Pet Peeves non gamers say about you gaming?

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"You play too many games. The only part of you that gets exercise is your thumbs!" ~Dad

"Your children's children are going to have abnormally curved spines, huge thumbs, and are going to be nearsighted!" ~Dad (again)

"If you (insert "horrible" thing here - like getting a C in a class), then I'll take away your games." ~Dad (yet again)

Every game I play when my dad watches he asks so many questions and makes so many comments.

How do you know where to go in this game? (It's been so long since I've played the game for the first time so remembering how I did so blindly is hard).
Can you do this? Can you mess with that? Can you go into that area?
(I answer with some things are just for show) That's stupid. You be be able to.
What's the point of this game? (Shut up and pay attention)
I can't understand what's going on? (I'm probably playing a sequel and he hasn't seen the first game because I have it on a different platform or something)
What happened to your weapons, why don't you have any yet. (It's the beginning OF THE FREAKIN' GAME!! !)
This game is stupid! (It's better than what you got. All he has is mostly racing games).
Does the guy ever speak? (This was the most recent one. I was playing the Xbox port of Half Life 2. If he spoke, it would ruin everything. The player becomes Gordon Freeman or something).
Can you skip the cutscenes? (That alone destroys the flow of my gameplay).

Mom walks in and I'm playing Portal.
GLaDOS starts to speak.
Mom: Wow, that is really annoying. Can you please make it stop?
Me (thinking): Well, that just killed my fun...

There are so many things that have tweaked me off over the years that this list doesn't do it justice.

1. So and so is a casual gamer for liking GAME X that isn't verified hardcore
- Sorry, mate, but different strokes. Someone who spends all of their time mastering Bejeweled is still a gamer. They're playing a game. Remember when we all went nuts over Tetris?

2. WoW Sucks, MMO X is so much more hardcore!
-Different strokes again. WoW's sold an insane number of copies. Comparatively, LotRO/Rift/TERA/Whatever doesn't perform nearly as high in sales, and say what you will, WoW's been coming out with consistently top tier content for what it is for the better part of a decade. LotRO may look good, but that doesn't change the fact that it's plain boring to me and loads of other people.

3. Graphics don't matter.
-Sorry, but they do. Granted, pretty graphics can't save a crappy game, but quality graphics help massively with immersion, which does matter.

4. Dreamcast sucked.
-Sorry, nope. Shenmue was groundbreaking, and while it didn't have terribly many RPGs, Grandia II and Skies are both classics. Playstation had TONS and only a handful were worth playing. Quality over quantity, baby. Not to mention the insanely high quality of it's SHMUPS/Fighters/Lightgun games and it's massively powerful 2D engine that the PS2 didn't come close to matching, *Takes out Dreamcast, dusts it off* I still love ya, baby.

5. Mods are detrimental to the game industry
- Granted, Bethesda's getting lazy and letting the community come up with most of their content, but the ability to customize a game to your desires is an overwhelmingly positive development. I love Morrowind, but I find it hard to play because it's graphics take away from the immersion. So I get a mod that makes it look better than Oblivion. Better than Morroblivion! New quests can keep a game alive long after it should be put out to pasture.

6. GTA is an immature murder fantasy.
- GTA IV still had the sophomoric humor, but frankly it had one of the most intelligent storylines I've ever played through. Play the game and do more than run over grannies before you criticize.

I'll probably be back with more later.

I know exactly how you feel in a lot of your situations PsychoSarah, except I've never really been in a situation where people are asking for their turn or anything like that. Back when me and my older brother still played the same games, I was THE designated backseat gamer. I can only imagine how annoying it was for him, but I just couldn't help myself. I've probably wasted days of my life sitting there and waiting for him to give me a chance to play whatever new game I couldn't wait to get my hands on.

As for the original post, I really don't talk to non-gamers very much. I don't talk enough to people in real life or have enough friends to ever make small talk about my gaming to a non-gamer.

Last edited by TheBraveSirRobin on 23 Apr 2013, 5:24 am, edited 3 times in total.

PsychoSarah, you sound like an awesome sister. Mine once called me an underachiever and then proceeded to ask me to take her to the grocery store, because she doesn't drive, and can't be bothered to go out driving more than once a year, so her Learner's License just expires every couple years. Non-gamers don't realize that gamers are not lazy or underachievers or any such synonym. A lot of games require more dedication than any lazy person will ever have. Plus, it was the day after I wrote my last exam, and shortly after writing my last term paper, so I had practically zero time to play videogames until then. I was too polite to tell my sister to beat a SMT game and get back to me. I even agreed to take her to the store. *bows head in shame*

My dad tells me I should get rid of my ps2. Yes, I have a ps3, and plan on getting a ps4, but that doesn't mean my ps2 will be a paperweight. As far as I'm concerned, good games don't go bad like a piece of fish, and graphics aren't everything. Besides, my ps2 and I have been together for more than a decade now. I'll be sad if I ever have to part ways with her. He's also pressuring me to sell a lot of my old games, because he doesn't get the concept of a videogame collection, and my mother's even worse in that regard. One of these days I should also explain the concept of a backlog... Anyways, I didn't have the heart to tell my dad I recently added 3 brand new copies of ps2 Megaten games to my collection, because I was still missing 3, and Amazon was offering them for $20 or less each(new).

My nan, sister and I were sitting in the front room and both of them were playing a scrabble game on Facebook. My sister came out with the comment, "See, we are socializing, why don't you do that" (She is constantly moaning at me to be more social.) I reply, "So when I play my games, it's not socializing?". My nan says, "No, all you do is kill people."

