That's right. I opt out of being called that, because I don't fit into that space anymore. Let us check what the criteria are for being called a gamer. 

• Like to play games, and do so almost every day.

• Know things about almost every platform of gaming.

•  Own at least one gaming platform.

• Bitch and moan about a variety of minor things having to do with gaming.

• Be extremely negative towards something you have never tried because it is new.

Yeah, I would not alienate myself from the term "Gamer" (Although I don't use it all that often), but I do agree, I despise a large amount of gamers for the reasons you posted. 
Over the last few days my hatred of the word "Noob" and the way it is used, half of the gaming community seem to be extremely Negative and not at all constructive in their criticisms both on forums and in games. 
I agree strongly with your blog post.

Too true. Have fun, that's what it's all about. 

people hate Halo? that game is so fun...

I know what you mean, however what your talking about is the average forum troll mentality not gamers as a whole. Sadly forums seem to attract mostly the immature annoying types who are too stupid or ignorant to form a thought before posting. What you are annoyed with is the 12 year old kids, and adults who act like 12 year old kids, flooding video comments and forums.
 
Sadly all you can do is try to find a nice group of mature people to stick with them exclusively and ignore the rest. Avoid pick up groups while playing games, unless absolutely necessary, and just post your two cents on a message board when you feel like saying something and move on.
 
I have been feeling the same way you have been for awhile now, and when I started doing the above I started to enjoy doing things more. Something to think about.
 
EDIT: Also, I too dislike the n00b insulting meta game that goes on in every online game. When I log onto a server and start hearing some one insulting another person I just immediately go back to my server list and find a new server. I don't want to hear people bitching and insulting one another over anything. Trash talking is one thing, but some of these idiots that go on and on for hours at a time with the most asinine things they say. It's like they don't even realize that they are only making themselves look like idiots.

. Avoid pick up groups while playing games, unless absolutely necessary,  

Seems like an excuse to bash people who disagree with you, bro. :/

You're confusing gamers with the internet.

Course most people just choose to ignore it.

" @crusader8463 said:

. Avoid pick up groups while playing games, unless absolutely necessary,  

 This.... I am a ex-WOWer, and PUGs are the bane of almost all online games... i used to play L4D as well with randoms.... Usually watched them run around with their thumbs up their ass trying to find the exit, while I tried to save them.... /sigh "

You don't have to follow a set of criteria to be a gamer all you have to do is enjoy your passion thats all.  So if you enjoy games then your a gamer I mean there is no difference from someone who plays hours on end to someone who might only get in a couple of minutes they both still get the same out of it.   
And as for the culture thats formed around gameing its the same with everything else these days everyone has an opinion and just wishes to express it.  All you can really do is just hope that places like GB still exsist where we can all have a say and get along with out resorting to trolling.

You just have to like the achievement porn that games are and if you like it because of itself, because of the chemical reactions that happen in your brain, kind of a drug, you are a gamer.
 
If you feel like you are wasting your time on something that is not real when playing a game, or you do it for any other reason, then you are not a gamer. Gaming is about achieving.
 
End of story.

The word Gamer is just a marketing term. Companies like Old Spice and McDonalds don't like to put money in advertising to "niche videogame nerds".

Scuse the language, but I was playing a game of SC2 the other week (One of my first MP SC2 as well), did so badly, and as my 2v2 partner logged off he called me a "Retarded c*nt that cant play this game and should die in a fire" which I thought was a tad over the top... but what would I know? 
 
 
    
 
My God , how apt

Yea i hate the Time limit in the first dead rising but hell if there is another dead rising coming people must of liked it. I dont have a PS3 just because i cant afford it, but hell if i could i would totally buy one.

" @crusader8463:  Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth - Oscar Wilde  "

 I guess this whole blog post is a bit ironic. Here I am, bitching and moaning about being sick of gamers bitching and moaning.

As a lot of people have already commented, the term 'gamer' is incredibly silly. Unfortunately fanboyism is just human nature, it will always happen; it's just a way for people to justify things to themselves and sometimes it does get quite extreme.
 
I remember that competition on GOG that implied that Steam was Goliath and GOG was David. It was very 'us against them'; I also felt that was kind of inappropriate.

I don't really agree with pairing the term gamer with some of the more negative aspects of the culture. As others have said, a lot of this is a result of the internet and the anonymity it provides. It happens with everything where opinions can possibly conflict: sports, movies, literature, music - it isn't exclusive to video games. 
 
I still know a ton of cool people that are into games, and that notion is really evident at events like PAX and Comic-Con. I've had the privilege to attend both, and the vibe there is a truly rewarding experience. I know that some people aren't able to go to those sorts of events, but they've reaffirmed my belief that the collective group know as "gamers" is far from all bad. There's still a hell of a lot of nice, friendly and passionate people out there playing games.
 
Having said that, I don't put much importance behind the term gamer or who it applies to. As long as you enjoy your personal time playing games, that's all that really matters.

I'm of the theory that I don't call myself a "gamer" because it's a stupid word and I never use it. I don't refer to anyone as a "gamer".

People kind of define the term on their own whim anyway. If you choose to see the term as pejorative, that's just you. Any term you come up with for people who play games is going to become pejorative over time because most people who play games online are assholes and a lot of people who play games alone are socially inept. That's just the way it is. 
Case and point, people itt quoting themselves as if they've just exceeded the profundity of Oscar Wilde. How egotistical do you have to be? lol

Gaming is supposed to be about fun hence the word game.

I don't know if I really agree with you. Yes with gaming talk mostly now centering around the internet you get a lot of trolls or people hating on everything they hate but that isn't what gaming is about. Being a gamer is having fun with what you're playing, reading about the latest news and getting excited about your favourite upcoming releases. There is always going to be idiots who don't argue a point well or who are so narrow minded you can't talk to them about anything, but don't all forms of media have these problems? I hope you can still consider yourself a gamer.

" You're confusing gamers with the internet. "

A gamer is a video game enthusiast, i.e. someone who is passionate about video games. With passion comes taste, with taste comes harshness, and with harshness comes bitching and moaning.

I'm not saying bitching about moaning about everything like, say, the people at /v/ is good -- it isn't -- but without some bitching and moaning, you really can't call yourself an enthusiast of anything.

i get what op means 
i want rare to hurry up and make more games 
rare are all about fun and stuff

"

"

Did you create this gamer criteria yourself, or did the League of Gamers come up with this?

You're a gamer, sorry. No need to act as if you're above all of us, because that's basically what you're saying. The claim that you don't fit into the criteria of what many of us on here place ourselves in, so you don't carry the negative association. Wrong. You're fucked, like all of us. We're all obese, awkward, and have lisps. One of us, one of us....

We all have lisps cus we all bit off the end of our tongue in anger at that one part in Battletoads exactly 19 years ago.

" @Axxol: Seeing how I am the League of Gamers, both are correct. "

1 wtf is this? and 2 why do i care?

" 1 wtf is this? and 2 why do i care? "