This is something that has been on my mind for a while now but I’ve never been sure how to put it into words. It’s past time that I wrote this so here we go.
I would consider myself a gamer. I’ve been playing video games since the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in N. America) and have owned a console from every generation since. I align myself with other gamers and invest far too much time into playing games or watching game related content. I was always strangely proud of the title of gamer as the things that I enjoy have always been considered uncool but the gaming community was full of like-minded people who even socially awkward rejects like me could have a good conversation with.
The stereotype was always that we were fat, unsocial nerds who never left the house. Gamers were seen as a subset of society but at least we were happy. Over recent years though there has been a large slide occurring throughout the gaming spheres and changers are happening that has really brought down my faith and made me question the community that has been my home for almost my entire life.
I remember when the Xbox 360 first came out and Halo 3 was the biggest thing out there. I would play the multiplayer for hours every night and made several friend though it. I had fun and everyone shared a common enthusiasm for the game that was refreshing to hear. I’d play in open matches with the general chat on and my microphone ready as I talked and laughed with strangers. Yes there was often the much feared twelve year olds with high pitched voices who’d swear and insult you until the cows came home but they were the minority and were easy to tell apart for a quick mute.
As time went on though, the chat seemed to grow more hazardous. I started to keep my mic turned off and then eventually muted chat completely. The talk had become sexist, racist and just generally foul. I tried a few times to get back into that original spirit in multiplayer games but never succeeded. Halo 4 was my last multiplayer experience and that was a very short play time. I haven’t gamed with others in over a year now and have not renewed my Gold membership.
But as I spent less time actually playing games, I spent an increasing time watching Let’s Plays and gaming news. I still very much considered myself a gamer and kept with the community, only I stuck to single player experiences. The Youtube comments always had its disgusting streaks but in general it was an interesting place to be.
Now go onto any gaming relevant Youtube video and read the comments. They truly are a wretched hive of villainy and scum. Hate fills the comments. There is no other word for it but pure hate. Hate against women, hate against change, hate against other gamers and hate against the people providing their entertainment. Having an opinion is okay. Giving constructive criticism is okay. Threatening to rape and kill women is sure as hell not okay. Telling someone to kill themselves is NOT okay. It is bullying, plain and simple, and as gamers we should all know what it is like to be bullied. ‘Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you’ is BULLSHIT. Words do hurt. Words can make you depressed and alone. Words can scare you, make you feel threatened. Someone said something you don’t agree with so lets threaten to burn their house down? Pathetic.
Only recently, Notch, the creator of Minecraft, left the company that he founded because of the gaming community. In his own words ‘the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with’. There it is again, that word ‘hate’. Notch is hugely respected in the gaming world yet the miasma of gamers still hit him hard. His closing sentence is very haunting and sums up the current state of the industry well: ‘It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.’
I thought that gaming becoming more mainstream could only be a good thing but I was wrong. It doesn’t feel like a community anymore but rather a warzone as messed up as any conflict in the Middle East. Guess what, those extremist also rape and kill women, torture those who don’t agree with them and use words to inflict fear. Congratulations guys, you’re on par with terrorists.
I can no longer justify things by thinking ‘Oh its just some kids who are too stupid to understand their actions’ like I did in Halo 3. The hate is too wide and too great for a few misguided children. More kids are certainly involved in gaming now but if all of this hate is coming from kids then I truly fear for the future of the world and not just gamers.
The venom is too much for me. I’m now near the point of being ashamed of the title of gamer. Video games were held up to the light of society and given a chance to grow and flourish but instead we have done nothing but show the community as a monster. We wanted games to be taken seriously, to be seen as art, to be valued by the world. Until we ourselves accept games as something serious and artistic this will never happen. Complaining like a spoilt child at having games be inclusive achieves nothing. Games are predominantly sexist, it had to be with the industry’s roots. Should women be given fair representation? Yes. Does that mean that we can no longer have violent, masculine games? Hell no.
The industry and the community needs to change. If we continue this plummeting nosedive into the depths of hell then games as a whole may as well rollover and die now. We could have been great but instead we chose to fester.
FireWolfFred 