What is a TeacherGamer?

I am a teacher. One of my favoured hobbies is gaming: hence the considered creation of the monika of TeacherGamer. What might this mean?



Who is the audience of a TeacherGamer?
It is a particular demographic that I imagine comprises of a fair number of gamers. It comprises of those between their 20s and 40s who work a professional job. They cannot dedicate more than 1-3 hours a night to gaming, and no more than 3-8 hours a weekend day to their hobby. Oh, and they don't believe that playing ends when you hit 18, or only when you're drunk.

What kind of vocation will they have?
If they aren't a teacher, they will have a career job. And/or will be a parent. That is, they are unable (and unwilling) to drop out of society to dedicate themselves to gaming in the way that professional Korean Starcraft Gamers can. Should they play an RTS or RPG, they will take many months, if not years, to complete it. Like reading, they consider themselves to be playing such games even while they are 'on-hold'.

What kind of games will they like?
They will play a variety of genres. While the genres deemed high-brow will be admired, such as strategy, RPG and RTS, more immediate action games will be deemed, as Alan Bennett asserted, worthy antidotes to the seriousness of the cerebral. Such snacks of gaming are also great for those weary after the ravages of work. Therefore, although they will not take a high-brow approach to gaming, they will link gaming with other facets of life and other aspects of culture. So, while they are experienced in gaming, they will also have some curiosity and cultural capital in relation to other media, such as literature and film. I, for example, have an English degree. They will consider how gaming experiences can, like literature, tweak someone's perception of life.

They will have undoubtedly played some hideous games in their youth. And completed them.

They appreciate games that can be picked up and played over an extended period of time. But they will appreciate that this is not what makes them great games (if they even are), or that other gamers can't validly enjoy games that require more extended attention.

Why do you have both the job and the hobby in the moniker?
Because the job and hobby might inform each other. They might use ICT in other aspects of life. If they an actual TeacherGamer (someone involved in education and someone who games as a hobby) then they might look towards how games can change the way people learn, interact and improve.