Entitlement - A Gamer's Perspective

** EDIT: I was looking through my old work and realized this made me sound like all gamers have entitlement. I want to assure you I don't think that to be the case. I wanted this to be an analysis of how I can understandably see why it does exist and why some people could feel they should have some sort of ruling voice. I don't feel I do, but spend any time on a gaming forum and you see why I think a lot of gamers do. **

As most people know, gamers are known to have the most profound entitlement in any industry of entertainment. Many people don't seem to understand why. Well, there is a very good reason why. We pay for our hobby. Sure other people spend money on their hobby. People who play sports buy equipment, TV watchers pay for Cable, movie-goers buy tickets/rentals, people who race buy parts and fuel. Usually all bought once and after a period of time, they replace broken parts or upgrade. Gamers, on the other hand, PAY for their hobby. More-so than any other form of hobby. Think about it. We buy games on a monthly basis, we pay to play online with Xbox Live, we pay for deals when it comes to PSN Plus. We pay monthly fees for MMOs. We buy DLC to extend an otherwise finished game. We buy multiple consoles. We buy better parts almost annually for PCs. So on and so fourth.

We have this entitlement because we pay to play; we keep the industry going. Without us games and consoles wouldn't exist. I guess you could say that about anyone's hobby, but Gamers are the most opinionated and rightfully so. I watch TV, I watch Movies, I play Sports. Gaming, however, is where I spend my hard earned cash the most. Why do we get pissed when a game is delayed or doesn't turn out they way we wanted? Well, because we pay good money for these games and to see I'm not going to get it on time or it sucks, well, sucks! It's sites like Giant Bomb, IGN, Joystiq and Destructoid that help us spend our money properly. It's why they provide us with a forum to discuss the industry and our favorite games. I bet their more sites dedicated to gaming than there is model building or puzzle making.

I don't start flame wars; I'm not a fanboy. I like gaming. I like to be civilized when I talk about games, just like any other medium for discussion. The pictures below will prove my point as to why some have this sense of idealistic authority in the gaming industry. It's also my collection of gaming hardware at my current residence. The rest is in storage or is digital via Steam.

So that's it. It kind of gives perspective in why we have so much entitlement. It may not always come off as a good thing, but maybe people should understand a little more why we do. Do you think we're entitled? Good thing or bad thing? Sound off!

-Your friendly neighborhood SharpShotApollo

As most people know, gamers are known to have the most profound entitlement in any industry of entertainment. Many people don't seem to understand why. Well, there is a very good reason why. We pay for our hobby. Sure other people spend money on their hobby. People who play sports buy equipment, TV watchers pay for Cable, movie-goers buy tickets/rentals, people who race buy parts and fuel. Usually all bought once and after a period of time, they replace broken parts or upgrade. Gamers, on the other hand, PAY for their hobby. More-so than any other form of hobby. Think about it. We buy games on a monthly basis, we pay to play online with Xbox Live, we pay for deals when it comes to PSN Plus. We pay monthly fees for MMOs. We buy DLC to extend an otherwise finished game. We buy multiple consoles. We buy better parts almost annually for PCs. So on and so fourth.  
 
We have this entitlement because we pay to play;  we keep the industry going. Without us games and consoles wouldn't exist. I guess you could say that about anyone's hobby, but Gamers are the most opinionated and rightfully so. I watch TV, I watch Movies, I play Sports. Gaming, however, is where I spend my hard earned cash the most. Why do we get pissed when a game is delayed or doesn't turn out they way we wanted? Well, because we pay good money for these games and to see I'm not going to get it on time or it sucks, well, sucks! It's sites like Giant Bomb, IGN, Joystiq and Destructoid that help us spend our money properly. It's why they provide us with a forum to discuss the industry and our favorite games. I bet their more sites dedicated to gaming than there is model building or puzzle making. 
 
I don't start flame wars; I'm not a fanboy. I like gaming. I like to be civilized when I talk about games, just like any other medium for discussion. I try not to flaunt my sense of entitlement. I really don't. It's almost like bragging. Which I dislike. The pictures below, however, will prove my point as to why we have this sense of idealistic authority in the gaming industry. It's also my collection of gaming hardware at my current residence. The rest is in storage or is digital via Steam.
 
         

I think you're right as to why the sense of entitlement exists, but I still don't think it's appropriate in many cases.

