• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

"Gamers" are a strange group of people.

reinking

Gold Member
In any other Hobby there is a kinda of a rule that you want to know every aspect of that hobby, I'll make an example.

If someone love running with cars or love cars in general 9 times out of 10 they know how the engine works, wich breaks are better and most of the time they know every single aspect of the "racing" anvironment. Same could be said for example for Chees players, a real hobbist in chees know the name of the champions, knows the movsets and all the stuff that ... I don't know cause I don't play it...

This "rule" can be applied almost to everything, but not on videogames.

In our Hobby most of the people is just ok with playing it, they don't care for what mouse you use, the response time, how graphics technology works, they just play.

I mean there are ppl that play games at the easy level!?!?!? When I'll have to do it I'll just stop playing :)

And this pisses me off :D

My PC is a state of the art machine, I love my hobby, I love the games, I love the tech, I love the hardware. I saved money to buy the best mouse around, the best keyboard, the best Videocard and everything else, I keep it clean and don't install any bloataware of any type.

Gaming is my hobby and I want to know everything about it, it is not even an expensive one compared to other stuff (cars or coins for example).

Why do you think is so hard to find someone so "into" in this hobby?
Where have you been living?

I used to race cars when I was younger. You would not believe how many people were "into racing" and didn't know how to change a spark plug. These were typically the people that drove Z28s and Tans Ams. LOL. I used to love those guys and my Charger feasted on their lunch money. Sure, there were plenty of us that were really into cars but not everyone that raced was and it definitely wasn't 9 out of 10.

My point is, there are those that are into things and they dive deeper into a hobby and there are those that do not want to get into the nuts and bolts of it and just enjoy the ride. I do not feel like I should have to learn to code to play a game. What you are describing is not a hobbyist. What you are describing is an elitist.
 

01011001

Banned
The difference is the hobby part of this hobby came way later and it's not even 40% necessary to understand how things work. With cars, models, crafts, etc. there is an aspect of learning built right in and is required to participate. Video games don't really have that bar for entry. It's a consumer product with no real expiration date, to be enjoyed and discarded in favor or acquiring the next thing. Sure, you're going to find people who are all into the minutia and making/building their own stuff, but that's not going to apply to the majority in this case.

is someone driving and owning a car or even multiple cars a car enthusiast?
nope

so why is someone who owns and plays a couple of games a "gamer" which basically is the video game equivalent of a Film/Car/Model Train/etc. enthusiast?

is anyone who watches a handful of movies a year a movie crack? nope, I wouldn't say so.

the real issue is that the word gamer is basically meaningless is it incorporates someone who plays videogames... because almost everyone in the world that is younger than 50 plays video games from time to time.

and why have that word in the first place when it simply means "basically everyone under 50yo"

and before anyone comes and draws the "gatekeeping" card, it's not gatekeeping... it's a question of terminology not a question of who can and can't play video games or is allowed to. it's simply about the fact that the term gamer now reaches from people who literally code their own mods or small games, to people who have to look at their controller whenever a button prompt is on screen. and that's just useless tbh.

playing videogames is now basically normal, it's not something only a small group does... it's like listening to music, watching movies or reading books.
and you don't see people go around calling themselves "movie-er" (just an example term which I know sounds dumb)
it's just weird, that's all...
 

thief183

Member
ok I won't drag it out. I understand it was a one off joke.
I just think that it's not a player problem how he played the game as long as it was enjoyable. Developers who give option for difficulty levels usually clearly label their recommended as "normal" and so on.
If players goes on easy or explorer mode. They should understand it might be easier than developer intended but it's there if you want to maybe experience a story or graphics.
For example, Soma has this "safe monsters" mode which I absolutely love since the scare comes from atmosphere of existential dread and not monster chases. So now I can enjoy it without being annoyed.
But FEAR I play on highest difficulty without crosshair because I feel more immersed and AI is so good on harder difficulty

With this post yuo did exactly what I love, you named 2 of the best games ever made and gave me a reason why you played in a way or another, that means you got deeper than "it is an FPS".
 

thief183

Member
Nothing more annoying than people trying to be gatekeepers.

