Had an epic discussion on #GamerGate with some people who are generally opposed to it.
Started with this tweet:
https://twitter.com/earlymoderndude/status/529938033764999168 (read the full convo)
Continued later with this tweet:
https://twitter.com/ec_maxi/status/530127186830061568
After some discourse, ended up getting this reply:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sevnka
And my reply to that is the reason for this blogpost :D
The reply itself here: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sf1u28
The immediate context for this is the fact that this is a discussion on the meaning of "core" in gaming, which doesn't feel at all controversial to me, but has been controversial in the larger scene for some time.
Text below:
-----------
Should have seen that coming :)
I keep forgetting that the word "core" is a loaded word in gaming ever since the "hardcore" vs "softcore" forum holy wars a while back. I thought we got over it already, but apparently not.
When i talk about "core" gaming audience i am not really talking about the hardcore / sorftcore / midcore distinction. I am talking about people attracted to something that is intrinsic to all games as experience, such as ability to game an interactive system.
In my mind, it really is not about how much time you spend with a game or how much you achieve within it.
At the start of my gaming life i spent literally all my free time playing every single PC, SNES (and later PSOne) release i could get my hands on - and later forgetting all the console games, instead dedicating years of my life to climbing the Warcraft 3 PvP ladder - which later smoothly translated into over a year of /played in WoW. I would call myself "hardcore", only i wasn't really aware of the term at that point. Was just a guy that loved to play games.
Nowadays i am barely putting together 4-5 hours of play a week, only playing AAA games with friends who like them and spending most of the rest of the time on Wii U and indie Steam titles. I still think of myself as "core" gamer, though. In fact, your description of "core" gamers fits me very well :D. The closest i ever got to reddit is listening to some podcasts that occasionally reference some content from their subreddits. The only reason i was even aware of GamaSutra article is because i work in gamedev and read GamaSutra for professional reasons. If not for that, it is likely that the entire thing would just blow over my head. Doubly so, since not all that many people are even aware of #GamerGate in Russia.
Either way, the important thing to point out here is that i've been both a hardcore player and a midcore player (and even spent a few months as softcore casual mobile player a couple years back). The definition of "core" that i have is not something that separates these states of gamer being and "belongs" to one single state above others. The definition of "core" that i have is something that unites them all.
Now, I accept that i might need to find a better word when talking to people in gaming that didn't quite get over the whole "HARDCORE VERSUS SOFTCORE" thing. But, alternatively, i might just choose to take this word back, because i like it so much :D. This would require me to carry the time/emotion cost of explaining myself on that account every single time, but i really don't mind.
---------
With that out of the way, the notion of relationship between hard / mid / soft players does provide an interesting perspective on the whole thing. So let's discuss it a bit more :)
The first thing i need to point out is that i never really blamed anyone for "dumbing down" my games.
When WoW went through its own cycle of "dumbing down", i was mostly fine with it, because there really was still plenty to actually play with. If i wanted challenges, i could always make my own :). Solorunning TBC heroics with my mage remain some of my most treasured experiences to this day. I was playing WoW until i felt there is literally nothing new to experience and then i was done with it. Only getting tempted to get back in it now, because Garrisons look like something new and interesting.
During my WoW time, there were some people who liked to rant about game getting dumb. Weren't many of them. Out of literally hundreds i played with over time, there were less than a handful. These people liked to rant about a lot of other things, too and largely came across as the kind of people who'd be very unhappy without both a topic to rant about and a captive audience. They are still playing years after i've been gone. Blizzard is not really catering to them at all. And why would Blizzard do it, if they stay anyway? :)
TLDR: Crying about games getting "dumbed down" is a good way to get irrelevant quickly
I do very much function as a tastemaker for my peer group. I am not playing hardcore, but i have a sense of taste for games, do keep up with the news and able to offer some good advice once a person gives me some idea of what kind of experience is being looked for. I do get the feeling that you want to say that a tastemaker exists separately of the peer group, but i really find this is not the case. One of reasons i am able to give good advice is that i'm very much in tune with the gaming needs of all members in my peer group.
The reason i personally didn't react to "bro shooter" articles and the like is because they came across as lame whining and were, ultimately, inconsequential. In a "so, what are you going to do about it?" kind of way.
All of these articles simply served to prove - in my mind - how disconnected game journalists have been getting from actual gamers - as i continued to recommend AAA games i found to be worthwhile to people interested in worthwhile AAA games. Gears of War may be a "bro shooter", but it was also a pretty good action game that brought much joy to many of my friends. God of War may be a power fantasy, but it was also an easy recommendation at the time, because of superb characterization job and exellent action.