 "I bet their more sites dedicated to gaming than there is model building or puzzle making." This made me laugh because it's so true.

 I agree. You figure you pay all this money to developers so they can use it to make better games. Like they say, you talk with your wallet.    

I don't understand why games you buy online (PSN Store) cost the same as in store. 

" I don't understand why games you buy online (PSN Store) cost the same as in store.  "

Sure I think gamers have more entitlement then most other people when it comes to their hobby. Gamers can help keep companies in check and stop them from trying to dick us over with bad deals or over-priced shit.
 
My issue is when some gamers on the internet feel entitled. They want content up faster, rage every time anything happens to a game they like, and think they should get everything for free. I have a couple of friends that feel that because they can pirate games, they should. Its wrong and only hurts the gaming industry.

" Sure I think gamers have more entitlement then most other people when it comes to their hobby. Gamers can help keep companies in check and stop them from trying to dick us over with bad deals or over-priced shit. My issue is when some gamers on the internet feel entitled. They want content up faster, rage every time anything happens to a game they like, and think they should get everything for free. I have a couple of friends that feel that because they can pirate games, they should. Its wrong and only hurts the gaming industry. "

" @Hailinel: It's not even the same price, they're charging more than the retailers are for games. Borderlands with no DLC is £23 online while the retail is more like £15. Also online only games such as the PSN minis and PS3 exclusives like echochrome and pixeljunks are disgustingly overpriced.  I honestly think if retail vanished today online games would still be full price. "

That's a pretty striking collecion you have :)
 
Gaming is an expensive hobby, and I also think that's why younger gamers I speak to can't comprehend some of the stuff I have to say about games. They simply get everything bought for them, consoles, games, TV, XBL subs and DLC etc. It's a whole different ball game when you're paying for all that stuff yourself.

I like this thread. I liked the pictures and I like how you have your consoles set up. That said, even though I know we pay a lot of money for games and consoles I find it hard to say I feel entitled to anything. But I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, it's just simply my outlook on most areas of life! I do see what you mean at the same time though. =]

Being passionate about your hobby is not quite the same as entitlement. I agree with all of your post, but don't think that "entitlement" is the proper term for what you feel. As someone who funds the companies providing you with entertainment, you absolutely have a vested interest in how they are run, handled, and design their product.  
The best example of entitlement I can think of is the fiasco that Ubisoft endured when they began to use restrictive DRM. A group of people then attacked the infrastructure and crashed the DRM system - but why?  
A normal person would be angry, and find their practice of DRM horrible. A normal person would simply not buy the game.  
Only an entitled person would agree with proactively harming the company, as I assume they feel some "right" to dictate how Ubisoft designs their games.  
That is entitlement. 
 
You don't sound entitled at all - you sound like a smart consumer.

well.... idk i try not to feel to entitled 
 
but honestly why the fuck would you spend that much on fucking special editions of games....

 I don't think that anyone should feel more entitled about games more so than anything else, whatever you are passionate about you will have a strong opinion towards regardless. 

"Entitlement" in the gaming community gets thrown around like a dirty word now, and I think that's wrong. When I pay $60 for a game, I do think I am ENTITLED to a certain level of quality based on the amount of money I payed. I feel ENTITLED to a working product, and to prompt response to bugs and the like. I feel ENTITLED to all the content on the disc I payed full price for. That's the problem with gaming nowadays, some franchises are SO popular and will make a profit REGARDLESS of quality, that certain developers/publishers have decided that it is not in their best business interest to care about the customer. Why spend money making people happy when you can spend that same money making ANOTHER game that will sell just as well if not better than the one you just put out? Game companies also get a huge advantage in the fact that they don't need to worry about product returns/refunds affecting their business. Small developers always give the best attention to their customers. Why? Because if they don't make a good impression on the gaming public, they're history. Large developers/publishers ignoring bugs, shipping bad PC/Console ports of games, and on disc DLC have just brought this out into the forefront.

Life is far less difficult the faster you arrive at this conclusion: the world does not, nor will it ever, owe you anything.

" Life is far less difficult the faster you arrive at this conclusion: the world does not, nor will it ever, owe you anything. "

Here's a massage for the world.
If you have a entitlement complex, go to hell.