I left it at that and continued reading my book. It annoys me though, because you can make some very strong bonds online while playing games with people. Also, how many lives do average people get to save in there life time? 1 maybe 2. In games, even though it is not real, I have saved so many peoples lives I would not be able to count them; so it's not all about killing at all.

The latest example of me saving someone happened this morning. I was playing League of Legends in the Bottom lane, when I Mundo who was there went into trade with a Miss Fortune. He ended up with very low HP and started to run away. Miss Fortune continued to use her basic attack on him and as she has very high range she would have been able to kill him with only one more shot. I saw this was about to happen so I step in the way of the attack so it hit me instead of the Mundo and he was able to get away. A small deed like that and he was so happy with me and thanked me multiple times for allowing him to escape. It feels good when you save people.

I know that feeling. Saving someone in Dota 2 or LoL is the closest thing I will ever feel to be Superman and moments like that make me proud to play a tank or support-type character in those games. Alistar used to be my main in LoL for a reason.

Well, one thing I did learn from "Road Rash: Jailbreak" (PS1 game) was the quote, "Laws are the spider webs where the big bugs fly past and the little ones get caught. Hungry?" after I got caught by the police. It just reinforced my cynicism that I have from time to time. :p

In 2003, I had my left hand cut open on the pinky side while slipping on ice getting out of my car. I cut an artery and needed stitches. A week later, my hand was infected with strep. I had to have surgery and was in hospital for 5 days. I almost lost all or part of my hand but I got away with some nerve damage and a huge scar. My doctor actually recommended I play the Playstation to exercise my hand to aid in recovery.

My favorite is Number 5. I really busted out laughing1

To Tross:
Why don't people realize that peer pressure doesn't work so good if a person doesn't understand why people succumb to it?
I don't care how much crap people give me, I would never sell my ps3.

And to all those people who keep saying "I don't interact with a lot of people" and stuff along those lines, you are preaching to the choir (which essentially means that a good number of people on this site have not had a typical amount of human interaction).

You know what is great about videogame conversation? If you pick the wrong answer, you can load the last save.

I used to hang around a couple of guys who would always berate my gaming habit. Basically, they would give me the "garbage in, garbage out" lectures, about how I was killing my brain by playing video games of all kinds.

I am actively employed, I am doing a lot of outreach in my community and I have a healthy social life these days. Compare that to the other two guys; one of those guys is now proud to be homeless (he is bipolar and is also proud to be unmedicated), and the other wants to spend the rest of his life living off the government isolated in the house that he is going to lose when his mother dies (he is in his 40's and he is living with his mother by choice).

If that is the definition of "killing my brain", I'll keep on killing it.

It used to work when I was a kid. That's why I no longer have my genesis or ps1, or my gameboy color or gameboy advance. I decided never again. I'm keeping my ps3 too, and my psp. I have a vita, and a 3ds. I still have my ds lite with a cracked hinge for my 3 remaining gba games.

I agree about videogame conversation. Heck, you could reload if you screw up in other ways too. Failed a test? I don't think so.

Some interesting points!

That first one.... argh. I haaaaaaaaaaate the "casual game" label. Something like freaking Tetris, one of the all time great classics and one of the best games ever made, is labeled "casual" these days. Stuff like that. But I think what REALLY bothers me about the whole thing is this: The mainstream, "non-casual" games that come out these days, particularly on consoles, are often MUCH MUCH EASIER than the so-called "casual" games. Regenerating health, infinite continues at many checkpoints, low difficulty of damn near everything.... stuff like that. Yet the other games are the ones labeled "casual".

And people tend to think that the label also means the game isnt any good. Sigh.


As for point 3, that one is very debateable.... it really depends on the player. I'll say, it IS important in terms of sales numbers, but beyond that.... yeah, ENTIRELY dependant on the player. Games like Gears of War or Halo or whatever lose my interest within minutes.... but I can get utterly absorbed into ASCII-based Roguelikes, or things like Minecraft (and on top of that, I actually PREFER the look of things like those over the brown, brown, grey, brown, brown, more brown, and brown colors of modern FPS games). I know many others who think the same way. Of course, I also know people who WILL NOT so much as touch a game if it isnt the most bloody gorgeous thing they've ever seen in the history of ever.

Agreed on point 4 as well. I *loathed* Shenmue, but there were so many other things on that console that I did like. And yet, the thing went down so fast.... bloody sad, really. It could have gone MUCH further than it did.



As for lines from people that I dont like....

I think the worst one is the "video games rot your brain" sort of line. Not often phrased exactly like that, but.... very often said. When instead I'm better at alot of things (and smarter) *because* I play them (particularly considering the sorts of games I like), while the people who say such things spend their time sitting in front of the TV watching reality shows.... yeah. Lol.

Another one I hate is: "iOS / Android / mobile / tablets dont have any REAL games, just that casual crap". Yeah. My collection of 200+ games on those which mostly consists of *very* hardcore games (like, extreme-difficulty danmaku shmups, or brutal roguelikes, or the similar ridiculous-difficulty sorts of games that I like; and these are *not* watered down for these versions of them) would like to dispute that. Of my entire collection, probably only about 20 or so of that 200 is "casual" types.

And finally: "PC gaming is dead". No. Just no. This one makes me wanna bash my face against a tree.

There's obviously lots of real games on those, but the funky touch-screen controls artificially increase the difficulty on many of them. The Nintendo DS/3DS have normal controls for that reason even though there's also a touch-screen of course.

Just imagine how lame the Nintendo 3DS would be without a normal analog stick and/or d-pad.

Last edited by Venger on 24 Apr 2013, 5:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Aren't you too old to be playing that?"
(Reference to me playing on my 3DS)
To which I reply;
NO. NEVER.