I recently listened to a gaming centric podcast where the guys introduced themselves with their in game names or handles like "Algaron" and "Fezzik" and never mentioned their real names or what they do for a living. Nothing personal was mentioned, and it got me to wondering why it isn't just easier to use our real names when we talk about our passion? Many gamers that choose to blog, podcast and post to forums to share their thoughts on gaming often go this route unless they have the "golden ticket" of being a games journalist or personality. Only then do most gamers seem be more relaxed about revealing their real names.

I realize that there may be some legitimate security or privacy concerns for using these types of handles, but I seem to feel that most of us have other reasons as to why we do such things. When I started writing about games, I considered whether or not I needed a "cool" handle or not. I've often wondered if I should have gone that route, regretting the fact that I failed that test and settled on a leet-speak version of my real name for my internet handle. I think most people can figure out very quickly what my real name is based on that handle, so mine is an exception as it doesn't really provide the anonymity that calling myself "Stimulus Package" or "Cowpox" would. Granted, the fact that we often play role playing games where we assume the role of a hero and name them aptly make it second nature to assume an alias, but why do we need an alias at all when we aren't in game? Shouldn't we just put our real names in our email addresses and have it also be our user names for everything we sign up for and log in to?

Perception is reality
I think the reasons have everything to do with cultural perception of gamers. Gamers are often perceived as time wasters, lazy slackers, addicts and people that aren't meant to be taken seriously. As a gamer in his mid 30's I know that this perception definitely exists in our parents generation, and to a significantly lesser extent in those younger. Someone has met a person or people that do nothing but play games all the time, have no responsibility, and generally contribute nothing to the world around them. Maybe worse they do have responsibility and neglect it all for gaming. A stereotype is formed, and now all gamers are good for nothing slackers, sick and addicted, or at least they are perceived to be that way at some level. These stereotypes are formed despite large amounts of evidence of the ever changing gaming demographic that shows that all kinds of people play games, not just those that make the headlines in bad stories.

People read the negative stories every day. Gaming is fun, and like anything fun and stimulating it can be addictive and can be a breeding ground for bad behavior. People with addictive personalities (or other issues) can have problems with gaming. People get divorced over gaming addiction, potentially get shunned in job interviews, politicians misunderstand the effects and ban games, sick predators can find victims in them, and some people even get suicidal and blame their game of choice. I could go off on a whole long tangent about how some of these people have issues they didn't realize before they ever sat down to play a game, and that they are placing blame on the wrong thing, but that's another wall of text for another day.

It ain't all bad!
The point is that the bad stories get the attention while the good ones barely get a nod. Yes, there are plenty of good stories about gaming out there. It seems that those rarely resonate with the right people though. Its the sad story of being a gamer, most of the world just doesn't get us. With these stereotypes in mind, gamers often feel like they can't be themselves and must hide behind a gaming/internet handle when putting thoughts out there. We have every reason to feel this way based on what we see every day. Unfortunately, some people look at us as lesser human beings because we waste too much time when we could be curing aids in Africa or something considered productive. Meanwhile, they'll relax and watch whatever pile of fail reality show is on TV with full confidence that their time is well spent.

Why all the aliases and handles for those of us not paid to write and talk about games? Because the world tells us that if it isn't our paid profession to do so, we shouldn't be doing it. Therefore, we put on these masks that shelter us from the ire of the world around us. What do you think? Am I way off here, over thinking it too much? Perhaps its just all apart of it, more fun to assume the name of "axemaster" or "bionica" or something like that? Or is there at least some truth to these thoughts that its easier to use these as masks?

Related articles

• Ten Signs You May Be Addicted To Video Games (cinemablend.com)
• 10 Business Lessons I Learned From Playing D&D (games.slashdot.org)
• The Dungeons & Dragons Geeks of D.C. (queerty.com)