How often do you run into people
who admit that they play online games? I’m not talking about console games or
single-player games, but players who might spend hours a day playing Massively
Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), Multiplayer Online Battle
Arena games (MOBAs), or the like? Unless you are into these type of games
yourself, then that answer is probably “rarely”. There is an ever growing
community out there of people who enjoy delving into this plethora of fictional
worlds and communities, and yet you might never learn of them and their
experiences as online gamers. Today I’m here to walk you through my personal
experiences as a gamer to give you an idea of these communities of people.
I started playing online games
seven years ago, and throughout that time I have been a part of different communities
across a number of different games. There were periods during those years were
I would play upwards of 9 or 10 hours a day, and other times were I might only
get on to play once a week for an hour or two. Some people find the idea of
someone sitting down for more than an hour to play games simply ridiculous, to
others like myself it’s completely normal and a part of our daily life. The
stigma in society, while admittedly decreasing in popularity in recent years,
is how gamers who spend hours in front of a computer or game console have no
lives, but I’m here to tell you that that might not always be the case. It
might come to a surprise to some, but gaming communities across the globe are
just as diverse in their life styles as of that of any other community in
society. From the hundreds of players I have come in contact with in my years
of playing there have been many who play sports, or are studying, or are
married, etc. The amount of people and different personalities you get to meet
is a big part of the online gaming experience.
When I first started playing online
games, I have to admit that I was nervous at how my peers might perspective me
if they learned I spent hours playing games like World of Warcraft or Wizard101
instead of doing the things that were popular like AIM or MySpace. This is of
course the general fear of most teenagers, not fitting in. But for some reason,
it always felt like online gaming in general was more frowned open than
anything else. Somehow it was more acceptable for my friends to play Call of
Duty 4 for hours at a time, yet the mention of any MMORPGs would bring the
jokes along with it. The way that online games are frowned upon makes it so
that many people are either afraid to try delving into an online world or are
afraid to share with the people around them that they do play these types of
games.
The bigger a part of my life that
gaming became, the more open I found myself talking about it. I was not afraid
of what people might think of me for being a gamer, and I think that this is a
natural progression that a lot of gamers go through. In turn, by me being more
open about it, I have come to meet more people in the real world who are just
as okay with it and interested in the same hobbies as me, and with that I have
opened a whole new world of friendships. I was lucky to be surrounded by people
who did not judge me for it, but for every gamer this “progression” is
different. For some it takes a few weeks to be open about it; for others you
will never hear of them admitting their gaming habits. The situation of people
being afraid to admit they are gamers has been improving over the years, but
until the shameful stigma and stereotypes of gamers goes away, we will never
see the online gaming community being more than just a small part of our
society. Of course, in the end not everyone likes the same things. Just as some
people don’t like sports; it’s perfectly okay for people to not like gaming
either. The problem comes from the idea that somehow online gaming is shameful
or not an appropriate pastime, preventing people who would otherwise enjoy it
from trying it in fear of being judged.
The best experience in my years of
gaming has been the people I have met. When you are playing online in a computer, you’re
directly connected and interacting to people all over the world from all
different types of background. People from all ages, nationalities and culture
can be found in these online worlds. I like to call it a big melting pot. These
communities are one of the few places where you will find so many people from
so many different backgrounds working together for common goals. My
interactions with the online gaming world have taught me many life lessons and
practical skills that have helped me in the real world. These interactions are
the best things to come out of my gaming life, and I hope that one day more
people give online games a chance.
Hopefully you have enjoyed reading
about my experiences starting as an online gamer and how I feel about the
negative reputation we sometimes get. My hope is that you learned a thing or
two. In two weeks I will talk about a big issue of computer gaming, addiction.
Hope to see you then!
In
this multiple parts blog series I hope to explore the general online gaming
community as a whole and how computer games and virtual realities have made and
continue to make an impact in our society. This first part, “Shameful Hobby?”,
talks about my experiences as a gamer and the negative reputation online gaming
gets. Future parts will delve into other topics such as the addictive side of
online gaming, the growing world of eSports, problems plaguing these
communities, and more. My goal is for the class to have a general idea of this
world of online computer gaming by the end of the semester.
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