Gamers who are' terrible at games'

[Silverbeard]

I have a hard time processing the idea of gamers who are 'terrible at games'- surely one who is terrible at a hobby will not enjoy said hobby? I am terrible at building boats, so I do not build any. I just stick to my own hobby of gaming.

I understand the notion of gamers being terrible at specific games: I have no skill at versus fighting games and my mates routinely mock my punching bag-like qualities in games from that genre. But the notion of a self-proclaimed gamer being uniformly terrible at all games everywhere baffles me for reasons laid out in the first paragraph. Note that I exclude gamers with physical or mental challenges from this definition; I can understand the idea of an avid gamer losing proficiency in his or her favoured genres because of an injury. For example a friend of mine (a 'PC gamer' by self-definition) lost several fingers from his left hand in an industrial accident. He is right handed and his left hand and thumb remain attached, so his life as a whole was not terribly impacted, but he can no longer handle FPS titles or indeed anything that cannot be paused mid-game. He just does not have enough fingers to handle a WSAD type of setup.

But surely a physically and mentally competent gamer would not be universally bad at all games everywhere- and still consider himself/herself a 'gamer'?

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I refer to myself by a "title" that a friend of mine gave me. I'm an Oldschool Newbie. I was a young kid when the NES and original Gameboy were the big things on the market and while I played games here and there, I was never any good at them. It wasn't until the N64 that I started to actually get into the swing of gaming and I still feel that I'm not really inherently "good" at games but that I've just persisted at them long enough to get enough experience that I am good at them.

Just because I wasn't particularly good at games didn't mean I didn't love them and it was because of that that I was able to become good at them.

 

[TehCookie]

I'm terrible at sewing and always mess up but I still enjoy it and my lopsided, badly stitched plushies.

I think people have different definitions of good and bad at games. If you struggle while playing a game you're not a good gamer. If you play on normal that's average, if you're good at games you should be playing on hard or above. There's also expectations to deal with, if you say you're bad you don't have to amount to anything. If you say you're good then you have to prove it.

Among all my childhood friends I always was the worst at games, so I still feel like I'm terrible at games even though among my current friends I'm one of the best.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Are there people like that? I have never once seen, even in the worst, darkest depths of The Internet someone say they can't play any game well at all but still play on a regular basis. If so i'm in the same boat as you OP. I can play practically anything to at least an average level.

However I do suck at BlazBlue because for some reason I cannot get to grips with some of the basic mechanics of the game but I still love the damn thing. I can play Skullgirls, a six button fighter after three four button fighters (UMVC3, BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena) and have much more success in two/three days compared to months of BlazBlue where I still go into every game expecting to lose and it's just a case of exactly how hard I can get bodied.

Granted I do play solo Filia. Cheap Hairball hitconfirms forever >.< When they made the achievement telling you you've mastered the basics of a character, Filia's should have been 100 cancels into Hairball not 100 air dashes. Practically every normal she has cancels into it.

 

[Juste Goose]

I'm terrible at sewing and always mess up but I still enjoy it and my lopsided, badly stitched plushies.

Few things are cuter than poorly-made plushies.

OT: I think the only requirement to be considered a "gamer" is frequently gaming as a hobby. If you do something enough times, you'll develop some skill at it, no matter what it is. But even if you struggle through easy mode, as long as you get enjoyment from playing games in your spare time, you're a gamer in my book.

 

[Silverbeard]

So the consensus so far is that a fellow who persistently plays video games, competency notwithstanding, is a 'gamer'.
Seems fair, mates. Let me shift the discussion into one of economics: I think it fair to say that gaming is a rather expensive hobby. Not the most expensive, but costly nevertheless. For my part, I live alone and work a full-time job but day one purchases are still very often out of my reach. I need to save up for them months in advance or wait for sales periods. I do it because this is my hobby- but if it was not, I doubt that I would consider spending the money that I do on it.
Where does that leave the 'terrible at games' crowd? Do they accept the financial hit of buying expensive video games because they like something about it even if they proclaim a lack of competency in the field?
It just does not seem like the finances of reveling in a hobby that one is not 'good' at is a wise investment.

Among all my childhood friends I always was the worst at games, so I still feel like I'm terrible at games even though among my current friends I'm one of the best.

