The Struggles Of A Gamer

What’s the popular opinion about a gamer? By popular I mean the ignorant masses who watch too much Jersey Shore and think gym is a “huge part of their life”. Their opinion is usually that us gamers are a bunch of layabouts who don’t do anything substantial with our lives, where gaming is just a form of dumb entertainment where you shoot things in the face, and that’s it. It’s almost within the same mindset as a person who says that metal is just a “load of screaming”. Gaming is not just a stupid past-time any more. It’s a culture, a way of life and, for some lucky individuals, a source of income. Gaming has grown and evolved into something way more than just superficial entertainment. It has become our lives.

Just like our real lives, gaming also has its own struggles that we have to deal with. Some of them are small and can be seen as first world problems while others may be a bit more serious. Nevertheless, they still need to be dealt with.

Let’s take a look.

 

Not Enough Time

This struggle is most prominent in adults who spend most of their time either working or with their family. They simply don’t have enough time in the day to indulge in their hobby. It’s saddening because most of them have the finances to support it, but hardly play a game to completion. I would imagine that it is frustrating for them as well, because if I had a cupboard full of amazing games to play and can’t spend more than a few hours on them, I would be full of rage. It’s a tough struggle to conquer, because it’s out of their power and can’t be easily fixed. It’s a permanent problem, if you will.

However, it’s certainly not only an issue for adults, as there’s a lot of other factors to consider as well. For example, if you’re working towards a doctorate which requires immense concentration and commitment, you certainly won’t find the time to find all the relics in Far Cry 3 — that’s for sure. There are also people with other creative outputs which are more important than gaming, and this would include a photographer for big events and weddings. Gaming requires time, and sometimes people just don’t have the time.

 

Not Enough Money

This is basically the opposite of the above entry. Not enough money is more prominent in teenagers and students who don’t have their own income, just yet. It’s a horrible feeling to see a game releasing with much appreciation from fellow gamers, and knowing that you have to wait weeks or even months to afford it. This could lead to piracy, and we know it’s a big problem in our industry. I have personally suffered several instances where I couldn’t buy any new releases, and at that time I didn’t have any games that I wanted to play. It’s a horrible period of extreme boredom and mild depression.

Games need to be cheaper, but that’s a different topic altogether. I won’t explore that, just yet.

 

Too Many Games

If you have tons and tons of games to play and you have sufficient time, then you might just find yourself at the mercy of over-saturation. Here’s an example: You have access to plates and plates of gourmet meals. Each individual dish is delicious and amazing, but once you have eaten your 10th plate in a row, you get sick and puke into the chef’s hat. That’s an accurate representation, I believe. Once you play too many games at one time you might find yourself not liking the games themselves. If you juggle between various genres in quick succession or switch between many story heavy games at once, then you might find yourself negative towards them.

Games require your utmost concentration and attention. Imagine if you skipped every cutscene and dialogue sequence in the Mass Effect series, wouldn’t you be absolutely lost? That’s what happens when you play too many games at once. You forget the one experience because you are too busy focusing on the new one. It’s a bad thing to have when you’re a gamer.

 

The Risk Of Disappointment

We have all experienced this. You eagerly await a game that you’re dying to play, where you’ve pre-ordered it, watched all the trailers, and read anything you can. Then, when it finally arrives, it’s rubbish. Duke Nukem, what? It’s a demoralising feeling to have, especially when you’ve paid hard earned money only for it to disappoint you. The same can be said for extremely short games that only take an afternoon to complete. Homefront, what? There’s always some sort of looming uncertainty when you buy a game.

It’s something that we, as gamers, are cursed with.

 

Having To Deal With Overwhelming Negativity

Just lurk around any comment section of a gaming website and you will see what I mean. A few bad apples within our community make it their life’s mission to make gaming as miserable as possible, where they are often the ones who talk the loudest. There’s negativity everywhere in gaming, be it people screaming bad words to you as a person, or about a game which you know for a fact is good. This is most commonly found in online gaming lobbies, where a bunch of jackasses think it’s cool to demoralise and belittle you as much as possible. Some people actually get so frustrated by this that they give up on gaming altogether.

It’s a stupid problem to have, because it’s only a few bad apples in a glorious community. We don’t need war amongst ourselves. Gaming is to be embraced and not torn into a million tiny pieces.

 

Conclusion

And there you have the struggles that us gamers have to face. There are a lot more struggles which I haven’t mentioned, so feel free to discuss your own tribulations in the comment section below.