All sub-cultures aside, the greater gaming community and its interactions with outside influences (business, creativity, technology, etc.) is one of the most important and often overlooked facets of gaming culture.
In these interactions, the philosophies held by the greater communities, and the individuals that comprise said communities are the determining factor in their outcome. Whether it be someone ten years deep into World of Warcraft, or a soccer mom playing Angry Birds on her phone, each of these people have a philosophy when interacting with gaming and gaming culture, but each person's response is limited to the experiences with gaming they've had. This is what really makes those games and their culture what they appear to be and how interactions occur within.
The soccer mom is not playing Angry Birds because she doesn't like "real games"; she is playing Angry Birds because her philosophy on what gaming looks like only exists in her world, which could be as limited as her phone and newscasts that tend to stigmatize the greater gaming community.
The stereotyped "basement dweller's" experience with gaming is also limited by their overt dedication to one particular game, an example being World of Warcraft. These limits I am describing are not meant to be negative or derogatory; they exist as they are stated limits. I may never see the North Pole and that may be a limit I never test the bounds of. I may exist in exactly the same way as if that limit had been tested. It is not always something that can be understood at first glance and for me, it took years of gaming experience before I could really grasp the different philosophies within gaming and the same philosophies used in stigmatizing them.
What really made me examine these philosophies was my time working as a manager at a local pre-owned game store and my inclination towards competitive games. Once I had decided to pick up a competitive fighting game, my path was set. My fighting game of choice is Super Smash Brothers Melee for the Nintendo GameCube. I bring this game up is because it was a pivotal change in my focus in terms of my gaming "career" and the way I examined my philosophy and the philosophies of those around me.
There is something inspiring being a part of a larger fighting game community that causes those who are worse to either get better or... well, that's actually it. If you choose to keep playing the game, your only option is to improve or accept defeat. Granted, there are many other ways people may enjoy a fighting game; some people pick it up and just as quickly put it back down. However, if you are one of those few that stay up all night practicing tech skill then you may already understand the complexities of the dedicated mindset it takes to play a fighting game at the competitive level.
This philosophy holds for every competitive game, but particularly rings true in fighters because once you find your specific game, it becomes all about that mindset and what it takes to improve not only as just a player, but as a person. Dedicating yourself to the competitive mindset requires you to not only examine the in-game elements of what could be bettered, but also the cognitive elements required for improvement. It demands you to take responsibility for every action and if there is something you can't beat, then you are responsible for how you are going to change your strategy. It forces you to examine each thought that led up to each mistake or any habits you have that are easily exploited. Not only that, but once you have found your habits and tendencies, you have to examine the process you take to overcoming those habits. Do you give up? Do you persist? Do you rethink your strategy? There is no one way to do it and I would encourage serious players to examine all possibilities. If you adopt the philosophy of getting better, even if your strategy doesn't work, you can and will understand with a clear mind what went wrong and how to fix it.
