So I’m reading an article at massively.com (click here to read it) talking about what you tell people about your hobby. Interesting read; brings out a few points. One is that there are a ton of us out there, yet gaming seems to still carry a stigma as a hobby.

Yet I have never been ashamed to tell people I game. Maybe it has been to my detriment, but I have honestly never worried about what people thought. And yes I had friends in school, even those that didn’t game.

Heck, I once attended Dungeon and Dragon play through right after I left Praise and Worship team practice at my church. Talk about fun times when they found out I didn’t lie about it, I looked them straight in the eye and explained why I played this game. If they thought it was soul stealing, fine. I heard few words about the subject after that.

I will defend my hobby because I know it is just that: A hobby. I don’t tend to watch television (Except at work. Which generally reminds me why I don’t watch it much in the first place.) I’m not interested in sports. I love to read and listen to music. If I had a motorcycle I’d love to drive it..both on and offroad. But gaming has always been a main past-time of mine; yet it isn’t to the detriment of my life.

(Now laziness..that is to the detriment of my life…heh. Different story, however…)

I think you will find people increasingly turning to games for a stress reliever, especially in a day and age where you see kids not really able to be kids. I mean, when I was but a wee lad I lived in a city of about 50 thousand and my brother and I ran around that city all the time. We biked, we walked, we climbed in to abandoned office complex or two. We had a freedom as children that doesn’t seem to exist anymore; at least in an urban setting. This leads to people finding that freedom through playing video games; especially when you can play them online or with your family. It creates social interaction that some people might never get otherwise…adult or child.

Would I rather people get out of the house more? Yeah; but that shouldn’t stop them from gaming. As a child I spent many, many hours at the local pool during the summer. I walked to the Library on the edge of town at least every other day. My buddy and I staked out a clump of trees as our club-house and explored that huge pile of wood and leaves like Indy exploring a lost tomb. Yet I still played video games. I never claimed not to play them, when asked. It was not (and still is not) an either/or option. I love nature; I’ve worked in Yellowstone National Park twice. I love to go camping (although I haven’t in awhile.) I love to drive at top speed with the windows and the top down on a cool day…and I’m a gamer.

If you feel ashamed about your hobby, stop. If your girlfriend or family can’t accept you for who you are? Tough. Maybe you don’t need that girlfriend (or boyfriend, as I’ve heard in some cases) and your family needs to grow up and see you beyond your hobbies. Playing Mario shouldn’t stigmatize you. If people can be proud of their various scrap-book products, you can be proud you beat level 1-1 in under 30 seconds.

- Warren

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm and is filed under Gaming, Sections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.