Why Gamers Make Great Boyfriends (A must Read)

The Joker

Thread Killer MKII
Ok so a friend of mine sent me this and I have to say its an epic read.

Gamers, as boyfriends, get a bad rap.

No, seriously. TheGloss insists that gamers are among the seven men you should avoid, and all gamers talk in “lolspeak” (ahem, it is leetspeak, ladies) and want to travel to other locations to meet people they’ve gamed with, which kind of leaves us wondering why, precisely, wanting to go to another country to actually meet the people who live there instead of going on a landmark tour is a bad thing. WikiHow features an article on “How to Get Rid of Your Boyfriend’s Game Addiction”. EvilWoobie complains that “hardcore gamers are the most high maintenance of the boyfriend breeds”…wait, breeds? As in dogs? And we’re the weirdoes?

http://www.uproxx.com/feature/2010/12/why-gamers-make-great-boyfriends/
 
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http://thegloss.com/sex-and-dating/7-men-you-should-avoid-dating/
6. The Gamer
Ughhh gamers. And the worst part is, I’m convinced 90 percent of the male population are gamers. There really is no need for an explanation of what kind of guy this is. But here’s why you should avoid him: he talks in LOL-speak; he will play video games while you’re sleeping which will then in turn wake you up; he will play video games while talking to you on the phone and will therefore not listen to a word you’re saying; he has weirdo friends in other countries whom he has never met and talks about how you two should go visit them rather than actually visit the country; he will turn down hanging out with you because he’s “hanging out with his buddies” when really, he’s hanging out by himself playing video games and his buddies are virtual; he has no life.
Who writes and reads garbage like this?
 
The article is kind of amusing, although aspects of its reasoning are fundamentally flawed - for example, although it points out that lots of male gamers are obnoxious, it (perplexingly) doesn't include the hypothetical boyfriends in the same group. I've met plenty of male gamers who were exceedingly unpleasant people to be around because they're much too competitive about everything, and/or full of rage.

Also, the thing about planning ahead is problematic - being prepared is good, treating everything like some sort of mission is not.

I do agree, though, that there are a lot of very negative stereotypes about gamers that simply do not apply to everybody. At the same time, nobody is obligated to be attracted to anybody else just because, and if women aren't interested in dating male gamers for any reasons whatsoever, that's entirely their prerogative. Men have their own standards too, after all.
 

The same people that watch Jersey Shore, Dress like Paris Hilton and Act like the Kardashians. The kind of people who will be knocked up at 18, hooked on some or other drug by 20 and burnt out like Linsay Lohan by 30. They are a vocal minority, much like the vocal minority in our own geek/nerd culture that tends cause the entire group to be judged as the same.
 
It's one thing having your own tastes it's another thing have a negative view of a group constantly feed into your brain. So if you are the type of person that reads these things I doubt you will be giving a guy the benefit of the doubt once he tells you that he is a gamer, you are likely just going to project onto him all those negative stereotypes you've been constantly exposed to. Just like many other things in life if you believe it enough you are bound to make it true.
 
The same people that watch Jersey Shore, Dress like Paris Hilton and Act like the Kardashians. The kind of people who will be knocked up at 18, hooked on some or other drug by 20 and burnt out like Linsay Lohan by 30. They are a vocal minority, much like the vocal minority in our own geek/nerd culture that tends cause the entire group to be judged as the same.

It's so cute how you don't like stereotypes about gamers, but you'll quickly make equally spurious assumptions like these about other people. And by "cute", of course, I mean "fucking hypocritical".

I don't agree with what the writer says, but then, none of us know why she might have written those things. Maybe she had a bad experience with a gamer boyfriend? Maybe several bad experiences with gamer boyfriends?

By all means, criticise stereotypes, but you risk losing all credibility when you rely on other stereotypes to do so.
 
It's one thing having your own tastes it's another thing have a negative view of a group constantly feed into your brain. So if you are the type of person that reads these things I doubt you will be giving a guy the benefit of the doubt once he tells you that he is a gamer, you are likely just going to project onto him all those negative stereotypes you've been constantly exposed to. Just like many other things in life if you believe it enough you are bound to make it true.

Yep. But like Azimuth said many men, gamers included, go around with the idea that all women are bumbling bimbos who only talk about hair, make up and going to the mall to look for a new pair of shoes.

When I read stuff like this I am so grateful I am out of the game and that I was lucky enough to find and settle down with someone who does not rebel against my nerd/geek nature but compliments it and even embraces it. Someone who will just as easily sit and watch No Reservations as The Dark Knight or Star Wars.
 
It's so cute how you don't like stereotypes about gamers, but you'll quickly make equally spurious assumptions like these about other people. And by "cute", of course, I mean "fucking hypocritical".

I don't agree with what the writer says, but then, none of us know why she might have written those things. Maybe she had a bad experience with a gamer boyfriend? Maybe several bad experiences with gamer boyfriends?

By all means, criticise stereotypes, but you risk losing all credibility when you rely on other stereotypes to do so.

And there in lies the truth, we, as people being stereotyped but people, tend to stereotype the people who do it to us.

I dont remember ever saying anything about not liking stereotype about gamers. If I recall I liken my stereotype of people who writes and reads this to a similar vocal minority in gaming/geek culture. So I dont see how I am being "Fucking Hypocritical".

I get it, I spoke out, I had an opinion and I stuck to it, I was a pompous ass, take your pick but I am really not in the mood to get into another pissing contest with you.
 
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Bah, I don't think that gaming in itself affects how we are in real life to any major extent.

I think the problem that most non-gaming women have with gamer boyfriends/husbands is the amount of time and attention the games get. And they know that if he is sitting with her watching some crappy reality TV show, they are actually dying to sneak off and play some games rather. It's a ridiculously time consuming hobby, and we need it like we would need crack if we were druggies rather than gamers.

But that is one good thing about gamers, I'm sure a woman would much rather have a boyfriend/husband that given a night to themselves, would prefer to play some video games rather than go out to some dodgy bar or club and get hammered, possibly pick up other girls, etc
 
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