(CS:GO) Gamer Stigma

He smiled at me from across the table, and said, "Hillary, you give people like me [a gamer] hope that I will find someone."

During the summer, my spouse and I were having lunch with one of his internet friends that lived near us at the time (let's call him Alex). I wasn't sure what to expect meeting Alex; I am not a gamer myself. I was a bit worried that Alex and my spouse would monopolize the conversation the whole time, talking about CS:GO (CounterStrike Global Offensive, the game they play together). I sometimes watch matches between the best teams in the world with my spouse, and I've been learning more about the game, but there is still a lot that I don't know, especially since I don't actually play. I was pleasantly surprised, though; both of them talked about different things going on in their lives, not just gaming. After thinking about how I assumed that these two would just talk about the game, I realized that my worry stemmed from the gamer stereotype.

Fig. 1. Online Gamer. "Rant and Rave;" SevenGames.com, 17 August 2014, http://sevengames.com/rant-and-rave/4073/1/rant-rave-gamer-stereotypes-and-feign-death.html.

Poster Idol's blog says, "Gamers. Just the mention of the word seems to conjure images of overweight, acne-ridden males, living in their parent’s basements, surviving on a diet of Burger Rings and Redbull. They are smelly, unsociable cave dwellers; sporting their sweat laden t-Shirts with the latest internet meme that would only ever make sense to another ‘gamer’ that they have no chance of running into, as they never leave their darkened rooms." In other words, the gamer is assumed to be an unhealthy, unclean, socially-awkward man. Although I agree that Poster Idol's summation of the gamer stereotype is accurate, I would like to challenge the idea that all gamers are older and "live in their parent's basements," at least with CS:GO gamers. As I've learned, most CS:GO gamers are in their mid-teens to early twenties. This means that most of these gamers might live in their parents' basements, but it's not because they are lazy or unsociable; it's probably because they are a lot younger than we imagine them to be. The older male that we imagine to be the gamer may be accurate for other video games, but it's simply not the case with CS:GO. My 26-year-old spouse often talks about being "too old" (I know he's joking, but there is a bit of truth in his jokes) to play CS:GO because there are younger players that are better: they have faster reaction times and they can practice more (I assume that these players don't have multiple jobs and responsibilities like my spouse does).

Although CS:GO players may not exactly fit the stereotype of a stereotypical gamer, this game has stereotypes of their own. MojoOnPC created a few different videos about CS:GO player stereotypes. Many of these stereotypes are spot on and pretty hilarious (see AFK guy), but I'd like to only explore the "Smurf" and "Girl" stereotypes. These, along with the gamer stereotype, are going to be helpful when in understanding why Alex, and perhaps other gamers, believes he might not find a partner.

The "Smurf," from what I understand, is a player that has multiple accounts so they may play with lower skilled people and/or to have a "fresh start" with CS:GO. This player might have a higher level account, such as Legendary Eagle (see figure 2 below), but this player may also play under a different account who might be only a Silver II. This means that players with the same rank are predicted to score an equal number of wins. However, if a Smurf Silver II is playing against a so-called actual Silver II player in a 1-versus-1 situation (just because this is the simplest to explain), this means they may not be evenly matched, and the Silver II will most likely lose. According to HughHeffrey's Reddit post, "[Smurfing] completely undermines the purpose of competitive matchmaking governed by a ranking system." While this statement may be valid, the only incentive to rank up in CS:GO is the prestige of the rank: players don't gain any new weapons or anything like other games. This ranking system setup may be why some players are indifferent about smurfing. Responding to HughHeffrey's post, Lucky_Kvack states, "Yes it causes teams to be unbalanced but your rank does not matter. You should be looking at improving as a player and having a rank next to your name doesn't mean shit. " My spouse also commented that while it might be annoying to play against a Smurf, smurfing is not as popular as it used to be. Clearly, CS:GO players are divided about smurfing.

Fig. 2. Competitive Ranking for CS:GO. "A Short and Easy Guide to Boosting Your CS:GO Rank." KillPing.com. 19 August 2016, https://www.killping.com/blog/cs-go-easy-boosting-guide/.

But what else is assumed about the Smurf stereotype? If we draw on MojoOnPC's video about CS:GO stereotypes, the Smurf ostensibly is super confident, good at the game, and strives to be a masculine/"bro" (some sort of physical prowess, uncaring, traditionally masculine). This stereotype is apparent within the video, which shows the Smurf playing blind-folded while reading "The Bro Code" book. The blindfold implies that the Smurf is ridiculously good at the game because he's reached the Global Elite ranking and is destroying his enemies (who are admittedly silver level, but he’s still hitting all of them) without even seeing them. The blindfold also suggests that while the Smurf attempts to be "a bro," the ultimate white masculine figure, because he's reading the book, he falls short of being a bro because he's blindfolded--he is not actually meeting the standard because he's not reading the book. However, this scene also indicates that he is the ultimate bro because he's reading the book and being, well, for lack of a better word, a douche: he is bored, clearly just wants to get some frags, and doesn't care about the ranking system or improving. If, as Kvak states, the goal of most CS:GO players is to improve and get better, the Smurf rebels against this goal and uses lower-ranked players as pawns. But if Smurfs represent some of the better players of the game, then this means when people think of CS:GO players, they will automatically associate well-known players with Smurfs, and therefore with this masculine stereotype.

