As it says in the title, what are some of the negative assumptions or misconceptions about video games or gaming made by non gamers or anti gaming people that really grind your gears?
What negative assumptions or misconceptions about gaming and gamers really grind your gears?
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Games are for kids/teens.
Games are a waste of time.
Games are bad for you/turn your brain to mush.
Heard all three from various friends and family.
"Why don't you use your brain for something better?" someone who has Fox News on 24/7 once asked me.
Some of wife's family also looks down on them as a kid's hobby, something to eventually grow out of, but then they watch the Bachelor, and I fail to find any redemptive qualities in programming like that.
When I first met my wife's dad, he looked down on games, but I think I've since turned him around. He was in the brain-to-mush camp, and tried to make the case that him watching something on the history channel was better for his brain than me playing games. I then explained passive vs interactive entertainment, and how engaging with what is happening on screen actually requires your brain to function, whereas tv does not. I got him to play GTA V last year when it came out, and he actually had a lot of fun with it.
Games are a waste of time.
Games are bad for you/turn your brain to mush.
Heard all three from various friends and family.
"Why don't you use your brain for something better?" someone who has Fox News on 24/7 once asked me.
Some of wife's family also looks down on them as a kid's hobby, something to eventually grow out of, but then they watch the Bachelor, and I fail to find any redemptive qualities in programming like that.
When I first met my wife's dad, he looked down on games, but I think I've since turned him around. He was in the brain-to-mush camp, and tried to make the case that him watching something on the history channel was better for his brain than me playing games. I then explained passive vs interactive entertainment, and how engaging with what is happening on screen actually requires your brain to function, whereas tv does not. I got him to play GTA V last year when it came out, and he actually had a lot of fun with it.
You know what I find the most troubling misconception? People thinking that there's 100% nothing wrong with our hobby. It's even worst when we plug our ears, pretend it doesn't exist and hope it goes away.
There's always something wrong and its how we focus on doing something better.
There's always something wrong and its how we focus on doing something better.
For a long time my dad would chide me for wasting my time playing games. He saw it as literally doing nothing.
To his credit, I could see where he was coming from. He's a guy that grew up on a farm, where work was pretty much 80% of daily life. What free time he did manage to scrape together, he used it to tinker with cars and small engines. See, from his perspective his hobby was much more productive, and actually could produce tangible (and sometimes profitable) results. He's not wrong, either. Now that he's in retirement, his hobby puts extra money in his pocket, as he works on the vehicles of friends and neighbours. When he sees me sitting in front of a TV or my computer, spending hours doing the same thing, with nothing to show for it but time down the drain, it's not hard for him to conclude videogames are a waste of my time and effort.
My dad couldn't understand videogames' myriad of positive aspects, because he never played them, and never will. They don't interest him, and as much as, over the years, he has come to have a basic outsider's understanding of the medium based on what I could explain to him, he still sees them as nothing more than frivolous entertainment. He doesn't see anything WRONG with enjoying frivolous entertainment, but he sees it as something to do when you've done every other productive thing with your time, and are left with some left over.
His dismissive attitude used to stick in my craw when I was younger, but as I got older and came to understand him better, and he began to understand videogames better, my ire lessened. However; he is not the only one who holds this viewpoint, and I've met plenty of other people in my life who hold a much more extreme versions of it.
To his credit, I could see where he was coming from. He's a guy that grew up on a farm, where work was pretty much 80% of daily life. What free time he did manage to scrape together, he used it to tinker with cars and small engines. See, from his perspective his hobby was much more productive, and actually could produce tangible (and sometimes profitable) results. He's not wrong, either. Now that he's in retirement, his hobby puts extra money in his pocket, as he works on the vehicles of friends and neighbours. When he sees me sitting in front of a TV or my computer, spending hours doing the same thing, with nothing to show for it but time down the drain, it's not hard for him to conclude videogames are a waste of my time and effort.
My dad couldn't understand videogames' myriad of positive aspects, because he never played them, and never will. They don't interest him, and as much as, over the years, he has come to have a basic outsider's understanding of the medium based on what I could explain to him, he still sees them as nothing more than frivolous entertainment. He doesn't see anything WRONG with enjoying frivolous entertainment, but he sees it as something to do when you've done every other productive thing with your time, and are left with some left over.
His dismissive attitude used to stick in my craw when I was younger, but as I got older and came to understand him better, and he began to understand videogames better, my ire lessened. However; he is not the only one who holds this viewpoint, and I've met plenty of other people in my life who hold a much more extreme versions of it.
