What Does Carebear Mean?
Carebear is a slang term that is used to refer to a video gamer who avoids violence and competition, or a video came that has very few violent elements. In the context of game design, a carebear is usually aimed at a younger audience. Carebear games tend to be exploratory in nature and rarely have play mechanics that can result in a character’s death. A carebear gamer, on the other hand, is someone who is not concerned with progressing through levels in an online game and instead chooses to inhabit safe zones and undertake non-competitive activities.
Techopedia Explains Carebear
The term carebear refers to the Care Bears, a cast of cartoon characters that enjoyed widespread popularity in the 1980s. The cartoon Care Bears shot rays of pure caring from their tummy symbols. Anything targeted by the rays would begin to feel joy.
Gamers adopted the term carebear in a derogatory sense: first, to disparage games with no realism or consequences, and later, to refer to gamers who avoid the violence and competition in online multiplayer role-playing games. Carebears are often blamed for the establishment of safe zones and measures taken in games to prevent player killing, piracy and other degenerate strategies.
