Why the stigma surrounding gaming?

[Zyni]

While I think the stigma is less than it once was, I still see a lot of bad attitudes toward gamers and gaming. I realize some people get "addicted" and ignore all else to play games. That is of course bad, but most people can control themselves. I don't see what is so much worse about enjoying a game for a couple hours in the evening instead of watching TV for the same amount of time. At least games are interactive.

 

[Maxprime94]

I definitely agree with what you're saying. Although, what I am hoping is that with our society being already so much dependent and integrated into technology and gaming, that eventually this stigma will disappear. I do find it sort of funny though because, Facebook has now gotten soccer moms and kids to technically become "gamers" with their addiction to FarmVille or Candy crush kind of games. At this point, I don't think anyone should be judging anyone!

 

[dpatel304]

I've never understood it either. It's perfectly acceptable to host a football watching party where you invite a bunch of friends, watch the game, possibly dress up as your favorite players (cosplaying), paint your face, watch the pre-game and post game which is essentially a bunch of paid nerds over-analyzing the games. On top of that, these people probably also play in fantasy leagues which is essentially like role playing.

So many similarities to gaming nerds, but totally on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of social acceptance.

I think it will change over time. Gaming is becoming way more acceptable and isn't just seen for kids or nerds any more.

 

[JessiFox]

I hear what you're saying and for the most part I agree. There are some negative aspects...I think the stigma comes in a few different forms; either the lazy gamer, 28 year old guy still living in mom's basement living off of junk food and 24/7 gaming type, or the 'psycho' who went on a violent rage after playing a violent game. Neither are true to life very often, but I guess they're cliches and stereotypes because something in them rings true for some people.

I think one thing is that a lot of people feel like it's a bad use of time...between working and other obligations, they don't personally have much time for gaming, so they take their own experiences and imagine that if anyone else uses their time in that way, they're automatically "lazy". It's a shame but some people do think that way.

 

[maryannballeras]

I also hate the wrong connotation that surrounds gaming and gamers. Maybe these people who think this way feels that we're not getting anything from gaming and we just get addicted to it for no reason. What they don't know is aside from the joy it brings us, we also learn a lot of things from gaming. I believe there's a separate thread for that within this forum.

 

[Squigly]

I guess that people think that gamers are antisocial, preferring to seek escapism into games. It's just silly, many other people pursue hobbies so they can avoid the stresses of life, playing music or reading a book offers the same escapism.

At least I feel that such a stigma is beginning to wane, gaming is becoming more mainstream with casual games being prevalent on smartphones, and computer games starting to be recognized as a legitimate sport, with multi million dollar prize pools for the recent DotA / LoL championships.

 

[Ansp]

I have noticed that since getting into higher education gaming is accepted a lot more. I personally think that people get frustrated as they don't have the time or inclination to learn games. Hence casual gaming is almost a norm as Maxprime94 said. Its the same reason why gamers tend to not be into sport following the stereotypes.

I do have to mention an example of some people who came into a lecture I was attending. The first arrived 15 minutes late sat in the middle of the room, then proceeded to pull out their laptop... to start watching League in the middle row distracting everyone behind them.
That is the sort of thing that can annoy 100+ people sitting behind them and give the bad reputation we all get. Most people will just see them as gamers and group us all together. All it takes is a few to ruin it for the majority of us. Its the same thing with young drivers and everyone knows the reputation a few has given the rest who are sensible drivers.

 

[Inglenook]

Honestly, I think the stigma is disappearing. Most of my university friends game, even the girls, and now that they've started their careers and establishing families it's not like they'll magically stop. Gaming is gradually becoming accepted by society simply because a huge percent of the younger generations game.

 

[Zyni]

I think the stigma is less prevalent than it once was, but I still see aspects of it from time to time. I find it weird that some people turn their nose up when they stop by and see me playing a game, but wouldn't think twice if I was being a potato in front of the TV. lol

 

[dpatel304]

I think one thing is that a lot of people feel like it's a bad use of time...between working and other obligations, they don't personally have much time for gaming, so they take their own experiences and imagine that if anyone else uses their time in that way, they're automatically "lazy". It's a shame but some people do think that way.

That annoys me the most. I bet a lot of those people that view gaming as a lazy mans hobby wouldn't think twice if all those hours of gaming were spent watching netflix all day instead. In my eyes, there is no difference between netflix and gaming. Gaming can actually be a bit more social and definitely less lazy since you actually have to think to game, whereas netflix you can literally just vegetate for hours on end.

 

[Supreme]

I do not think the stigma is surrounding gaming only. The stigma is surrounding other aspects of living, too. However, it is not as prevalent as before and people start accepting it as normal.

