Are hardcore gamers snobby and elitist?

[qubit]

We all know that hardcore gamers are serious about their rigs and dedication to the geek genre. But are they also a snobby and elitist bunch with little tolerance for social or casual gamers?

Well, Nicholas Lovell of GamesBrief believes that hardcore gamers should stop looking down at titles like Farmville and start realizing that Zynga has "done something" that traditional gaming companies have thus far been unable to accomplish.

"Zynga, Playfish, Playdom, 6Waves and Crowdstar have found ways to make games that appeal to a broader cross-section of society than traditional approaches have ever done," he opined.

TGDaily

[erocker]

I don't quite understand the article's point. Some people play Farmville and some play Crysis. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Personally I enjoy games that need a "hardcore rig" and I enjoy games that can be played on a netbook. How does "elitist" equate to the "hardcore gamer"? Elitists exist in all aspects of life or really people with poor attitudes exist in all aspects of life. I just don't see people "looking down" at other games. This sounds more like a story to fluff these social games via interview with a company stooge. I vote "Don't care."

[n-ster]

I have a friend, serious hardcore gamer with gaming medals and stuff (LOL I find that a bit geekish)

I vote NO, they are not, some are because it gets to their head, at the ssame time, I don't care lol

[pantherx12]

"Zynga, Playfish, Playdom, 6Waves and Crowdstar have found ways to make games that appeal to a broader cross-section of society than traditional approaches have ever done,"


BULLSHIT!

It's just because their web based and attached now to site that people use every day, that's not taking a new approach that's just natural development of the web.


I tend to find hardcore gamers snobby and elitist by the by.

Hell I find myself like it sometimes when watching my friends play my games, I feel embarrassed for their skill and get frustrated by it, to me it seems idiotic they can't do simple things or remember where keys are.

And I'm not even "hardcore" I probably game a lot less than a lot of you guys on here do.

[Mussels]

the article misses some very serious points.


core (let alone hardcore) gamers on PC, are no different to console gamers - oh no, i spent $3K on my PC... yeah, most console gamers have $3K HDTV's to go with their $300 console.

snobby? no, just money spent in different places.


these web based games are the same thing - people who spend zilch on their PC's, are stuck with the lowest end of games - the cheap clicky games us core/hardcore gamers played as children (cough, simcity anyone?)


the only sense i can make out of the article (which isnt something they even SAY, just infer) is that modern gaming lacks the simple fun of older games.

i know i played simcity to death and loved it, where has that kind of game gone? the sim series got more and more complex every generation, making it more of a chore than a game.

[jasper1605]

Originally Posted by Mussels

i know i played simcity to death and loved it, where has that kind of game gone? the sim series got more and more complex every generation, making it more of a chore than a game.

indeed. SimCity 3000 was intense though I considered it beaten when I had the entire map filled, 300 mil in my bank and 2 subways that went under the river lol.

On topic, I do not think hardcore gamers are snobby. Some are, but snobbishness is not a prereq to hardcore gaming. We're passionate. The same reason I can spend 8 hours straight playing Starcraft 2 is the same reason why people will spend all day hunting (we enjoy it). That's all, thanks for reading

[Easy Rhino]

more proof that tech "journalists" are merely trolls in disguise. nobody cares what you think. go away.

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

more proof that tech "journalists" are merely trolls in disguise. nobody cares what you think. go away.

i used my mind reading device to get the thought patterns of a web journo for ya.

How dare you disagree with me! this is the internet, where i can say what i want! and i'm always right, so you CANT argue with me for saying it!

[Easy Rhino]

Originally Posted by Mussels

i used my mind reading device to get the thought patterns of a web journo for ya.

haha. i don't think it is so much about being right (although i know that tech nerds in general have an axe to grind with the rest of society.) i think it is more about creating lame discussions on topics that nobody cares about except for them.

[1Kurgan1]

Need another option there, some are some aren't, it all comes down to personality, some people like to brag, others don't. I feel I'm competitive in almost all games I play, but I don't go shouting out that I am the greatest.

