What do so few gay gamers play FPS games?

[Pearwood]

Eh I just have no interest in them. Too reaction focussed, games where you need to be giving your full attention constantly need an overall length of about 30-45 minutes not 5-10 hours. Too draining otherwise.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it seems those lads are far more into drama rather then action, which funnily enough accurately describes the few gay guys I know.

Now at this point I almost went into some correlations but that would just end up in all sorts of flaming.

 

[The Lunatic]

"Competitive" shooters, I'm not so fond of.

Borderlands and stuff is great though.

 

[Xdeser2]

Id chalk it up to the ammount you hear "gay" as an insult online these days.

Blame the kids and Teens (which make me ashamed to say im a 17 year old gamer) who think being gay is inherently a bad thing :/

(but this is just a straight guys POV so I may be completly off base)

 

[rob_simple]

I'm not gay, but I can see where you are coming from. It would be alright just to play with anyone with no regard to one's sexual orientation. It is however a sad state of affairs when the height of homophobia exists on shooters. I have never encountered people more judgmental and homophobic than say the typical CoD player. They throw around the word "******" more than anything to the point where it has lost any meaning.

I think it's inaccurate to describe those people as homophobic when, in fact, the majority of them are just immature. Most people who use the term '******,' for example, don't use it as a derogatory term against gay people, but merely as a derogatory term in general. This sort of thing starts in the schoolyard: I remember, growing up, the popular put down was 'spastic,' but it was never leveled against people who were actually, physically disabled --where that term had it's origins-- but merely used as an insult against anyone who had displeased the person saying it.

I'm not defending these idiots on CoD who act like that --not for a second-- but I think it's important we separate hate speech and bigotry from general stupidity.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Weird topic but whatever I need to vent a little.

So I'm a gay gamer (Refuse to use the term "gaymer" because it's fucking retarded), but I'm also a gay gamer who happens to love shooters of all shapes and kinds, from Call of Duty to Bioshock to Borderlands.

The problem is, I'm apparently am in a minority within a minority because as it turns out, not a lot of gay gamers play shooters. I found this out when I joined a gay gaming forum and asked if anybody there played Battlefield or Killzone and was met with whatever the written form of a judgmental stare is.

Turns out 99% of all gay gamers are really into RPG's in a big way, which is fine. I like RPG's too. Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Skyrim, Dragons Dogma, etc. But most of them are into Bioware's games or MMO's or JRPG's. I can't really get into those games like they do so I'm forced to just sort of sit on the sidelines while they have epic conversations about some sidequest in Mass Effect.

I know people like but what they like but when I say it's extremely rare to find another gay dude who likes shooters I really mean it. I know I could probably just continue playing with other random straight dudes and I'm sure you're thinking "What does it matter?" and you mostly have a point but it is nice to occasionally play with someone like you where you don't have to tiptoe around and watch what you say, etc.

But from what I've heard from the kids on Xbox live, around 90% of the CoD userbase is gay.

 

[Lilani]

-snip-

I have played both MMOs and FPSs, and I've got to say, MMO communities are MUCH more receptive to non-white/male/heterosexual individuals than FPS communities are. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there are more gay people who play FPS's than you think, and that they just hide it to avoid stirring up a shitstorm everywhere they go and getting harassed all the time. I know as a female I usually have a much more peaceable gaming session if I just keep my mouth shut (though now I've gotten to the point where I just don't care and talk anyway).

 

[corneth]

I mostly lurk on these threads but I wanted to say that as a Gay male aficionado of video games, personally the only FPS I really like is TF2 (and some people say that doesn't count) mainly because 95% of online players of battlefield or COD seem to be complete idiots. I don't know a lot of gay guys who play FPSes, but I think that has more to do with the company I keep than their sexualities.

On a related note, I think that the kind of people who are attracted to "Gay Gamer" forums are a pretty niche Homogenous group of people anyway.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm not gay but a friend of mine is, but weirdly enough his favorite game (and I'm not making this up) is...Bayoneta...no idea how that works.

