Gamer Taxonomy 310 – Homo Ludus Oculus

Welcome to class students. I’m your professor, Dr. Fashion Foodfart. For those of you who haven’t figured out yet this is SCI 310 Gamer Taxonomy not L/S 104 The Internetz. That class is meeting next door in the computer lab. So by all means please excuse yourself if you somehow managed to find yourself in the wrong class. Now that we have all the people we’re supposed to have…

Again welcome to class where we will be delving into the scientific order of gamer types. And yes that is a brief definition of what Taxonomy is so it may show up on a pop quiz later today. You all have been given your syllabuses and we’re going to go ahead and get started with a short lecture today. Take notes if you will, I don’t particularly care, I only stayed up all night preparing this lecture wired off of chai lattes. So do what you will. Right, so let’s get started.

As I’m sure you already know, since you’re in this class, the basic scientific classification for humans, or human taxonomy, is as follows:

• Biota – all life
• Domain – Eukarya (Priority being cellular nucleus; first eukaryotic mulicellular organisms)
• Kindgdom – Animalia/Metazoa
• Phylum – Chordata
• Class – Mammalia
• Order – Primates
• Family – Hominidae
• Genus – Homo (of which we once thought there were only five species, though we have now identified an additional species
• Species –
• Homo habilis (refined stone technology; earliest fire control)
• Homo ergaster (extensive language, complex articulate)
• Homo erectus (fire control, cooking aesthetic/artistic refinement)
• Homo heidelbergensis (possible earliest sanitary burial of dead, accompanied with symbolic/formal supplement)
• Homo sapiens (further development and specialization of learning applications, active environment transformation, acclimatization and control; infrastructures and advanced technology)
• Homo ludus (extreme specialization of learning in recreational activities, highly developed analytical skills and reflexes, self sustained technology, moderate to advanced deterioration of social structure)

And finally there we have the subjects of our semesters study, the elusive and odd Homo ludus or “gamer” in the vernacular. Ludus may further be broken into the subspecies:

• Homo ludus oculus – those that participate in a highly advanced form of “video gaming”
• Homo ludus plano – those that enjoy the seemingly archaic form of “board” or “card games”
• Homo ludus brevis – those that use miniature representations to participate in an often complex activity known as “war gaming”

Today’s lecture will look at the subspecies Homo ludus oculus, or the video gamer. Ludus oculus can further be broken into four easily identifiable permutations for which we use abbreviations to delineate:
The RPGer – The Role Player is a relatively commonly found sub species of gamer. These creatures seek escapism from the mundane demands of their lives through expensive gaming “systems” built from the most recent technology available. They are often found behind the desks and counters of their daily habitats called “day jobs” or also known among the gamers as “serving the man.” The RPGers typically spend their free, and even “busy” time, building the best skill tree, maximizing DPS, or figuring the best subroutine to run so they can craft items and make money while they’re not even at the console.

The social structure of this group is typically reclusive with the most persecution from non-gamer and even other gaming species. The RPGer’s often play alone or in very tight knit “clans” causing an exclusive or loner mentality that divides them from others. At times certain specimens will be found holed up in a basement, home, or more commonly “game room” for hours on end as delve into the fictional world projected on their screens. They most often will identify themselves in relation to their alter egos or “characters” they have created within the game they are playing.

Most specialists agree that the prevalent psychosocial tendencies seen in RPGer’s are a propensity for disassociation and escapism, coupled with an intense desire to gain control of something. Other evident tendencies are desire for greatness, power, occasional examples of hoarding, a need to see all tasks to completion (no matter how unrelated to their primary goal), and a drive to explore other moral ethical lines of thinking.

The RTSer – The Real Time Strategy gamer is renowned for their ability to function under extreme stress and pressure as well as excel in multitasking. They thrive in the role of an overlord commanding various minions, factions, units, armies, etc. to attain a specific goal, typically one of complete domination or eradication of an opponent.
Socially the RTSer is unique in that recent years have seen a peak in the broader social acceptance of this sub species as large-scale tournaments for these gamers to participate in are flourishing. The inherent adversarial nature of these types of games causes the RTSer to while almost exclusively playing against other humans, to suffer a negative social order due to their solo, controlling tendencies.

RTSer’s will often show extreme signs of OCD, power trips, delusions of grandeur, anti-social behavior except for their fan club or “posse.” Secondary psychosocial concerns are poor health and hygiene, loss of positive social skills due to their tendency to try and control every situation, and occasion violent outbursts, typically involving the destruction of some gaming instrument.

The FPSer – No other gaming sub species is more socially accepted among non-gamers than the First Person Shooter. These players spend countless hours on the latest, often military based, game involving shooting other players from across the world. At first glance one would think the FPSer would be the most social of the gaming subgroups, however the reverse can be true. These gamers are seriously dedicated to their gaming style and typically will go for long marathons of gaming with their friends or “clans.”

Social interaction between FPSer’s can get ugly quick. Due to the abusive nature of the conversations between these gamers, they exhibit increased social behavior deterioration greater than all other Homo ludus subspecies. They exhibit violent outbursts, signs of manic depressive mood swings, going from massive “kill streaks” to swearing upon their own matron’s burial ground that they hate the game. They seem to either have an enhanced ability to perceive the terrible nature of those they play against, often identifying their opponents as douche bags, jag offs, and various other vulgarities often involving, yet again, the matron of their opponents. This practice has led specialists to speculate that either the FPSer has developed some form of ESP or is completely cracked and delusional. Current testing is under way.

The FGer – Finally we have the smallest and most rare itineration of Homo ludus, the Family Gamer. These rare individuals have taken their propensity for video games and have begun, often at a very young age under the guise of “education,” to proselytize their spawn in the way of gaming. Often the male gamer receives extra gaming rights or “man time” playing his own selection of the aforementioned game types for spending time with the couples children playing more “family friendly” games.

FGer’s often exhibit propensity for misguiding their children, lying or rationalizing time spent gaming, and are typically suppressing their own tendencies toward being another subspecies. This repression often causes moments of extreme binge gaming in their former style of gaming when one parent and spawn go away for short stays at the grandparents. Then the FGer will often consume massive amounts of caffeine and other stimulants, junk food, and refuse to sleep in an attempt to “catch up” on lost time. Due to this tendency specialists recommend close observation when left alone.