[Easy Rhino]

Originally Posted by 1Kurgan1

Need another option there, some are some aren't, it all comes down to personality, some people like to brag, others don't. I feel I'm competitive in almost all games I play, but I don't go shouting out that I am the greatest.

the article is about elite pc gamers who look down on games like farmville, not brag about being good at a video game (although those do exist too.)

[qubit]

The hardcore gameplay and high (and expensive) PC requirements are the entry ticket for this exclusive/elitist attitude. This is just like membership to some exclusive and expensive social club in the real world.

I've met some gamers that see a low-end game and will laugh at it as being rubbish and deride the people that like to play them. So yes, I think it can breed this attitude. However, it would be grossly unfair to tar all hardcore gamers with this brush.

I certainly don't look down at other styles of game play - whatever makes you happy, I say!

[streetfighter 2]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/1/16/
^What I think.^

[Spaceman Spiff]

*Sigh...* No. People will always place others in a category to make themselves feel better. PC gamers are elitists, PS3 and X360 are fanboys..... whatever. Don't buy into the hate. Hardcore gamers though... it's hard to define. How many hours do you have to spend to be "hardcore?" If you play one game forever and become badass at it you still don't have to be a douchebag. People play different games. Different strokes for different folk(s?).

[qubit]

Originally Posted by Spaceman Spiff

*Sigh...* No. People will always place others in a category to make themselves feel better. PC gamers are elitists, PS3 and X360 are fanboys..... whatever. Don't buy into the hate. Hardcore gamers though... it's hard to define. How many hours do you have to spend to be "hardcore?" If you play one game forever and become badass at it you still don't have to be a douchebag. People play different games. Different strokes for different folk(s?).

I guess what it boils down to is whether the particular person is a douchebag in the first place. And I've met quite a few of those.

Then again, I've met some seriously bright people that had ample opportunity to put others down, but instead always had time for them and would explain concepts and stuff.

One guy in particular was an ace programmer and I suspect a potential genius. One of the things he could do was just scan an assembler program of all things with a few quick scrolls of the screen and figure it out and find bugs in it. Incredible.

[e6600]

stupid article imo
like a 18 year old whos just been taught the meaning of elitist, and has had no real life experience to back up the thought

[FordGT90Concept]

I don't know, am I? I've beat hundreds if not thousands of games and my computers are built by me. I think that qualifies me as "hardcore." I'd say not, but I could be kidding myself. XD

[streetfighter 2]

So I read the article (not because I wanted to but because insomnia gave me nothing better to do). Here's my thoughts:

I think a good analogy might be where you, a muscle car owner, were talking to someone with factory fresh Honda Civic with a 1.6L SOHC. You'd have a really difficult time not looking like an ass. Even if you were authentically polite and smiled in all the right places you might slip up and say, "I thought the DOHC was a bit better but you don't lose much and you get to pad your wallet going with the SOHC"-- And just like that you are an arrogant prick.

I don't honor (all) traditional social conventions so who knows where I (or others) fall. You ever try to have a conversation with someone when you didn't know how familiar they were with the current topic? It can be rather amusing to have your innocuous statements turn rude.

I only know women who play Farmville, and if it comes up in polite conversation I praise it to high heaven and then shy away when asked if I play it. I don't play it.

I find it a bit ironic though that there is a farming game with a 62 million player herd. I don't play WoW either and that's got another 11 million sheep.

Also I've heard many gamers say Farmville sucks, but I've never once heard someone say it isn't a game (which the article claims). Most gamers I know could rattle off a list of at least 20 flash games they love, none of them Farmville.

[RejZoR]

Farmville. Yes, whatever floats your boat is the best comment for this. I mean you can't compare hardcore FPS players with a Farmville. I also can't seem to consider WoW players as hardcore. You can be a hardcore grinder but that's pretty much it. While FPS games require specific degree of consistent accuracy, proper timing, proper decision making, proper team work if it's a team based game etc. I could even consider Tetris and Bejeweled in this category since they both require a consistent degree of quick thinking, good coordination, a bit of a strategy and timing. None you could find in Farmville lol.

