The Gamer Manifesto

The Gamer Manifesto
Written by ●
Edited by Gamers

In the past decades, video games have slowly risen up from the status of childish toys to that of complex, engaging experiences and narratives. Yet in a matter of weeks, this progress has, at least to some extent of the public eye, been reversed.

Let this be a beacon unto which the gamer culture, that is all of us collectively, regardless of gender, race or orientation can come together in harmony. A beacon to do away with the dichotomy of the casual to the harcore, the indie to the corporate, the old to the new, and instead continue to play and improve the medium of video games.

With this manifesto, we hope to lay out a clear, accepting path that neither denies what made video games great and their incredible history and value nor stalls the progression of games as a medium capable of both fun and enlightenment.

There are three parts to this industry that we feel must be addressed for the general health of video games as a whole: the role of the consumer, the developer and the supplier. This trifecta makes up the core of the industry and thus each piece must be improved for games to continue to evolve.

However, through each point made, one truth must ring through. A truth that all gamers should be capable of understanding.

Games, regardless of personal agenda, should actively attempt to enthuse the player through innovative and compelling gameplay and/or story. In layman's terms, games, no matter what they're about, should be about the enjoyment of the player.

To the Consumer, the Public, the Gamers Themselves:
1. There must be an acceptance of the fact that video games cover a large variety of topics. There may be games we don’t like, but know that not all games are for all gamers.
2. The concept of “casualization” is NOT the cause of some slippery sloping spiral ending video games, rather it is a ladder being established to allow others a chance to grow and understand the joy of games as we do.
3. To the old gamers that begrudgingly deny those who wish to learn or interact with game culture, do not shun them, but rather try to point them down the right path.
4. To the new gamers coming into this age of video games, recognize that this magical world you’re entering has seen many hardships in its growth and that you are there to add to its future, not demonize its past.
5. To those who are outside the gaming culture looking in, remember point 1 above, that games are a vast ocean, not just the puddle you may be experiencing at the time. There are many evils, but equally many virtues, and the gamer culture itself is rapidly expanding beyond its past stereotypes.

To the Developers, the Pioneers, the Game Makers:
1. While every developer should recognize and seek to better games by dealing with the misrepresentation and under-representation of different people, they are in no way required to change their own game’s visions and ideas.
2. However, developers should also be responsible for accepting and treating both negative and positive critiques with a sense of professionalism and understanding.
3. Developers should not pressure each other to modify or fit their games or ideas to a specific, accepted norm under any pretenses. As with the consumers, the developers should recognize how vast the video game industry is and not shun anyone just because a game is not for them.
4. Developers should NEVER actively attempt to pay off or coerce positive feedback and/or harsh censorship from the gaming public nor press.

To the Suppliers, the Press, the Trusted Informers:
1. EVERY game journalist should be bound to an enforced code of morals and ethics just like those taken up by other professional journalists.
2. The gaming press should actively attempt to be as objective as possible when analysing or reviewing a game for the public. Personal bias should be avoided as much as possible.
3. Under NO circumstance should the journalists views be distorted by personal or financial ties to a developer or company. If such issues exist, the journalist is responsible for either recusing themselves or at the very least openly admitting these connections as to not mislead the public.
4. Each journalist should be entitled to their own perspective and review of a game or topic and should not be persuaded by outside sources to change their opinion to fit an overarching agenda.
5. Game journalists, like developers, must hold themselves up to a certain level of professionalism. There should never be a need to resort to generalizations, hyperbole or over-simplifications and they should show at least some respect for ALL gamers, despite differing perspectives.
6. Also like developers, journalists should never actively attempt to censor public opinions. They are not required to allow for public discourse of their work on their own site (though this may be frowned upon), but they are not allowed to attempt to quell discussion of it on any other site in any circumstances.

We have compiled these ideals in the hope that we can do away with the anger and misunderstanding currently surrounding gamer culture and video games themselves. Our stance is not some simple hashtag or a handful of vocal antagonists.

We stand by games as gamers, both old and new, desiring not radical change or reform, but rather a culture that is open to all forms of progress while remaining firm in the understanding and importance of it’s history.

It has been said that gamer culture is in the throes of death. This isn’t true. It has merely grown impatient as a wall of both divisiveness and radical ideologies have kept it from progressing further.

This article, this gamer manifesto has been made with the desire to break down that wall. It is both our branch of peace to those who believe we mean only harm and a battering ram to those who think we will simply comply with how corrupted video game culture has become.

We don’t care who or what you are. We don’t care about winning or losing this currently divided conflict. What we care about is the future of games as a united front. We care about games winning.

We are gamers.