I’ve always found the “master race” moniker on Reddit subs really offputting/distrubing. Why repeat that here? It could just as easily be called “PC Enthusiast” or something totally normal.
I’ve always found the “master race” moniker on Reddit subs really offputting/distrubing. Why repeat that here? It could just as easily be called “PC Enthusiast” or something totally normal.
It’s a part of the history. The original PCMR started back when the mods of the original /r/gaming banned posts about PCs, saying “There’s nothing inherently gaming about PC. You could just be using it as a tax machine for all we know”. This understandably created friction between the 2 cliques of gaming, with the console clique calling the PC clique a “master race” as a form of insult. At some point, everyone got fed up with arguing about it. /r/pcmasterrace was made, and leaned fully into the “master race” out of spite, and was spurred on by PC hardware at the time being way more cost effective than consoles. Over the years things mellowed out and it became less and less about console peasants “individuals who at the time insisted that console was superior, not individuals who later could only afford console after PC hardware went up in price. Important difference” and more about becoming one of the master race “owning your first gaming centric rig”.
If you wanted the tried and true down to earth gaming forum equivalent for PC, you’re looking for the PCGaming magazine. PCMR will always be an enthusiast forum, that was based separating themselves from the console ecosystem.
Neat history, I guess? Still seems to be an abhorrent label to self identity with.
The justification behind it is deeply unserious
Does that make it better or worse to keep using it?
Worse, I should’ve been more clear.
They’re using a reddit piss match from a nearly a decade ago to justify the use of a disgusting piece of language.
Your meaning would’ve been clear in almost any other context, but in this case I could just imagine someone saying “it’s not a serious justification, just chillax bro, we just like it”. Or something equally asinine.
I believe the term originated via the video maker Yatzhee’s “Zero Punctuation” video series (where the header image comes from), which was similarly tongue-in-cheek.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure it pre-dated /r/gaming but those sentiments were probably shared in 4chan, so both may be pre-dated.
Interesting.
TIL
Thanks for sharing history.
I still hate it.
I always wondered where that awful name came from, and why it gained so much traction. Thank you for this helpful internet history lesson.
However, since this name was born from discord (not the app obviously) and we’re regrouping on another network, why not give it a new name and leave the stale history behind?
I think part of the issue is probably that when making a platform jump, keeping the same name and branding is important to make sure members can find their way back. I don’t know how federation handles the closing / renaming of magazines, but once everyone’s established it could certainly be something to vote on.
It certainly makes sense to keep the name to help people find what they are looking for.
Even if in this case the contributors decide to not change the name, maybe a redirect or “formerly known as” function for magazines would make sense in the future.