"Gamer" and "e-Sports"

I really don't like these two terms. Why are these terms allowed to exist in everyday lexicon?

"Game" was never intended to be used as verb, let alone being mangled into a disgusting amalgamation.

"Oh, I game every night after work" vs "Oh, I play games every night after work" or "I'm a gamer" vs "I play video games" - which of these sound better?

Also, eSports (or e-sports) is another lazy term. Yes, they play video games professionally and they draw paychecks from sponsorships. But eSports? Really? Can't we as a society come up with better terms?

What is a sport? What are considered "sports"? When people use the words "sports", there's a connotation that there's athleticism involved. Sure, dexterity, hand-eye coordination and competency can also be considered as components of athletics, but that's saying that playing poker or some other card game really well is also a sport.

Racing is a sport and has not much to do with athleticism. The meaning of words change, that's how it works.
"Game" as a verb is silly though, I agree. People don't say "I movied tonight" but I still don't really see this as a big problem.

I find it far more annoying that "LOL" or "rofl" are words people actually say out loud nowadays.

But racing absolutely has components of athleticism. They need to have the bodies to be able to handle the forces that acts on the driver in high speeds. Those G-Forces will crush a man's lungs if he can't withstand them.

Jesus, not this term rage again...

Dude what the hell does it matter? Gamer is the easiest way to refer to people who religiously play video games, the easiest quickest most familiar word to refer to fellow video game playing people is the word GAMER, that's why terms and labels exist, to make it simple and easy to refer to something or someone.

You're a gamer whether you like it or not, now move on to something actually worth discussing.

e-Sports

Lol.

The term "comic" also relates to comedy even though most comic books aren't trying to be funny, but I guess terms just stick and we have to live with that.

@jouseldelka said:

Because it's lazy and almost derogatory. It makes us, the video game playing population, seem retarded that our identity is a crafted by twisting a shorthand word and splicing an "er" suffix to it. You don't call baseball players "baseballers" or hockey players "hockeyers". Why can't they just call people who play video games just "people who play video games"?

Because that's really long? I laughed at the lazy and derogatory part though.

What's retarded is sitting there mid-post, thinking of how to refer to other gamers to make your point, without using the word "gamer."

What's retarded is saying something like (for example) "I'm losing respect for people who play video games nowadays because etc..." instead of just saying gamers and getting it over with.

And I wouldn't mind using the words baseballers and hockeyers, there's nothing derogatory about using a quick 'er' word to refer to people who do something, you just wanna be offended out of nowhere :)

For me, when someone asks, "What do you like to do on your down time?", I usually respond, " I enjoy playing video games." Rarely, will I even use the word "gamer" in reference to video games because to me it feels like a very forced term. I feel like game companies like to be able to associate their customers with a single term, and that's the one they decided on. I get it, it makes sense to me why we are called gamers by some...still sounds super dumb and weird though.

As for E-Sports, I feel a bit differently. I actually like the name for it, although I can understand the confusion and aggravation people face when using/hearing it. We tend to think of physical exertion when we hear sports, and why shouldn't we? That's how it all started. People wrestled as a sport because there was no equipment to make other games. Then, we started rolling rocks down hills and that was a sport. Then, we created a ball and used that for a bunch of games. And finally, we come to the present where we have discovered that computers make for pretty great games.

So, if people are upset about E-Sports not being physical activities, then that's fine. Make a new term, but you have to also include such "sports" as billiards, poker, and chess. We are in need of a description for these activities which require mostly mental strength, rather than sports which are a mix of mental and physical strength. I don't know what that word could be...just please don't call it something dumb like "mentals", and don't name the people who participate in those activities as "brainers."

@jouseldelka: It's about having the respect for people who actually enjoy these things. It's like using the word "geek" or "nerd" against someone when all they have is just a better grasp and understanding of concepts that is alien to you, or the N-word just cause of his/her complexion . You could address them by their names, but instead you chose to use slangs and shorthands. I am sure I am not the only one offended by lazy terms like these.

