Concern over romance's

I beg to differ. I would say in this day and age, hardcore gamers are a more common breed, whilst genuine gamers are rarer. For example, someone who puts thousands of hours into COD, Candy Crush, League of Legends, DOTA 2..etc.. almost exclusively, becoming a total expert, with the toughest challenges won are hardcore. They also number by the huge millions.

However, they aren't really gamers as they have no interest in anything else or even "games" beyond that title or a fixed scope (like Triple AAA-only or Casual-only). I view gamers as people who are passionate about the concept of gaming. The kind who are naturally excited to take on/delve into a myriad of genres across a range, exploring different titles (of course, that said, there is no such thing as anyone liking everything), because, you know, they actually like gaming.

I occasionally play hidden object games on my mobile, so I'm a gamer.

I also occasionally write forum posts, so I'm a writer.

It's all good.

A fun little anecdote from my own life, recently. Since I imagine the 'problem' here is the notion that A. most 'real' gamers are young (if you're over the age of 30 raise your hand! *raises hand*) B. a big chunk of that 41% of female gamers number comes from playing Candy Crush and such *looks around the forum and sees tons of women*.

A couple weeks ago I was at work. I was chatting with a couple guys at the break table and somehow the topic of gaming came up. Suddenly the girls at the next table over who'd been chatting about who posted what on Instagram chimed in. One asked if any of us had played the new Resident Evil because it was, in her words, 'awesome,' another mentioned that Red Dead Redemption was her favorite game of all time and she was currently playing Uncharted. When I asked if they'd heard about the new Mass Effect coming out, one was super excited and the other admitted she'd never played the old ones, and asked what it was about. Now, I like to think of myself as a person who doesn't buy into stereotypes, but these were not the type of girls (and I'm using that term loosely - both were in their mid-to-late twenties) I'd have expected to be playing games like these. Hell, I've seen them playing crap like Candy Crush on their phones at work. Had someone told me they were 'gamers' (as in the types who play AAA games) before then I wouldn't have believed it.

Last year I remember telling an older female manager (I'd put her in the late 30s) after a rough day that I was gonna go home, drink beer, and play video games. She was like, 'oh, what kind of games do you play!?' Now, she was mostly into Mario Cart and The SIMS and stuff like that, but she'd also played every Zelda game ever made. So while her taste was about as opposite of mine as you could get, once again here you have this older woman you wouldn't guess was a gamer, playing AAA titles.

My point is, this perception that the majority of 'real' gamers are young and male is becoming more and more outdated. And as we see more games coming out with cool storylines and great voice acting and diverse casts of characters, more people are going to be playing them. Even if there is a case to be made that those percentages in the poll are a bit skewed thanks to mobile games and such, I don't think it makes as much of an impact as some might believe.

Also 30 years old and yes it makes no sense to try to put a stereotype on gamers, they come from all places because gaming is a hobby that is both accessible and fun. Also has almost any genre really, so it satisfies any taste. 

Edit: I somehow messed up the quoting... I was referring to this part, of course: "Anybody interested in story heavy games with RP options probably isn't as interested in playing the latest DOOM where the story only exists just enough to give you a valid reason to run from set piece to set piece killing everything that looks vaguely like a demon."

Heeey, I resent that! I'm interested in both! DOOM may not have much of a plot but oh, the glorious gore!   (Btw hi guys! I haven't spoken a word since the fall of the BSN, but I've been lurking around and reading here and there...)

Anyway, I guess I'm an outlier that should not be counted... a woman over thirty, I've been playing games since I was a wee babe - from stuff like Super Mario and Contra on the NES, through Tomb Raider and Quake on my first PC, and once I got my own income I switched mostly to console gaming. I bought the PS2 for the MGS games and then just kept going, moving on to the PS3 and PS4 and the occasional PC game that my weak laptop could handle. I don't know if I can consider myself a "hardcore gamer", whatever that means... I don't play every AAA title that comes out, but my tastes are nevertheless quite eclectic - I love some RPGs, some shooters, some hack and slash... I've put hours upon hours into Fallout, Borderlands, Dark Souls, Far Cry, Transformers games... lots of very different games, really. I've never touched a mobile game or an MMO, however, can't stand the tiny screen or the company of other people. 

On the other hand, I admit I'm only tentatively interested in MEA atm. I like reading the news but I intend to spoil myself to hell and back about every aspect of the game, from gameplay, through choices to romance options, before I decide if I want to buy it now or wait for a sale. DAI was... not to my tastes and I don't want to get burned again. Right now I'm passing time playing Baldur's Gate, and the game I'm actually somewhat hyped about is Torment Tides of Numenera, I think that one has promise.

We play most of the same games (except Fallout), I would consider myself somewhere between casual and hardcore tbh. 

lmao holy shit....i don't fucking care

Holy hell, now that's hardcore.  I didn't play too much ME3MP (kind of regret not jumping in at the peak,) but my very first match as a scrub was platinum with a level 1 engineer.  Um, yeah, that didn't go well.  Surprising the group carried me through that first match before kicking me but the points I "earned" jumped me all the way to something like level 15.  Even after getting comfortable with MP and attaining the max level, platinum was pretty much impossible for me...lack of decent gear probably didn't help.

There are plenty of players left if you want to practice running and gunning before Andromeda. If you're on PC, send me a FR, or if you're on another platform go to the ME3MP forum and post in the "looking for group" thread. I'm actually a Gold player, but just tried the Plat solo because it was the only N7HQ challenge I hadn't completed yet. MP is still alive and it's really fun. Come join us!

54 year old gamer don't play as much because of my stupid cancer consider myself a gamer still, my doc with 2 kids plays games also but maybe only once a week still consider him a gamer. Gamers r people who love video games doesn't matter on what system or what kind of game they play.

It's called the 'Cpt. Kirk approach' to romances. And if you get your stupid, sappy "emotionally deep" romances, then I want to sex some sweet alien babes. 

I, for one, welcome Bioware's approach to romances. Particularly because the main female LIs look like garbage.

Ah, you are all very special people. I've never liked the whole us vs them attitudes. You play the same game I do? Well, you are much more like me than a person who don't. I'll happily chat with you about the game, 'cause who else am I going to talk to about it? and if we disagree on something, it's all good, so long as you are not malicious (I put malicious and depressing folks on ignore). I don't care what demographic bracket you represent, what's your average DPS, and how many hrs per day you play on average. it's all interesting to me.