I always saw the entitlement argument as a weak straw man.  They can't point to anything specific that you are saying that is incorrect or unreasonable so they bust out Entitlement.  What they really mean is, "Hey we are ripping you off and would like to continue to do so.  Quit complaining and give us your money."
 
EDIT: now that I think about it I hear some from the business side of things whine about Entitlement when they aren't having the success they deserve.  It's a hilarious bit of cognitive dissonance.  They aren't failing because their customers are making unreasonable demands.  They are failing because their product or strategy sucks.  Rather than face it they whine about their customers.

I don't feel I have any sort of entitlement, my point of this was the fact it's hard to feel not to have it once and awhile. I'm not condoning how some people act just because they play video games. I'm just saying people need to be a little more understanding about the hobby when we have been playing for years. Not all of us keep our games, my collection speaks for itself. I just hate being brushed off and told my sense of entitlement is unjust when A) Fuck off, I'm not entitled because I have an opinion and 2) Just because my counterpoint is better than your argument, don't use entitlement to "win". 
 
Again some people feel this sense of entitlement stronger than others and if they make good, strong arguments, have at it. When it's a kid ranting about Call of Duty sucking and wants his money back, I can't help but understand why people in the media say we have this sense. It's fuckers like that 12 year old douche nozzle who becomes a stereotype for a generation of veteran gamers. If "entitlement" is the word the media wants to use to describe our passion, fine. Just use the word wisely and don't throw it around.

" @kingzetta: No. If you're giving me a new experience or giving me something worth asking money for, I'm gonna pay for it. Borderlands, Mass Effect, Fallout 3...all of these games gave me awesome new experiences I was happy to pay for. "

Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement.

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

" @l4wd0g said:

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

Yeah, that's good, lump a whole country into that generalization why don't you. That's pretty damn racist. "

" @President_Barackbar said:

" @l4wd0g said:

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

Yeah, that's good, lump a whole country into that generalization why don't you. That's pretty damn racist. "

Huh? Can you be racist against your own people?   Here's an example, this isn't meant to be political. Health care, a lot of people want free health care (regardless of your opinion on Obama's Health Care bill) , but they don't want to pay the taxes for it.  Or am I totally off base? "

" @President_Barackbar said:

" @l4wd0g said:

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

Yeah, that's good, lump a whole country into that generalization why don't you. That's pretty damn racist. "

Huh? Can you be racist against your own people?   Here's an example, this isn't meant to be political. Health care, a lot of people want free health care (regardless of your opinion on Obama's Health Care bill) , but they don't want to pay the taxes for it.  Or am I totally off base? "

" @l4wd0g said:

" @President_Barackbar said:

" @l4wd0g said:

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

Yeah, that's good, lump a whole country into that generalization why don't you. That's pretty damn racist. "

Huh? Can you be racist against your own people?   Here's an example, this isn't meant to be political. Health care, a lot of people want free health care (regardless of your opinion on Obama's Health Care bill) , but they don't want to pay the taxes for it.  Or am I totally off base? "

Really? That's what's keeping the Americans from having a universal system?   Honestly Ameribros, it's worth the taxes. "

" @tourgen: The worst is when it's fellow consumers who are more than willing to bend over that are telling you to do so because hey, they do. "

@KingWilly said:

" @l4wd0g said:

" @President_Barackbar said:

" @l4wd0g said:

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

Yeah, that's good, lump a whole country into that generalization why don't you. That's pretty damn racist. "

Huh? Can you be racist against your own people?   Here's an example, this isn't meant to be political. Health care, a lot of people want free health care (regardless of your opinion on Obama's Health Care bill) , but they don't want to pay the taxes for it.  Or am I totally off base? "

Really? That's what's keeping the Americans from having a universal system?   Honestly Ameribros, it's worth the taxes. "

Too many rich morons here who would burn their money before they let it help anyone.

@l4wd0g said:

" @President_Barackbar said:

" @l4wd0g said:

" Americans, in general, have a sense of entitlement. "

Yeah, that's good, lump a whole country into that generalization why don't you. That's pretty damn racist. "

Huh? Can you be racist against your own people?   Here's an example, this isn't meant to be political. Health care, a lot of people want free health care (regardless of your opinion on Obama's Health Care bill) , but they don't want to pay the taxes for it.  Or am I totally off base? "

Really? That's what's keeping the Americans from having a universal system?  
 
Honestly Ameribros, it's worth the taxes.