Whazzap kiddies! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, I really need to get my ass back into gear. Work just doesn't stop. Well, that's a bit of a lie, I've been playing the Heroes of Might and Magic VI Demo... but more on that a bit later!
Before I actually get started, I'd just like to make you guys aware of the Reader's Digress initiative over at eGamer. Basically what happens is we publish a compilation of shortish articles (+- 500 words) which are submitted by both the authors and by the readers in one compact, newspaper-esque publication. Why am I telling you this?
Well, if you want to rant about or comment on ANYTHING (literally), here's your chance. Just type up whatever you want to write about, send it in to digress @ egamer.co.za (without the spaces) and you may well be featured in our next edition!
But, without further adieu, let me get down to what I really want to talk about...
For centuries, just like the ogres of The Kingdom of Far Far Away (that's a Shrek reference, just by the way) have been - to name but a few examples - harassed and mildly inconvenienced by pitchfork-and-torch-wielding mobs of villagers who have nothing better to do in their free time, we as the noble gamers of the world have been proclaimed heathens and thusly burnt at the stake by over-zealous menopausal female columnists and, indeed, ostracised and socially persecuted by our peer groups and society in general.
Granted, there may have been some exaggeration and dramatic hyperbole in the above paragraph, but the crux of the issue I’m poking at remains the same:
Haven’t we as gamers, as nerds, endured enough by now?
In an age where society is finally starting to view gaming as a mainstream, generally accepted pastime, where the nonsense attacks on gaming in general which I’ve been talking about in my columns for the past few weeks are finally being treated the way they ought to be (which is to say, with a firm, heavy-handed pimp-slap), one would think we could put all of this nonsense around the stereotype of ‘nerd’ behind us.
Make no mistake, I’m not taking this as an opportunity to cry because people call me a nerd - I welcome and flaunt the title, flying our nerd flag as high as humanly possible, with great gusto and aplomb – but what I do want to do is take this opportunity to comment on just how pointless and unnecessary I find it.
You see, I find that the sort of thinking which premises or underlies a stereotypical view of nerd doesn’t really follow a logical course depending on the arguments for or against gaming; rather, it is born of the view that “What I do is cool, therefore if what you do isn’t what I do, it’s stupid.”
And that, my dear reader (I think I named you Martin in an earlier column), is simply not cool.
An example which illustrates the flaw in this sort of mentality quite nicely comes, ironically, from a recent LAN competition in America – MLG Anaehim.
During the awards ceremony for the Halo Championship, the winning clan (whose name eludes me) was booed off the stage while receiving their awards. By the StarCraft 2 fans. Purely on the surface, that sounds like a blatantly immature and stupid act, which would only serve to create divisions instead of unity in the gaming community. But that isn’t even taking into account how damn well Halo clan Whatsitsface did at the tournament – I can’t give you exact stats, but I’m pretty damn sure they won every single map they played. And they only lost one at the previous tournament as well.
In the Halo community, that’s freaking unheard of.
And these gods-incarnate of the Halo world, who have risen beyond the heights of all the mortal men who have dared to go before them, get booed off the stage? That is just not right.
As Day[9] (a legendary StaCraft 2 commentator, for those who don’t know) said in a Podcast after the event, it is symptomatic of a pretty flawed ideology.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if instead of people bashing other peoples interests because they aren’t in line with their own, we could engage positively over our interests with one another – letting the jock explain to you why he loves getting up at five o’clock every morning and to go and train for his ‘polo (bru), and then him listening to you while you explain why so few experiences in the world can match the sheer epicosity (now officially trademarked as a Duncanism) of blowing a zombie’s face off with a double-barrelled shotgun.
I suppose what I’m trying to say here is that if we could swallow our pride and stick our prejudices where the son don’t shine (an airlocked chest, or the Mariana Trench, or whatever), then maybe existence could be more pleasant for all parties involved.
Man, I took my hippie pills this morning. No euphemism intended.
Duncan
Out
PS: Greg published new posts! Clickity here to see them!
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