Why Are Gaming Communities So Defensive of Smelly Players

[Captain Karnage]

So this video recently popped up in my feed

 

 

it reminded me of how I got banned from one MTG group for posting this version of the drake meme

 

   

As someone who plays MTG, I know this smell all to well, and I know its a problem with the Warhammer 4K people.

What's really getting me though is why are some people so defensive about people who don't take baths/showers? 

I understand that there are some rare conditions where it really can't be helped, but why do people who know about the stinky players who are spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on these games and act like

"MaYBe thEy Can'T AffORd tO ShowER Or uSe DeoDorant"

"Yeah but there spending $200 for the hotel and lord knows how much they spent on that deck and even flight ticket"

"..."

--

I just want to see what's people's opinion o the matter is

Edited May 26, 2019 by eclipse

[Rezzy]

I wasn't aware the odiously inclined had become a protected class.

[Tryhard]

some people just do god's work

[Dragoncat]

https://compete.kotaku.com/smash-players-plead-with-each-other-to-please-for-the-1826150759

Yeah this is a thing and like...why. Why do these people think this is acceptable.

Quote

What's really getting me though is why are some people so defensive about people who don't take baths/showers? 

I understand that there are some rare conditions where it really can't be helped, but why do people who know about the stinky players who are spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on these games and act like

"MaYBe thEy Can'T AffORd tO ShowER Or uSe DeoDorant"

"Yeah but there spending $200 for the hotel and lord knows how much they spent on that deck and even flight ticket"

My grandpa always used to say even if you're dirt poor you can still find ways to get some soap and shampoo. The problem is these people just don't care, all they care about is being the Smash champion or whatever. And yeah, if they can afford to spend money on these games and events, they can afford to buy hygiene supplies.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Dragoncat

[Nym]

Isn't there a new rule in Yu-Gi-Oh rules that someone need to take a bath or shower before a match? That was that much of a recurrent issue it seems.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

"2 Stock your odor" sounds like a great tagline for whatever Deodorant company decides to sponsor Smash tournaments.

Quote

What's really getting me though is why are some people so defensive about people who don't take baths/showers? 

Some people are just always inclined to defend someone/something they like before stopping to consider if criticism is valid or not (and even when they acknowledge said criticism).

Hygiene isn't difficult to keep up, these dudes just become neglectful of it because they get used to their own smell and when they're not being confronted about it, their need to keep up their hygiene is slowly phased out to being a "luxury" or "superfluous" thing. Those defending them are doing more harm than they realize.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Dr. Tarrasque

[Armchair General]

I'm pretty sure that the more important question is,"How hard can it be to keep up with your hygiene?"

And also, is it possible to get high off of glue?

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by Armchair General

[Armagon]

People defend smelly players? Bro, i see tweets telling people to take a shower like everyday.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

I've never encountered the defense of this activity personally, but in my days of competitive Smash it was a well known issue. Imagine my surprise when a player I only ever remembered for being smelly ends up being one of the best players in SoCal a few months after I quit. Hope he took to showering during that time.

And it's also peculiar how many smelly players exist. A lot of us are in a room together for both practice and proper events so it's not like there's lack of human contact that you forget to manage your odor. Maybe that's an issue for online games, but I wouldn't know. Traveling I kind of emphasize with, but most of us are men and we always pack light enough that a stick of deoderant should fit in the bag. My best theory is that the smell doesn't derive from body odor but from lack of doing your own laundry.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Glennstavos

[Dragoncat]

2 minutes ago, Glennstavos said:

Traveling I kind of emphasize with, but most of us are men and we always pack light enough that a stick of deoderant should fit in the bag.

I'm a woman and I would pack light. Not all women have to bring their whole closet.

[Shrimpica]

Isn't this more an american nerd scene thing so?

When i go to nerdy events over here, it isn't smelly (or atleast, not more smelly then other places filled with people). I also have heard from other people who go to such events in other countries that it isn'T smelly either.

Yet every time a con or something like that happens in the US, the internet is filled with this ''smelly'' stuff.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Shrimperor

[Rezzy]

15 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

Isn't this more an american nerd scene thing so?

