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At some point, there is a line that seperates the occasional gamer, from a truly respected, hard core gamer. But what, in your opinion, is this defining feature? Does being a "True Gamer" require an extensive knowledge of various games? Or a certain amount of time devoted to games? Is a "True Gamer" someone who can finish FFVI in a scant few hours, or is it someone who meticulously plays the game until every rage is learned, every item is collected, etc?

What is your definition of a True Gamer?

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TURKEY! - (The only way not to get blocked for using Fowl Language)

I feel that the definition of a true gamer is not restricted to one that can only finish a game in record time or one that can only finish it down to the last hidden item, ability, level, etc. A true gamer doesn't necessarily need to have an extensive knowledge of a game, either. I think a true gamer is one that can fully enjoy the experience that any given video game can offer, and who can really appreciate the multiple assets and angles to a game, instead of seeing and labelling a video game as "just a game." This can come from finishing a game in less than an hour or finding every secret possible, or from a different, equally satisfying accomplishment.

On a side note, I think it's very narrow-minded to think that that a true or hardcore gamer is anything more of worth than the casual gamer. But that's just my opinion, since I reside in the gray area between the "occasional" and "hardcore" gamer.

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I find your lack of faith disturbing...

For me, the defining feature would be the gamer's meticulous attention to detail. Gaining every item, summon, etc. Regardless of the amount of time devoted to said game

A true gamer is that who never uses cheats, he who plays in VERY HARD mode. The one who pays attention even to the smallest detail. A true gamer never visits GAMEFAQS.com before he finishes a game at least once, a true gamer, never ever buys a strategy guide, a tru gamer is that, who stays true to the game!



This post has been edited by SaffireWeapon on 22nd September 2005 03:31

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PS3 tag: TipoDLuffy

"...quite possibly the greatest game ever made"

true gamer = a person who has repeatedly spent (wasted?) time playing games when he/she should seriously have been doing something else

Wait, that's 'addict'.

Seriously, though, there isn't any real good, solid definition of the term, but I'd say it's anyone who's played games in such an unusually high amount that games are a significant part of her/his life.

I don't believe that one has to be 'hardcore' to be a true gamer. You can play a lot of games, analyze them, allude to them, replay them, recommend them, converse about them, try various interesting variations on playing them, and stuff without being a stickler for NO ITEMS or SUPER DUPER EXTREME HARD MODE. An example of this would be myself.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (SaffireWeapon @ 22nd September 2005 04:31)

A true gamer is that who never uses cheats, he who plays in VERY HARD mode. The one who pays attention even to the smallest detail. A true gamer never visits GAMEFAQS.com before he finishes a game at least once, a true gamer, never ever buys a strategy guide, a tru gamer is that, who stays true to the game!

If that is a True Gamer, a True Gamer really needs to get out more . Joking aside, I'd have though a visitation to gamefaqs was more a sign of desperation and/or bravery. Lord knows what you may catch without immunisation... Also, why is he a he? Can't she do just as well? Can't one just say one to be both politically and factually correct?

I'm sorry, but I find the term true gamer a total lie. I define it as a phrase made up to let certain people think themselves somehow better than others, perhaps as a compensation for other failings. Like the fact something approaching 8/10 self-labelled "True Gamers" can't even get a basic grip on their primary languages simple points like, say actually using it properly instead of using AOL spk .

You play a videogame, you are a gamer of sorts. Putting "True" in front of it does not make people respect you any more except for other people who already probably did respect you. The term as such, does not exist as far as I am concerend. If one plays videogames, they are a videogame player, ergo, if you think yourself a gamer are already a "true" (as in, actual)gamer, thus, merely saying you are a "True Gamer" is a sign you are trying too hard, in an area that really, has very little significance expect as an escape from reality. Not a full blown replacement for it.

Thus, the irony is, a true gamer is one who does not ever need to put the true there at all, becuase it's already there the minute they're willing to be called a gamer, and you are only a gamer if you think you are. A True Gamer is on the other hand the extreme form of a gamer, who has labelled his or herself with the 'hardcore' label of 'true' to differentiate themselves from 'fake' gamers who play once in a while (EG: a few hours a day as opposed to 12 hours a day) , much like a republican (one who does not belive in monarchy) is different from a Republican (one who is a supporter of a Republican party), God is different from [a] god.

