ITT: We design a test to measure whether or not someone is a gamer

First, give it 99 variables. Then, watch as people roll the die.

Rolling

Good question.

Cheeky. I did this to myself.

You're a retard, m8. The term gamer has been around since at least the NES days. Video game magazines were using it all throughout the 80s and 90s.

Hail to thee, Ranger, you are the first in our party. Take thine bow and arrows and prepare for the oncoming quest.

...

Isn't it there because when it was first released there was no vertical look? At least I assume this from the fact that if you enable vertical look with software rendering on any source port you get that weird stretching.

With vertical look enabled it serves to speed up the game since you don't have to waste time aiming precisely, you blast stuff and keep moving.

Ah fuck it, rolling

WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT GOD DAMN VIDEO CALLING OUT NERD AND GEEK CULTURE FOR BEING ADVERTISING TOOLS, I KNOW ONE OF YOU FAGGOTS HAVE IT, POST IT

A Death Knight! May your enemies fear thy endless wormy trailings, and may God have mercy upon thy wretched, damned soul.

Roro

You were just pretending to bump this thread, weren't thou, trickster? It was all merely a trick, a ruse, tomfoolery I presume?

rolling

That sounds fine.

I think its easy to tell if people like playing games or not. You don't need to call them a gamer, the name itself is used by everybody trying to fit in. If they like playing games, and want fun out of them, then they are genuine.

You also don't need a special test. If you ask someone what their tastes are and what they like about games, you can find out. Especially if they are more willing to agree with popular opinion or with you then defend their viewpoint.

Rolling

No. I forgot to put the sage

Damn, did it again.

This thread is so full of shitty bait holy shit.

You know, that pic is to make people angry or cringe but it pretty much looks like Holla Forums confronting a newfag

If they're able to talk about video games like that, then they'd pass. Something about what they're talking about would be on the test, so to speak. Not every question would need to be answered. It's a theoretical test with potentially infinite questions. So long as user can talk about one of them, then it would mean they're genuinely interested.

rollan

Smoothest trickster this side of the realm

this sounds interesting but i don't want to bump the thread, please tell me you found it.

Gamer is a etymological problem.

What do you call other people who enjoy other forms of entertainment.
I submit the nouns vs. verb inclusive noun argument.
Booker/Magaziner/Comic Booker?
Movier/TVer/Sporter/Theatrer/Paintinger?
Musicers/Radioers?

Seems like the most appropriate noun.
When you 'play' a game you are a 'play'er.
You are 'play'ing the game.
Game is not the appropriate verb.
You do not 'game' a game.
You are not gaming the game.
Game as a verb means doing something underhanded such as in the phrase "Gaming the system".

I feel this should be backed up by how Audience Measurement is used in relation to others and even games themselves.
In relation to radio
television
in relation to newspaper and magazine

exists and is "The status or condition of being a player".
Before the last few decades dedicated creation of games did not exist in the same way as it does today.
This is a problem created by technological advancement without proper etymology.

I think gamer became the paramount word because it markets better to stupid people.
Girl Player doesn't roll off the tongue as well and makes one think they play with is girls just as one would think with say a baseball player.

Words are also abstract symbols that can mean nothing but also mean anything. Some words have multiple definitions and others mean something different than what they were created to define.

Regardless of what "gamer" was originally created to mean, it's still a word widely understood to mean someone who plays video games. And since, according to your argument, no word or phrase was created to officially define someone who plays video games like you would call someone who drinks alcohol a drinker or someone who paints as an artist, "gamer" is as good a word to use as any.

That's easy, if you ask them their favorite game and they answer with any of the following then they don't count:

All of the games on that list (except the walking simulators. They play themselves.) can have some amount of mechanical value. user could also be unfortunate beyond comprehension and only have the ability to play one of those games. Either way they can all be situational.

As long as the user could talk about the mechanics and workings of the game and display sustained interest in the game, then they can be a gamer. Not necessarily an aficionado, but the fact they can analyze the game and talk about what makes it a game (along with the interest in continuing to play that game or any other game for that matter) would make them a gamer.

But I know what you mean. I'm glad I played Undertale without knowing a single thing about it. I came on Holla Forums trying to figure out why everyone bashed it so hard and then I saw the tumblr images. Shit made me want to gouge my soul out with the bladed edge of a straw. That shit would make anybody despise it.

Now to get to your actual problem.
Different people find different things more respectable than others, but here are some of them.

Playing a game well.
Showing the skill you have in playing a game.
The more difficult the game is, the more respect you would be entitled to.

A display of ones knowledge in regards to a great many things related to videogames.
It makes you a more interesting person to talk to because any opinion you have would be more informed.
This is proven by administering a quiz best disguised as casual conversation.
You don't just face value quiz people like a spastic dipshit.

Having simply consumed many videogames over a long period of time shows very quantifiable devotion.
This would lead to many first hand opinions that are also more valued than many simple observation.

Playing things outside of well known intellectual properties.

Only buying games after extensive investigation into their quality regardless of popular opinion or legacy.

All of those fall under understanding of video games and Dedication can't be reached unless the player has understanding. Understanding can also be interest. If there's no interest, or understanding, there's no dedication.

Congratulations postmodernist, you win the postmodernist award which is nothing because to a postmodernist it is as good as any other award.

I explained why "gamer" is less grammatically sound by how other related words are formulated.
If you can't grasp putting meaning into words or why anyone would desire a language to be more rule driven you shouldn't even post any replies "because words are all just abstract symbols".
Go jerk off into a copy of Ulesses and kill yourself.

But there are words to distinguish enthusiasts from most people in other forms of entertainment as well, like bibliophile and cinephile. "Gamer" should serve the same purpose.

Anyone is a "player" if they are currently playing a game, but they stop being one as soon as they stop playing. But there is very clear difference between someone who plays casually, and someone who not only plays for hours on straight, but also talks about games extensively with other people. "Gamer" is simply used to denote that distinction.

Of course there are some companies that want pull back on "gamer" so that the more knowledgeable and experienced person is put on par with the biggest dumbass casual. They want treat both of their opinions with the same respect, or worse, calling the core audience "entitled", so that it's easier to appeal to everyone else.

But that's why I said words can mean anything. Or can you not grasp implications? There's no real term for someone who plays video games so we have to use a term that was designed to mean something else. In this case, it's "gamer." Of course there can also be a number of other terms, but gamer is among the most popular.

There is no rule (right now) and I never said nobody would want one. Unless we can sit down here right now and write some new rules into the dictionary, you're pulling shit out of your ass and calling it mine.

Dedication is separated from understanding and proficiency as it can be a separated descriptor.
You can be incredibly devoted to things but not incredibly skilled at playing them or incredibly knowledgeable.
It doesn't automatically make you MLG, Speedrunner or anything and nor do playing many games make you encyclopedic to the vast swaths of information outside of them, you have to have the penchant for those aspects.
Collection would have been a better word, I apologize for the confusion.
Isn't it funny how some words work better than others for establishing understanding?

I meant understanding in a broader sense than that. As in that what you're playing is a video game, that you can play the game, and how to play the game. But I'm stretching my definition too wide here. You have the better, more concise definition.

Well my answer was more along the lines of how do you tell if someone is a casual, you are correct. I think if they can talk about the mechanics of games to any significant degree then they count as a "gamer." If they can only talk about the music, story, or art of a game then they are not.