Children, in my own experience, tend to be much more competitive when it comes to multiplayer video games than adults. I fondly recall my own youth; sitting up late at night to devise strategies to use in the arcade to knock off the top name on the high score list. That seems to be rather lacking these days.

 

[Ruzinus]

I find myself really really curious about what the hell prompted this thread.

 

[Link_to_Future]

So I'm usually an average gamer. When I put my mind and soul into a game I can be pretty good at it (Left 4 Dead, raid healing in WoW, etc.) but in an average scenario I'm usually just passable. I'm terrible at multiplayer shooters and the majority of PvP settings. This is probably because I'm not huge on competition. I would rather cooperate and perform an essential function to a team than be stuck in a deathmatch or in a situation where my only value is how many other dudes I can kill.

That said, I know what I'm good at in gaming. If I can, I gravitate to those roles naturally. I'm not sure if I've ever actually met a person who claimed to be a gamer while also acknowledging that they are not any good at any game they play. That would be like proudly saying you were a surgeon who had a 0% survival rate. It would be a totally demoralizing experience and I don't know why anyone would keep going.

Unless they claim to be bad to catch potential opponents off guard. In that case, they are playing a game before the controller is even in hand...

 

[Elfgore]

I can't write a decent story to save my life, yet I have spend all of my free time, minus posting on here, writing a story no one will EVER read, but I still enjoy just writing. I'm the same with games. I suck at 99% of the games I play. The only games I ever had skill at are Halo 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Battlefield 3. I now suck at halo and cod, yet I still play a mean battlefield even though I haven't played in a couple months. But I still enjoy playing the Total War games, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, The Witcher, and many others. I always play on easy and just enjoy myself. That's the point of games. And yes, I would consider myself a gamer. Though I haven't played as much since I started watching Anime.

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

You don't have to be good or even passable at something to enjoy it. I mean, I sucked ass at writing when I first started but I loved exercising my creativity in that way, which resulted in me eventually honing my skills to the point where now I'd say I'm an above-average writer when I'm in the right frame of mind. Then there's my mother, who can barely use a controller but has still enjoyed running around in LittleBigPlanet with me. Yes, it can be immensely frustrating to suck at something (I'm an abysmal drawer and really wish I wasn't), but if you don't let it get to you, a lot of fun can still be had.

Though in a sense I do agree with you, because if you're a "gamer" as in you play a number of games fairly often, then you're eventually going to improve at what you're playing.

 

[TehCookie]

Among all my childhood friends I always was the worst at games, so I still feel like I'm terrible at games even though among my current friends I'm one of the best.

Children, in my own experience, tend to be much more competitive when it comes to multiplayer video games than adults. I fondly recall my own youth; sitting up late at night to devise strategies to use in the arcade to knock off the top name on the high score list. That seems to be rather lacking these days.

None of us are very competitive or play vs multiplayer a lot.

My cousin would often play through games for me to watch, and when I go to play them I'm nowhere near his level. He can beat Megaman II in like half an hour, I'm still unable to. Even in modern(ish) games he'd play through Metal Gear or Resident Evil 4 in a day. When I play RE4 I die. A lot.

The only competitive game we played was Mario Party, and all strategies were made on the fly not ahead of time.

 

[Gormech]

Been playing games for over 20 years now ... still don't have good reflexes. I always end up playing a tactician or stealth role. Normally I try to eliminate as much human error as I can from the equation.

For example instead of rushing in with a smg and trying to shoot them before they shoot me, I'll be the guy behind a corner listening for footsteps so I know when to start up the flamethrower.

 

[michael87cn]

It's impossible to be "terrible at games."

Human beings are sentient, and have the capability to learn, adapt, and improve themselves.

That said, there are so many different kinds of games, that there is something for everyone out there.

Twitchy marksman shooters, controlled with thumbsticks, are in my opinion, the most difficult to master. But luckily for me, there are games that pause themselves for dialogue choices, or deliberately take a long time to play like strategy games.

There are even games my mother can enjoy that don't punish mistakes and can be played while watching Ellen (facebook).

Also, humans are stubborn in that they seek to improve their weaknesses and faults, despite how difficult it can be.