So, a true gamer has a silent true, and is basically what Kappa says, someone who enjoys the game like it were a movie or a book, accepts it as entertainment and not as a replacment for reality. A True Gamer is an extremist rebel without a clue who enjoys the game like it were real life and not like a movie or a book.

As always, anything you may take issue with in that demi-rant there, PM me with it to ensure the safety of the topic.


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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

I believe that a true gamer is one that has fun playing the game. The point of video games is for entertainment. If it is entertaining to break time records or discover every secret go for it. My exception is for cheats, at least for the first play-through.

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Dead Winter. A nice comic.

a true gamer is someone who never uses a guide, cheats, or starts on easy mode(at least starts on mormal), and tries to do everything he can in a game
success or failure, unlock all characters, sidequests etc., and will eventually succeed, also they have to actually enjoy a game, and know how to evaluate a game, beyond "the graphics suck, but cloud strife is awsome"-my brother first time he saw me playing vii (funny now he says "VII is the greatest rpg ever made")

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

Well, I think you guys are getting your definitions of true and harcore mixed up. I always was under the impression that the ultra-completist/challenge-seeker/obsessive-collector mold was "hardcore" and that "true" is merely someone very dedicated to their gaming hobby - someone who has both old-school and new-school gaming experience and enjoys games from all eras, does not take an elitist attitude about any aspect of gaming, and views gaming intelligently and is able to put their hobby in perspective.

I have a good degree of hardcore and true gamer in me. I really enjoy certain uber-challenging games, I am quite the obsessive RPG-completist and file-perfecter with regard to certain games, and I try to speak and act intelligently when I discuss games and make sure that it isn't the most important part of my life. In order to be an absolutely true or hardcore gamer, you'd probably never work, eat, or sleep, and live out of your parents' basement. No thanks.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

In my opinion, a "True Gamer" is someone who can play a game all day long without feeling there's anything wrong with what they've done.

A person is even more of a "true gamer" if they keep that behavior up after they hit their later teen years. Past adulthood, regularly doing this would grant a person the legendary title of "absolute gamer." Unfortunately, the more sane members of society whom haven't failed their lives have a whole slew of names for people like these, which all amount to "failiure."

I don't think there's any pride in being a gamer. Especially when all's you can brag about in your life is being able to finish Super Metroid in under an hour, but never having had a real job and still living with your parents at age 25. Past a certain age, playing games is something that should be no more than a way to kill time, not a hobby. Because while people may argue it builds things like coordination and reflexes, these things hardly have any impact on the job you'll be earning a living from in a few years. The lazyness it generates and the dependance people get from playing games, on the other hand, can and have ruined the lives of many people (I've seen it first-hand: my best bud, nearing 21, is a true gamer. It's not my place to talk about him here, as that's personal business. But this guy's inches away from screwing up irreversibly because of his addiction, and lost a job once in the past because he preferred playing GTA when it came out) over working.)

Being a true gamer is nothing to be proud of.

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"Judge not a man by his thoughts and words, but by
the quality and quantity of liquor in his possession
and the likelyhood of him sharing."

it's simple a "true" gamer plays games for the fun of it and feels an inexplicable sence of pride every time they beat a game no matter if it's the first time or the hundedth time and no matter the diffuculty level.

If I couldn't use cheats and strategy guides and look up secrets and easter eggs online, then playing a videogame would seem too much like work.

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Quote (Kappa the Imp @ 21st September 2005 20:27)

On a side note, I think it's very narrow-minded to think that that a true or hardcore gamer is anything more of worth than the casual gamer. But that's just my opinion, since I reside in the gray area between the "occasional" and "hardcore" gamer.

I wanted to clarify that I actualy don't think a "True Gamer" whatever your definition, is to be any more respected than an occasional gamer. I was more or less just playing devil's advocate in my first post. I'm of the general opionion that a "True Gamer" is someone who appreciates a game's message and artfullness, and who forms an opinion that goes further than "OMG I liek fighting with swordz!!!!11 Teh are so kewl!!!11"



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TURKEY! - (The only way not to get blocked for using Fowl Language)

Anyone who games preferentially when presented with various options for relaxation/hobbies rates 'true gamer' in my book.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (karasuman @ 22nd September 2005 18:47)

Anyone who games preferentially when presented with various options for relaxation/hobbies rates 'true gamer' in my book.

