“Bad-ass Gamers”

One of the most worrisome aspects of the hard core video gamer culture is the ridiculous notion that being a "bad ass gamer" is both worthwhile and praiseworthy.  Not even close. It is unproductive.  It doesn't help your friends, your family, your community, your country, in any way.  It contributes nothing to the world.  It is purely empty egotism.  Virtually anyone who plays video games four hours a day (on average) is not acting as an adult.  (Which may be perfectly all right if that person is a youngster . . . or retired?)

A big reason why "the unwashed", those who are not into video games as a culture, tend to treat video games as "kid's stuff" is this childish egotism.  So what?  The "unwashed" includes a large fraction of the country,  especially of older people, the people who lead opinion and who make financial decisions.

It would be easy to write an article titled "When will video gamers grow up?"

In tabletop games males generally LIKE women gamers, because TT games are social, and because TTers don't tie their self-worth/ego to being a "bad-ass gamer".  (I met my wife in 1977 through D&D, when women gamers were much less common; two other people in that group of five married one another (though not attached when it began), and the last married my wife's best friend.  All still married.  Tabletop gaming is usually social.)

In video games we get a very vocal segment that appears to hate women, apparently seeing them as rivals.  The root of #gamergate is males who measure their self-worth through gaming, afraid of female competition.

I am also convinced that a significant proportion of rabid Hilary-haters use a different standard than they would with any male political figure, because she's a woman. If she were a man, Trump wouldn't stand a chance.