@jouseldelka : @white no need to be so mean and dismissive, I though GB duders where soposta be nice to each other.

As for the derogatory thing I could see where the Op is coming from, the term is useful, but also has a negative connotation. I donno about you but if someone asked if I was a gamer I would say reflexively say no, same if someone asked if I was a nerd. Because that is the case I would rather there be a term out there I would identify with.

@techhits: Oh no no just to be clear I wasn't calling the OP "retarded" or being mean, I was using his wording to show my opposing opinion. I also once had a problem with the word 'gamer' and used to try to work my way around it, so I include myself in my own criticism :) No offense intended.

Really you're comparing "game-er" with "nerd," "geek" and the N word? The latter three were coined for the purpose of insulting specific groups of people, the former is a "do-er" noun (whatever it's called in grammar) that associates you with an activity. The only way I can see it as offensive is if the activity it associates you with is a shitty one.

That means that you're ashamed of video games and consider them embarrassing and thus find being called a gamer a disrespectful association.

Look, E-Sports is fine. There's an unspoken agreement that we came to years ago: We let the term "E-Sports" go, and in exchange, idiots stopped trying desperately to push the term "Cyber-Athletes" on us. Holy hell...that one was just pathetic.

I refuse to believe anyone anywhere.... ever.... tried to use the term "Cyber-Athlete" non ironically.

Refuse

People who play baseball are actual called baseballers. Basketballers is a term people use as well. People who knit are called knitters. Comparing "gamer" to "nigger" is probably the worst comparison I've ever heard.

That's a really good point, also I would like to point out that I would be embarrassed to say I was "gaming" but not to say I was playing video games. Something about the language makes it particularly unappealing, I'm not sure what it is exactly.

Of course I'm not embarrassed about my hobby. But it's not exactly something you'd go praising to people. It's not one of those activities that the general population linked to a fruitful use of time.

Also, "Cyber-Athletes"? What the fuck?

I find it annoying people actually say that on the internet.

But to the original post, if the first thing people say about themselves is essentially "I play a lot of video games," I find that unnecessarily reductive. Surely that's not their only interest? You don't see people introduce themselves with "I'm a reader. I read books."

I had this conversation with someone a while back, and she supported the term because she'd rather identify herself that way than tell people she's a nurse, because of the stereotypical response the latter tends to get. But I'm still of the mind that if you don't really need to call yourself a "gamer" unless you're living in a shitty house in South Korea playing Starcraft 12 hours a day.

I agree gamer and stuff like "I game" is dumb but it's not worth getting upset about. Esports is ok. Cyber athlete is silly. Pro gamer is ok. It's all just short hand to say something quickly. I don't know how it's derogatory.

There's nothing derogatory about it at all. A Golfer plays golf. A skater skates. A Magician magics. A farmer farms. A gamer plays games.

i really don't mind the term 'gamer' and i have no opinion of the term esports.

E-sports has nothing to do with athleticism or relation to any other real "sport". E-sports is about the spectacle and scope of the events and live shows that are put on around the game. When Jeff was talking about the difference between e-sports and EVO on the bombcast, it got me thinking. The real difference is that E-spots is striving to televised. When you watch Day-9 and husky commentate a MLG match of starcraft 2, they're imitating what you see on something like ESPN. The quality level isn't quite there yet, but that IS what they're striving for. I think that's why I think E-sports is an acceptable name. Could we do better? Of course. We could do better with a lot of things in this world, but until somebody comes up with an alternative, that's what it will be called.

Pro gaming/pro gamer is a fine alternative in my eyes. Unless you hate the word "gamer" which puts us back at square one!

Game is a verb and has been for some time. See the expression "gaming the system"

@trilogy: yeah my dislike for gamer but being ok with pro gamer is a weird contradiction I can't really explain. Maybe I've just gotten used to gamer. 'I game' will always be terrible though.

I've always preferred "competitive games" over the term esports.

GAMES SPORTS

electronic sports is what robots do

@abendlaender: holy shit I'm going to say "I movied" from now on