Why gatekeeping? I'm not gatekeeping (I had to go and loock for the term :p) I've never said who is allowed to play or who isn't, I just asked why there are those differences
 

Fbh

Member
Games are a very wide medium.
I don't think it's really fair comparing them to chess which is just one game. Do you also expect chess hobbists to be experts about everything related to board games in general?
Same with say, reading. I have friends who love to read but they couldn't tell me who are the current top fantasy writers and books because it's just not a genre that interests them.

Once you narrow it down to a specific game I think you can find plenty of enthusiasts that have pretty good knowledge about the game that they really like, the mechanics behind it, the people involved behind the scenes, the top players (if it is a competitive game), etc.
 
Last edited:

thief183

Member
Where have you been living?

I used to race cars when I was younger. You would not believe how many people were "into racing" and didn't know how to change a spark plug. These were typically the people that drove Z28s and Tans Ams. LOL. I used to love those guys and my Charger feasted on their lunch money. Sure, there were plenty of us that were really into cars but not everyone that raced was and it definitely wasn't 9 out of 10.

My point is, there are those that are into things and they dive deeper into a hobby and there are those that do not want to get into the nuts and bolts of it and just enjoy the ride. I do not feel like I should have to learn to code to play a game. What you are describing is not a hobbyist. What you are describing is an elitist.

I've never been too much into racing, I just did a couple of rally sprint with a friend as a navigator and everyone I met were fking experts in every single thing^^
 

JSoup

Banned
is someone driving and owning a car or even multiple cars a car enthusiast?
nope

so why is someone who owns and plays a couple of games a "gamer" which basically is the video game equivalent of a Film/Car/Model Train/etc. enthusiast?

is anyone who watches a handful of movies a year a movie crack? nope, I wouldn't say so.

the real issue is that the word gamer is basically meaningless is it incorporates someone who plays videogames... because almost everyone in the world that is younger than 50 plays video games from time to time.

and why have that word in the first place when it simply means "basically everyone under 50yo"

and before anyone comes and draws the "gatekeeping" card, it's not gatekeeping... it's a question of terminology not a question of who can and can't play video games or is allowed to. it's simply about the fact that the term gamer now reaches from people who literally code their own mods or small games, to people who have to look at their controller whenever a button prompt is on screen. and that's just useless tbh.

playing videogames is now basically normal, it's not something only a small group does... it's like listening to music, watching movies or reading books.
and you don't see people go around calling themselves "movie-er" (just an example term which I know sounds dumb)
it's just weird, that's all...

I can't tell if you're agreeing with me or misread my post as an endorsement of the elitisms.
Perhaps I should have included the word "hobby" more.
 

reinking

Gold Member
I've never been too much into racing, I just did a couple of rally sprint with a friend as a navigator and everyone I met were fking experts in every single thing^^
Yes. You met enthusiast that are really into the sport. You just admitted that you were not much into it but you participated. That is what other hobbyist are doing with gaming. You are giving other hobbies too much credit and making it seem like almost everyone who participates in them are enthusiasts. The one thing gaming does have over some hobbies is that it is much more accessible. Not everyone is willing to risk their life to drive a quarter mile in les than 15 seconds but almost everyone these days has access to a game even if it is on their phone. Maybe that is what you are observing?
 
There's different levels of commitment and depth to any hobby. Plenty of people like playing guitar, but not all of them know what a telecaster or les paul is. They might not know much about amps, or pickups, or effect pedals. There's many different ways to enjoy a hobby, and being ultra-hardcore about every single aspect is not required, nor is it necessarily better. There's a certain beauty in simplicity.
 

kungfuian

Member
Don't agree with this take op.

Love movies and shows but couldn't act in or write/direct one to save my life and don't really know shit about that industry. Love music but don't know the first thing about singing, performing, composing. Love games but don't know a damned thing when it comes to the ins and outs of how they are actually made (very complicated process).

