Do video gamers tend to lean towards pacifism?

[Smith_3]

I have really been wondering about that for a while. I played alot of video games in my day, and also alot of the "violent" ones like Counter Strike or Quake. I also spent very much time on online message boards with gamer clan communities and computer nerds of all sorts, and I really got the impression that when it comes to actual real life violence, real military strikes etc., the gamers community is largely very opposed to it. Is it just my impression or can anyone confirm to have similar experiences?

[SteppingRazor]

1. I'd have to disagree. You know who else plays a shit-ton of Halo 3?

Soldiers.


I think you'd find gamers have as many varying views on the issues of war and peace as society at large.

[Chovexani]

8. It really depends on the circles you run in

Halo fanboys are not necessarily representative of the gaming community at large. Literally every gamer I know is anti-war--granted, a lot of them are Ron Paul libertarians--and I know a metric shitton of gamers.

Of course, my niche of gaming fandom largely consists of Final Fantasy/RPG nerds, and those games have always had a strong anti-war, anti-authoritarian message running through them. I don't see how anyone could play Final Fantasy VI and be pro-war, just as an example.

I find that it falls along "class" lines, so to speak. We old school gamers, the people who've been involved in the hobby for years and years, are the ones that are more likely to be liberal and anti-war. I find it's the assholes who climbed on the bandwagon once it became "cool" and somewhat trendy (X-Box kiddies for the most part, though every console has its obnoxious fanbrats) that tend to be more right-wing. You know, the ones who would have likely beat up gamers growing up. :P (Nah, I'm not bitter and elitist.)

[Forkboy]

2. Been a gamer forever (well, since Pong...same thing)

I can't really answer that to well. I used to love to scrap with people. There may be no correlation between the two though, as I like to think I just reached a point where I realized how pointless, and at times downright brutal, it could be. I also listen to a lot of hyper aggressive music and yet I get mellower by the year, even though the games and music are trending the other way. :shrug:

My guess would be that the ratio is fairly close to society in general.

[NashVegas]

3. Depends on the Game

I used to be a top leader in an MMO where wars were a regular thing, and a massive alliance war about once per year.

The most successful players / tribes or what have you understand that you can't get or stay huge if you're fighting wars all the time. It's a drain on resources; even when successful, you've got to take regular periods to rest and consolidate.

However, avoiding wars all the time means making greater compromises in game integrity; you've got to spend more time manipulating other players and you may find yourself wrapped up in constant drama as you try to find more and more creative ways to keep your enemies from ganging up against you and ripping you to shreds - which they always do, if you're too averse to warring to be able to pull dozens of people together, and go kick someone's ass at the drop of a hat.

Letting the CIA take care of most of our wars allowed the US to prosper, but there has been a great cost.

[RedCappedBandit]

4. I've had the exact opposite experience

On gaming boards I frequent, I sometimes feel like I am one of a very small few who is not a bigoted republican.

[Smith_3]

5. Hmm. I guess it really depends.

Weird enough, I saw alot of leftwingers on a counterstrike board and a bunch of rethugs on ultima online. I guess it really doesn't necessarly correlate.

[Dumak]

6. I have had some experience in MMORPG's

I have been in a very large guild in everquest, world of warcraft, and a medium-size guild in everquest II.

Typically people wouldn't even talk much about politics. I once expressed anger at someone who was frequently using the term "gay" in a perjorative manner, and I received nothing but support for my viewpoint - and this was in a serious raiding guild. These kinds of games are probably frequented more by social liberals, while the bigots usually find out that their bufoonery isn't wanted.

The more purely action-oriented games probably serve a much broader audience, and i can't really speak for those.

[Chovexani]

7. I think it depends on the subset of gamers

From what I've seen, most of us are liberals and therefore too smart to be pro-war. :P But it could just be the circles I run in. I find that the more casual the gamer, the more right-wing they are, oddly.

There's also a huge libertarian streak among hardcore gamers too. Lots of Ron Paul fanboys.