What do 500 gamers, a popular web comic, and the first US state to declare independence from British rule have in common?

Well, unless your guess included dodge ball, lasers, crazy costumes and a huge amount of socialising, you weren’t at all close.

Dispelling the Myth

I’ve written before about how communities of tech enthusiasts can come together and do great things, and I’ve tried to challenge the stereotype of the typical über geek on many occasions. This weekend, I’m in Providence, Rhode Island, for Digital Overload – one of the hottest video game events of the year.

I’m well aware of the sigma that surrounds ‘gamers’. There isn’t a person reading this blog that won’t have an opinion around whether video games make people violent serial killers or tree-hugging pacifists.

It’s with that thought that I write this post. As I sit here in this impressively large conference hall – at one of the most anticipated independent community run events of the gaming calendar – I started to look back over my love affair with video entertainment over the years, and how it had effected my development.

One Man’s Journey

I’ve always loved video games – from the first ever games I played on our old Amstrad PC and SEGA Master System, right through to the current titles I have on my 360. What’s more rare is that I came from a family of gamers – my Mum would always get ‘first dibs’ on any new RPG we’d get – spending hours hand-drawing maps of dungeons, working through the puzzles she encountered, and setting the controller down only once she was done.

When I start to think of the strengths I have as an adult, it’s quite easy to map these things back to the games I used to love playing. Having always been a role playing game (RPG) fan, I got used to both solving complex problems, and making sense of complex storylines.

Cut to the present day, in my adult working life. I find myself constantly telling stories, whenever I talk about digital identity and social media; and solving complex problems, when I work on cloud services deployments for Microsoft. The skills I gained by playing those games as a child had a measurably positive impact.

Digital Overload

The really amazing thing, being here in a hall full of gamers, is how easy it is to spot both the good that gaming can do, and the myths that are being disproven.

Everyone here is really friendly – I can walk up to someone and not only will they say hi, but they’ll take the time to explain what they’re doing (when they realise I have no idea what game they’re playing) or offer you a turn on their computer or console – kit that doesn’t come cheap.

The weekend isn’t just about console and PC gaming – there are tabletop games, poker tournaments, costume competitions and even a huge game of dodge ball! Anyone that arrived at the event thinking that gamers were lazy, stupid and lacking in social skills would have had their mind changed pretty quickly!

The event was put together by Tim Buckley, author of the extremely popular comic ctrl+alt+del. The comic follows the lives of two best friends, their love of video games, and their eventual love lives, trials and tribulations, and killer robots. Tim even drew one instalment of the comic there and then (and I managed to grab a photo of him doing so) – showing off how he does it, and answering questions from the crowd.

The Power of Community. Again.

It’s a real shame that so many people see ‘gamers’ in a really different light to that of reality. From personal experience, some of the nicest and most tolerant people I’ve met were from the gamer community – all of whom show real tolerance of people from any ethnic background, gender, sexuality or religion.

If you ever pass a video game convention, you should stick your head around the door and see for yourself – no doubt someone there will say hi, and you’ll have the chance to experience once again the power of technology communities that I talk so much about!