Gamer: A Derogatory Word?

In the past week, there has been a huge controversy over in the states about a Democrat running for an elected position and the fact that she is a gamer, and that World of Warcraft is one of her passions. I have to admit that when reading this, I was so infuriated about the whole campaign from the republicans. They have actually built up a campaign to slander Colleen Lachowicz’s name because she plays WoW and is a gamer. Are we still living in the era that the term gamer is still a dirty word?

With the advent of the social gamer and Facebook and mobile gaming, I would have said no, but certain area’s and parties do still believe in the old image of gamers being dirty shut-ins with no social life and have no contact with the outside world. A lot of us gamers have real-world jobs, make a living, have a family and social lives. Have friends who don’t just exist on the internet. For most, gaming is a hobby, nothing more, something to relax to after a hard-days work. Some people relax to beer, do we call them alcoholics? No, we understand that they are having a drink to relax, but when we mention that we enjoy gaming to relax, were suddenly looked at as completely different people.

In the latest studies it showed that there is now a console in over half the homes in America, so are half of the American population dirty shut-ins? Or are they people with jobs, families, cars, lives. Also, people can now make jobs for themselves doing what they love, which is playing video games. It’s a lot more open now, with places such as Train 2 Game etc offering courses on how to be come a Quality Assurance tester, or a developer or graphic artist.

It’s not just “arty” people who work in games, there are true business men and women who work in this industry. This is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and people are still referring to gamers as dirty degenerates? The people who call the gamers names are the people who have a very blinkered life-style and I personally feel sorry for them. It must not be much of a life. We gamers have many, be it being the Dragonborn in Skyrim, Commander Sheppard in Mass Effect or Ezio in Assassins Creed. We explore many lives and it gives us an understanding of other people.

Gamers and Gaming are not derogatory terms, they encompass a huge mass of people. It is true that there are some people who are obsessed with gaming, specifically MMORPG’s such as WoW, but this is a small minority, much like there are a small minority of people who have to drink to get going in the morning, they need their daily “fix”. Yes these people do need help (although it could be said that people who work on a gaming website are “addicts”!) but they do not represent the majority of people who play games.

So should people who play games be targeted? No. Will it continue to happen? Yes, more than likely unfortunately. However it should be noted that it is not a derogatory term, for some, like us, it is a way of life, others its a way of relaxation. Either way, we deserve to be treated the same respect that people treat others and not targeted for our passions.  

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