When i go to nerdy events over here, it isn't smelly (or atleast, not more smelly then other places filled with people). I also have heard from other people who go to such events in other countries that it isn'T smelly either.

Yet every time a con or something like that happens in the US, the internet is filled with this ''smelly'' stuff.

Where are you at?

[Pengaius]

While I'm not too familiar with conventions or events, and I do believe hygiene should be especially important for large gatherings of people, I pretty sure that people might not feel all that comfortable showering or bathing somewhere new; so imagine your headed to a smash tourney that's  2-300 miles away from home, you know your gonna have to budget this thing so you hedge your bets on a cheap motel, when you get there the first thing your gonna want to do is get cleaned up when lo and behold the shower is caked in dirt and grime and is absolutely disgusting, you want to go get the manager, but you remember your only paying like 18 bucks and are just here for the tournament and are leaving in 2 nights so you can probably just deal with it using deodorant, it's not too hot and it's not exactly a full body workout, you have 2 sets of spare clothes so your good. Cut to the tournament and you get a bit stressed out, you get sweaty a little at first but then a lot more, you think that since you've plastered yourself with deodorant it'll be fine, nobody will notice , so you go about this for the day and a half never noticing just how bad you smell. Now multiply this by 1000 people and the stink really builds up. People who smell bad likely aren't doing so on purpose, they might just feel uncomfortable shower/bathing in a new place. (I know I sure do) 

That said that's no real excuse to not double-check yourself and “top-off" every hour or two, and I have no idea why anybody would try to protec the stincc or anything. 

[Dragoncat]

1 hour ago, Pengaius said:

While I'm not too familiar with conventions or events, and I do believe hygiene should be especially important for large gatherings of people, I pretty sure that people might not feel all that comfortable showering or bathing somewhere new; so imagine your headed to a smash tourney that's  2-300 miles away from home, you know your gonna have to budget this thing so you hedge your bets on a cheap motel, when you get there the first thing your gonna want to do is get cleaned up when lo and behold the shower is caked in dirt and grime and is absolutely disgusting, you want to go get the manager, but you remember your only paying like 18 bucks and are just here for the tournament and are leaving in 2 nights so you can probably just deal with it using deodorant, it's not too hot and it's not exactly a full body workout, you have 2 sets of spare clothes so your good. Cut to the tournament and you get a bit stressed out, you get sweaty a little at first but then a lot more, you think that since you've plastered yourself with deodorant it'll be fine, nobody will notice , so you go about this for the day and a half never noticing just how bad you smell. Now multiply this by 1000 people and the stink really builds up. People who smell bad likely aren't doing so on purpose, they might just feel uncomfortable shower/bathing in a new place. (I know I sure do) 

That said that's no real excuse to not double-check yourself and “top-off" every hour or two, and I have no idea why anybody would try to protec the stincc or anything. 

This is a point I hadn't considered.

[Shrimpica]

11 hours ago, Rezzy said:

Where are you at?

Germany

[Bloom]

Honestly, if I am going out. I ALWAYS SHOWER AND WEAR CLEAN CLOTHES.

If I am staying at home, I don't shower and I wear old clothes lying around.

And if I go to a convention, I bring a deodorant bar with me. 

Why are people unable to do something as basic as washing their ass?

[Lightcosmo]

I'm not sure why people really care either way? Anyway, I think there are a lot worse things to worry about, like the raggers and such, so I wouldn't let it bother me anyways.

[𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥]

14 hours ago, Captain Karnage said:

What's really getting me though is why are some people so defensive about people who don't take baths/showers? 

mental issues, probably.

also makes me wonder what the bloody hell is wrong with humanity these days.

[DragonFlames]

2 hours ago, Fenreir said:

also makes me wonder what the bloody hell is wrong with humanity these days.

If I had a penny for every time I have asked myself this question, I would have enough money to probably fix most of the problems.

Also, washing isn't that hard, people! It's bad enough to poison my eardrums, so leave my nostrils alone, please!
That goes for all of the alcoholics on the buses as well. Seriously, every time one of those filthy bastards gets on, you can immediately tell by simply breathing. Even smelling alcohol is enough to make me wanna puke, so you can imagine my grief every time an alcoholic gets on the bus. It gets worse when they decide to sit next to you, too...