I think this is the only person in this topic that I agree with. I think a true gamer is the one who is devoted to the hobby, even if you suck at gaming, even if you don't get all the whatevers in the game. Personally, I hate the name "true gamer" because it's just another vehicle to try and justify being a jerk or an elitist or a snob. So you got every secret in FFVI? Guess what, no one cares! That doesn't make you better. That doesn't mean that you enjoyed the game more than I did. If you are to define a true gamer is should be someone that truly loves gaming and that can be show in many different ways, whether it be the one who gets everything, be the one that will try anything, be the won that still enjoys playing even if they aren't the greatest, or th one that's room or desk at work is swimming in gaming posters, pictures, fan art, what have you.

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Elena Indurain

Currently Playing: Suikoden II

(not gonna bother reading the posts before, too much to read @_@)

A true gamer enjoys every kind of genre, he/she isn't picky and only likes one kind of game and disregards the other. They play a game all the way through, no matter how hard or dumb it is. They don't need to know a wide variety of games to be hard core.

It's basically about dedication, not meaning you'd buy every game on the market, but how dedicated you are to the game you are playing.

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The Cait Sith Avatar has Returned!

Check out my DeviantArt profile! ....If you don't mind that is

What I'd call a 'true gamer', as such, is simply someone who can appreciate the joys of video games completely at leisure. In my mind, a 'true gamer' plays for the entertainment value. If they want to cheat, they cheat. If they want to use a guide, they use a guide. They go to all lengths to make the game as fun an experience as it can be and they don't limit themselves in any way that could dampen that.

If they truly enjoy the challenge of getting through a game without seeking out a printed strategy, then that's just peaches. Being all about gaining gloating rights while, at the same time, sacrificing the fun instead just strikes me as wrong, in a way. Sure it's their way, and I've done that a few times myself, but playing with no other thought than to 'be the best' tends to take away much of the enjoyment.

But as Del said - technically a 'true gamer' would be anyone who's ever played a video game. I mean, compare that to an 'untrue gamer' or a 'false gamer'. I don't think the latter two are even possible to become, unless of course you're an imaginary person, but that's for some other topic some other day.

Basically, if you can enjoy video games in general then you're the closest to the nominal title of 'true gamer' the way I see it.



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Words of Wisdom:

If something can go wrong, it will.

If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

Boing! Zoom! - Mr. Saturn

i think a true gamer is one that can be played over and over again with constant fun kinda like a soneone who does not bs, spam, glitch kill.
somone who truly enjoys the game for the game


This post has been edited by madmangunner on 23rd September 2005 19:33

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Why is it that rpg's are now a dying breed?

Simple. A true gamer is someone who play a game, and after he/she finished it, he/she countinously have that feeling of challenge, which makes his/her heart beating fast, and with a strange mix of emotion and melancholy, he/she exploits the game in anyway its possible for him/her. Seeking for an answer, his/her gift and curse its just curiosity. He/she walks both the path of darkness and light, between lucidity and madness, between evil and good.
No more, no less, a True gamer don't even care if he/she is the best , or not. He/she is trascendent, he/she fights for what he/she believes.


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"Its no cheating if you don't get caught"

I believe that a true gamer:

- Challenges the game for more fun
- Does not use guides, strategies, gameshark, codes, etc.
- Does not care about graphics, sound, music, or plot, but the gameplay and fun factor
- Atleast knows ALOT of things from one game

I believe a true gamer is based on what genre you play. I also believe that True Gamers are those who do not hack nor play on the easiest setting.

I consider those who feel that they must hack to be better (keyword be, no offense meant to those hacking just for fun or to see what the game can do) are weak. They have neither skill nor patience to unlock the true potential of the game.

Note that the paragraph above is aimed at hackers on multiplayer online games.

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Neneko is Neneko because Neneko couldn't be Neneko if Neneko wasn't Neneko!
--as quoted from Neneko, Mahoraba {Heartful Days}

I can stab a man with a thick paperback book thru the ribcage.

I'm inclined to agree with Karasuman and Elena1999 'cause that's the kinda' gamer I am. It's a fun and addicting hobby for me that I stick to.

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"Thought I was dead, eh? Not until I fulfill my dream!"
Seifer Almasy


"The most important part of the story is the ending."
Secret Window


"Peace is but a shadow of death."
Kuja