Society->Image Barrier

I.
---School---

Magic players are Gamers. This is what first sets them apart from other cliques. Gaming is looked upon as childish by those who are quickly maturing and nearing adulthood. Gamers are set apart in their own group, apart from the more "mature" and more inter-related other groups.

Primarily where Magic playing starts, where new players are "recruited", where alienation is at its finest. Those Magic players who succeed in having healthy social lives in High School often time pretend not to play the game at all, and shun those who do play the game as much as those 'accepted'.

Many of those who play Magic are starved for the rest of society, but unable or not willing to make the effort to try to "blend". They want society to come to them, and thus they are open to new people. New people means new players, and new players means more "society".

People who join these Magic 'Groups' or cliques in school are often alone, or few. Often these people too need a place to fit in, and with Magic players often very willing to find new faces, they go for the easiest entry point. These "loners" as others in the society might see them, suddenly become Magic players, and the view of Magic players becomes infused with that of being alone, or few, or without-clique. So then when one thinks "Magic player" it goes to "Loner". Loner, because of not being part of the "in" cliques, becomes related to anti social, and thus Magic players can be viewed as anti-social, when in fact, they are probably one of the most sociable cliques in the environment.

School being something nearly everyone in this day and age goes through at some point in their life, the reputation Magic players have attained here will nearly always carry on to the rest of their lives. If you play Magic, you are one of "them" and not one of "us".

II.
---Opposite Sex---

Its obvious that the majority of Magic players are male. The lack of female players can be explained quite easily (note that this is generalized).. Females oftentimes are far more sociable than males. A female, for example, would bridge a gap between one clique and another clique easier than a male would. Becuase of this, female "loners" are far less prevalent than males, and thus not as many would join the ever-sociable Magic clique discussed earlier in the article.. This means "the guys" are not familiar around females, thus maybe causing them to alienate themselves, or simply scare off the next pretty thing that comes by because they don't know anything about girls.

Of course, there are exceptions.. 'devout' Magic players may someday just find the perfect match, and hit it off well, and maybe convince their partner to join in on the hobby. This is not always the case, however, as females may still see the game as a childish waste of time, or as an anti-social activity instinct tells them to leer away from.

For example, I can get along fine with the rest of my class, I am not a loner (at least not at school) nor am I put away in a corner by others.

So what if I play Magic every day at school? I'm glad most people don't care about what we do - Everybody is hanging around with a certain type of people, some are just talking about crap, others are studying and then there are people who like to play card games.

Ok so sometimes the dumb people at my school make fun of us because they are jealous we have such a cool thing to do when we have spare time... I just ignore them and they'll leave.

What's so mature about not playing Magic? It's in games like that where people can learn about their mistakes, learn to deal with losses, learn to experience a sort of real life in a fantasy world.

Oh well that's my opinion. Magic players at my school are not outcasts. Maybe sometimes people who are outcasts start playing...

But normal people who start playing don't turn into loners.

It's not immature to play Magic, it's immature if you always talk to your friends (Friends. Most people don't have friends, just acquiantances who they call their friends) about girlfriends, if you brag about the stuff you have etc.

Oh well.

I have never been an outcast or a loner. i have always been the type to hang with the in crowds. And not just one crowd but every crowd around. Yeah, sure there are the people who stop by to criticize but i bet you can guess who is the immature one. That's right not 'us', but them.

I lead a very heathy and 'normal' social life. I have a steady girlfriend who enjoys listening to me talk about magic, even though she doesn't know how to play herself. She has even ask me to teach her how to play.

But being a Magic player doesn't mean you're an outcast, that's not good if it happens at your school.

quote:

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Originally posted by Kworb:

For example, I can get along fine with the rest of my class, I am not a loner (at least not at school) nor am I put away in a corner by others.

So what if I play Magic every day at school? I'm glad most people don't care about what we do - Everybody is hanging around with a certain type of people, some are just talking about crap, others are studying and then there are people who like to play card games.

