Not that it isn't, but if it starts to play a more important role.
Yeah, I just noticed it doesn't necessarily touch on the community itself. I might actually write one later based on what happens in this thread. Thanks though :)
Many people say "Gamers" are the only people to label themselves by their hobby. I don't think that's necessarily true, but either way it's demonstrative of the fact that since we participate in the activity, we have a much stronger connection to it than we do when we watch a movie or listen to music. So, I think a lot of people get a much stronger emotional and physical connection to their games, and they get the feeling they've "done something" when they play a game.
The other thing is that because a lot of games are built in a way that the play experience is similar to every other player, it means a lot of people can share experiences. I mean, we can all discuss what we thought of a movie, but there seems to be something more interesting about discussing how we did when we were playing a game; what we achieved, what choices we made, what we noticed etc. That's why I think there's a stronger appeal for a community; people love to share their physical experiences, and gaming provides those.
It also helps story-telling is the greatest teaching method in the world, and games give an incredible player-narrative (what the players do when playing the game; their experience).
Linking that into Let's Players, achievement websites, modding communities etc; it's all about people having this incredible connection to the hobby, and setting themselves personal goals and motivations, and when they achieve those, they want to share them with other people. We're pack animals, and for the most part we rely on other people.
