Are there social classes in gaming?
2old2play seems to think so. They
rank this "society of gaming" according to the following hierarchy of six different classes: Hard Core,
Devoted, Pretend Hard Core (PHC), Casual, Clueless and Worthless gamers. Here's a quick summary of each:
- "Hard Core gamers know games and gaming the way doctors know the bones of the body, artists know the color
palette, and busty blondes know how to avoid traffic tickets. In other words, Hard Core gamers know it all... [They]
are not married (usually)."
- "Devoted gamers have a singular obsession – The One Game,
whichever it may be... When you spend months, and sometimes years on the same game, generally forsaking all others,
you’re Devoted."
- "PHC gamers do know a thing or two about gaming, but they like to appear
as though they know far more than they really do. Although they can fool casual gamers, they’re in trouble when
they run into true Hard Core gamers."
- "Casual gamers... like to game, but it’s generally
one of many hobbies, and is no more important than any of the other ones. Casual gamers tend to play only those games
that get good reviews and sell a lot of copies."
- "Clueless gamer... buy a lot of games, but
they’re not very good at any of them, and they give up on them before they can become good. These are the gamers
who do things that puzzle you, make a lot of mistakes and get pretty frustrated by that, but also aren’t willing
to listen to any suggestions or invest any time to improve.
- "Worthless gamer[s]... go by many names:
Cheaters, Hackers, De-levelers, Screamers, Punks, Jackasses and our own favorite, Timmies. Worthless gamers are a
cancer on the gaming world, and millions of dollars and thousands of hours are spent every year by companies to thwart
them, gamers to report them, and message board posters to vilify them."
What is it with gamers and
labels? Do athletes have this many subsets? Do book readers? And what about movie goers? Nearly everyone has played, or
better yet, interacted with illogical and unreasonable individuals in a variety of instances. Does that type of
individual justify a social class system, even in the gaming world? We're not ignorant to the fact that labels do exist
but that's not the point. The point is if you're a sensible person that enjoys gaming, pull up some rug.
