Mockery of Gamers

by Victoria Jesswein published 2022/11/12 08:27:51 GMT-8, last modified 2022-11-12T08:27:51-08:00
In a Facebook group posting, someone stated: "I question why America sees LARPing as something to be mocked". Here is a response...

It isn't just the US, but considering the intensity to which RPGs took off in the 70s and 80s in the US, and all the media generated, it does become the most visible.

Also, I think my "Hypothesis of the Role-Playing Gamer 'Floater'" may be applicable, though I don't know how I could ever test/prove it. http://www.rpgresearch.com/blog/hypothesis-of-the-role-playing-gamer-floater

The mockery of gamers and gaming goes back (at least) decades. And LARPing, especially the popularity of "boffer" LARPs in the US are the most visible form of RPG.

A combined line from the movie "The Gamers 3: Hands of Fate": "Furries are people LARPers make fun of, LARPers are people [tabletop] gamers make fun of, and gamers are people that people make fun of." -- https://youtu.be/mFAX-_CZ2bM?list=PLwDmZhGpP6STJJfNqCdQ2IOTHaHSydmJ1&t=485

(and here is her later counter to the mocking: https://youtu.be/Wq1rfvg0h08?list=PLwDmZhGpP6STJJfNqCdQ2IOTHaHSydmJ1 

The whole stigma against gamers in all forms (including video games for a long time), has been going on since at least the 70s (and arguably even the early 1900s with H.G. Wells Wargaming book "Little Wars" - http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22777029 ), and really peaked in the US in the mid-to-late 80s.

For some areas, it took decades for the popularity of various forms of RPGs to spread throughout other countries.

While nowhere near its previous peak in the US, it is still quite prevalent, and there are now  thoroughly inculcated myths that the general population accepts and is further fanned by popular culture (for example The Big Bang Theory: https://youtu.be/4aNUuGOUreg?t=59 ).

Here are several articles on the topics (including other countries), covering tabletop, LARP, computer-based, and related topics:

 

Here is the FB thread of the original conversation:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/147092455420/permalink/10153646067805421/

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