It’s cringe af and totally reinforces the “gamer” stereotype. We can do better.

it's definitely a weird term but in more than a few contexts (mostly very online contexts) i've found it to be the only suitable terminology because there's just nothing else which most of the people i talk to will "get" otherwise--it'd be nice to have something a little bit less embarrassing to work with, to be honest lol

I downright hate it.

Me either. I’m a “normie,” I guess, and it feels unwelcoming and condescending.

Would you prefer 'filthy casuals'?

I'm glad that somebody said it. Lemmy is becoming quite a shit show in this regard. These FOSS enthusiasts and Linux master race people are really starting to deter me from the platform.

I love FOSS software! I love Linux! I hate people telling other people how to think or what to spend their time with. Most of the people in this thread can fuck right off.

Post: Uses the word normies in a positive sense and literally says it's great that gaming is more accessible

Fediverse: Is this a neckbeard?

The reaction is a bit more like

"B-B-B-BUT THE CONNOTATIONS!!! Bro you just LITERALLY used a word that has PROBLEMATIC CONNOTATIONS because it's ALSO USED by PEOPLE I DON'T LIKE, and that makes you GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION!!! I am PROUD of how I combine purity testing and code switching into a DEFINITELY accurate litmus test, because I think I'm a character from Dune!! I don't know what the FUCK 'context' is but it SOUNDS like something the ALT-RIGHT would care about!!!!"

If I ever caught myself taking an obvious self-effacing remark seriously, I would be so ashamed. Anyone coming into this thread with hurt feelings about the word "normies" is a huge dork and needs go outside.

Normies don't think about Linux. You don't even need to see Linux if you use a Steam Deck.

…but I totally get what he means. Some people just aren't excited about fiddling with settings, hardware, software or otherwise. It's just a pain. Even myself, I've noticed I've lost most of my appetite for twiddling with drivers and such so I get it. When I play a game, I want to play the game, not set up the game, tweak the game, etc.

This has always been one of the key advantages of consoles over PC gaming. You can go to Gamestop, buy the game, plug it into your console, and then play. Or at least you used to.

Consoles have gotten more fiddly over the years, and the Steam Deck meets them halfway. If you are okay with online game stores, managing storage space for your games, you are already good to go with your Steam Deck. If you want to, you can tweak your settings for more battery life or performance, or venture outside the Steam Deck Verified games.

All sorts of hobbies use the term to describe people who aren't fully into something but have a passing interest, it's a pretty standard phrase.

I mean, what’s another way of easily conveying the same idea. “Those people who you might not typically consider to be X”?

I feel like I’ve seen and heard normies used in a variety of contexts, to refer to people outside of a particular group. Not to say they can’t be in the group, or that there’s anything wrong with them.

But then again, what do I know.

It is odd being in the gen X and millenial cohorts and being two generations trapped between ones that either had little to no experience with computers or have only used smart tech that simplified everything down.