamers nicer people?


Edit: This thread doesn't have the purpose of you discrediting some one elses opinion, but has the purpose of you telling me whether you think gamers are nicer people or not. It's an opinion, not a fact at all.

 

[Zhukov]

I rather doubt it.

If gamers/nerds really are nicer people on average then it's only because they lack the requisite self-confidence to be dicks.

 

[hazabaza1]

Every game on every platform ever will have a massive amount of cunts in it.
And before ya'll start going "what about PC gaming?" just go look at the MOAB scene.

 

[LaBambaMan]

It all depends on the person. I'm an avid tabletop gamer and while in that community we have our fair share of dickheads and assholes it seems far fewer than I notice when I discuss videogames with people.

Generally though I notice your hobbies very rarely actually influence your manners unless those hobbies include murdering people and wearing their faces like masks or something similarly odd.

You can have anyone with any hobby, no matter how the mainstream media may present it, who is socially awkward or someone who is really good with people.

I like to think I'm a nice guy, and I'm a gamer. The two things aren't entirely connected, though.

 

[teqrevisited]

I've found that there are just as many abrasive arseholes that play games as there are that don't.

 

[Fappy]

People are going to rage at me but I find the (very few) people who are primarily PC gamers are less asshole-ish and less childish than people who mostly play xbox/cod.

But I'm pretty biased so hey, who cares right?

PC gamers tend to invest more in their hobby simply due to the relative effort it takes compared to that of a console gamer. It's really no surprise that they would probably be a bit more friendly to their own. I am both and in my experience this statement holds true. I would not however say that gamers are generally nicer people.

 

[Yassen]

You would believe that statement all the more if you ever visited the mana bar. It's been open for well over a year in the busiest entertainment district (read: clubs/bars) in Brisbane. In that time there has never been a single fight, or obscene drunken behaviour inside of it. I've made dozens of great friends there, all gamers, who are funny, confident, polite and intelligent.

I've chatted with Yug and Yahtzee a few times, they told me the owners of other clubs/bars in the area would come round and say "I wish we had a crowd like this. Young, polite and attractive." The mana bar is truly remarkable in the way it's utterly destroyed the stereotypes of geeks and gamers.

 

[Zantos]

I wouldn't say they are, at least not from my personal experience. Yes, there are a lot of nice people, but you get that in any sort of community. However, as far as the unpleasant minority goes, I find the gaming community to have the most petty, self-important, arrogant and generally anti-social bordering sociopathic section of any community I've ever been a part of. Yes, it's still only a vocal minority and doesn't reflect the vast majority of gamers, but it's the most willing part to come out and least pleasant when it does.

 

[Freyar]

I wouldn't say "Nicer". We step into step into stereotype territory when we start asking if people are "this" or "that" compared to say.. fans of sports. Naturally it's a bit unfair to ask here, since here would have a natural bias.

There are "gamers" that are quite hostile much in the same way as any one else.

[/mandatorypony]

 

[StorytellingIsAMust]

Does anyone else think that it's a bit stupid to cram people into categories? According to the categories that be, I'm not only a gamer, but also an otaku, a dick, a nice guy, a sports fan, a TV watcher, a casual jock, a reader, a writer, an improv comic, a musician, a geek, a woodsman, a political activist, and a user of the Internet. At the same time, it's too broad and too limiting. Any number of different people can be categorized as a "gamer" and "gamer" isn't all that defines any one member of this subdivision of people.

So to answer your question, topic creator, no, gamers are not "nicer" people because gamers ARE just people and people can be nice, mean, both, or neither at any given point of time in any given situation when interacting with any given person.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Real gamers are in most cases introverts. Introverts don't give a fuck and are more intellectually mature then extroverts who just wanna party and play multiplayer CoD with their friends while Limp Bizkit is playing something stupid in the background.

 

[BreakfastMan]

No, not really. It seems to be the same proportion of nice people to jerkwads as in the general population. Except with a higher probability of elitism. This is all just from my personal experiences, so take that for what you will.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

We are simply people.

You will need to focus on each individual, as we all have our good sides and bad sides. As a community we have our demons and our angles and it depends on who you run into. You might come away believing we are all harmless enthusiasts that seek only to over come our social inept natures. You might find yourself cyber-stalked by some nerd who does everything through a computer, feeling connected to you because he hacked into your private pictures on your face book account and added a few of themselves there....

 

[DEAD34345]

Nah, there are gamers, and there are nice people. Sometimes they're the same people, sometimes they're not, just like with absolutely anything else. Generally speaking, choice in hobby has no relationship with how nice people are, though it can have some other influences (PC gamers seem to be more likely to be wealthy, for example).

 

[Joccaren]

I think you're stumbling across the "Older are more mature" type of thing here, which is generally true.

For one, look at the ages in your school thing. The younger ones are less mature online, the older ones are more mature.

Generally speaking, more younger people will buy consoles and therefore consoles will have a higher population of younger people. The younger people on PCs (Generally speaking) will have been bought to PCs by someone in the industry, usually a mature adult who passes that maturity across to them.

Then we have the older people.

Everywhere, the older people will be more mature. Its the way things go. Now, there will sometimes be individuals that are younger that are more mature, but lend an ear to that whole age group, they usually aren't the majority.


Its not so much that 'true' gamers are nicer people, but that the 'true' gamers you know and find tend to be older. Make no mistake, there will be older people who you meet that play games but aren't 'true' gamers by your definition who will be polite and nice, and 'true' gamers who are younger who are absolute dicks.

Yes, there will be exceptions to the 'rules' as such too, where you find a younger 'true' gamer who is nice, a younger not-'true' gamer who is nice, an older 'true' gamer that is a dick and an older not-'true' gamer that is a dick. Generally speaking, its all about age groups from the sounds of your post.


As for me, there is no way I'd let someone get mugged. I don't care if I am officially the weakest person I know, I know how to wield a sword like weapon to good effect, and I'll be damned if there's not something like that around. And if there isn't, surprise attack and guerrilla warfare. I have basically made it my purpose in life to protect others. I don't care too much about myself, I don't exactly have any great will to keep living (Nor any will to die, but you know), but I know others do, and I will protect that for them. Just some stupid thing I do without thinking too much of the consequences.

 

[badgersprite]

Are you new to this site or what?

All the hipster eugenicists, ableists, homophobes, racists and sexists that show up in nerd culture should show that gamers and nerds aren't nicer than anyone else. We have just as many jerks as anywhere else, and just as many people who are embarrassed by all our jerks. The gaming fandom can be really defensive too, so it can only take something small to stop people being nice, like people blowing their gasket over things as stupid as review scores or bashing a game as the worst game ever because it's mildly disappointing.

Also, the simple fact that you called everyone who plays on console a drooling moron who can't possibly be a worthwhile person to know or can't possess any modicum of taste of skill somewhat proves the point that you yourself are not a nice person.