On the other hand, the "girl gamer" stereotype is highly feminine and, at least in MojoOnPC's video, is not the best player. But the fascinating thing about the girl gamer is not the gamer herself; it is how male-identified gamers act when they are playing with a girl gamer. The video highlights how male gamers are generous with the girl gamer by giving her all of their weapons. But the comments on this YouTube video demonstrate another side that the actual video does not point out: when a girl gamer discloses she identifies as a woman, other gamers start harassing her. As Sandra Shadowlund comments on MojoOnPC's video, "I'm adding a stereotype: The Pedo. When guys find out I'm a girl in the game, they start saying or typing '37 INCH C**K HERE, ADD ME BABE'..But we know, that is how a male works." Now, I believe Shadowlund's grouping of all male gamers is a bit extreme, but I also don't know her experience overall. The comments on Shadowlund's comment surely prove that being a girl gamer entails harassment. There are the obvious comments to Shadowlund that quote her comment and attempt to be comical ("I got 37 inch Add me"), but there are also other comments, including "sexist bitch," "Who let you leave the kitchen lmao," and "We are desperate to have woman somewhere where we like (cs go) lel." These comments reflect this highly masculine, "bro" stereotype. But there is a divide between these comments. The "sexist bitch" and kitchen comment are trying to be comical to a male audience. But the 37 inch penis comments are actively trying to reach and persuade the girl gamer; they must assert their masculinity because, as one of the viewers of the video said, they rarely see women play CS:GO and are, according to this gamer, "desperate." Whether the girl gamer faces harassment or is showered with gifts, the majority of male-identified gamers appear to treat her differently.

Through my analysis of the Smurf stereotype and how these male-identified gamers treat girl gamers, we can begin to comprehend how these CS:GO stereotypes contribute to a new gamer stereotype, the masculine "bro" gamer. Although the typical gamer is not seen as masculine, there seems to be something about CS:GO or perhaps the first person shooter game that encourages toxic masculinity and douche-y behavior. From the comments above, it appears as though they either want to harass women or seriously want to have some sort of relationship. However, the typical comments to girl gamers blur the ultimate objective (harassment or relationship...it could be either one), and even if the gamer himself is not douche-y, women may feel skeptical about dating a gamer because of these stereotypes. And, perhaps if gamer is a straight male, he may feel inept with women because he’s often in an environment with other men.

Part of Alex's concern about not finding a partner seems to derive from the stereotype of a gamer--unhealthy, unclean, and socially awkward--and perhaps a CS:GO stereotype--the masculine, bro gamer. If Alex reveals to his date that he is a gamer, his date may assume these characteristics about him. These characteristics together represent a person who really doesn't care about much besides gaming, and this may be concerning to potential partners. Wow! thinks the potential partner, Why would I date someone who only cares about gaming and doesn't want to spend time with me? Maybe he should stop gaming. And if this partner is a woman, she may wonder, is he going to be a sexist prick and tell me to get back to the kitchen or call me a bitch for no apparent reason? These gamer stereotypes together--whether the gamer reflects these or doesn't--create a lethal formula that may discourage any sort of romantic interest.

Like all other humans, gamers are complex beings who may or may not fit certain stereotypes. The handful of CS:GO players I know are wonderful, and do not spend all of their time gaming. If you're a non-gamer who is concerned about dating a gamer, I suggest getting to know this person and discussing the issues that may arise from gaming (mainly, time spent together versus time spent gaming).

Works Cited:

"CS:GO-Stereotypes!" YouTube, uploaded by MojoOnPC, 31 December 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENcvLySoqdg. 

Faisy. "A Short and Easy Guide To Boosting Your CS:GO  Rank." Kill Ping. 19 August 2016. https://www.killping.com/blog/cs-go-easy-boosting-guide/. Accessed 23 December 2016.

Poster Idol. "Gamer- the stereotype." Gamer the Stereotype. Wordpress n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

"Smurfing is a bigger problem in CS:GO than hacking." Counterstrike Global Offensive Reddit 18 July 2014. https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/2b10kn/smurfing_is_a_bigger_problem_in_csgo_than_hacking/. Accessed 23 December 2016.