Brief survey to help with an essay

[Athas]

Writing a paper on the culture of video games and I’d just like to ask a few questions. Not a “do my homework for me topic” but my prof suggested first hand data from a gaming community would be a plus, so any opinions you have would be useful.

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Zilong]

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/090423.jpg

[Gunitsoldier]

I think I might be the only one on this forum that hates those comics 95% of the time

[Mojo]

You're not alone, they're usually pretty awful.

[Chicomagiko]

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?

Ones dedication to the game(lol you lost) defines our very definition of gamer. The casuals with their pick up and play attitude, "why-should-I-help-you-cap-the-point?" and their general faggotry. Then you have the hardcore gamers the ones who ignore their girlfriends, call in sick on launch dates and have 100% completion or more in every rpg they play.

Personally, I think anyone who can play a game, understand the mechanics of said game and can appreciate it are gamers to me.

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?

I think back in 1988 when I bought my NES with saved up allowance. I've been an avid gamer since then.

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)

It depends on the game and the end result. Movies based on games for the most part, are awful, awful things but it does give games more exposure and possibly more sales/interest. I've read a few of the Halo books and I think they're pretty good. I'm just now getting into the lore of Warcraft and so far I like it. So overall I'd say that convergence is positive.

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

Yeah, I've met quite a few people I game with. Most of them are pretty cool cats.

[Shinryuu]

Writing a paper on the culture of video games and I’d just like to ask a few questions. Not a “do my homework for me topic” but my prof suggested first hand data from a gaming community would be a plus, so any opinions you have would be useful.

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

Thanks in advance for any relpies.

- I don't really believe in stereotypes, so if you're asking about the stereotype as a whole I can't really answer that properly but I'll try. A gamer is someone who is playing a game; this means that whenever he's busy gaming to others he is a gamer. The more time you spend gaming, the more often you'll be a gamer to others, and when that becomes a whole lot of time you'll roll into the gamer stereotype from a society perspective. The exact amount of time depends on a lot of factors.

Another approach is to consider alternatives (I prefer this method to define stuff): if you spend more than 5% of your time playing games (leisure time, mind you) you're (amongst a whole slew of other things) a gamer.

Now, this may sound like a whole lot of hurf durf to most (a gamer is someone who plays games, yeah) but keep in mind defining terms is amongst the harder things to do in science and there's a shitton of stuff in society without a proper definition.

- I got an 8-bit SEGA system when I was 6 or 7, but all things considered I guess I call myself a gamer from the point I got my N64; I was 9. Been playing games ever since.

- Convergence can definitely have a good effect on gaming. Books and movies in their simplest forms are nothing more than ideas, and ideas can be turned into games. If there's already a good idea out there why not take it rather than trying to think of one?

However, in reality, it probably has had a bad influence on gaming quality, though the effect I'm about to describe is fairly weak. There's a finite amount of games being possibly sold and on the aggregate shittily made movie-based games will have partially replaced a portion of high-quality original game sales which then hurts the developers' budget for their next game.

- I play FFXI and there's one RL mate of mine who also plays it, is in my LS, etc. The guy has family in England and when he went to visit 'em he hooked up with an English LS mate. They became even better friends and the English guy came to Holland last year to hang out with him and me. However, I doubt I'd go hang with e-friends unless they're closeby at some point in my life.

- What are relpies?

[Athas]

- What are relpies?

hurf ><

[Horadrius]

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

-You can really pretty much just say that a gamer is one who plays video games. But, I like to take a more refined definition and say a "gamer" is one who is immersed in the culture of video games.

-I first became a gamer when I finally got my own Sega Genesis console. Until then, I could only play games at friends' houses who had their own consoles (be it a Nintendo console or Sega console).

-As for convergence, well, bad movies do get made out of excellent books, but some movies actually do surpass the quality of the book off of which it was based. As for video games, however, most video games based on movies simply seek to capitalize on the name of the movie alone (look at the Atari E.T. fiasco). I basically feel the same way about convergence when it comes to video games as I do generally - some pairings will be horrible, most just average, and there may be a few that actually transcend the original source material.

-I've met about five or six people from my linkshell in RL, and will hopefully meet a few more this summer. I would definitely say I'm friends with a lot of the people in my linkshell.

However, I doubt I'd go hang with e-friends unless they're closeby at some point in my life.

I am so saddened by this q_____q

[willriker]

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?

A gamer is not just someone who player video games. A gamer is someone who plays games a bit more than the average person. It does not need to dominate their lives, aka living in the basement and getting no sun, nor is it something they can easily stop doing. A gamer occupies that middle ground. They are enthusiats. It is very similar mind set as being a car enthusiat, but the price point has made it easier to get into.

