3 ms·

> Gamer originated in the 90s, in particular round-about 1996 with Quake This just isn't true at all. Kids who played Dungeons & Dragons and other games were "

by ebbv 13y ago

> Gamer originated in the 90s, in particular round-about 1996 with Quake This just isn't true at all. Kids who played Dungeons & Dragons and other games were "gamers" in the 80s, and probably before. The term only entered the mainstream in the 90s when DOOM and Quake made PC gaming a mainstream activity.

RyanZAG 13y ago
I'd say the term got re-used. It felt like a different subculture to me at the time. The people involved in D&D/tabletop gaming were generally not the same people at lan parties as well. I don't think joining the current gaming culture to the D&D/tabletop culture is entirely correct...
- ebbv 13y ago
  In my case and most of the people I knew, it was the same people. It depends on your generation, I suppose. But everyone I knew who was into D&D was also into computers and computer games. I'd challenge you to find someone who was into D&D and NOT into computers and computer games.
  - RyanZAG 13y ago
    There were a lot at the time. Computers for playing games were expensive and lan parties tended to take a whole weekend including sleeping there, while D&D was more relaxed and was just a couple hours in the evening. I'd still say the culture was vastly different though. A few people sitting around a board rolling dice was just a completely different social interaction to a hundred people in a noisy hall. There also wasn't the same level of 'scoreboard hero' in tabletop games that arose during Doom/Quake. I guess I'm actually talking more about 'quake culture' than gaming culture at the time, but it's actually that 'quake culture' which has gone mainstream rather than the 80s gaming culture which is still around today. Without the lan parties and quake, you wouldn't have the 'rape culture' they talk about and that's why I'm saying the two are something different.

3 ms·

> Gamer originated in the 90s, in particular round-about 1996 with Quake This just isn't true at all. Kids who played Dungeons & Dragons and other games were "

by ebbv 13y ago

RyanZAG 13y ago
I'd say the term got re-used. It felt like a different subculture to me at the time. The people involved in D&D/tabletop gaming were generally not the same people at lan parties as well. I don't think joining the current gaming culture to the D&D/tabletop culture is entirely correct...
- ebbv 13y ago
  In my case and most of the people I knew, it was the same people. It depends on your generation, I suppose. But everyone I knew who was into D&D was also into computers and computer games. I'd challenge you to find someone who was into D&D and NOT into computers and computer games.
  - RyanZAG 13y ago
    There were a lot at the time. Computers for playing games were expensive and lan parties tended to take a whole weekend including sleeping there, while D&D was more relaxed and was just a couple hours in the evening. I'd still say the culture was vastly different though. A few people sitting around a board rolling dice was just a completely different social interaction to a hundred people in a noisy hall. There also wasn't the same level of 'scoreboard hero' in tabletop games that arose during Doom/Quake. I guess I'm actually talking more about 'quake culture' than gaming culture at the time, but it's actually that 'quake culture' which has gone mainstream rather than the 80s gaming culture which is still around today. Without the lan parties and quake, you wouldn't have the 'rape culture' they talk about and that's why I'm saying the two are something different.