[1Kurgan1]

Originally Posted by Easy Rhino

the article is about elite pc gamers who look down on games like farmville, not brag about being good at a video game (although those do exist too.)

I didn't really read it was just looking at some of the comments in the thread about people who got gaming medals and such. I say if people love Farmville play it, but I never will, the reason I hate that damn game and every other facebook game is they all update all of your friends, so when you know even 5 people playing a few games, it gets annoying as hell, then you got to go through the hassle of blocking them all. If it wasn't for that, then I would really care less.

[Easo]

Judging from WoW and CS players, in my expierence some 1/3 of hardcore gamers are elitist. Example, WoW: OMFG, it (some patch change) will make game easier for casual scrubs (guy has problems understanding that casuals are the ones who pay bassically all income from wow, aka they support game, not a bunch of elitists )lololotrololool!!!
CS: You stupid scrub, how could you have killed me , go suck your ........ etc.
Of rest 2/3 1/3 dont care about casuals, other 1/3 gives help to casuals.

[RejZoR]

Actually the problem with CS:S is that hit detection sucks balls and even if you are playing it for 2 years non stop, there isn't any skill level or a learning curve. It's just random. In my case it was like this. First 3 rounds worked perfectly and every headshot was also headshot. After that, headshots became neckshots, entire clips from half a meter did not make a kill etc. Then i had to fiddle with the rates for 5 minutes to get another working round. Then map change happened and rates again meant dick as i had to again change them. Another 5 minutes spending in the damn console. And then again bunch fo random idiotic things. And i thought i bought a FPS game, which then turned out to be a console type game (like Zork) where you end up typing more than shooting...

[1Kurgan1]

Originally Posted by Easo

Judging from WoW and CS players, in my expierence some 1/3 of hardcore gamers are elitist. Example, WoW: OMFG, it (some patch change) will make game easier for casual scrubs (guy has problems understanding that casuals are the ones who pay bassically all income from wow, aka they support game, not a bunch of elitists )lololotrololool!!!
CS: You stupid scrub, how could you have killed me , go suck your ........ etc.
Of rest 2/3 1/3 dont care about casuals, other 1/3 gives help to casuals.

Eh, I get your examples, but lots of the casual changes in wow aren't that great, and if they lost some subs, maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing, no other mmo has ever needed 11 million subs to keep afloat.

[KieranD]

You don't need to be a hardcore gamer or elitist to look down at certain types of games take Viva Pinata 1/2 on the xbox 360 great games but everyone thinks they are children's games! Anyway they are talking about gamers not tech/pc enthusiasts. There are snobs and elitist in every walk of life, its just a personality thing i think. I just like games im not a hardcore gamer; i would say i am maybe a pc enthusiast not because i spend a lot of money but because i enjoy it and put a lot of time into that hobby. I don't think im snobby or elitist because i buy good games, technically good games not just popular ones; i think that is just spending your time and money wisely. I don't have a dislike to a certain style of game i can look past that or appreciate it for what it is.

I dont get this term Hardcore does it refer to just adult orientated titles with violence and mature themes? or does it refer to people who are really into gaming and spend a lot of time playing games? I dont really understand the meaning of this term, its a pretty crude term if anything.

Lastly i think that there are a lot of snobby "Casual" gamers, they wont play certain games because its geeky or whatever fucking daft excuse or ignorance. Oh wait that's it prejudice and ignorance, these things also exist in every walk of life.

EDIT: Farmville sucks now Harvest Moon that is a good game!

[Kreij]

Sounds like Nicholas Lovell of GamesBrief has stock in Zynga and is put out because there is a segment of the gaming community that does not think his investment is l33t.

So I appropriately voted, "Who cares."