And the best part is? Even people that play casually are improving. A few years back i was basically untouchable in CoD, simply due to a vast array of Doom / Quake / Half-Life / CS reflexes that i built up way back. For similar reasons, the mere thought of anyone who isn't a pro fighting gamer athlete so much as touching my Mistsurugi in Soul Caliber or Kasumi / Ayame in Dead or Alive was laughable.
Now?
Just yesterday i got completely schooled in both new Call of Duty (because i couldn't adapt to vertical mobility as fast as my friend did) and latest Soul Calibur (a girl i know really got the hang of Ivy). In another very odd and welcome reversal, people are teaching ME how to play Bayonetta :D
All of this happened out of sight of most of journalists. They were perfectly content entertaining themselves in their little echo chamber passing around stories of in-game harrassment by people who are marginal even within the gaming scene. And hey, why not? Freedom of speech, different strokes, all fine and good. Making fun of what the journo clowns cooked up again amounted for more than one funny evening with friends :) Like you are absolutely correctly saying, gaming core was by and large is unconcerned with this kind of self-gratification.
"Bro/casual gamers are stupid" discourse didn't "play" into anything. it was simply a lie that was perpetuated by people with nothing better to write about. It was enjoyed by those who wanted it to be true, but i have no idea where you get the 10-20% figure. 1% maybe.
And then the lie got vicious. Told me that all of my friends are disgusting woman-haters. Called for the industry to stop viewing my little peer circle (and all circles like it) as its audience. Repeated it a dozen of times on all major platforms.
Now, most of my friends are still pretty much "lol" about the whole thing. More cynical of them even admire the sheer extent of the "publicity stunt". After all, they don't rely on Polygon or GamaSutra for their game information needs. Most of them already developed their tastes and preferences. My tastemaker services are only needed when they want to shake things up a little,
You are entirely right that they don't need protecting from the "Gamers are dead" bile :)
At this point, they are actually protecting me from it :D
Which is why i am able to humour everyone who comes to me with yet another stupid and uniformned idea about how gamer identity is harmful. And then explain why these ideas are, in fact, stupid and uninformed.
Guess i didn't touch the hardcore-softcore division at all :)
This division just doesn't really exist in my mind. Hardcore and midcore are both part of the same "core". Hardcores push the limits of game systems. Midcores populate said limits with human touch.
There is harmony to be had here. Should you choose to embrace it.
Started with this tweet:
https://twitter.com/earlymoderndude/status/529938033764999168 (read the full convo)
Continued later with this tweet:
https://twitter.com/ec_maxi/status/530127186830061568
After some discourse, ended up getting this reply:
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sevnka
And my reply to that is the reason for this blogpost :D
The reply itself here: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sf1u28
The immediate context for this is the fact that this is a discussion on the meaning of "core" in gaming, which doesn't feel at all controversial to me, but has been controversial in the larger scene for some time.
Text below:
-----------
Should have seen that coming :)
I keep forgetting that the word "core" is a loaded word in gaming ever since the "hardcore" vs "softcore" forum holy wars a while back. I thought we got over it already, but apparently not.
When i talk about "core" gaming audience i am not really talking about the hardcore / sorftcore / midcore distinction. I am talking about people attracted to something that is intrinsic to all games as experience, such as ability to game an interactive system.
In my mind, it really is not about how much time you spend with a game or how much you achieve within it.
At the start of my gaming life i spent literally all my free time playing every single PC, SNES (and later PSOne) release i could get my hands on - and later forgetting all the console games, instead dedicating years of my life to climbing the Warcraft 3 PvP ladder - which later smoothly translated into over a year of /played in WoW. I would call myself "hardcore", only i wasn't really aware of the term at that point. Was just a guy that loved to play games.
Nowadays i am barely putting together 4-5 hours of play a week, only playing AAA games with friends who like them and spending most of the rest of the time on Wii U and indie Steam titles. I still think of myself as "core" gamer, though. In fact, your description of "core" gamers fits me very well :D. The closest i ever got to reddit is listening to some podcasts that occasionally reference some content from their subreddits. The only reason i was even aware of GamaSutra article is because i work in gamedev and read GamaSutra for professional reasons. If not for that, it is likely that the entire thing would just blow over my head. Doubly so, since not all that many people are even aware of #GamerGate in Russia.
Either way, the important thing to point out here is that i've been both a hardcore player and a midcore player (and even spent a few months as softcore casual mobile player a couple years back). The definition of "core" that i have is not something that separates these states of gamer being and "belongs" to one single state above others. The definition of "core" that i have is something that unites them all.
