Embarassed to be a gamer?

[TheCroShow]

I started a new job yesterday and we had to complete an activity with a partner. Each person introduced his/her partner to the rest of the new employees, I mentioned that I play video games. In front of everyone my trainer asked (in a room of 20-25 ppl) what kind of games I play.

I mostly play World of Warcraft (laugh it up fuzz-ball), and Counterstrike and some Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to relieve stress. I also enjoy the Madden series, etc.

Getting back to the story, I paused as he asked the question. No way in hell did I want to say that I play WoW, Counterstrike? hmm..."I play mostly shooter games and sports games." Not a complete lie, but for some reason I felt embarassed. WHY IS THIS? I have never felt embarassed in my life about my gaming habits.

Am I a sad, insecure soul? Maybe I'm getting old lol Has anyone else experienced this?

[steelcmg]

ur not a tru gamer then. Only people tru to something are not embarased by it.

Do you work at Wally World?

[CollinEstes]

I would have been embarressed to admit to playing WoW but Madden is always cool.

Never understood games like WoW I need to persue more than just a number or rank. Plus it is kind-of ridiculous how much it costs for 6 months.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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ur not a tru gamer then. Only people tru to something are not embarased by it.

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True gamers don't have jobs.

[bravos1]

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ur not a tru gamer then. Only people tru to something are not embarased by it.

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True gamers don't have a life.

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FYP

[LethalRose]

everybody plays video games dude....

[TheCroShow]

i've been a gamer for just over 20 years, I think my status as a "real" gamer should not be debated. note that i said this was the first time i ever felt embarassed to be a gamer.

i play WoW because a lot of my friends play and it's a fun way of "hanging out." mind you we also hit up the bars once in a while, play poker, and do regular stuff, not like we're dudes that never see daylight haha

[Lawrence Ng]

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ur not a tru gamer then. Only people tru to something are not embarased by it.

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True gamers don't have a life.

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FYP

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So gamers don't have a life, but posters who go around correcting every little detail about a post do?

Lawrence

[CollinEstes]

I hear yah, I have a friend that spends an un-godly amount of time on that game and all I see him doing is standing around or traveling from one place to the other, I guess don't get it.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ur not a tru gamer then. Only people tru to something are not embarased by it.

[/ QUOTE ]
True gamers don't have jobs.

[/ QUOTE ]

[pokerdirty]

[ QUOTE ]
I started a new job yesterday and we had to complete an activity with a partner. Each person introduced his/her partner to the rest of the new employees, I mentioned that I play video games. In front of everyone my trainer asked (in a room of 20-25 ppl) what kind of games I play.

I mostly play World of Warcraft (laugh it up fuzz-ball), and Counterstrike and some Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to relieve stress. I also enjoy the Madden series, etc.

Getting back to the story, I paused as he asked the question. No way in hell did I want to say that I play WoW, Counterstrike? hmm..."I play mostly shooter games and sports games." Not a complete lie, but for some reason I felt embarassed. WHY IS THIS? I have never felt embarassed in my life about my gaming habits.

Am I a sad, insecure soul? Maybe I'm getting old lol Has anyone else experienced this?

[/ QUOTE ]

what's the job, how old are you, and how old is everyone else?

[2005]

I condsider myself a gamer, I'm not embarrased by it, I don't have a job, and I'm pretty cool with my life. Don't be embarrassed man, it's ok.

[smokingrobot]

i have not been able to play video games for any extended length of time for years now. although i did play halo 2 every once in a while...

i still see a game that looks cool and think about picking it up, but then im like "i'll just stop playing this after a week and get bored of it"...

i also cant stand counter strike. a friend tried teaching me and it just would piss me off how fast everyone else was compared to me. the learning curve is high on that one.

[wayabvpar]

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I condsider myself a gamer, I'm not embarrased by it, I don't have a job, and I'm pretty cool with my life. Don't be embarrassed man, it's ok.

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I have a job, but other than that, ditto. 10-15 years ago, there was a bit of a stigma with video games. These days, they are mainstream entertainment.

I think pen and paper gaming (D&D, White Wolf games, etc) are still considered pretty 'nerdy', as are collectible card games (Magic). I can see getting a strange reaction if you mentioned playing these, since you might have to explain what the hell they are in the first place.