The only way to truly know about any of these types of things is to actively participate/work in the industry; and for a long time. And even then you would likely only have a limited knowledge in a very specific role.

Being ignorant of how the industry works isn't in it's self a problem imo. It's fun to dig a little deeper into any hobby for sure, which I'm guessing is why we are all here, but it's also ok to just enjoy and participate in 'hobbies' without becoming an expert or truly knowing how they work. In fact in some ways ignorance further enhances the illusion factor when consuming media. Don't want to know how the secret soup is made, just want to eat it.
 
What you say is probably more the case for console gamers, but with PC most gamers are actually quite knowledgeable and it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t built at least part of their Pc unlike all consoles which are basically boutique PCs that come prebuilt, require no knowledge about computing.
PC gamers mostly play the likes of Fortnite or Minecraft on weak hardware - hardly requires PC hardware knowledge for those.
 

Faithless83

Banned
In any other Hobby there is a kinda of a rule that you want to know every aspect of that hobby, I'll make an example.

If someone love running with cars or love cars in general 9 times out of 10 they know how the engine works, wich breaks are better and most of the time they know every single aspect of the "racing" anvironment. Same could be said for example for Chees players, a real hobbist in chees know the name of the champions, knows the movsets and all the stuff that ... I don't know cause I don't play it...

This "rule" can be applied almost to everything, but not on videogames.

In our Hobby most of the people is just ok with playing it, they don't care for what mouse you use, the response time, how graphics technology works, they just play.

I mean there are ppl that play games at the easy level!?!?!? When I'll have to do it I'll just stop playing :)

And this pisses me off :D

My PC is a state of the art machine, I love my hobby, I love the games, I love the tech, I love the hardware. I saved money to buy the best mouse around, the best keyboard, the best Videocard and everything else, I keep it clean and don't install any bloataware of any type.

Gaming is my hobby and I want to know everything about it, it is not even an expensive one compared to other stuff (cars or coins for example).

Why do you think is so hard to find someone so "into" in this hobby?
Do you own a console too?
If not, you fail on the same category as not caring enough about games.
You do care about hardware though.
Does that make you any better than people who buy the latest iphone to play a game?

Some people play for fun. Even people who enjoy racing are not on a track every weekend.

There are levels to it, even though I'm on a hardcore level (I'm a collector with several consoles), I gave up on upgrading my PC as it's too expensive and not worth it IMO.
 

kiphalfton

Member
The term "Gamers" has a bad reputation associated with it. Pretty much always had. However, it has evolved over time from one negative stereotype to the next.

Edit:
Just read some of the stuff you mentioned OP, and it pretty much reinforces my beliefs. And this is why some people don't like being labeled as a gamer. It's a hobby, chill out. Don't have to be 100% invested. It's a hobby after all.
 
Last edited:

thief183

Member
Do you own a console too?
If not, you fail on the same category as not caring enough about games.
You do care about hardware though.
Does that make you any better than people who buy the latest iphone to play a game?

Some people play for fun. Even people who enjoy racing are not on a track every weekend.
There are levels to it, even though I'm on a hardcore level (I'm a collector with several consoles), I gave up on upgrading my PC as it's too expensive and not worth it IMO.

I own every current/last gen console except a series S
 

Justin9mm

Member
Majority of gamers are just casuals.

They think they know everything but don't. Every one of these people also think they are a professional critic on everything. What astounds me is some of these so called gamers form opinions and spread negativity about games they haven't even played! And I'm sorry to say but this applies to a lot of GAF members.
 
J

JeremyEtcetera

Unconfirmed Member
There are super snobs in every hobby, and if you haven't found them yet in your other hobbies outside of gaming, then you should feel thankful. Car snobs definitely exist and they will for sure look down on you depending on what you drive and how you drive it.

Super fandom, gate keeping, and general snobbery isn't exclusive to video games and you only see it more here because you're this deep into the hobby.
 

