Old-wizard.com wrote:Anyone who visits video game forums knows that there are people who spend a little too much of their free time on these boards. There comes a point where the gamer needs to get off the video game forum for a while, at least for a week, to refresh their memory on who they are in real life. This is not to say that all people who go on video game forums will be on this list, but definitely some, and some that we see every day. We think it’s in everyone’s self interest to recognize if they’re spending too much time on video game forums by seeing if they fall within one of these categories.
10. You think a “girl” is hot just from looking at “her” avatar
You meet someone online on a video game forum with a good-looking avatar and its love at first sight. “Her” avatar of Lara Croft’s cleavage is hot but you’re still too nervous to talk to her directly. You assume that just because her avatar looks good that she does too. The thought never crosses your mind that a fat chick or a 40 year old guy living in his parent’s basement would have an avatar that looks that good. No, everyone has avatars that look just like they do in real life. That’s why you picked a Han Solo avatar for yourself, because you’re cool in real life just like he is. If this describes you then maybe its time to log off the video game forums for a while go out and meet some real girls.
9. Your favorite button on your keyboard is Caps Lock
Trying to get your voice across in a more boisterous fashion requires the virtual symbolization to stand out more. How can you do this? Very easily. BY MAKING SURE EVERYTHING YOU WRITE IS WITH THE CAPSLOCK ON MAKING IT SEEM LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE! In real life though, you don’t have the caps lock option. If you’re shouting this way in real life, someone is going to tell you to shut the hell up. Most likely the frequent forum-goer will shut the hell up if someone tells them too in real life, but not online. On the video game forum you can easily make your opinion stand out by making it look bigger than it is in it’s logical reasoning. If you find yourself typing too much in caps, its time to shut off the computer, or at least take a break from the forums.
8. You get upset when someone when someone numbers the Final Fantasy games by the North American numbering system
Is it Final Fantasy 3 or 6? Do you even care? If you answered “yes”, then maybe you should take a break from video game forums for a while. Why is this even an issue with some people? Its easy, some people think that only they and a handful of select people really know that Final Fantasy 3 in the US was really Final Fantasy 6 in Japan. If the numbering of a FF game does become an issue, can’t the person simply ask “are you talking about Final Fantasy 3 in North America or Japan”? But some people will go on and on making an issue out of something that can be conceptually cleared up in a matter of seconds. It’s as if the frequent forum-goer gains a certain authority because they are able to refer to Final Fantasy 3 by its Japanese number. Get over it. Whatever its called in whatever place in the world, we know what is being referred to if someone just clears it up quickly. Spend too much time on forums though, and you’re sure to get into this argument.
7. You call people “fanboys”
Spend any amount of time on a video game forum and you’re sure to be accused of being a fan boy by someone who is obviously a fanboy themselves. No one is going to call you a fanboy unless they’re a fanboy of something that they like that you don’t like. These categorical statements go nowhere in trying to discuss anything with any substantiality. The sad aspect of this all is that it has become standard and accepted practice in video game forums to label people as fanboys as if it was necessarily a bad thing that one person likes something more than something else. God forbid that you like one system more than another, you’re automatically a fanboy and therefore marginalized as someone who can’t talk about any subject.
6. You call yourself a “real gamer”
When you you get angry at someone else’s virtual opinions on video games, you say the person’s “not a real gamer”. You make fun of people who don’t play games 24 hours a day in order to show off your opinion to a virtual community. A “Real Gamer” knows about everything. They know about video games both new and old. If you haven’t played every game of old and new or aren’t accustomed to newer games or older games, then your not a real gamer. If you don’t like a game that most other people like, then your not a real gamer. The real gamer tag can be applied to almost anything because of how general of a label it is. Why does someone have to prove their” real gamer” status to people they don’t even really know in the first place?
5. You make a point to tell people that you’ve played games no one else has played
Only someone who needs to prove a point to an online community will go out of their way to say that they play games that no one else has played. They will say they are “Atari Jaguar” fans and that the Jaguar had released some of the best games of all time but because you were not enough of a gamer to play every esoteric system in existence, you can’t have a valid opinion on any video game. This person will rely on a massive list of obscure Japanese games unknown to anyone else. Have they ever played these games for themselves? We don’t know this for sure. We do know that they can talk about them to other people in the virtual community. Music forums have the same types of people. The more obscure shitty indie bands you can name, the more you somehow think your opinion on the subject as a whole becomes more valid.
4. You’re a tough guy online but timid in real life
It’s easy to talk gooseberry fool online. We all know this. Anyone can hide behind a computer and act as if they are bigger than other people and tell them what’s right or wrong with a feigned sense of authority. But try doing this in real life. Its likely that you would never act like that in the face of someone real, or if you did, you would get your ass beat or you’d be shouted down (of course before this happens you’ll probably run away). Please, if you see yourself as someone timid in real life, at least limit yourself to who you actually are on the forums. Don’t be one of those people who displaces their insecurity on a public forum with people who can’t react to you in reality.
3. When you disagree with something you reply by saying “fail”
One of the more obvious ways to tell if you spend too much time on forums is if you reply to a forum post or article with “Fail”, “Epic fail” or “full of fail”. 90% of the time, these lazy statements are never accompanied by any substance. You will simply see a commentator say “fail”, with nothing after it. You can be sure that someone who does this hasn’t read the article or played the game that they are trying to categorically define as “fail”. You can be sure that this impulsive gesture is a simple way to demonize something they have already decided not to like. One can dislike a game or article and give a substantial opinion on why they dislike it. We laud those who do and there are definitely many, but to those with the “epic fail” compulsion, it’s time to turn off the computer learn other ways of argumentation that aren’t so puerile.
2. You’ve never actually met any of your “friends” in real life
You say you have friends. Your friends are all online though. The difference between a friend you have in real life and a virtual friend you have on a forum is large. Without personal live communication, or the ability to see the facial gestures of your forum “friends”, make these people not friends but representations of symbols. It’s a stretch to call a representation of symbols a friend, even if those representations tend to agree with you once in awhile. It’s funny to watch certain people “get together” virtually and gang up on others for their perceived lack of taste in video games. If they tried this in real life, those people who mouth off about their superlative video game tastes would get their asses beat, and its doubtful that their virtual friends would have their back in reality.
1. You never actually play any games
Think about that. You loved video games at one point but because you felt the compulsion to go on forums and talk about the games, you forgot to play games themselves! You play one game a year and spend the rest of the year talking about other games you haven’t played on forums with people you never met and will never meet. Games are not meant to be talked about first and foremost. They are firstly meant to be played, and if enjoyed, discussed amongst others who enjoy the game like you did, but going on forums and defending games one didn’t play because they want to defend a genre or because they’re too addicted to talking amongst virtual others is a real problem for the person spending too much of their time on a forum.
Hardy any apply to me, thankfully - even though I'm on too often. Although #1 had me worried a few months back. Come the end of the college semester, I'd hope to spend less time on forums.
.