 

[ThreeName]

Because some people enjoy things for what they are?

I don't know what else to say here.

 

[RevRaptor]

Doesn?t really matter how good a gamer they are all that matters is that they are having fun.

Games allow for a lot of different skill levels anyone can play and enjoy them. I think excluding someone simply because they lack skills is a pretty crappy thing to do.

 

[Gunner 51]

Wow, this thread is a bit snooty.
Just because someone may be less skilled than a seasoned gamer doesn't make them any less a gamer than self proclaimed pros. This is the 21st century now, almost everyone is a gamer and as Rev Raptor said "It doesn't really matter how good a gamer is, all that matters is that they are having fun."

I may suck bigtime on Black Ops 2, but that doesn't mean to say that I ought to have my copy taken away from me or that it makes me less of a person. Just because I like to play games with my chums and that I don't derive all that much pleasure from winning all the time doesn't make me less of a gamer.

C'mon OP, don't be so salty toward the less skilled. Without them, you don't have anyone to win over so you can crow about it.

 

[bobmd13]

I was crap at Battletoads, but everyone I knew was crap at it.

I can't play Assassins Creed 1 or 2 or Dead space 1 (DS2 is fixed after being EA was taken to court )

This is not about being bad,its about controls and the fact the copies I have refuse to allow reconfiguration of keys on the PC.

Now I must admit that's a great word.

I am also crap at close combat in BF3 but I can pick you off at over 500 ms.

But then I am an old fart and can quite happily fire 4 times in a game.

Remember patience is a virtue, and it also allows me to sight an area perfectly.

Ranging shots are great, it allows you to gauge the flight time in BF 3 and the positive add on a moving target .

Yes I can do a headshot at 500m+ on a moving target.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

In something like a racing game I can't imagine it being terribly fun, but its hard to be bad at something like GTA or Minecraft.
In FPS games I purposely play terrible half the time. Or at least in a way that is not exactly conducive to success. Nothing is more fun than getting a friend to stick you then trying to hug an enemy in Halo. You don't need to be good at the game to do it.

 

[FPLOON]

Let me shift the discussion into one of economics: I think it fair to say that gaming is a rather expensive hobby. Not the most expensive, but costly nevertheless. For my part, I live alone and work a full-time job but day one purchases are still very often out of my reach. I need to save up for them months in advance or wait for sales periods. I do it because this is my hobby- but if it was not, I doubt that I would consider spending the money that I do on it.
Where does that leave the 'terrible at games' crowd? Do they accept the financial hit of buying expensive video games because they like something about it even if they proclaim a lack of competency in the field?
It just does not seem like the finances of reveling in a hobby that one is not 'good' at is a wise investment.

*puts on his glasses because he has to*
Well, for starters, I'm technically unemployed (according to the government) who spends more than 80% of my funds either on anime/manga or on video games... How in the bloody hell am I not on the street with all my consoles in a shopping cart? *laugh track* Well, I consider myself a freelance Gardner who basically goes into my grandma's ghetto area, asking people if I could do their gardening once a month... There's a contract involved, so neither party can swindle each other... and the payoff is good enough to not [always] rely on Scholarships and/or Grants for anything non-school related, at least...

Secondly, according to my best friend, I'm not just a gamer but a "game junkie"... I buy/play more games than anyone else (in terms of console gaming) per year and the games I do play are more varied than a good chunk of my friends, anyway... (Still the only person of my friends who bought all of the US-released Hyperdimension Neptunia games...) It also doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist overall...

Anyway, for those that are "terrible at games" in general... I'm assuming they already know they're terrible, so literally almost wanting to buy games and just buying games anyways are not that related to each other... If they do do that, then they better have the financial backing... Other than that, it doesn't seem to be a major problem if this is just their hobby... (unless it's their job, but I digress...) Usually with hobbies, you know what you can and can't do from a financial standpoint (hopefully), so you work around that while still enjoying your hobbies... If you can't, then you need to work on that...

 

[mohit9206]

I am a hardcore gamer and i suck at fighting games and stealth games.In other genre i am decent but not great. i almost always play any game on the easiest or second easiest difficulty setting so that i dont get stuck somewhere.This is because i play games for story and i dont want the storytelling to suffer because of tough gameplay.