Are gamers "nicer" people?

[Smooth Operator]

They are just people like all the others some are nice and some are not, in my gaming groups we weed out the asshats so it's always a pleasant place to be, people could quickly come to the conclusion that is the status quo.
But if you join the general gaming jungle (especially with these new random matchmaking systems) there is all manner of nasty critters lurking around the interwebs.

The worst part of it is the new influx of gamers is young and impressionable, and they will be most influenced by the foul mouthed trolls, which creates a vicious self perpetuating potty mouth culture.

 

[Vault101]

I would have thourght spending any tim online might put that Idea out of your head..

 

[JesterRaiin]

So, in your experience are gamers nicer people?

Someone wiser than me said once "The people are very nice in common, there are only a few dicks BUT they are so smartly deployed that you have no choice but to meet one every few steps."

As for me, i don't believe in generalization and i don't believe that "gamers" form one body that should be talked about.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Gamers have any personality, you just view those who have that personality as "gamers".
[sub] 1000th post [/sub]

 

[NoeL]

I have circumstantial evidence to support the hypothesis. About a month after Mana Bar, a bar targeted at gamers, opened I was having a chat with the bouncer. He'd worked at other bars/clubs before, and always considered it a "good" night if he only had to throw ~5 people out for misconduct. For that entire month since Mana Bar's opening he hadn't had to kick a single person out.

This doesn't so much support the notion that gamers are nicer, but rather that they're less physically violent.


As for the "shit-talking tryhards", I think it's more that children aren't as nice as adults. PC gamers tend to be more mature, whilst spoilt arsehole kids infest Xbox.

 

[ms_sunlight]

No.

See the threads on the recent Penny Arcade / Ocean Marketing nonsense for confirmation.

 

[Cazza]

I've seen so many gamers rage for little to no reason. Full on insults across the servers. We're just like everyone else.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

From my experience, gamers are:

1. Sociopathic
2. Vengeful
3. Without confidence to actually threaten anyone, and are more than likely to be unable to hurt a fly
4. Apathetic of others' woes
5. Evil of heart, lazy of mind and body

Show me a nice gamer and I can show you a sociopath that blends well in the crowd.

Sociopathic is a bit much, but we tend to be bitter and self centered. Example: "You are suffering from a bad bug in Skyrim? I hadn't experienced it. You must be lying or have a bad machine. Skyrim is a great game, so shut up." Also, we are defensive. Really, really defensive.

 

[Aprilgold]

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.

MOBA scene, but that scene is mainly the = of roid rage. I'm being straight up serious, the whole fucking point is about stealing kills from other players to gain gold and money to become more powerful, and if your team starts losing theres no way to fix it.

Were a bunch thats very defensive and very much shows what humans are like without any societal bounds. For example, calling people Niggers online because its a insult. Or so on and so forth. Hell, since we can hide behind the interwebs, we sometimes claim to be women to troll people. Were essentially asshats with a few people who are actually nice people.

But dammit, do I think that were a nice, neat diverse group of god damn people.

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.

I agree to this as well. Since its easy to get a console, your more likely to find people who are dicks because the gate of entry is lower. And the fact that people hold no power on actual banning of people from certain servers. And the fact that consoles do shit all for banning.

I guess you can say PC gaming has a nicer crowd because their allowed to weed people out by themselves, without big daddy manufacturer getting involved.

 

[GrimGrimoire]

Gamers are people. Some are good, some are bad.
Saying gamers are nice is like saying sci-fi fans are mean.
Like any community, we represent people from all over the spectrum.

 

[enzilewulf]

From my experience, gamers are:

1. Sociopathic
2. Vengeful
3. Without confidence to actually threaten anyone, and are more than likely to be unable to hurt a fly
4. Apathetic of others' woes
5. Evil of heart, lazy of mind and body

Show me a nice gamer and I can show you a sociopath that blends well in the crowd.

Pretty much this. It seems kind of Ironic really, I mean when we see "nerds" they have usually had some what of a bad life experience socially(I.E bullied), yet when it comes to certain religious views or something they probably know nothing about (the whole child problem on the Escapist), they can be equally as dickish, if not a total ****. I myself find little people who seem sensible and not totally fucking evil when it comes to more social topics that can be found here at the Escapist, or even 4Chan. If these are the people who represent the gaming community then I find this morally devastating.When you can find the same views on /b/, then its time to reassess yourself.

