How sweet it is
Opened.
Redefining to match the misuse would make it chairs, so we may be forced to cut if we cannot find enough examples to salvage. The trope pic is not helping matters.
If there are enough correct uses, a rename is in order.
edited 12th Apr '18 6:24:01 AM by Berrenta
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I don't think that it would make it chairs, its playing hard against the stereotype that girls don't play games outside of the uber casual kiddy stuff like Mario. Its the same thing as Action Girl and There Are No Girls on the Internet.
At most I could see splitting this into several tropes
- Girl Gamer Reveal. A girl is revealed to actually play video games twisting 'girls dont play video games' on their head, usually by showing the boys up.
- Hardcore Gamer Girl, the hardcore gamer type that people don't expect. They are the types that will pull all-nighters playing an MMO, wear a Konami Code shirt, speak using gaming lingo etc. Basically the Hardcore Male Gamer stereotype but a girl. Commonly some form of a Hikikomori, Otaku Surrogate or Cosplay Otaku Girl in Japanese works. Actually owning a PC is a huge sign of it in japan.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Looking at the examples that I know (primarily gaming and anime though) they seem perfectly fine. A few could be made a bit more clear though I think.
Image wise I can think of several of the different varieties [1]
◊ [2]
◊ [3]
◊[4]
edited 12th Apr '18 7:06:33 AM by Memers
I agree. The trope description implies that Positive Discrimination is optional, and I think it's still a trope without this. The idea that Most Gamers Are Male is extremely widespread and often commented on in media, so I think subversions are notable. Heck, the entire internet blew up 4 years ago about this very trope.
I like Memers' subcategories, could be a helpful way to give the trope some more context.
I would support a cut iff examples could be moved to Gamer or Most Gamers Are Male as variants or subversions. But the first page doesn't exist, and the second has no examples. (Why?)
edited 12th Apr '18 12:06:58 PM by naturalironist
"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
No, the other one.
I'm also under the impression that Positive Discrimination isn't strictly necessary, even if it might be common.
The only thing is probably that it's about a female character who's at least got gaming as a main hobby, and not just someone who plays once in a while when there's opportunity.
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The stereotype is that 'girls don't play games aside from the super casual stuff like Mario or Candy Crush and the girly Barbie or Otome Game at all'. If they play and enjoy any games aside from those at all is really a trope.
I hear 'girls just play mobile games, its the only reason why there is even a market for it and why real games are dying since there is more money in miking the female whales' all the time in gaming threads and such. While it is technically true when you look at published demographics its still quite a sexist stereotype and something that appears in works.
edited 14th Apr '18 7:05:40 AM by Memers
...
The trope is currently used for "Gamers who are also female". It doesn't matter if they only play Candy Crush or if they're speedrunners.
That trope also stuck me as off so I tried to avoid using it. It's so open-ended as it is currently used. Maybe it works in period pieces or older works, however just being a female gamer has stopped being a big deal. It hasn't been for a long time. It depends on the type of gamer nowadays. For example, a woman who is really into turn-base strategy games might turn heads but a woman into JRPGs won't.
Maybe this trope should only apply for when the narrative itself treats the girl like an oddity or for when they go for the "wow" factor.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me the term gamer already implies a certain subculture. It's not just "a person who plays a video game." The term already implies someone who is devoted to their craft which is video games considered to be challenging/elite. Someone who only plays mobile games or visual novels would not generally be considered a gamer, regardless of their gender. EDIT: I also don't see any evidence for this type of misuse; most examples are either ZC Es or involve more "hardcore" game types.
Whether or not female gamers are "normal" or abundant now is not particularly relevant to the validity of this as a trope. It would just affect whether this is a Dead Horse Trope or not.
I think it would help if we require the gaming to be a recurring character trait, not just a one-off thing (maybe with exceptions for games that are considered to require unusual amounts of devotion e.g. MOB As).
edited 16th Apr '18 4:56:20 PM by naturalironist
"It's just a show; I should really just relax"
...
There's no strict definition of "gamer". The most basic meaning is just "someone who plays video games". That's a reason why people always debate what being a "gamer" means and even if the term should be used anymore.
No, the other one.
I don't think it's about their skill or types of games they play. It's about the frequency and consistency. If you spend four hours every day playing visual novels (which, by the way, is a common genre that shows up that gamers play in anime) then you're a gamer, even if you're still crap at it. You just probably know how to play something you dedicate a significant portion of your life to.
If you only play Candy Crush on breaks and commutes to pass time, you're probably not a gamer. If you dedicate time to it as a proper hobby, then you're a gamer.
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But then that goes against the stereotype that mobile games arnt real games, which is absolutely pervasive in culture and has some backing.
edited 16th Apr '18 10:07:38 PM by Memers
No, the other one.
Different stereotypes in different cultures. Most of the people who don't see casual games a "real" games are self-entitled "hardcore" gamers. The general public are far more likely to see people playing casual games as gamers, if they set a significant amount of time aside to play those games.
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It depends, even in the West the primary demographic of mobile games are women. Candy Crush Saga’s player base is over 75% female.
But anyway still incidents like this
where a guy is shocked that a girl is playing Not!Street Fighter cause girls don’t play those games are different than an Uber gaming girl who wears her hobbies on her Konami Code shirt and are a complete gender flip of the hardcore gamer stereotype are completely different things.
Clock is set.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Clock is up; locking for inactivity/lack of consensus. No action is to be taken on the basis of this thread.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Gamer Chick is supposed to be a form of Positive Discrimination, where the token female in a group of gamers is portrayed as being much better at playing video games than the male members of the group. Said female gamer is also supposed to be tomboyish in appearance, but still portrayed as attractive, and very confrontation about their gender and feel the need to mention it repeatedly.
Most example I’ve seen on work pages seem to be just female character who plays video games, with nothing else about the character mentioned, which I’m certain counts as People Sit On Chairs.
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