[eclipse]

On 5/24/2019 at 2:46 PM, Pengaius said:

While I'm not too familiar with conventions or events, and I do believe hygiene should be especially important for large gatherings of people, I pretty sure that people might not feel all that comfortable showering or bathing somewhere new; so imagine your headed to a smash tourney that's  2-300 miles away from home, you know your gonna have to budget this thing so you hedge your bets on a cheap motel, when you get there the first thing your gonna want to do is get cleaned up when lo and behold the shower is caked in dirt and grime and is absolutely disgusting, you want to go get the manager, but you remember your only paying like 18 bucks and are just here for the tournament and are leaving in 2 nights so you can probably just deal with it using deodorant, it's not too hot and it's not exactly a full body workout, you have 2 sets of spare clothes so your good. Cut to the tournament and you get a bit stressed out, you get sweaty a little at first but then a lot more, you think that since you've plastered yourself with deodorant it'll be fine, nobody will notice , so you go about this for the day and a half never noticing just how bad you smell. Now multiply this by 1000 people and the stink really builds up. People who smell bad likely aren't doing so on purpose, they might just feel uncomfortable shower/bathing in a new place. (I know I sure do) 

That said that's no real excuse to not double-check yourself and “top-off" every hour or two, and I have no idea why anybody would try to protec the stincc or anything. 

1. Most of the issues I've run into are people in their own home communities who smell bad.
2. Sponge baths are an alternative, and it's partially why I bring my own face towels when I travel.
3. I'm way more nervous if I'm in a crowd of people and I haven't bathed.  This was ingrained in me.

Insufficient packing or not researching alternate bathing methods is on the individual.

[Bloom]

On 5/25/2019 at 9:17 AM, lightcosmo said:

I'm not sure why people really care either way? Anyway, I think there are a lot worse things to worry about, like the raggers and such, so I wouldn't let it bother me anyways.

You've obviously never been to a con...

[Lightcosmo]

20 hours ago, Bloom said:

You've obviously never been to a con...

Actually not true, thank you for jumping to conclusions there. and that's why I say that. I would rather not be around a 24 year old who throws a 3 year old tantrum after a loss, it's just embarrassing. Saying things like "oh you only won because your character is OP" is just pathetic as sounding as watching tantrums, not to mention seriously rude. I just don't think there is any justification to act like that at all. There are nice ways of saying things, y'know.

Edited May 27, 2019 by lightcosmo

[eclipse]

5 hours ago, lightcosmo said:

Actually not true, thank you for jumping to conclusions there. and that's why I say that. I would rather not be around a 24 year old who throws a 3 year old tantrum after a loss, it's just embarrassing. Saying things like "oh you only won because your character is OP" is just pathetic as sounding as watching tantrums, not to mention seriously rude. I just don't think there is any justification to act like that at all. There are nice ways of saying things, y'know.

Salt between two people who know it's a joke is pretty funny.  With no context, it sounded like two immature brats snapping at each other.

Genuine salt because someone lost a card game?  Yeah, that's bad.

[Lightcosmo]

5 hours ago, eclipse said:

Salt between two people who know it's a joke is pretty funny.  With no context, it sounded like two immature brats snapping at each other.

Genuine salt because someone lost a card game?  Yeah, that's bad.

Eh, it's not really a joke to me, and i'm being 100% honest here. I've played enough competitive smash where you get sick of hearing stuff like that. I of course have no idea on your smash career in the competitive world, so I can't say. Nothing new, really. Yes because calling somebody you don't know much about a brat is really mature, I guess. I'm not at all salty, just stating facts, actually.

Edited May 28, 2019 by lightcosmo

[Slyfox]

I'm a bit of a slob when staying at home, avoiding contact with other human beings.

On the other hand, you won't catch me dead leaving my house without showering, wearing clean clothes, etc. Very self-conscious about that stuff.

For the most part, lack of hygiene around others, especially willingly so, is a huge lack of respect to everyone else.

Basically, being smelly or defensive of smelly without good reason is instant grounds for me to consider them (starts with A, you know the rest) for all of eternity.