Now, I accept that i might need to find a better word when talking to people in gaming that didn't quite get over the whole "HARDCORE VERSUS SOFTCORE" thing. But, alternatively, i might just choose to take this word back, because i like it so much :D. This would require me to carry the time/emotion cost of explaining myself on that account every single time, but i really don't mind.
---------
With that out of the way, the notion of relationship between hard / mid / soft players does provide an interesting perspective on the whole thing. So let's discuss it a bit more :)
The first thing i need to point out is that i never really blamed anyone for "dumbing down" my games.
When WoW went through its own cycle of "dumbing down", i was mostly fine with it, because there really was still plenty to actually play with. If i wanted challenges, i could always make my own :). Solorunning TBC heroics with my mage remain some of my most treasured experiences to this day. I was playing WoW until i felt there is literally nothing new to experience and then i was done with it. Only getting tempted to get back in it now, because Garrisons look like something new and interesting.
During my WoW time, there were some people who liked to rant about game getting dumb. Weren't many of them. Out of literally hundreds i played with over time, there were less than a handful. These people liked to rant about a lot of other things, too and largely came across as the kind of people who'd be very unhappy without both a topic to rant about and a captive audience. They are still playing years after i've been gone. Blizzard is not really catering to them at all. And why would Blizzard do it, if they stay anyway? :)
TLDR: Crying about games getting "dumbed down" is a good way to get irrelevant quickly
I do very much function as a tastemaker for my peer group. I am not playing hardcore, but i have a sense of taste for games, do keep up with the news and able to offer some good advice once a person gives me some idea of what kind of experience is being looked for. I do get the feeling that you want to say that a tastemaker exists separately of the peer group, but i really find this is not the case. One of reasons i am able to give good advice is that i'm very much in tune with the gaming needs of all members in my peer group.
The reason i personally didn't react to "bro shooter" articles and the like is because they came across as lame whining and were, ultimately, inconsequential. In a "so, what are you going to do about it?" kind of way.
All of these articles simply served to prove - in my mind - how disconnected game journalists have been getting from actual gamers - as i continued to recommend AAA games i found to be worthwhile to people interested in worthwhile AAA games. Gears of War may be a "bro shooter", but it was also a pretty good action game that brought much joy to many of my friends. God of War may be a power fantasy, but it was also an easy recommendation at the time, because of superb characterization job and exellent action.
And the best part is? Even people that play casually are improving. A few years back i was basically untouchable in CoD, simply due to a vast array of Doom / Quake / Half-Life / CS reflexes that i built up way back. For similar reasons, the mere thought of anyone who isn't a pro fighting gamer athlete so much as touching my Mistsurugi in Soul Caliber or Kasumi / Ayame in Dead or Alive was laughable.
Now?
Just yesterday i got completely schooled in both new Call of Duty (because i couldn't adapt to vertical mobility as fast as my friend did) and latest Soul Calibur (a girl i know really got the hang of Ivy). In another very odd and welcome reversal, people are teaching ME how to play Bayonetta :D
All of this happened out of sight of most of journalists. They were perfectly content entertaining themselves in their little echo chamber passing around stories of in-game harrassment by people who are marginal even within the gaming scene. And hey, why not? Freedom of speech, different strokes, all fine and good. Making fun of what the journo clowns cooked up again amounted for more than one funny evening with friends :) Like you are absolutely correctly saying, gaming core was by and large is unconcerned with this kind of self-gratification.
"Bro/casual gamers are stupid" discourse didn't "play" into anything. it was simply a lie that was perpetuated by people with nothing better to write about. It was enjoyed by those who wanted it to be true, but i have no idea where you get the 10-20% figure. 1% maybe.
And then the lie got vicious. Told me that all of my friends are disgusting woman-haters. Called for the industry to stop viewing my little peer circle (and all circles like it) as its audience. Repeated it a dozen of times on all major platforms.
Now, most of my friends are still pretty much "lol" about the whole thing. More cynical of them even admire the sheer extent of the "publicity stunt". After all, they don't rely on Polygon or GamaSutra for their game information needs. Most of them already developed their tastes and preferences. My tastemaker services are only needed when they want to shake things up a little,
You are entirely right that they don't need protecting from the "Gamers are dead" bile :)
At this point, they are actually protecting me from it :D
Which is why i am able to humour everyone who comes to me with yet another stupid and uniformned idea about how gamer identity is harmful. And then explain why these ideas are, in fact, stupid and uninformed.
Guess i didn't touch the hardcore-softcore division at all :)
This division just doesn't really exist in my mind. Hardcore and midcore are both part of the same "core". Hardcores push the limits of game systems. Midcores populate said limits with human touch.
There is harmony to be had here. Should you choose to embrace it.
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