Animagic

Banned
I will say back when Quake 3 Arena was new, specs on your rig were critical because it could mean all the difference between winning matches or not.
Today, many popular games have perks and boosts and aim assist. It’s like PC Elitists just want to measure the length of their hardware and brag about it or have 6 monitors with LEDs glowing inside or something vs needing the best setup to play well.
 
Last edited:

Zeroing

Banned
could it be because being a “gamer” was viewed as a bad thing and people starting using the word as a badge of honor and fast forward it’s regarded in a more positive thing? Like what happened with “nerd”.

owning a lot of cars wouldn’t made you a car enthusiast, it would make you a collector! Reading and knowing about cars would make you a car enthusiast…

so, owning all consoles would make you a collector? Like having all the physical games and displaying them? Knowing about hardware and software would make you a gaming enthusiast… ???

I dunno I’m confused 😕
 

Skifi28

Member
I saved money to buy the best mouse around, the best keyboard, the best Videocard and everything else
This is the part I will never understand. Paying so much to get so little in return, why? Good for you and all, but being a hobbyist and buying the most expensive of everything feels weird. It's the people that don't understand how a hobby works that usually do that.
 
Last edited:

thief183

Member
This is the part I will never understand. Paying so much to get so little in return, why? Good for you and all, but being a hobbyist and buying the most expensive of everything feels weird. It's the people that don't understand how a hobby works that usually do that.

So in what do you use your money? A car? an house? Rent?
 

Skifi28

Member
So in what do you use your money? A car? an house? Rent?
I don't know, what does anyone use their money for? I just try to use it reasonably, without overspending for stuff that isn't needed (and makes little difference) whether I can afford it or not. I certainly don't like my hobby to have more logos/brands and lights than a racing cars like many streamers I've seen with their fancy and expensive PC cases/chairs/mice etc.
 
Last edited:

thief183

Member
I don't know, what does anyone use their money for? I just try to use it reasonably, without overspending for stuff that isn't needed (and makes little difference) whether I can afford it or not. I certainly don't like my hobby to have more logos/brands and lights than a racing cars like many streamers I've seen with their fancy and expensive PC cases/chairs/mice etc.
I don't have kids, I already bought my house, I despise cars and can't understand ppl that spend more than 5k to buy them, I got 2 jobs and a steady income, thye money I save from the cart I spend on my hardware.

I also think that money should be spent on what makes you happy, not what others think is right.
 

rolandss

Member
“Gaming” is a hobby for some and a pastime for others. A hobbyist to me is, as you say, someone who really gets to know the ins, outs and technical details of their chosen endeavour, it’s more than just something you do regularly do to tune out.

For most, including myself, gaming is just a casual pastime and no more a hobby than watching a movie or listening to music. It’s entertainment and there’s nothing wrong with that. I spend a lot more time on my actual hobby than playing video games.
 

thief183

Member
“Gaming” is a hobby for some and a pastime for others. A hobbyist to me is, as you say, someone who really gets to know the ins, outs and technical details of their chosen endeavour, it’s more than just something you do regularly do to tune out.

For most, including myself, gaming is just a casual pastime and no more a hobby than watching a movie or listening to music. It’s entertainment and there’s nothing wrong with that. I spend a lot more time on my actual hobby than playing video games.

Ok this (like other ppl said) is a nice explanation and I totally agree with it.
 

Hugare

Member
You think any hobby is different? Think again

Your examples couldnt be more wrong.

Chess got popular recently due to Youtube/Twitch and GMs like Nakamura being more present online.

Many people that watch about chess dont know shit about the especifics and are casuals

Same with cars: do you think that many of the people in "car forums" know that much about cars?

Do you think that most people that watch movies as a hobby knows about every aspect of movie making?

Most people arent hardcore in their hobbies. And thats fine.

Your post reads almost like satire or something
 

kiphalfton

Member
You think any hobby is different? Think again

Your examples couldnt be more wrong.

Chess got popular recently due to Youtube/Twitch and GMs like Nakamura being more present online.

Many people that watch about chess dont know shit about the especifics and are casuals

Same with cars: do you think that many of the people in "car forums" know that much about cars?

Do you think that most people that watch movies as a hobby knows about every aspect of movie making?