 

[Goldie]

I agree. I think it's just that people tend to focus on the negative most of the time and they tend to exaggerate it, especially since I most so called "journalists" nowadays tend to latch on and sensationalize these small insignificant details even further. It's okay though as long as they don't get too carried away and actually start meddling under false pretenses.

 

[Morvack]

I think it is all the bad press video games get. From people on world of warcraft getting caught for marijuana use, to a school shooter building a replica of his school as a video game before he goes off to commit his crime, to those girls who killed their friend for slender man. It really gets a tun of bad press. A lot of people forget the good video games do, such as the numerous studies linking video game use to better hand eye coordination, to that kid who saved his sister from a moose using tactics he learned in world of warcraft, even just the hours of pure joy it gives to the masses. I guess its true when they say "negative opinions travel three times faster than a positive one".

 

[js85]

I know a couple who the man plays a certain videogame every night, and the woman watches reality tv shows every night. She will frequently tell him how it's a waste of time and she doesn't understand how/why he'll get so submerged in his game, but really, it's more active than watching housewives of wherever.

 

[Profit5500]

While I think the stigma is less than it once was, I still see a lot of bad attitudes toward gamers and gaming. I realize some people get "addicted" and ignore all else to play games. That is of course bad, but most people can control themselves. I don't see what is so much worse about enjoying a game for a couple hours in the evening instead of watching TV for the same amount of time. At least games are interactive.

I think that some part of the media wants to be entertained by the idea of seeing gaming as a drug. Some people get addicted and do not know how to rid of the addiction. I think it varies from person to person about games and gaming.

 

[joshposh]

There's a stigma about violence in video games which leads to kids becoming violent from playing them. Which I don't believe at all. There's more then enough violence in the world right now and on TV so why blame vide games?

My parents thought I was lazy for awhile when I use to spend hours on end playing games. But the flip side to that is, I wasn't getting into trouble, she knew where I was, and I wasn't hurting anyone. As long as I kept my grades up and listened to what she had to say, I could continue doing what I normally did, play video games.

 

[dpatel304]

There's a stigma about violence in video games which leads to kids becoming violent from playing them. Which I don't believe at all. There's more then enough violence in the world right now and on TV so why blame vide games?

It's just a lot easier to blame video games than to actually take responsibility for violent children. Millions of people play violent games like GTA, but only a handful of them actually go do something violent. It has nothing to do with the video game. It has more to do with that child's environment. It could be parents, friends, teachers, etc.. All of those have a much bigger impact on how a child behaves. I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that even though games have gotten more violent, the number of violent crimes has actually decreased over the years.

My parents thought I was lazy for awhile when I use to spend hours on end playing games. But the flip side to that is, I wasn't getting into trouble, she knew where I was, and I wasn't hurting anyone. As long as I kept my grades up and listened to what she had to say, I could continue doing what I normally did, play video games.

That's a good way at looking at it. It's very possible you could have spending your time with drugs, crime, or whatever, but, as you said, you spent it doing something you love and still kept your parents from worrying. I'll be more than happy if my biggest problem with my kids is 'too many video games'.

 

[smartdude966]

I think most people that say that don't even play games. Ofcourse there re people that play too much but most people know how to control themselves. Online games can be distracting because I can't stop my game to help my mom with something.

 

[Fox121]

I still see the stigma behind playing video games, especially if you don't play games that are popular mainstream, such as Call of Duty. A girl in my school broke up with her boyfriend as soon as she found out that he was a gamer. I think the stigma is fading away, too, but it's still there. I hate the reasoning that violent video games create violent kids, though. That has been disproved several times by legitimate studies.

 

[dpatel304]

I still see the stigma behind playing video games, especially if you don't play games that are popular mainstream, such as Call of Duty.

True. Gaming is still nerdy, but some games are becoming more and more acceptable. Halo, CoD, Madden, are good examples. Any popular iphone/Android game is acceptable usually. I don't see this as a bad thing though. It just means that slowly, but surely, games are becoming more acceptable. There was a time (not too long ago) that even the popular games weren't socially acceptable.

A girl in my school broke up with her boyfriend as soon as she found out that he was a gamer. I think the stigma is fading away, too, but it's still there. I

Lols. I've met a few people like that in my lifetime. I don't fit the typical gamer stereotype (like I'm sure a lot of people here don't) so I've gotten weird looks/reactions when people find out how big of a gamer I really am. Don't know much about the girl or guy you are talking about, but sounds like the guy is much better off without a girl like that.

When you say 'school', I'm just guessing middle school or high school, correct? That behavior just sounds really immature. Definitely something I wouldn't be surprised to see in my high school though. People too concerned with 'fitting in' or whatever the heck else they are worrying about. Glad those days are far behind me..lol.