No gamer

A No-Gamer, Nogames or No games, is a /tg/ slang used as insult towards those who, if the term was not of any indication, do not play games. That's it.

Well, there's a bit more to it than that, but given how much this sort of remark is a low-blow, even by /tg/'s standards, you really shouldn't put more thought into it. Which is why we did that for you!

If we want to be real with you, this insult is thrown around like Commissars shooting their own men; all the goddamn time. So much so that sometimes, it might feel like this insult is mostly aimless. No-gamers are, debatably, a real thing. But to assume that everyone who disagree with anon over there is a no-gamer, it's just a tiny bit ridiculous. Should you find yourself called like that, take it with a grain of salt, unless you really do not play games.

Definition

A "No games" is a person who is familiar with /tg/-related tabletop games but who does not play them. However, in spite of his lack of actual experience in the game, he will still partake in discussions surrounding the game and think that his opinions hold up to that of someone who is, let's say, a veteran. Most of the subjects they talk about usually involves fluff, or things like story-telling or products related to the TT game, such as video-games.

If you felt targeted by that particular description, don't you worry. Especially if you don't pretend that your word is worth something than that to someone who plays the game frequently. "No games" can include absolutely anyone who isn't involved directly into the game.

To explain why this insult even came to be, we have to understand the general state of /tg/. A lot of users have been complaining for the decline of the board, especially regarding the content generated. A lot of game-related discussions are contained inside generals, in a similar manner to /vg/, and other threads tend to focus around various subjects somewhat related to TTRPGs or Wargames. A lot of them tend to discuss worldubuilding, situations happening during sessions, various opinions on settings and game-design, or time-wasting questions about everything and nothing. Plenty loathe this sort of content being generated, and often create strawmen to blame the lack of quality threads being posted. Some call out specific people, some usually blame the mentality of a ubiquitous userbase of "newfags".

This sheer hate for these threads mostly comes in a lack of productivity coming from the whole board, where community projects and homebrews aren't as bountiful as they used to be. Some could argue this is due to the fact that the TTRPG scene is becoming increasingly more mainstream, and thus a lot of old veterans employ extreme gatekeeping and elitism to simulate an ideal of discussion on the board. You might have noticed that there a lot of threads dedicated to memes or particular characters created and celebrated by /tg/, as well as tales of adventures and wonders that have inspired homebrews. As it turns out, those types of threads aren't as common as they used to be.

A lot of hate is actually targeted towards those interested in the lore and worldbuilding of any setting discussed on /tg/. Some threads are even centered around writing entire worlds without ever having the intent of making a game around them. This is probably due to the fact that /tg/ is the only board that engages in discussion surrounding the structure and inner-logic of fantasy worlds, whereas other boards like /v/, /tv/ or /lit/ are more likely to frown upon this practice, them being more interesting in gameplay, execution or writing respectively. That, and Tabletop games share a particular relationship with fantasy and sci-fi. So until there's a worldbuilding board, most Tolkien-in-the-making are bound to post on /tg/.

So of course, "no games" became an insult for them. Mostly because a lot of their discussion centered around very fluffy details of their worlds that wouldn't exactly matter in the context of an RPG session. This, of course, ended with the insult becoming largely overused, usually to discredit everyone and everything who dares bringing an argument into a conversation.

Why are no-gamers a thing?

There a lot of factors to take into consideration when it comes to the sudden appearance of the no-gamers. Some of which are more understandable than others.

• Getting into TTRPGs and Wargames is extremely expensive: the best explanation for it. To start playing the game, you need to buy figurines and books. But not just from any army, because the number you'll need will vastly depend on what faction you decide to play. And then, you need to invest in paints. You usually get those with the models, but sometimes you wanna personalize them a bit more. Then you need to practice painting. Then you need to find other players, which usually ends up with you having to drive to your local Tabletop shop or GW Store (if you even live within commuting distance to one). Or, you decide to build your own battlefield and invite friend who, they themselves, have bought the game. Even veteran players find keeping up with game updates and model changes to be difficult, what with certain companies consistently increasing their prices; or else, they don't consistently provide rules updates and models for your particular army and your collection becomes too outdated to be competitive. Meanwhile, purchasing books, vidya, or watching some fan animation on youtube is significantly less expensive, making the barrier for entry much lower if you're only engaged with the fluff or third party material.
  • TTRPGs aren't much better in this regard, with the big hardcover books costing around 60 USD and many gamelines having their own array of splatbooks of varying degrees of necessity that you'll need to buy. This is particularly true for games that have been around for a long time like Pathfinder or World of Darkness. While some lines may have something like an SRD or online resources to work with, this is not to be expected, and several will lack even all the features from certain books for the sake of covering their asses.
• Lack of a community: While TTRPGs aren't quite as subject to this due to the advent of online communications like Discord and Roll20, this is still possible, especially if you prefer playing something other than Warhammer and D&D. If you prefer to only play in person, then you'd best hope you know where your local games stores are. If you play online, you'd better hope you can rally around a few people who share the same interests as you and are interested enough to sit around for a few hours. If you can't find either, then you're shit outta luck.
• Worldbuilding as a form of story-telling: Originally serving as context or added flavor to the Warhammer cake, so to make sense of the big bulking men in metal armor fighting space masochist elves, the lore of Warhammer managed to become even moreso popular than the actual games themselves. DnD also suffered from this, although to a lesser degree. Though this problem isn't unique to Tabletop gaming (who the fuck actually ask about Monopoly lore for example?), but to Fantasy and Science-fiction itself.
  • People find interest in reading the stories of entire nations or worlds, without the need of having to follow characters through of a specific narrative. Akin to reading history books, shall we say. What is interesting about that type of writing is that, thanks to this more direct approach to worldbuilding, authors can spend time to discuss "What if" scenarios and politics, or even make tall tales of entire communities fighting against the odds. It's unpersonal, meaning that anyone could (and in fact, can), project themselves into this world. Imagine how life can be. Because now those stories no longer are about specific characters, they're about the life of the people living there. Or how the decisions of a few can affect the whole world, quite literally.

See where this is going?

Ironically, in their efforts to advertise the game, Games Workshop managed to advertise their universe instead. And let's be honest, the lore is usually what attracts people to play those games. And also to know that their dudes can become a part of this massive, sprawling and on-going war against the forces of Chaos or against the tyranids and self-destructing Imperium!