EPTI find myself writing this blog entry in order to frame the gaming i've been doing lately. and my thoughts about gamer identity and other things. I've been playing rather a lot this fall, and I want to try to write a few words about it it in this blog, in an honest yet positive manner. Maybe I'll continue writing on a bi-weekly basis or so, we'll see!
I will dedicate this entry to detail my answers to a couple of basic questions: Why do I play and How do I play.
To illustrate the Why i play, Day[9]:s manifesto gets the ball rolling in a good direction:
”We are more than stereotypes. We are adventurers and doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs, journalists and lawyers, scientists and students. We are smart, ambitious, and competitive. We are gamers.
We believe society has forgotten how to play.
Play keeps us sane in our daily lives. Play keeps us curious, imaginative and directed. It teaches us to learn from our mistakes, to constantly improve, and to stride forward – battling through failures on our road to success.
Play develops relationships and communities. We have fond memories of growing up playing games with our friends and siblings. The gaming experience bonds us together now, as it bonded us then. We discover friends, partners, and spouses while gaming. We game with our children. We transcend international borders when we play. (...)"
Our community is smart, supportive, funny, irreverent, international, insightful, and intolerant of bullsh*t.
We believe society has forgotten how to play.
Play keeps us sane in our daily lives. Play keeps us curious, imaginative and directed. It teaches us to learn from our mistakes, to constantly improve, and to stride forward – battling through failures on our road to success.
Play develops relationships and communities. We have fond memories of growing up playing games with our friends and siblings. The gaming experience bonds us together now, as it bonded us then. We discover friends, partners, and spouses while gaming. We game with our children. We transcend international borders when we play. (...)"
Our community is smart, supportive, funny, irreverent, international, insightful, and intolerant of bullsh*t.
Indeed, being 31' y o educated but currently insufficiently employed, and a gamer, play does keep me sane; it feeds my analytic mind. Witch is good, As long as i keep using the play as a tool and vehicle for my curiosity, imagination and sense of direction.
I want to focus on the last part of what Day[9] says in the quote, and elaborate on what that means to me:
"Play develops relationships and communities"
I haven't always fully understood and embodied this in my life as a gamer. Alongside the growth of my interest for competitive strategy games however, I have found myself gradually understanding and embodying "gamer-identity" that in its good moments definitely boils down to human interaction, through and around games.
I used to - as I suspect many gamers, young and old(?) still do - take the conflicting interactive aspects of online gaming as a static given. I would consider the toxicity perhaps unfortunate, but inevitable, and ultimately pointless to resist or attempt to consistently rise above by any other means than assuming pretty much everyone were dicks. It made me a rather quiet gamer, a closeted nerd if you will, for the most part too cynical and defensive to reach out and make friends with strangers in online games.
Now, through forum activity and social gaming I have made new friends, some close-by, some far away and I seem to quite effortlessly make new friends, gaming online as well as in person on barcrafts & other nerdy events.
How did this happen? This brings us to the second question; How do I play
I play games that for different reasons tickle my fancies. I play to explore and map out the games strategic landscapes. I play to win, but I also play to explore and create novelty; novel ways to win that combines with previous know-how and other players know-how.
More importantly, I try to suppress my ego in relation to the players I meet. I try to embrace an unassuming and prestigeless attitude. This helps me truly rise above toxicity and negativity, while attracting like-minded individuals to make friends and potentially, build communities.
In later entries, I hope to elaborate on the above, especially the last paragraphs. I also expect to get more specific about the games i play. Lately for example, there has been a lot of "Heroes of the storm" on my plate. A new kind of game for me, from several perspectives - and one played with largely new people!
Thank you for reading. so what say you, am I a hippie-geek? are you? why / why not?!
Regardless: may you find a pace for your life that gives you peace!
