gaming The Problem With "Gamers" On Forums

[That Guy with the CMB 5,869]

I can't stand going to sites about games (specifically GameFAQs) from looking for help or game complaints on Google, finding someone with the same problem, and seeing some gamer commenting on it and bragging about how it was easy for them and the person complaining is **** and incompetent. I always feel like telling them "Good thing your skills at a video game make of for your lack of discernible skills in every other aspect of life!". It really gets under my skin when people think they're so hot because of a video game. How low does your self-esteem have to be to create that kind of ego for show? For those who really do think they're kings for this, the arrogance drives me insane and it's not cool, you know that? Have you ever run into this issue or something similar?

 

 

 

And don't take personal offense if you're a...gamer. This is just for those who spend their entire lives playing games, beating them with relative ease, talking down to anyone who needs help or is upset at the game's mechanics, and then wanting a monument/statue built for them because of their virtual greatness.

 

 

P.S. Stop it, GameFAQ users. You're making me embarrassed of the word "gamer" and giving it a negative connotation like "feminist".

[Wax n' Wane 103]

First off, I'm sorry that some gamers rubbed you that way.  In all honesty, arrogance manifests in everything, the easiest example being social class or relative wealth.  Depending on the game, I think it would be more prudent to aim the question at official (ish) forums, such as Blizzard's for Diablo 3, WoW, etc. or even Steam's community forums (with admittedly varying effect).  I hope you have better luck with aid further down the line.

[El Duderino 878]

I'm a gamer, but more casual. I play games for the fun of playing them, and I don't really care about the challenge. 

One thing that bothers me about many gamers is how elitist they can be and how high their expectations can be. I have a very good gaming pc (there is really no game currently out that I can not run), but I've met gamers who look down on me because I didn't build a custom pc. I bought it, and I got a good deal on it, and I can run all the new games. What's wrong with that? I probably paid less than some ultra hardcore gamers who build their own PC.

 

Gamers can totally be snobs about games sometimes.

I don't care that you beat Dark Souls on hard. I'm going to go play another game on easy difficulty because I like feeling badass when I cut down bad guys easily.

I don't care that it's cheating to use console commands to kill that boss in Skyrim. I can't beat it and I want to finish the quest and get some kick ass loot.

I don't care that a game doesn't have 4k quality graphics at 60fps. It's a fun game anyway.

I don't care that you got 40 kills in Halo. I got 10 kills and I had fun doing it, so suck it.

 

I normally avoid gaming discussions on forums, and I typically keep to myself about my own gaming. Some gamers are cool about it, but there is ALWAYS that one guy who is a dick.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

I can get pretty passionate about certain games I play, but that doesn't make me an arrogant person. The biggest issue is that some people let the games get to their heads too much, which results in them losing who they really are and taking on a more jerky side, which affects them negatively.

[Rawzy 1,302]

Well see, there are some games like Counter Strike that have a very competitive nature and it's treated like an actual sport. Games like these are played for fun but are mostly played because you love the competitive aspect of it. I can see though why people would play Skyrim or Halo just because of the fun of it.

[Flutter's lover <3 8,204]

I actually gave up on doing Raids in Destiny because the players are such elitist douchnozzles. EVERY LFG thing I find for Destiny, is like "Must have Touch Of Malice, Must have Black Spindle, Must have done the Raid multiple Times, must know what to do, must know this cheese" Etcetera...Like, get off your high Horse. Not everyone has them...Cheesing a Raid? you mean you can't even do it the legit way?

 

Like, so what if people don't have that? and so what if the Raid takes a bit longer to do? It's just a game..

[Discordian 6,013]

It's unfortunate that you don't believe a gamer should be proud of his skills. For people like myself it's the only thing we care to put any effort into. It's not a self esteem thing. That would imply we're shy or hate ourselves or something. No. We take pride in gaming because it quite literally is our lives. We made a choice to be this way. We don't do it just because we may or may not be able to do anything else.

