Gamers

So, let's talk about gamers. On the internet these days, being called a gamer can mean any number of things. This can be said of many things, but over time and through repeated use it is becoming more and more common for being labelled as a "gamer" to have more negative connotations than positive. There are some who will proudly call themselves gamers, and others who will bite your head off at the mere suggestion that playing/liking video games is enough to make them a "gamer" - that this is a label that only describes a small group who consider themselves better than others. Many different definitions and connotations for a single word.

But given your own experience online, preferences in video games, and personal definition of the word: would you consider yourself a gamer? What does being a "gamer" mean to you? Is it as simple as just being someone who plays video games a certain amount, or are there additional criterion - a certain level of knowledge, or skill, or a particular attitude? Is it something to be shamed, celebrated, or just acknowledged as something you like to do, like any other hobby or interest?

Being a gamer is one of those things that exists on a spectrum. Anyone who plays games with any regularity could be called a gamer as far as I'm concerned, but there's definitely degrees of how hardcore a gamer you are that scales right up to people who game competitively for a living. I don't think there's really any shame in the label in and of itself, not in modern society. I think if you let games become problematic to the point of being a vice though, then maybe there's an issue.

Identifies as a gamer. Counts as a hobby. Wears the term proudly, like many(?) enthusiasts of their hobby.

Views it as a combination of time spent and variety. Encompasses those with the desire, but lacking the time or access. (Note: Would be very unlikely to stop someone from calling themselves as a gamer, for the record. Wants more people into games, not fewer. Breeds negativity and disinterest by excluding others.)

Sets a low bar for variety. Hesitates to call someone who plays only Pokemon Red a gamer, no matter how much time they spend. Argues similarly for calling someone who only reads the first Harry Potter book a reader. Qualifies if they play more games (or want to), even in just that series.

Disagrees heavily on the term being negative, at least on the internet. Usually hears it with regards to skill. Says things like "we're gamers now" or "having a gamer moment" alongside doing well in a game. (Disregards skill as a requirement, personally.)

I don't game at all as much as most people I know online (except for Dakota who has barely ever seen a video game), so in these crowds I don't call myself a gamer because then people might start talking about something they think I understand when I really don't.

But irl, I'm definitely more of a gamer than, like, most people I work with or meet. It's quite relative.

I personally think the whole negative aspect is kinda silly.

I play a ton of video games, i'd identify as a gamer easily, probably even more leaning to the hardcore part xD

To me it's just a hobby too. Would call anyone who plays games somewhat regularly a gamer.
Don't really see a need for any further requirements to be called one.
I don't associate any negativity with the word.

I think it's become more acceptable to be a gamer or to call yourself a gamer now. In the past it wasn't really socially acceptable to be an adult gamer and even to this day there are older people who still consider gaming a child's hobby. Gaming has definitely grown to be more accepted, this is probably due to the fact that there are many more people now who have grown up with video games and mobile gaming has attracted older people.

I consider myself a gamer even though I don't play as much as I used to. I still play whenever I can and it's one of my favourite hobbies.

.... A gamer to me is someone who just enjoy's playing video games in their spare time.

It only carries meaning to folks who give it meaning. Folks look at a 'gamer' and consider them lazy, unproductive. Other's consider it a job they get paid by from MONSTER, Microsoft, Sony, Coke, Pepsi, that idiot who won the lottery and is looking into investing into an E-Sports team while having absolutely no knowledge what an E-sport is, video game is and probably has never even seen a mouse much less a USB thumbstick.

Then gamer streamers who get paid to enforce a product of what they play, patron's, etc.

At the end of the day, it just needs to be treated as an acknowledgement to yourself. If your being made fun of or anything else of the sort, who cares? There doesn't need to be all of this acceptance from the community, demanding it, kicking and screaming and canceling and what not when all it does is add fuel to a fire.

At this point. It's better to let this go. If ya know what you like and who ya are and it's a gamer, then there isn't much need to listen to everything else.

It's a wide variety for sure. Gamers encompass all types of people: from those who like to play sudoku every morning on their train ride into work, to those who stream on twitch 12 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

To me, if you play games on any sort of regular basis, you can consider yourself a gamer. The same goes for playing an instrument: someone who plays guitar every day could easily be identified as a musician. Someone who paints every day would be labelled a painter. Someone who shoots and edits video on a regular basis would be considered a filmmaker. Whether the gamer is playing a board game, card game, tabletop game or video game, they are indulging their hobby and are therefore a bonafide gamer.

The connotations are definitely there, typically amongst the online gamers. It's why I am very cautious online, especially when speaking over voice chat, when playing an online game with strangers. You never know what types of people you will meet. It's a dark and dangerous place out there, and it's one I try to keep out of.

thankfully i've never met anyone, even online, who takes being a gamer seriously. it's about as important to your identity as whether you watch anime or not. a lot of people at least game casually so i think it's silly to lump large portions of gamers together just cause you've been in some toxic COD lobbies. there's always the block/mute option too.

Gamer sounds better than video game player.

Video game player doesn't have the same ring as soccer player or even chess player, or other hobbies related to things.

I don't spend a ton of time playing things anymore and would probably refer to myself more as a video game 'enjoyer' than anything nowadays. I love video games a lot, but don't play too many compared to a lot of other fans and don't have the biggest attention span to game for hours anymore - even for games that I used to keep my attention for 5-10 hours a day before (looking at you, FFXIV). Guess that comes with being busier and having other things to do (also general lack of interest to stick with something for hours nonstop x_x). So yes, I am a gamer, but don't compare myself to people who are more dedicated than me tbh. Maybe I'm 'gamer lite' by my definition.

If I had to hazard a guess, I take it that the negative connotation attached to the word "gamer" probably primarily stems from how, after the general novelty of video games wore off after the days of Pong and Pac-Man being new, video games have generally been seen to this day as a "nerdy boys' hobby", even though that's not completely true these days. There's a few other contributing factors like Gamergate (which I don't even remember what the fuck that was about anymore), the (possibly stereotypical image of) 11 year olds on CoD and such constantly screaming about how they're going to cut someone's balls off and are going to fuck your mother, and boomers periodically still trying to blame something on video games like how their parents thought rock 'n' roll was "the devil's music" back in their day.

But yeah, I'm a gamer, I have no life and no other hobbies than playing video games.

Fuck gatekeeping.