To help differentiate a casual player from a gamer would be the needlessly tough parts of video games. You know, things like that one jump that takes 5 minutes to get to (from the save point) that you keep failing at for 6 times in a row. It would take a considerable number of attempts for a gamer to give up on it. They would try all differant ideas to get accross that chazm. A casual person would get frustrated, to the point of giving up, after 3-4 tries.

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?

I first started playing video games when i was 15 years old. Yeah, sega genesis was out for a year or so before i was able to get a nintendo. hehe, i remember saying how real the graphics for sega genesis looked at the time. >.> I first considered myself to be a gamer, when i would get excited about a certain game that was going to be released. I would say that i became a gamer at about 19-20 years old.

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)

1)Almost every movie/show to video game convergance has been horrible. I am convinced that it is because they want to release the game in time to cash in on the buzz generated by the movie/show. The video game was an after thought, a way to make an extra buck or two off a movie release, and it shows. These games ooze a chop shop feel due to how quickly/cheeply they are put together. It has gotten to the point where, if i hear that i will play through the movie's plot line... i will definately not pick up the game. It is one litmus test i use before taking a risk on a game that shares the title of a movie.

A prime example of this would be comparing a transformers video game to one of the Mech Warrior series. Obviously, the Transformer titles were released to cash in on the movies popularity. They lack detail, a solid combat system, and the plot line is often lifted directly from the movie to speed along development. On the other hand, Mech Warrior has been around for so long that it has shed itself of any remnants that may have aroze from its birth. They make Mech Warrior knowing they have a very particular (almost cultist) fanbase. It is clear that, even if you dont care for the game, a great deal of effort was placed into it.

2) As for game > movie/show transformations i do find them a bit more entertaining than when it happens vice versa. I would never consider these movies to be oscar worthy. And, i realize that they cannot follow a games plot line verbatum. After all, watching someone live acting through resident evil 1 would not make for a plesent experience. But, the way resident evil 1 was handled in the movie theater was a bit differant than it was in the gaming arena. The movie really made the game environment its own. And, i would say that this makes for a pleasent time at the movies.

I would only wish that the movie/show > game action would learn from this. Those games really need more attention. The best one i have played would be the Iron Man game, and no it did not follow the plotline of the movie. If the game had more environmental detail it would have been a really good game. Infact, the environmental detail was the only real fault in the game. All in all, it left me wanting to play more. Which is rare in movie > game converisons.

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

nope

[Acturus]

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?

One who plays video games regularly in either a recreational or professional capacity.

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?

I started playing video games at the age of 8 (20 years ago), but I don't think I would consider myself a gamer until I was introduced into multi-player games in 2000 (Age of Empires LAN parties).

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)

I believe convergence has had a positive effect on entertainment as a whole.

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

Yes, I've met guild members from online games, and my wife and I play online games together. We didn't meet online, but online gaming has been a pretty significant pastime during the course of our 7 year relationship.

[Dolmen]

What makes one a gamer or how do you define a gamer?
I feel like the term no longer applies due to the mainstream role games have in society now. Playing video games used to be "unpopular" and such, so it was kind of like more of a status term akin to nerd, geek, jock, etc... As far as a definition, I'd say a gamer is a video game enthusiast. By that I mean they will play most any game, and appreciate the many genres. For example, I wouldn't classify someone that plays only FPS's as a gamer.

When did you first become a gamer (if you consider yourself one) or when did you start gaming?
1984, I was 4 years old and used to play Dr. J vs. Larry Bird on my parents' Apple IIe. Other games like Lode Runner, Ant Race, etc... followed along with Atari 2600, Commodore 64, NES, SNES, etc...

Do you believe “convergence” has had a positive effect on gaming? (The making of movies, books, TV shows etc into games and vice-versa)
I still don't know. Most movies turned games are absolutely awful, with Star Wars being the exception over the years. As far as the other way, I've enjoyed some games made into movies like the Resident Evil series. Overall, I'd say it's a very neutral effect, if not somewhat negative. I really hate the movie aspect video games took during the PS1 days in terms of 7,000 FMV's when you could control the content.

Have you ever had an online relationship grown into a real life relationship? That is, met someone on line and now you’ve met in real life and hang out together – doesn’t have to be a boyfriend/girlfriend thing.
Yes. My band-mates and I used to chat on Yahoo! Chat back in 1998 which led to us hanging out at shows and eventually forming a band. I've dated women I've met online as well. I have numerous (now) real life friendships that began online.