 

But let's not make a mistake here: There are just as many gamers with skill that would gladly help you rather than lord their own skills over you. Those types are the vocal minority. Usually as long as you aren't hostile yourself you can get any kind of help you want. Even on Gamefaqs.

 

Gamefaqs is one of the worst gaming sites you can go to for discussion but as long as you know who to listen to and who to block you can easily find an equilibrium. Usually the types who say crap like "lol get better nub" aren't who you're looking for help from anyway.

 

Real gamers just sit down, shut up and play the games.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,223]

One thing I hate is when there is something that is incredibly difficult or unfair in a game, and many, many people are pointing this out and there is always that one guy who could get past said portion of the game and they act like that portion is 'easy'. I have seen that so much and I believe they only say it is easy now because they have actually completed it somehow. That's something that bothers me.

 

I am all for taking pride in what you do, but to me that is just spouting incorrect information. 

[Guest]

The biggest issue with the gaming community in my opinion is the community itself. Some of my annoyances with them:

 

• Unpleasable fanbase. Complain that games don't do X, but when something does X, they complain that X wasn't done right or that X isn't what they wanted at all.
• TOXIC atmosphere to newcomers. Newbs are treated very poorly in many communities and a lot of the time the skill gap discourages new people from ever picking a game up.
• Smurfing. It sucks and people annoy me by doing this. Basically for those uninformed: it's basically making a new account and losing on purpose for your placement matches to get placed in the lower level leagues so you basically will be better than all the newbs and able to destroy them with ease. Many will argue they are "helping" these players by making them have to "get good, fast" however that's just a bullshit justification for shitty behavior.
• Egomania is rampant. So many people use their gaming accomplishments to throw their weight around on many online communities.
• Sexism while not as big an issue as Anita Sarkeesian is making it out to be does exist. My wife still gets treated poorly at Gamestop regularly.
• Hype culture. Enough said.
• Console wars: again, self explanatory.
• Many online communities are toxic as hell.

To name a few. That being said, GameFAQ is infamous for its toxic community.

[Out of this place 51]

If you wish to enjoy something, I recommend avoiding online communities.

I like video games but don't like the subculture around it, this goes to all of my interests.

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

Is it weird that most of the times I've seen people ask for help in sections of games, they get normal responses that just give 'em tips? Depends on the game (and site), I suppose. If it's popular and/or multiplayer and/or PvP, you can rest assured the toxicity levels will be off the roof.

 

I'm not against being proud of accomplishments, even if it's "I finally beat that level on hard!", for example, I'm proud that I could beat the WarCraft 3 campaign on Hard. Similarly, I'm proud whenever I finish a drawing I put a lot of effort to. But of course, this is a different type of pride than the "I'm good, you're not" you described.

 

Also, ew, GameFAQs.

 

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

I'm rarely, if ever, in a position to say, "What?  You couldn't [do this] in [that game]?  You must suck at it!"  And when I am able to accomplish something in a video game that other people claim is difficult, I'd rather point out that it was difficult. xD  Otherwise, why would I bother bragging?  "This was sooo easy."  Then why would anyone be impressed?  "This was really difficult but I pulled it off anyway."  There you go.

[Snake 515]

Yeah, people that think they're hot stuff because they beat a game in x hours are dumb.
Really. Like, if you're talking with a close friend thats one thing, but to be a jerk and act like you're better than somebody else that you don't know is stupid and just makes you look like a tool. Maybe other people have actual lives? Damn.
(Not saying gamers dont have lives, i'm just saying that not everyone sits on their flank all day being a jerk on the internet.)

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,671]

Oh gawd, I'm reminded of the Fire Emblem fanbase reading through the OP. They just insist that the game be played their way.

 

When it comes to gaming communities, I mostly hang out at a Metroid forums. Activity may be low with only a handful of users but it's actually peaceful. Because we're not numerous and most of us veteran users, you can say we understand each other. Honestly, I find that place to be the second least toxic forums I go to, being second place to only another relatively inactive pony forums.

Edited March 16, 2016 by SunBurn

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

I always make sure to help people struggling with something, even if it isn't pertaining to video games. Literally nothing is done by bragging and talking down on someone. If I find it easy, I explain to them how it's easy to me (as in my process or whatever) and try to identify what they're doing wrong and how to fix it.