 

[Myndnix]

I have to say, I've kind of noticed this myself. I have a few gay friends, and none of them really play FPS games. They're mostly just big RPG players.
I think it's just a coincidence though.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm not gay but a friend of mine is, but weirdly enough his favorite game (and I'm not making this up) is...Bayoneta...no idea how that works.

No idea how you find that weird.

Maybe weird is the wrong word, ironic would be better.

 

[CMDDarkblade]

^Could be something to do with this. It may be that the gay community is playing into cultural bias.
"FPS players are homophobic>
therefore gay gamers should prefer other genres>
therefore I never took the chance to get into the FPS genre, I decided to play RPGs instead>
therefore that's what I'm into."

Yeah, that's probably exactly what happens. I imagine of lot of gay folks play one game of CoD and swear the entire genre off after getting called '******' once.

I think a lot of gay guys consider FPS games a "straight" genre, if that makes any sense.

Yeah, I don't understand this either. I'm gay and I pretty much like every genre from FPS to RTS to JRPG. I play whatever game I'm in the mood for at the time and when I'm done with it I move on to the next one. I mean it's not like I care if some guy calls me a "******" on multiplayer because I just blew his head off. It's his fault for sucking so much at the game and in RL.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

RPG snobs dominate every sort of gaming forum. No idea why but they flock to them and crowd out every other voice like bagpipes. I think if you played games with named dedicated server you would be able to find gay friendly servers.

 

[SilkySkyKitten]

Well, I'm technically gay and I absolutely love FPS games, them being my favorite genre next to racing games. Plus, a good chunk of my gay friends play a lot of games like Left 4 Dead, Killing Floor, and Counter Strike. Hell, even my boyfriend and I have played through Serious Sam: TFE's and TSE's co-op together, and he plays a few other first person shooters outside of those games too.

Granted, few of my friends play CoD like I do (which is where most of the stereotypical homophobes supposedly reside), but otherwise my experience shows the opposite of the claim that "Gay gamers dislike FPS games".

Heh, wish I had friends like yours.

Well, what's your Steam name? I'd be happy to let ya' join in if you're looking for fellow homosexual FPS gamers.

[small]... okay, I'll admit. Not all of my buddies are truly gay. Most of them are Bi, but they all seem to like guys a lot more than women so I'd say it counts.[/small]

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

Possibly missed a similar suggestion earlier but stick to obscure fpses. The ones you mentioned, Battlefield and Killzone are the quote "dudebro frat games." They attract those types who enjoy being dicks as well as playing the game, most of the mature and reasonable players of those games have private chat with their friends or stay silent and mute others.

If you have a decent enough pc check MMO Hut for online fps games since a lot are in a similar style to the ones you mentioned but due to their obscurity attract the more pleasant crowd. And can at most match and at best surpass the more popular ones. Just be careful of monetization and read reviews other wise the cost for a good community may be weakness because you are playing free. Read reviews and reactions first.

 

[rbstewart7263]

eh fuck the the tip toeing and say what you like. I like dicks / pussys and Battlefield is fucking amazing! Im am a littel curious why you need two qualifiers.

Id imagine all of the anonymous your a fag/*****/****** comments probably steer people away.

On the other hand I dont really even here that much chatter when playing black ops or battlefield 3 so I wonder if its just my own limited experience or the "filth" that is multiplayer shooter players and there hate for all things whole and good is just a mole hill made into a mountain??

 

[Denamic]

I suppose it's because most online FPS communities tend to be... vitriolic.
As if they were trying to be as much of an asshole as possible.
Perhaps they just don't want to make themselves a target to said assholes.

 

[piinyouri]

I play FPS's, I'm gay.
My orientation, sexual, gender or otherwise, doesn't really have an influence on my personal likes and hobbies.