If you play a game now and then but not often, I wouldn’t consider you a gamer. Same thing goes for people who only play free games.

I would consider a gamer to be anyone who choses games and one of their primary sources of entertainment and are willing to spend both money and time on it. This is what the average amount of people who play games do.

Since males are more compeditive my nature, they seek to win in anything, which includes the leetspeak and complicated language. If they can say stuff you don’t understand, they feel like they beat you.

Unfortunately, most of the online community is guys and most have this style of play. Therefore, just “getting along and play” is not in their interest, since they want to just beat you.

It’s a selective community, and only those who are in the average range of skill and knowledge are accepted in the group. Trying to be a “gamer” to others is very much like trying to be an actor. It takes time and dedication to show others you have what it takes to seriously play.

@ Erin (#4) – It totally depresses me when generalizations are made. I hope my sarcasm came through in that post in that I don’t actually believe at ALL male gamers are anything. Just like I don’t believe that ALL female gamers are anything. I just get angry when guys are like “there’s no female gamers, they just play Paris Hilton games” or “there’s female gamers but they’re just fat or ugly or anti social or bitchy or …” Makes me wish there was an /ignore option in real life.

And for the record, my post wasn’t a slight against the Kotaku post itself, but rather the people in the comments, who had comments that made my brain implode.

@Eric, Angelo – I agree with you, and thank you :)

@Barbex – I will never understand the gamer mentality of “this is a game” and “that isn’t”. To be honest, it’s really all a bunch of ridiculousness to me. A game is a game. And what is a “gamer”? Who defines what a gamer is?

Can’t we all just get along and play the games?

Enough attention now, little boy?

Little boy talking about OTHER people being antisocial, that almost made me laugh.

Just because the pretty girl didn’t/doesn’t acknowledge your existence in class you don’t have the right to be a misogynist because the internets affords you some supposed anonymity.

Finally, I think it’s pretty hot to be owned by a girl, but then, I’m married and long ago gave up any idea about pwning girls ever again. Right, honey?

I recognize the humour intended in the Kotaku post, but it still made me sigh more than anything else because I know that’s how some folks actually think. Still, it’s no more fair to lump all guy gamers into the drooling-constantly-talking -about-sex-but-never-getting-laid category. It just seems that those are the more outspoken, much to gaming’s detriment.

The thing is, I bet if “real gamers” (ie males) looked at who they were playing “real games” (ie…?) with, that there would be a few girls in there incognito to avoid the “brilliant conversationalists”.

I’ve never personally said “y’all just got owned by a girl”, but I do understand, after the usual treatment, how people would get a great deal of satisfaction out of making that statement.