[M2d]

if you really wanted to be embarassed you could have mentioned your avatar on 2+2

[HopeydaFish]

I think it depends on where you work, and how old your co-workers are. It also depends on what kind of job you are doing there and whether you want/need your co-workers to respect you. If you're the geeky IT guy, they'll expect you to be a gamer, whether or not you came out and told them about it. However, if you work in an office environment with a bunch of old farts who are scared to use their computers for anything other than e-mail, I wouldn't tell them that I'm a gamer. People like that are likely to see video games as childish activities, and by extension, will see you as being a child.

[JackWilson]

Damn, Lawrence always has the best avatars.

[asofel]

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if you really wanted to be embarassed you could have mentioned your avatar on 2+2

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literal lol. well done.

[TheCroShow]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I started a new job yesterday and we had to complete an activity with a partner. Each person introduced his/her partner to the rest of the new employees, I mentioned that I play video games. In front of everyone my trainer asked (in a room of 20-25 ppl) what kind of games I play.

I mostly play World of Warcraft (laugh it up fuzz-ball), and Counterstrike and some Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to relieve stress. I also enjoy the Madden series, etc.

Getting back to the story, I paused as he asked the question. No way in hell did I want to say that I play WoW, Counterstrike? hmm..."I play mostly shooter games and sports games." Not a complete lie, but for some reason I felt embarassed. WHY IS THIS? I have never felt embarassed in my life about my gaming habits.

Am I a sad, insecure soul? Maybe I'm getting old lol Has anyone else experienced this?

[/ QUOTE ]

what's the job, how old are you, and how old is everyone else?

[/ QUOTE ]

the job: customer support over the phone
age: 27 (bday today actually)
avg age: i would guess 23-24

mind you this was the first and ONLY moment in my life i felt embarassed to be a gamer. maybe i was embarassed because the game i have played the most recently has been World of Warcraft.

Most people have a preconceived notion of what MMO gamers are like: no job, no hygiene, no friends, no sunlight, live in mom's basement, play 20 hours a day, etc etc....and of course some believe that gaming/hardcore gamers fit into the D&D category.

mind you, i made things up today. i talked a little more about gaming with others, and wore my "Nvidia" tag-holder with my ID card attached to it...

anyway, this was the one and only time i felt embarassed to be a gamer

[Blarg]

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I hear yah, I have a friend that spends an un-godly amount of time on that game and all I see him doing is standing around or traveling from one place to the other, I guess don't get it.

[/ QUOTE ]

They can be fun, but the traveling is always a nightmare in these games. It adds up incredibly fast even if you do next to nothing. You can play for an evening and wind up spending an hour or more, easily, just going from place to place. Where sometimes nothing will be up, so you have to go traveling again.

I'll pipe in about the expense part. The 15 or 20 bucks a month is dirt cheap for 24/7 entertainment that starts and ends at your command. It's one of the cheapest forms of entertainment possible. You can spend the equivalent on going to a single movie for an hour or so.

[Blarg]

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I think it depends on where you work, and how old your co-workers are. It also depends on what kind of job you are doing there and whether you want/need your co-workers to respect you. If you're the geeky IT guy, they'll expect you to be a gamer, whether or not you came out and told them about it. However, if you work in an office environment with a bunch of old farts who are scared to use their computers for anything other than e-mail, I wouldn't tell them that I'm a gamer. People like that are likely to see video games as childish activities, and by extension, will see you as being a child.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is EXTREMELY true. Being into video games can ruin your credibility with computer-phobic older people, who still remember reading that Dungeons and Dragons was spawning murderous delusional children in their own basements who went to school to stab people and thought they lived in imaginary worlds. Older people swallowed a ton of propaganda before games started being more accepted as mainstream and non-psychotic by a large number of people. That all is pretty recent.

Plus, people are often looking for openings to take digs at you or look down on you or put you down. Hand them out very carefully, especially at a new job. Lots of times the first thing the office troublemakers do is try to feel you out for weaknesses and ways they can feel superior to you.

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Most people have a preconceived notion of what MMO gamers are like: no job, no hygiene, no friends, no sunlight, live in mom's basement, play 20 hours a day, etc etc....and of course some believe that gaming/hardcore gamers fit into the D&D category.

[/ QUOTE ]
Actually MMORPGer's have a worse reputation than pen and paper RPGer's. Let me explain SAT style:

MMORGP is to pen & paper RPG

as

cybering is to group orgy

[Blarg]

Don't think I follow ya there.

The last thing that sounds "cool" to me is a group orgy between pen and paper MMORPG'ers. Even among those that make it to their 20's without being killed in a freak wedgie accident.