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"You still play video games?!" How do you answer?
- Thread starter Vex
- Start date
People follow the Kardashians on instagram with a passion.
I don't give a f*** what people think about me playing video games. Just have a hobby for God sake.
I don't give a f*** what people think about me playing video games. Just have a hobby for God sake.
Amongst my friends and family in the UK, pretty much everyone I know plays games in some form; even my 89 year old grandma plays Farmville and Candy Crush knockoffs. No-one is going to ask this question.
In the Netherlands, it's complicated. Most people I know do not mention games. When it is mentioned, it's usually in the context of their kids playing them, or something that's big or novel enough to be socially acceptable (e.g. the Wii craze or trying VR games). At the very least, gaming is usually only mentioned in the context of being a social activity (i.e. friends or family playing a game together). I feel like the concept of a single player story-driven game would be lost on a lot of people.
I still don't think they would openly ask this question, but I do get the sense that many people here look down on gaming, as if you're wasting your time when you could be doing something "better" or "more productive". A typical response I hear when gaming is mentioned is "I don't have time to play games", which seems to be a polite way of saying "I have better things to do" (Something to this effect was even the response I got from a fan of The Walking Dead TV show when I happened to mention preferring the story of the Telltale games).
That said, the situation is slowly improving, but being a gamer in the Netherlands in 2020 still feels being a gamer in the UK in 1998.
And as to the topic question: My response would probably be "Yeah", followed by an attempt to correct their misguided and narrow perception of how varied videogames actually are.
(British expat living in the Netherlands)
In the Netherlands, it's complicated. Most people I know do not mention games. When it is mentioned, it's usually in the context of their kids playing them, or something that's big or novel enough to be socially acceptable (e.g. the Wii craze or trying VR games). At the very least, gaming is usually only mentioned in the context of being a social activity (i.e. friends or family playing a game together). I feel like the concept of a single player story-driven game would be lost on a lot of people.
I still don't think they would openly ask this question, but I do get the sense that many people here look down on gaming, as if you're wasting your time when you could be doing something "better" or "more productive". A typical response I hear when gaming is mentioned is "I don't have time to play games", which seems to be a polite way of saying "I have better things to do" (Something to this effect was even the response I got from a fan of The Walking Dead TV show when I happened to mention preferring the story of the Telltale games).
That said, the situation is slowly improving, but being a gamer in the Netherlands in 2020 still feels being a gamer in the UK in 1998.
And as to the topic question: My response would probably be "Yeah", followed by an attempt to correct their misguided and narrow perception of how varied videogames actually are.
(British expat living in the Netherlands)
The question has gone away so fast. Got it a bit in high school and then I'd probably do the awkward option, but now I just say of course.
I mean, it's been paying my bills for the better part of a decade. Yes, I do play games, because it's my industry and because it's one of my passions.
Self-aware ResetEra posters are frightening. The lie that we actually play games sometimes only works if we all buy in, dude.
I had that way more when I was in my late teens than now that I'm in my early 30s. And that's because playing videogames is way more common now than it used to be.
I guess it depends on the country but it's a pretty common hobby, regardless of age and gender.
I guess it depends on the country but it's a pretty common hobby, regardless of age and gender.
Funny poll.
I always say yeah and own it. It's my hobby, and the majority of people who judge will inevitably have some other bs that they spend their time with. My colleague made a big deal about me playing games a little while ago and then spent the next 10 minutes talking about what crappy soap she watches on TV every night.
I always say yeah and own it. It's my hobby, and the majority of people who judge will inevitably have some other bs that they spend their time with. My colleague made a big deal about me playing games a little while ago and then spent the next 10 minutes talking about what crappy soap she watches on TV every night.
They're not worth my time. I try not to talk about VG with people i barely know unless they're actively interested. I heard that sentence since i was little so i just learned to shrug those people away. Family and Friends know anyway so it's whatever.
Literally not a question I've have ever received. I also only talk about games with friends who game, it is almost never a topic of conversation otherwise.
No one should be embarrassed about their hobbies or made to feel embarrassed.
No one should be embarrassed about their hobbies or made to feel embarrassed.
Didn't you make a thread stating how Dragon Quest XI was a gift from God? Sounds like something a gamer would write tbh.
I don't think I've ever heard this question, tbh.
What I have encountered MANY times throughout my life, is the implication that gaming isn't really a good use of time, or something to that effect.
What I have encountered MANY times throughout my life, is the implication that gaming isn't really a good use of time, or something to that effect.
Haven't heard that one in a while. Nowadays, when people learn I play they just go "cool" and act like it's the normal thing it is.
Back when this stance was more common, though, I'd nonchalantly defend my hobby's qualities, trying to make it sound like it was no huge deal.
Back when this stance was more common, though, I'd nonchalantly defend my hobby's qualities, trying to make it sound like it was no huge deal.