Ok so sometimes the dumb people at my school make fun of us because they are jealous we have such a cool thing to do when we have spare time... I just ignore them and they'll leave.

What's so mature about not playing Magic? It's in games like that where people can learn about their mistakes, learn to deal with losses, learn to experience a sort of real life in a fantasy world.

Oh well that's my opinion. Magic players at my school are not outcasts. Maybe sometimes people who are outcasts start playing...

It's not immature to play Magic, it's immature if you always talk to your friends (Friends. Most people don't have friends, just acquiantances who they call their friends) about girlfriends, if you brag about the stuff you have etc.

---

In generalized society's point of view, why IS there a Magic clique? All over one game? It makes you an outcast from the rest of society when you have a group of your own created, and stranger still when this is all because (seemingly) a game. You aren't necessarily rejected by society, but the clique forms nonetheless.. You don't have people who play Magic simply being in the other cliques.

What the majority of society views as mature has often very little to do with reality. I play Magic, and I consider myself to be mature, however, the idea itself of playing a card game is looked upon by other cliques as immature, which often ends up in people making fun of those who play the game.

The "fantasy" world has very little to do with it, its the concept itself. Sure, these days half the student body plays video games, but not too long ago, that was frowned upon as well. Those who devote all their time socializing rarely bring this gaming-mentality to the mix, because on instinct people believe in role-models. They look at their parents, their teachers, and all the adults around them. They talk about life in general for the most part, and thats what students want to emulate. Magic or gaming is not part of the typical adult's life, so these people find themselves against it, or not willing to give it a try.

quote:

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Originally Posted by Squee, Goblin King
I don't know where people go to school but the school i come from is nothing like this. The magic players there are no where near loners. We play out in the middle of a hallway before school and have people stop by to watch. There are even principals and teachers who have taken a look once in a while.

---

I failed to mention, this is taken from High Schools, and in my experience, as in the experiences of others who I used to feed this article, are for the most part in a similar case as I have described above. I consider it to be "generalized".. As I said, its far from an all-encompassing breakdown of society, and there are exceptions to every rule, but say, look around you. You have posts around asking who the "hottest babe" in magic is or why females don't play Magic (we then assume that for the most part they dont have female companionship).

quote:

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Originally posted by fd2005
this is not how it is in our school. i would say more than half the school plays magic. though i get along better with those that play i have no problem around those that don't

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I don't think card games like Poker and other gamble games are looked upon as immature. So not all card games are immature. Maybe those like Pokémon, because of the stupid and kiddy look of the cards, but if you look at the Magic cards you can immediately see this is not a game played by little kids.
It requires concentration and intelligence. People don't see Magic as immature, they see it as a waste of time... But that doesn't mean all Magic players are acting like little kids in their eyes...

You say on instinct people believe in role-models.
Then where's my instinct? I don't believe in role-models, I don't imitate others, I only do what I think is right and I only do something when I'm happy with it.

People will always continue acting like children, there will always be some kind of immaturity in all of us.
It's just...

Nobody knows what is immature and what is not. What people think is immature in one group is mature in another group. We are all different, we are all unique.

We all live different lives, we all need something else to get through the day, we all have different things we like and hate, etc.

When I was young I hated to lose, but now that I've played Magic losing just makes me want to get better and better.

You say Magic is not part of the 'typical adult's life', but what is? What is a typical adult's life? Getting up early, take a shower, have breakfast, go to work, etc.?

What's normal? What's good? What's evil? What's wrong? What's right?

We have an answer for ourselves... But it's not likely we all share the same opinion in everything.
We are all outcasts in one way or another.

I think you were very right about the female issue also. Girls in my school don't make fun of magic players, but generally try not to have much to do with them. My 2 cents...

-Garrett

Magic is cool

Doing homework when you have free time is nerdy...

Oh well as long as people leave me alone while I'm playing Magic it's all fine with me

-Barren

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