EDIT: I should also mention that not all gamers are like this though. Some one else before me put it quite nicely, we are vast, and there is many differing personalities. That we can be sure of. Its not like all gamers are as described above. Just some I have had the unpleasing task of dealing with.

 

[D Moness]

Sociopathic is a bit much, but we tend to be bitter and self centered. Example: "You are suffering from a bad bug in Skyrim? I hadn't experienced it. You must be lying or have a bad machine. Skyrim is a great game, so shut up." Also, we are defensive. Really, really defensive.

I would call it more arrogant and selfish. Seeing as a lot of topics (specially lately) with the "if i do not like it , it shouldn't exist" attitude that seems to be the normal way of thinking. Sick and tired of having to explain the world does not revolve around that 1 person and that other people have other tastes(aka getting really tired of defending my own personal taste).

Honestly i prefer the anime/manga community i am in, if they do not like a series/genre they explain why and ignore it further, much less crap being spewed about their taste being the correct one. Also liking stuff/genres that is not really aimed at your demographic isn't scorned (something that still happens in a gamer community).

 

[D Moness]

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.

I agree to this as well. Since its easy to get a console, your more likely to find people who are dicks because the gate of entry is lower. And the fact that people hold no power on actual banning of people from certain servers. And the fact that consoles do shit all for banning.

I guess you can say PC gaming has a nicer crowd because their allowed to weed people out by themselves, without big daddy manufacturer getting involved.

Yeah and a lot of PC gamers let that fact get to their heads and think they are better gamers because they belong to the "master race of gamers" because they play on a pc and look down on console gamers.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

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.

Ayup. That's the one. If anything nerds are, in my experience, even bigger dicks than your average jock because they have A. A false sense of superiority for "not being jocks" and B. something to prove for being nerds.

Thats why nerds will flame and get super defensive over the most POINTLESS things. See how many posts in this very topic include some snide comment about Call of Duty and jocks? No one was even talking about that, yet nerds will immediately rush to bring up just how much better they are than other people because their hobby is "better" or "smarter". At least when jocks get self important its over something that is actually quantifiable (i.e. I'm better at sports or something).

Its not just self importance either. On this community in particular I've seen some absolutely HEINOUS views on children, foreign cultures, religion, racists, sexists, homophobia, as well as the group that takes the above views in the exact opposite directions. Come on people, at least on /b they can pretend its satire.

 

[Sixcess]

No.

Face to face, perhaps, but the nerd, in his natural habitat of the internet, is often an awful thing - tribal, narrow minded, sarcastic, spiteful and hostile.

In 'the real world' we were the despised minority, so we grouped together and overlooked our minor differences because when all was said and done we were, if not on the same page, at least reading the same book.

In the internet world we are the majority - or more precisely we are lots of majorities, each ruling over our own little kingdom, be it The Escapist, /b/, any MMO you care to mention etc etc - and like any majority we look down on, distrust and despise those who are outsiders, those who are different.

I'm painting in broad brush strokes, obviously, but as I said in a comment on an episode of the Big Picture a few weeks ago when Bob was indulging in his hatred of 'bro culture', what we used to hate is what we have become.

 

[FallenMessiah88]

No, generally speaking, gamers are not "nicer people". They are just people. Some are good, some are bad.

Oh, and about the whole "PC gamers are more mature/polite/intelligent people". In my experience, that is not true either. To me, the PC crowd is just as bad as the console crowd, but for quite different reasons.

 

[FarleShadow]

If real life had more gamers, they would jump in to save you from being mugged by knocking out the mugger.

Then they would loot the mugger of all his possessions. And his clothes. And then pose him in a vaguely erotic pose before getting bored and running off to the shops for a twix.

 

[Kyle1527]

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.

I never said I was a nice person now did I? I'm not new to this site, and If I was that is completely irrelevant as I only mentioned the Escapist once in my original post. I never said everyone who played on console was a drooling moron, I just said most people with a mic are, and if you've ever played a single online game of Call of Duty then you will know what I mean.