Most people arent hardcore in their hobbies. And thats fine.

Your post reads almost like satire or something

You can spend years learning about any given thing, and still not even scratch the surface. And even then, if it's something like video games, technology, etc. it will keep advancing forward while you're learning about it. It's one giant rabbit hole.

I think OP might be confusing a hobbyist with a subject matter expert. Two very different things, and although a subject matter expert may also be a hobbyist, a hobbyist very likely isn't a subject matter expert.
 

Spidey Fan

Banned
I think people don't really appreciate what they have, until they lose it. this applies to gamers. my first gaming was when i was a kid in Egypt. my family were on asylum refugee from home country to USA. during that stay, i never owned a console. we had kids visit our family. they had ps3, and were playing infamous. I was jealous, since i couldn't get one. we come to America in 2013. after 3 months, I found a OG Xbox from a thrift store. that was my first gaming console. played and had fun. 2 years later, we got a pc. I downloaded cracked splinter cell conviction, and had a blast. it wasn't until I got in to a college that i learned there was steam where you can buy games. I bought Skyrim. went to mmo on that laptop. my most played was Teso. I went a little bit too far, by playing it, while i was looking my sister in the hospital. that was the time my laptop and console gaming habit died.

I started playing mobile games again, but little bit. started watching YouTube video's, interact with people more. I only started playing pc games last year on my laptop. managed to buy x1s. 3 months later, I got gaming pc. 3 months later, my little brother gave me his Ps4 (I bought it for him in 2018. but out of respect, I didn't touch it). Still, I don't play games that much. at most I can do is 2 hour a day. nothing more than that. I am just appreciating it now, because, I almost lost the feeling I had playing games when I was a kid.

I am not keen on buying new gen consoles now, because I am still not fully in to gaming mode. Until I start opening myself in to gaming, its a no for me. I just want to have fun. but not too much fun gaming.
 

BigBooper

Member

I kid, I kid...kinda...maybe.

There's much less to learn about how an engine works or which chess strategies to use than everything about every game you play.

It's great that you're interested and excited about something this much, but I'd wager most people here don't think of games as a hobby, but as entertainment instead.
 
Last edited:

laynelane

Member
I think people just have different interests. There are those that can tell you every minute detail about the history, lore, and characters of long-standing franchises or one game, the history and achievements/failures of favourite and disliked developers and publishers, etc. Then there are others, like you, who focus on and enjoy the tech aspect. There are also those that have interest in multiple subjects or all of the above. Such differences are inevitable in a hobby which attracts such a divergent group of people.
 

Mr Branding

Member
Yes!!!! I got a family a work too, not kids tho, and I will never play on easy :p
Well, kids make a crucial difference.
I used to think like you, but I grew out of this phase. Finished my fair share of difficult games (NG, DS, etc) before realising it doesn’t really matter that much.
 
In any other Hobby there is a kinda of a rule that you want to know every aspect of that hobby, I'll make an example.

If someone love running with cars or love cars in general 9 times out of 10 they know how the engine works, wich breaks are better and most of the time they know every single aspect of the "racing" anvironment. Same could be said for example for Chees players, a real hobbist in chees know the name of the champions, knows the movsets and all the stuff that ... I don't know cause I don't play it...

This "rule" can be applied almost to everything, but not on videogames.

In our Hobby most of the people is just ok with playing it, they don't care for what mouse you use, the response time, how graphics technology works, they just play.

I mean there are ppl that play games at the easy level!?!?!? When I'll have to do it I'll just stop playing :)

And this pisses me off :D

My PC is a state of the art machine, I love my hobby, I love the games, I love the tech, I love the hardware. I saved money to buy the best mouse around, the best keyboard, the best Videocard and everything else, I keep it clean and don't install any bloataware of any type.

Gaming is my hobby and I want to know everything about it, it is not even an expensive one compared to other stuff (cars or coins for example).

Why do you think is so hard to find someone so "into" in this hobby?
Your entire premise is off from the start, which might be the reason you see things the way you do.

