Are You Serious?

“I got myself a personal bowling ball”… This is how my friend started the conversion with me this morning over MSN Messenger. This is how I answered, part of the conversation below (irrelevant parts omitted):

Me: For what?
Friend: To eat.... duh! Of course to play la!
Me: I mean... Why you need to get a personal bowling ball when u can rent?
Friend: Ah.... that’s why you dunno. House balls are not customized to your fingers. If you are serious in bowling and wanna improve the way you bowl, you need to get your own customized ball. You will hurt yourself if you bowl wrongly with the wrong ball.
Me: You serious in bowling meh?
Friend: All my frens are serious in bowling...not for fun. So we motivate each other. All of them got their personal ball
Me: Why serious?
Friend: That means, not main main, play a fool during bowling. All of us, serious to improve our skills. Not simply throw and laugh about it
Me: So, to prove that u r serious, u have to get a custom ball?
Friend: Getting a personal ball shows that you are committed to play and that's the 1st step to be serious. If you are not serious, will you get a ball?
Me: To be serious doesn’t mean u have to get a ball
Friend: Nvm la. You won't understand
Me: It doesn’t mean u have to get a ball to be serious. So, meaning, ppl who don’t get a ball... cannot be serious abt the game?
Friend: tiu nia seng… wasting time, talking to you.


Hahahah… Ok… and the conversation, and so to say, the argument continues…
My friend… let’s call him Lord B, is a very good ole friend of mine. And for some reason, I love to argue with him. It’s just fun. :)

Now back to main topic. I know what Lord B meant by being serious about the game. But is he really the serious gamer? I believe there are at least 3 kinds of people that we could categorize based on the above:

A. Serious Gamer
People who are really committed to the game. Those who are looking into picking up the game, to learn, improve, to be good at the game and to play the game to the fullest with all their hearts & souls. These gamers will have almost everything personal in place. Personal bowling ball, personal snooker cue, personal golf set, personal basket ball, personal tennis racket, specific shoes, specific attire etc. They may not buy everything all at once, but may add in a little this and that later to improve in their game. These gamers will invest their money into getting a good coach. They will also invest time for practice, to improve, to realise the point of their own mistakes and improve on those gaming mistakes.

B. Show Off Gamer
Show off gamer, just buying some personal balls and stuffs to show off. Not really to be serious in the game, but just to show off “I have everything private and personal”. These gamers are usually not really good in the game itself. Some girls I know bought really expensive attires just to look good in the game, but they suck at playing. It’s all just for shows…

C. The Fun Gamer
These are people who are interested in the game, but not looking at being extremely serious a.k.a “I wanna be a pro!” in the game. They may have kakis every week to play. They find it fun but there is actually no specific reason on why they should get a personal ball, equipment or whatsoever unless the equipment itself is not available for rent. However, they still buy it… just because they are interested and would like to play well to enjoy the game to the fullest. Also, having your own equipment makes the game more enjoyable. After all… it’s personal!


I don't think, in my circle of friends, that one could be a truly serious gamer, unless you are talking about professionals like Yao Ming in Basketball and Tiger Woods or Vijay Sigh in Golf. I believe we pick up a game because we are interested in it. We buy our own equipment because we want something that suit us, we want to feel confortable using it, and we want to improve in the game. I don't know if all these explanations represent being serious in the game. I guess personally, I fall into category C. I was never really serious in any game and I never buy an sport equipment just to show off. I once got myself a very expensive golf set and went for golf lessons… because I was interested (mind that I am interested but not serious) in the game. So, are you truly serious in a game? And how serious could that be?