This story comes from my friend Y2J2K. While in a discussion in the MLB 2K7 forum on Xbox.com, people began to flame the hell out of him and anyone else with a high gamerscore. For starters, a “high gamerscore” is all relative. Having a high gamerscore doesn’t mean you play 360 games all day long. It also doesn’t mean you cheat to get there. Y2J2K wrote up a long but terrific letter to all the haters out there.

There have been some harsh comments directed to me in this and other threads but I have chosen to ignore them specifically and have not lashed back out t anyone. My only previous comment was basically the point I am making here which is a gamerscore does not define anyone and to make assumptions and conclusions about someone based on something as meaningless as a gamerscore is just plain ignorant. Yes, I just said gamerscore is meaningless which one might find amusing coming from someone with a high gamerscore (note I am not claiming my gamerscore is high but that seems to be the conclusion everyone else here is coming to so I might as well acknowledge it – again I have never nor would ever brag about my gamerscore).

I agree with essentially every point Y2J2K makes. Why have we, as gamers, become a group of haters? Anything different does not need to be shit on.

For the full letter, hit the jump.

I find it odd how so many people who claim to not care about achievements seem to have a lot of opinions about them. It also has to make one wonder who really needs to get a life - the person with a high achievement score or the person who posts message after message complaining about it.

The fact is simple - since the day the 360 was released and achievements were introduced there were people asking questions and looking for advice on how to get achievements, tips to make them easier to earn and general information such as who may have obtained all the achievements in a game.

If you look at just about every individual game forum [on Xbox.com] you will see similar threads [with people flaming those with high gamerscore]. Someone starts a thread in relation to achievements with pure innocence in mind but there are always people who jump in, claim they don’t care about them, but spend all the time in the world arguing about them. I mean really, if you don’t care then why read the thread in the first place? Why take the time to post message after message telling everyone you don’t care and ripping on those that do?

Personally, I really don’t care what people think about my gamerscore. It does not define me and it does not represent who I am. I have been accused of having no life, no friends, spending all day online, etc., which I find quite amusing. People seem to generally associate a high gamerscore as someone who does nothing by plays games all day. However if you look at some of the most popular online games (graw, gow, rainbow six, crackdown, etc) you will find some people who seem to play them 24×7 and have a very low gamerscore. By gamerscore definition the same people that accuse those with a high gamer score as having no life would then assume those with a low gamerscore (who in reality spend every waking moment playing those games online) in fact have a life. Just to clarify, I am NOT saying people who play those games have no life, the simple point here is that a gamerscore does not accurately reflect ones gaming habits.

This whole thing is nothing more than stereotyping and is no different than someone who is at an airport and sees someone of middle eastern descent and automatically assumes they are a terrorist and wants to do them harm. Or someone who is walking down a street late at night and sees someone approaching them of a different race or different color skin and immediately thinks that person is going to rob, mug or kill them. It’s stereotyping and just goes to show you how little some people have evolved and how ignorant they remain in this day and age where they feel they can know somebody inside and out, someone they never met or had any formal contact with, based on one little aspect they know about a person. You really have to question what family values their parents and peers are instilling in them.

I have never claimed to be a great gamer, I never said I was better than anyone here (or any other forum), I have never bragged about my gamerscore and I never put anyone down based on theirs. The only thing I even mentioned on this specific forum [MLB 2K7 Forum on Xbox.com] in regard to gamerscore was that I did have 990 and was finally able to confirm what the last secret achievement was. A lot of people wanted to know what it was and when I first posted information on it before anyone had unlocked it I received a lot of questions about it. So I felt I would do the community a favor and confirm exactly what it was. My intentions were purely innocent and just trying to be informative. I was not trying to brag about my gamerscore in this game or stake claim that I was one of the first to get a full 1000 in this game. Anyone can look at my gamercard and see what I have done and what I have not and can make their own conclusions. But I have never nor would I ever brag about any of these so called accomplishments. If people misinterpreted the intention of my original post then I apologize.

We all own a 360 and play games for our own reasons. Some people have different motivation then others but the end result - isn’t everyone playing games for the enjoyment they get out of them? So what if people have different levels of enjoyment or different goals in playing games. That’s what makes us unique - if we all lived the same way, acted the same and held the same beliefs, life would be, well boring.

There have been some harsh comments directed to me in this and other threads but I have chosen to ignore them specifically and have not lashed back out at anyone. My only previous comment was basically the point I am making here which is a gamerscore does not define anyone and to make assumptions and conclusions about someone based on something as meaningless as a gamerscore is just plain ignorant. Yes, I just said gamerscore is meaningless which some might find amusing coming from someone with a high gamerscore (note I am not claiming my gamerscore is high but that seems to be the conclusion everyone else here is coming to so I might as well acknowledge it – again I have never nor would ever brag about my gamerscore).

If I had a gamerscore of 50, 500 or 5000 would you react to me and treat me differently? I think so and that’s just plain sad. So should I just stop playing games on the 360 for the next few months or year so that a 50K would then be considered a relatively low gamerscore? Would you think differently of me then? I am not asking for anyone’s respect and I am not asking anyone to like or change their opinion about me. Some of you have already made up your minds and I’m not here to change that – but I will say it again, you might want to actually get to know someone a little better before jumping to conclusions. That is a sad way to go through life and you will miss out on meeting some great people if you are so quick to pass judgement.

There are a lot of easy games that you can’t glitch, cheat or boost you way though to get a full 1000 gamer points. There are also a lot of hard games that take what seems like forever to get a full 1000 gamerpoints. Look at Rainbow Six. By most people’s standards here, because of how much time and effort is involved in reaching elite, there are only two conclusions one can make of someone who has done that. 1) they boosted their way to the top or 2) they have no life because they had to play the game hours a day, for days/weeks/months to get that achievement (note I don’t have elite and doubt I ever will although Rainbow Six is one of the few games I really enjoy playing online). A person with a very low gamer score can easily spend way more time playing games then someone with a higher gamerscore - the fact is gamerscore alone tells you nothing about a person’s gaming habits.

The bottom line is this - everyone is going to have an opinion on gamerscores. Everyone is going to have an opinion on how someone gets their gamerscore. And you know what, that’s great, we all should think independently and make our own decisions. That’s what life is all about. Each day you learn more and more and can apply that in life to make your own decisions and determine the life you want to lead. But the simple fact is it’s just pointless to make assumptions about people based on a little known fact and spend all this time arguing back and forth about it. What does it get you I mean seriously, for those that are so critical, what is it that you are ultimately trying to achieve by your comments.

If anyone would actually take the time to get to know me personally (or others you meet in life that you are quick to make a rash judgment about) you might be quite surprised as to what you would discover.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say (yea I know it was a lot), but as I mentioned before, I am not going to respond to individual attacks as it’s just pointless and I won’t sink down to that level. I have better things to do with my time.

And last, despite what some may thing about me or have said about me here, if you post a question and I can help out, I will. I’m not going to pass judgment on you and blow you off because of your previous actions. And if we happened to run across each other on live playing a game, if you actually would take the time to play a game with me you would see for yourself that I don’t cheat, glitch, etc and will give you an honest, fair and competitive game. I never have and never will directly cheat someone online. Have I boosted before in some online games, sure, but in a pre-arranged agreement with someone looking to do the same. I have never cheated someone looking for an innocent game out of their online gaming experience.

As the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.