From the beginning you compare the hobbies of gaming and car enthusiasts, and explain how they're different. You then go on to explain how most hobbies are akin to the car enthusiasts... such as chess players, and ponder why gamers are different. The problem is that things aren't really as you explain them to be.

"People who love cars. 9 out of 10 times knows how the engine works. Which *brakes are better. Most of the time they know every single aspect of the racing environment."

^^ That couldn't be further from the truth. The VAST amount of car hobbyists drive a clapped out POS that they have big plans for, but have neither the money or the knowledge to actually make it happen. While I don't have any exact sources, I figure that it's likely 9 out of 10 people who love cars have but the faintest idea of how an internal combustion engine actually works. They pick up on cool sounding technical words they heard someone else say and repeat it as if they knew what it even meant. Often completely out of context. The knowledge they do know about racing came from watching 1320 street racing youtube videos. They have no idea which brakes or better. They've never bought any of the aftermarket brands. They might know which brakes are cheapest to buy at Autozone, but that's only if they even actually know how to change their own brakes.

What exactly do you mean by "they know every single aspect of the "racing" environment."? Almost nobody knows all those aspects. There's too many. Go ask any random car guy about racing and what he knows about it. If he doesn't sound as stupid as Vin Diesel in the The Fast and the Furious, it'll be close more often than not. About actual pro racing... They'll name drop racers they've heard of. Ask about F1 and they'll start babbling about Senna like they knew him, or might mention Schumacher. The point is, that they'll know what they've caught on tv, but won't know any of the details. They'll talk about Senna for hours, but won't be able to explain his driving habit of repeatedly stomping the throttle like he was trying to put out a fire, or why he did it. They'll play Forza or GT and talk about how they love racing on Laguna Seca. But they have no idea what makes that track unique. They have no idea of the billboard that sat at the corkscrew for years showing Alex Zanardi making his famous leaping pass there. They probably won't even know who Alex Zanardi is, or that he had both his legs cut off when his car was broadsided by another racer at around 200mph during a CART race in 2001.

The vast majority of car enthusiasts know surprisingly little, yet talk as if they know just about everything. That being said, is it really all that much different from the people we see posting here?
 
You don't need to dive into cameras, renderfarm tech, optical discs tech and big screens tech to love and movies/cinema and have deep knowledge of it. Gaming =//= hardware, even if you use one to acess the other. You can have both hobbies, but they aren't related hobby wise, even if one relies on the other. People aren't less gamer because they don't throw their money on hardware. You can pursue both and even mix both, but it's not necessary and it doesn't mean you are "more gamer" or "more tech savvy" than someone who pursues a single one of those. A gamer is someone who is heavily invested in... games, who play games, regardless the hardware it's running on. Someone is a gamer even if the platform of choice of his is a SNES. It's just how much he loves to play that counts. It's very subjective, because someone can be a gamer and have very specific tastes (like a RTS, simulators or JRPG), deep knowledge and skills in that genre, and know jack about other genres, even less about the inner works of the machine it runs.

In fact, in my PC gamer days, I spent more time talking about hardware and looking at numbers on screen than enjoying the games that were running. And this was the rule in the Pc gaming forums I used to participate. Today I wouldn't even call that "me" a gamer, but a hardware enthusiast.

I agree with you about playing on easy, because, for me, It makes the game play In a way it wasn't intended, I won't enjoy the potential of the game I bought. Easy difficulty ruins the games for me, and I think games nowadays are easy by default (normal difficulty plays like easy, easy plays like very easy...), so there's no need to go down even more by setting on easy.
 
Last edited:
Where have you been living?

I used to race cars when I was younger. You would not believe how many people were "into racing" and didn't know how to change a spark plug. These were typically the people that drove Z28s and Tans Ams. LOL. I used to love those guys and my Charger feasted on their lunch money.
You were spot on with the rest of your post, but reading this makes me wonder if you're actually the very same type you're describing others to be.
Depending on your age you could be referring to an older Charger or a newer gen one. If the former, you were likely overly familiar with changing spark plugs due to old Mopars needing constant work and are sensitive about it. If you're talking about the newer gen 2006 and up charger, why are you bragging about picking on cars designed a decade earlier?
 