It's okay to feel good at a game, but shit talking is toxic and no one's going to like you.

Edited March 16, 2016 by NotoriousSMALL

[Guest]

Well, being one of those toxic people myself, I'll give you an honest explanation.

 

We aren't really good at anything else because we pretty much dedicate a large portion of our time to games so when we do come across someone who's worse than us in what we're good at we feel a strong urge to rub it in their faces because well, rare opportunity and all. It also helps feed our own ego, which is important in maintaining the little safe space we make to block out any reasoning or criticism whatsoever. A safe space where we can lie to ourselves that we aren't useless unwanted cancers to the community.

Edited March 16, 2016 by Guest

[Veil 259]

See I just don't worry about the opinions of others. I just enjoy what I like and that's that. Although I beginning to feel the same way about the brony community, I was alot happier when I just watched the show every week. Now there are alot of things that really upset me.

One thing I hate is when there is something that is incredibly difficult or unfair in a game, and many, many people are pointing this out and there is always that one guy who could get past said portion of the game and they act like that portion is 'easy'. I have seen that so much and I believe they only say it is easy now because they have actually completed it somehow. That's something that bothers me.

 

I am all for taking pride in what you do, but to me that is just spouting incorrect information. 

Lol, this kinda like that moment when you ask "who's idea was it to put this in the game" and there seems to be one part like that in every single game even if the game is good or not. There should be a topic on this.

[Scrubbed user 3,415]

This sort of thing is also very prevalent in the sim-racing community. We are spoilt for choice when it comes to pretending to be race drivers with rFactor 2, Automobilista, Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, iRacing, and Raceroom Racing Experience. (only listing the ones currently being supported by their respective devs) We are a fairly finicky bunch when it comes to our pretend racing. We pay close attention to how the car is simulated, how the tires are simulated, how the track is simulated (whether it be laser-scanned or not), and how a car reacts to setup changes, how the force feedback is, etc.  If none of that is accurate to reality, the game is written off as "simcade" (which is a racing game that sits between a full-on sim and an arcade racer). But it's never that simple. You get those fanboys who gets it in their heads that "their sim" is TEH BEZT SIM EVERR and if anyone comes along and attempts to show them a flaw with particular game, that person gets swarmed on. (I should know, I've had this happen to me on more than 1 occasion) 

 

As much as I know for a fact that at least one of the games I listed are indeed proper sims, and at least one can be labeled as simcade and offer so simulation value, *cough* AC *cough* you still get people who are CONVINCED that one game is TEH WON TROO SIMM and the rest are garbage. 

 

The most irritating part about that is the vast majority of people into sim-racing (myself included) own all of these games and STILL want to argue about which is the best.

 

You own all of them, play whichever one you like best! 

 

Also, GameFAQ is a waste of space on the server it's hosted on. Polygon, Kotaku, and IGN are more useful sites than GameFAQ.

[TheMaskMaker 65]

I've got a big bad gaming machine for the games I enjoy, and that's how I choose to enjoy them. That's all I'm in it for, the love of the game. Everyone enjoys their game differently. For some people, there's no off switch on their competitive spirit, and they generally come off as standoffish, or snobby. While this can be a huge turnoff for casual gamers, I urge you to just ignore it (I know, easier said than done). You're going to find that there are a lot of negative gamers, just like there's a vocal minority of negativity in any group of dedicated individuals. Even bronies have people we're not in a hurry to relate to, but who also call themselves bronies. Same goes for gaming, man. Love the game in a way that is suited best for you, whether you're on a high powered gaming machine, a console, or hell even on your phone. You do you, man. 

[EpicEnergy 22,064]

I haven't seen much toxicity from gamers on forums, not even on Steam, but that's just my experience. Regardless, I think it is reasonable to say that a fairly large amount of gamers aren't toxic and that it's mostly the loud minority that's being toxic.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,737]

It's more just that gamers are very competitive almost in a toxic way.