Haven't gotten that shit in a while. I also just stopped giving a shit about what people think.
I found it no answer as a certain power, but it's been a relatively recent developments but I have been comfortable doing that universally. Not too long ago someone asked me on social media if I still "do that wrestling thing" in my response quite frankly was embarrassing for something I enjoy.
If you like something own it or reconsider why you like it.
If you like something own it or reconsider why you like it.
I have a friend who constantly makes jabs at me playing video games. Meanwhile she stares at her phone for at least 5 hours every day and watches stupid shit like The Bachelor and shit with addiction.
I kinda hate her.
I kinda hate her.
Depending on how much of a condescending prick the question comes from I'd either say just "yes" or "yes, the same way you practice that one stupid hobby of yours, your point being?"
I actually can't imagine another human being sincerely saying this line to me. I think in this day and age the only possible response to being caught so off-guard by such an insulting non-question would be to say, "...you don't?"
Idk man.
Idk man.
I just say yes and be laid back about it, saying that it's a hobby like any other. Most people respect that.
I've only gotten mild condescension about it from friends of friends, and that isn't really the crowd I'd normally hang out with anyway.
Once people reach a certain maturity level, they understand that there's no reason to judge a person's hobbies even if you don't get it personally.
I've only gotten mild condescension about it from friends of friends, and that isn't really the crowd I'd normally hang out with anyway.
Once people reach a certain maturity level, they understand that there's no reason to judge a person's hobbies even if you don't get it personally.
I've never been asked this but I also don't engage with normies for a lot of reasons.
If I have or do I'll just go yeah and move on. No need to make a big deal about it.
If I have or do I'll just go yeah and move on. No need to make a big deal about it.
I actually get asked this a fair amount, and I often justify it as a form of language practice. And in fact, I do force myself to play games in different languages (French, Japanese) where possible, although admittedly I still play some games (mostly Puzzle games) for which the language makes no difference. And I think it has helped a lot with my language skills! The vocab you come across is so much more varied than the news, and you get many more hours of content than you often would for buying movies or a TV show to watch.
Dated a girl 6 years younger than me (she was 22 at the time and I was 28). She was at the bar with her friends and she mentioned to them that I like to play games. Her friend replied "I find it so unattractive when guys our age still play video games". To which my ex replied, "oh well he's not our age, he's a lot older"
XD
XD
Yeah, my parents still give me grief for it, as they have been ever since I was like... 10? when my grandparents first got a PC, and I used to spend most of my time on the weekends playing games over at their flat.
20+ years later, I'm used to it now though, so I long since stopped caring, despite their occasional accusations that I'm still "running a bunch of fools around"- (that's how my parents refer to all games, because I used to play a lot of RTSs when I was younger). Books and games are my escapism hobbies, because I can't be out and socializing every day of the week. Sure, I can indulge in a gaming binge from time to time, but I usually do this in the evenings, when I've spent all day doing other, productive stuff, and then I can go for a gaming session from like 8-9 PM to the late night/early morning hours- If I know I can sleep in the next day.
No one else I may talk to about games cares though. A lot of my friends are very casual gamers, but almost everyone has a console to use as a media box and occasionally play some games in a social setting.
20+ years later, I'm used to it now though, so I long since stopped caring, despite their occasional accusations that I'm still "running a bunch of fools around"- (that's how my parents refer to all games, because I used to play a lot of RTSs when I was younger). Books and games are my escapism hobbies, because I can't be out and socializing every day of the week. Sure, I can indulge in a gaming binge from time to time, but I usually do this in the evenings, when I've spent all day doing other, productive stuff, and then I can go for a gaming session from like 8-9 PM to the late night/early morning hours- If I know I can sleep in the next day.
No one else I may talk to about games cares though. A lot of my friends are very casual gamers, but almost everyone has a console to use as a media box and occasionally play some games in a social setting.
"Of course I do, you don't?"
Literally every time someone asks me this question and I respond this way, it usually turns into a sad wistful nostalgia trip for the asker lamenting that they don't have time to do the things they like anymore because the american ideal of being "an adult" has left with them nothing but responsibilities to others while they have to neglect themselves to keep their respective sand castles standing.
Like people who ask that as some sort of snide form of embarrassment just remind me of the people who complain about evo finals being on ESPN every year, but ultimately get super sucked into it because it's actually something they'd like to do, if they had time.
Literally every time someone asks me this question and I respond this way, it usually turns into a sad wistful nostalgia trip for the asker lamenting that they don't have time to do the things they like anymore because the american ideal of being "an adult" has left with them nothing but responsibilities to others while they have to neglect themselves to keep their respective sand castles standing.
Like people who ask that as some sort of snide form of embarrassment just remind me of the people who complain about evo finals being on ESPN every year, but ultimately get super sucked into it because it's actually something they'd like to do, if they had time.