Lone Denjin

Member
I'll never understand caring about how other people play games, especially single player games.

Sure, if a dev makes their game hard, easy, or optionally both, they have every right. But who really cares what people choose after that fact.

It's equivalent of going out to casual tennis players and barrating them for not trying to play ranked tournaments.
I agree, normal players should not be held to such a high standard. The gaming press and reviewers is another matter.

I find it comparable to someone who knows shit all about cars trying to write for a car mag and him not knowing how to turn the key in the ignition. I don't expect Esports level play, but i do expect them not to have the level of play like our "friend" Dean in the video.
On the main subject of the thread, peoples level of investment in the hobby really depends. I have seen the levels of people who just play Fifa all the way up to Esports. Pc is the only platform where any real customisation can really happen. To the extent of custom parts for performance. But there is the "pro" controllers for the consoles racket that i feel is half snake oil.
As for the love of the games themselves. There are quite a few people in the JRPG community that go "all in" on merch for games. Posters, figures, t shirts, tattoos.
I think the answer to this threads question is that gaming is such a diverse medium full of almost every kind of genre,gameplay and stories. That it is hard to pin it all down in to one single definition to what a "gamer" is.
Boring answer is
A gamer is someone who plays games.
 
Imo gaming barely qualifies as a hobby (same for TV btw). You gotta go really, really deep with a consumer product if you want to call it a hobby.

Hobby to me means creating something, or competing in something (sometimes with yourself).
 

DavidGzz

Member
The weirdest thing to me are those who limit themselves to one platform missing out on exclusives. Like they just decide that if they can't play them, they probably suck anyway. Idk, weird af lol
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I mean... the software tells you nothing about the hardware. I’d argue that the software sometimes is specifically engineered to hide the hardware intricacies (see: seamless loading scenes). Only the blemishes in the software (lag, sprite flickering, that kind of thing) hints at hardware issues that a player may be interested to understand. I sure didn’t when I was a wee lad playing my NES.

With cars, you’re driving the thing yourself. You have to know at least a bit about the inner workings. But I don’t need to know how a book is composed and printed to read one; I don’t need to know about camera angles to enjoy a movie.

Hardware does interest me, but not to the extent that I prefer delving into that than playing a game. I only have so much time.
 
Well, the OP is right in one thing. People like him sure are a strange group of people.


You have chores? A family? A job? What do you mean your 9-5 job fucks up your brain and you just wanna relax by playing some easy game? How so your baby crying leaves you without any energy to do anything so you just hop on a quick gaming session in easy mode? HOW SO YOU DON'T PLAY IN A BEASTLY MACHINE THAT ONLY PEOPLE WITHOUT ANY OF THE ABOVE (or with better income than most) CAN HAVE?

OP, this is a fucking hobby. Games are meant to be fun.
 

Relativ9

Member
Technically any activity that is sought for the pleasure of it instead of for any practical reason is a hobby, so games would qualify, but then so would eating sweets. So because it then becomes an almost meaningless word in the modern world, I'd argue that we should distinguish a hobby as something not unlike what the OP described. In other words "something you peruse a certain level of mastery and/or expert knowledge in".

So with that definition to most people gaming is a pastime and not a hobby, it is entertainment not a creative outlet or skill you nesscarily master (with esports being an exception), you don't say that people who watch TV shows or the occasional Movie are "hobby" movie watchers, or for that matter people who read a bunch of books aren't hobby readers. If however you watch a bunch of movies, have a blog or YouTube channel where you break down those movies into things like narrative themes, production quality/techniques, cinematography styles, then you might be able to consider yourself a hobbyist movie watcher. Same with books, if you're in a bookclub where you do something similar, have a blog/youtube channel where you analyze new reads, ect ect.