In his defense, this was about 10 years or so ago, when they still had some history stuff.MarsAtlas said:From outsiders, its that its desensitized us to violence. This usually comes from people who wouldn't give a rat's ass if their neighbor needed help getting groceries out of the car or if they were bleeding on their front porch, so knowing that, it doesn't bother me as much, but sometimes it comes from people who just know better than to say things like that.
From insiders, its that GTA is a good franchise. I mean, seriously guys?
Jamming a screwdriver in your nostril is better for your brain than watching thequantumsaint said:ParanoiaHistory Channel.
All misconceptions grind my gears, but the major one with me is saying that "games cause violent behavior."
Obviously, few people here are going to disagree with me, but it still remains one of the go-to narratives in lazy journalism and irresponsible politics. Since gaming became a major industry in the mid-80s, violent crime and murder have decreased roughly 40% in the US alone. But fact is not an issue when someone is trying to construct a political narrative.
After the horrifying Oslo terror attacks, the perpetrator called Call of Duty his "simulator." Causing games to take the blame while obscuring the real, serious issues surrounding the remnants of European Fascism and Racism, historical cultural identity, backlash against Scandinavia's rapid leftward political swing, mental health issues, etc.
Really, it is not even in defense of gaming that I object, rather that every time someone blames games, a real-world issue is silenced, and these tragedies can repeat themselves.
Obviously, few people here are going to disagree with me, but it still remains one of the go-to narratives in lazy journalism and irresponsible politics. Since gaming became a major industry in the mid-80s, violent crime and murder have decreased roughly 40% in the US alone. But fact is not an issue when someone is trying to construct a political narrative.
After the horrifying Oslo terror attacks, the perpetrator called Call of Duty his "simulator." Causing games to take the blame while obscuring the real, serious issues surrounding the remnants of European Fascism and Racism, historical cultural identity, backlash against Scandinavia's rapid leftward political swing, mental health issues, etc.
Really, it is not even in defense of gaming that I object, rather that every time someone blames games, a real-world issue is silenced, and these tragedies can repeat themselves.
Back when I lived with my mum she'd blame anything that was wrong with me for me playing too much games.
Mostly my horrible posture.
(She was probably right...)
But ever since I moved on my own ten years ago, I have had no reason to care what anyone thinks about my gaming habits.
Really, the most annoying things I've gotten are from other people who play a lot of videogames. Mostly that games with no gore and sex are for kids (I was bullied over that in elementary school.)
Mostly my horrible posture.
(She was probably right...)
But ever since I moved on my own ten years ago, I have had no reason to care what anyone thinks about my gaming habits.
Really, the most annoying things I've gotten are from other people who play a lot of videogames. Mostly that games with no gore and sex are for kids (I was bullied over that in elementary school.)
Random Argument Man said:
OT:
Mostly the one where our hobby will apparently plummet our lives into nothing, living in our parent's basements with neckbeards.
First off: What's wrong with neckbeards?! Those bad boys keep me warm in the winter.
Second: There's a reason hobbies ruin people, it's never supposed to be the main priority in your life, there has to be balance. My cousin who was and still is an avid gamer: went to college, graduated, got engaged, got a job that pays way higher than minimum wage, and still had time to play video games in between all the hard work he had to do to get there... current status: still playing.
Same applies for me: I'm half way done getting my AA for animation, i'm taking courses in business to go somewhere beyond my talents and into original content creation, I have a girlfriend who loves me for my passion, I have plans to own a house with a group of my best friends, and I recently managed to pay off massive car bills on top of buying a WiiU, and am still doing well financially cause I have a decent job BECAUSE of the work I did to get references, prerequisites, portfolio builders, ect, ON TOP of still being able to pull off SSS combos in DMC4 .
Set your priorities straight on top of any hobby, and you'll probably have a good time.
Really? None. People generalising gamers bothered me when I was 12. Less so when I was 18. Then came the advent of online gaming and I kind of got where a lot of these "minsconceptions" were coming from, because there's quite frankly often a grain of truth. Or worse. For all the histrionics I hear from gamers about how people think all gamers are X, that is rarely what people said. Being a geek seems to foster a certain sort of hypersensitivity, even if only to things that affect one's self.
...Then again, a lot of my posture habits come from nearing the two meter mark and having to stoop to do almost anything. Seriously, if I stand to full height my bathroom mirror stops somewhere mid-chest and I can't reach the sink.
