Easy turbo.. Nobody is mocking you here. Relax
If you feel insulted, then i sincerely apologize. =)
If you feel belittled, that was not my intention.
We share a common interest and that makes us friends.

I admire your love of words although I must ask again that we return to the topic at hand.
The topic being the definition of a gamer. I will gladly partake in any other discourse that does not involve this topic in another thread.

To be honest, I didn't take your initial post as an insult and assumed it was harmless banter. Hence, my silly aliteration. While I totally respect the need to stay on a topic, I do feel a topic needs alternatives. Without an injection of fresh thoughts or brief tangents, we deny the inspiration vital for a topic to remain fresh and evolve.

OK, let's hug and never speak of this again. It was a slight misunderstanding. No need for apologies. I assure you, just because I suspect I have been insulted, does not mean I feel insulted. However, I will defend myself.

Anyway, I reckon I can effectively go back on topic by saying a few words concerning my perspective of what defines a real gamer. Up until two years ago, I played World of Warcraft religiously for over six years. I was blessed to join a guild called, Columbian Necktie and we raided three nights a week. Our guild consisted of a core group of friends aged from teens to a granny in her 70's. When you raid with hardcore players who know how to have a good laugh, yet take the game seriously, it's a perfect combination.

I saw parts of that game rarely seen by the vast majority of players as well. Max, our guild master and best player I know, was fascinated with seeing parts of the game not normally seen. Things like, running on water to the edge of the world before dying of fatigue and literally falling off the world. Or, exploring the full empty raid that still existed near Kara (my all time fav raid) in the game, but was never implemented. Going to the Ironforge, as Horde of course, and going behind a glitche in a wall that contained a hollow empty tower with a staircase winding down. Another spot we visited was an dwarf airport that was never used and built on top of the mountain over Ironforge. Considering we did this before flying mounts makes it impressive. We went so high in the mountains, the textures were warped because they were designed to be viewed from a distance.

My ultimate favourite was the night our server crashed during a 20 man raid, but the majority of servers remained online. So, I suggested that we make 20 gnomes and walk naked to Org. With a couple of our friends as bodyguards, we made it to Org. When the word got out that there were 20 naked gnomes outside the city, we literally had hundreds of players come out to see it for themselves. I could go on and on about the amount of unique experiences I had in that wonderful game. Sadly, all good things come to an end, but we all still keep in touch and Skype all the time. Funny, this core group of exceptional people are among my closest friends, yet we have never met face to face. And, it's not as if I don't have a life or a lack of real life friends. WoW was only a part of my life, it wasn't my entire life. Yet, considering how it never dominated my life, it's effect on my life was huge.

Now, I'm not saying my experiences mean I am a real gamer. I tend to have an aversion to labels. Was I a hardcore gamer? Yes. Keeping it real is always my preference. I am a realist, after all. What matters is, I made the most of my time and the good memories far outweigh the bad. Luck played a part in my case, but I believe we often create our own luck too. So, how we deal tends to reflect what we deal with. Cause and effect.

Finally, my WoW friends and I often discussed what defines a "real" or "hardcore" gamer. After having quite a few dreams over the years... in WoW format and animations, I believe I found a definate indicator. So, if you dream in your preferred game's format, consider yourself hardcore, I reckon. By the way, I wasn't alone either. We all had similar WoW format dreams.

What someone else thinks about me is pretty irrelevant. I mean I wouldn't handle being here or in any other gaming forum otherwise lol. I still have no idea how H.O.W deals with being disagreed with as heavily as they are. All of that being said I think the sims community shows that a gaming community can in fact be welcoming and awesome to all genders and people. We just need less arseholes which we tend to weed out real easy.

All the best forums benefit from a good weed. Ironically, many real gamers I have encountered like a good weed.

Generally, TS community sites are friendly and helpful. They have turned a good game into a great one. But, like all gaming communities, forums vary slightly on what is or isn't tolerated. Generally, I'm a lurker because you learn more observing a forum than you do by interacting with it.

Been a member here for many years now and it's always been my number 1 Sims site. This site is overflowing with real gamers, who are happy to create and share. That's the essence of what a real gamer is when you think about it.

Then again, it's never perfect and some fan sites always go to extremes. Look at MATY. RIP. Damn, I used to love lurking there and reading their gibberish. I mourn its passing and dance on its grave at the same time.