It becomes hard to distinguish with gaming because it is an interactive medium so it inherently has the creativity at least somewhat...but I would argue that very few games are actually a creative outlet, and the ones that do are mostly builder-type games or games from Media Molecule :p

So for example, overly competitive gamer who play games as a "sport" and participate in tournaments, do post-play analysis or their own matches as well as those of "esports" pros would certainly qualify. So would modders who tweak and redesign existing games using advanced knowledge of game engines, 3d/2d art, animation, programming, ect. Essey and video essay writers who talk about the narrative implications of a games story, or why certain elements of the design philosophy are desirable and others aren't (so in other words youtubers and super-active forum members that go beyond driveby posting). Even game designers who do it on a non-professional level taking heavy inspiration from the games they love and play and creating their own versions of the same systems (similar to modders).

However id argue that gaming isn't your hobby if you just collect a bunch of games (you're a collector/hoarder then, not necessarily a gamer), you play a bunch of different games but never really dive deeply into them to master and truly understand them, sharing that knowledge with the world or your immediate community, you play one or two games on repeat to de-stress and have a mindless activity, not really caring if you improve in your skill level and not knowing or caring to know about the games design fundamentals. And I'd also argue that caring about the game looking the best and having the newest and best tech doesn't make you gamer either, it makes you a tech enthusiast.

Heck, by the rules laid out above I wouldn't even really consider myself a gamer. I make games for a living, i have "state of the art" tech, and I even stay relatively up-to date on the goings on in the industry. But I'm not competitive at all. I basically play only 3-4 games a year and some of those are games I played the year before, and before, ect. I analyze and disect games quite a bit, but that's for work and more focused on singular mechanics like "how did they get the transition from climbing to running to be so smooth" instead of what causes me to enjoy said game (though I wish I had more time for the second option). Because I make games for a living I wouldn't really qualify whatever deeper knowledge I might have to be of hobbyist grade, though I probably would still do this even if I wasn't getting paid for it. There are other things I do I'd consider much more worthy of being called a "hobby" than gaming.
 

kyussman

Member
I love gaming but I don't consider it a hobby....it's just entertainment....interactive entertainment.
I listen to music without caring much about the process of how it's made,same for movies....games are no different to me.
 

ToTTenTranz

Banned
I'm bothered by the thread title.

Please stop describing "Gamers" as a homogeneous group. It isn't 1995 anymore, and everyone should be better than kotaku or polygon op-eds (which is really the lowest bar I can think of)..

Talking about "Gamers" today makes as much sense as talking about "Movie watchers", or "TV Series watchers", or "Sports watchers", or "Water drinkers" or "Oxigen breathers".

I can't think of anything that can be attributed equally to a CoD e-athlete and a casual Civ gamer that plays only SP on weekends.
 
Where is your classic PC and CRT monitor?
Do you have retro consoles?
Do you even own (or even know what is) an OSSC or Retrotink5x?
Do you know about video signals (types, phase shift, sync, jailbars)?
What is your knowledge of gaming history?
Have you even written a shader, used a game engine or written you’re own game from scratch?
Do you have any VR hardware at all?
You talk about challenge, but do you even appreciate narrative in games?
Do you know anything about game design?
Where is your Mister setup?
Do you understand the difference between FPGA and software emulation?

This thread reeks of PC elitism. “Look how fast my processor and graphics card is!!! I’m the bestest evar!!!” Everyone gets into their hobby in different ways. Not everyone does everything. You mention car hobbyists aren’t like this; There is a big difference between someone that restores classic cars and someone that tunes their car for the race track. I think you’re a little short sighted on how diverse the hobby you think you’re a pro at is.
 

ZeMMiK

Member
I do my hobby as I like, and i do not care about others what they think about that... I play on easy in storygames because I do want to progress. Arcade games I play for the skill... Just enjoy your hobby the way you like.
 

Ultra Donny

Member
All people into music are strange, if you like music you should automatically know how to set up a turntable.

All people into cinema and movies are strange, they should be able to operate a projector.

Different aspects of the hobby attract different people.

This is generalization from your perspective and don’t apply to everyone.
 
Top Bottom