Though RAM does make a good case.Random Argument Man said:
What about your posture habits? As someone with back problems, I can tell you they're no small thing!Lieju said:
...Then again, a lot of my posture habits come from nearing the two meter mark and having to stoop to do almost anything. Seriously, if I stand to full height my bathroom mirror stops somewhere mid-chest and I can't reach the sink.
"Gamers are misogynists."
I like women. I occasionally like seeing attractive women. Is there anything wrong with that? No.
I guess that implies that characters in games can be portrayed as "sexy." But what about the way women are portrayed, or objectification?
Inclusivity is profitable by design, so not every game is going to be like Dead or Alive or a chain mail bikini adventure, but is it a problem for those types of games to exist? Between anti-discrimination and sexual harassment laws, and the fact that this 23-cent "wage gap" is an oft-debunked myth, I don't see any of it spilling over into real life or any harm being caused. There are places in the world where women are bought and sold as legal sex slaves and executed for the crime of having been raped. If you want to protect women's - no - human rights, join the military and go drop a bomb on ISIS.
I like women. I occasionally like seeing attractive women. Is there anything wrong with that? No.
I guess that implies that characters in games can be portrayed as "sexy." But what about the way women are portrayed, or objectification?
Inclusivity is profitable by design, so not every game is going to be like Dead or Alive or a chain mail bikini adventure, but is it a problem for those types of games to exist? Between anti-discrimination and sexual harassment laws, and the fact that this 23-cent "wage gap" is an oft-debunked myth, I don't see any of it spilling over into real life or any harm being caused. There are places in the world where women are bought and sold as legal sex slaves and executed for the crime of having been raped. If you want to protect women's - no - human rights, join the military and go drop a bomb on ISIS.
Basically everything that is claimed to be linked to gamers. Gamers are just people with gaming as a hobby, nothing more nothing less. Each gamer is an individual person.
Gamers aren't really anything. People are gamers. Gamers are...well gamers. Logic people. All dogs are mammals but not all mammals are dogs.
Instead of saying "gamers are ______." You might as well be saying "humans are ______." If you are going to be casting that wide of a net...might find Bigfoot in there as well. ....there I finally broke my silence, gamers are Bigfoot. Not going to let the Sasquatchanists try and silence or harass me any more with their Sasquatchism.
#Gamersarebigfoot
Gamers aren't really anything. People are gamers. Gamers are...well gamers. Logic people. All dogs are mammals but not all mammals are dogs.
Instead of saying "gamers are ______." You might as well be saying "humans are ______." If you are going to be casting that wide of a net...might find Bigfoot in there as well. ....there I finally broke my silence, gamers are Bigfoot. Not going to let the Sasquatchanists try and silence or harass me any more with their Sasquatchism.
#Gamersarebigfoot
The idea that stuff you do in games does not have a real life purpose.
Portal and Q.U.B.E. taught me how to think and solve problems 3-dimensionally
Dark Souls and stealth games taught me patience
racing and Sonic games honed my reaction reflexes
space ship shooter games taught me trial and error
People say that games don't teach you, but there the ones that sit in front of a TV and watch absolute garbage while i'm learning about inertia in Portal.
Portal and Q.U.B.E. taught me how to think and solve problems 3-dimensionally
Dark Souls and stealth games taught me patience
racing and Sonic games honed my reaction reflexes
space ship shooter games taught me trial and error
People say that games don't teach you, but there the ones that sit in front of a TV and watch absolute garbage while i'm learning about inertia in Portal.
You you mean your attractive nature, or the looks you give while dashing widows and orphans on rocks? >.>Lieju said:
That we are all misogynists and virgins and hate women.
And that if you disagree with Anita Sarkeesian you are automatically a condoner of rape and hater of women.
And that if you disagree with Anita Sarkeesian you are automatically a condoner of rape and hater of women.
This might surprise you but very few people actually care about your finely-tuned and practised rock-bashing technique.Zachary Amaranth said:
They'll get the torches and pitchforks out no matter how handsome you looked doing it.
OT: Actually, lately the assumption that gamergate = gamers has actually annoyed me.
It may not be an popular assumption, but several times now I've encountered people who think that because I own one brand of console, I must just absolutely HATE people who own a different kind. Basically the assumption that most gamers are fierce brand loyalists ready to lay down their lives in defense of their chosen console bugs me.