hahah. I lie. I say I'm tired. People that grew up with me must think I'm showing my age, because I'm as hyperactive as they come. I have never actually been tired a day in my life. My wife suspects - says "I thought you were tired?" when I jump up to curse or throw up my victory arms after a PvP loss/win. I then lie again (or maybe not if its darkfall) "adrenaline."
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
When I started playing WOW my wife was curious so I encouraged her to roll a char on my account. When she got to level 12 I told her to quit and get her own account, she was hooked so of course she did, she's been going 5 years and still doing Cata!
I don't want to go too much into my own life, but i've been doing MMOs for about 10 years now and while my playtime gets pretty high sometimes, it's never been to the level of "ok, page me in the middle of the night if the mob spawns!".
I've always worked and i do have RL friends. However - and this doesn't just apply to gaming - none of my RL friends are geeks in any way. None of my friends like the same movies, music, books or just about anything else that I enjoy. (Actually most of my friends wouldn't know what a book is if it fell on them). So with that said, me and friends have been drifting apart for a long time.
A bunch (not all) of them have families now. So while my excuse twice a week is that i "got plans" (to raid), their excuse the other 5 days a week is that "the wife needs me home" or that "the baby is crying". So we meet like every two months with ALL my friends to play poker, because that's the most that THEY can get out. More often with my "unburdened" friends.
I do consider my gaming social. Both in the sense of gaining social experience and socializing with people. I firmly believe that my gaming has helped in my career in at least a couple of ways and I've met at least 2 people from my guild over the years in my travels - both were people from Europe, in countries where i otherwise wouldn't have known anyone. In december, on another vacation, i am hoping to meet yet another former guildie on yet another continent. I probably share the same number of common interests with people in my guild as i do with my RL friends.
The one place where i've learned to just plain out LIE about my gaming is at work. I've heard way too many stories of people talking about their gaming lives and getting fired, etc. It's kinda sad in a way. I mean, I don't judge people for what they do on their spare time, but it seems that there is still some kind of taboo about gaming as there is about gambling or being a drunk. /shrug. It's normal I thikn to not share EVERY part of your life with EVERY person you mean. You open some parts to some people and other parts to others.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
gaming in large amounts by yourself is generally considered deviant behaviour. and with good reason. it's one of the only hobbies that doesnt give you any skills applicable to life whatsoever
erm actually i learnt to type due to mmo gaming.
having to type warnings/orders etc ingame in instances etc. (in the days before everyone was on Voice Coms)
i'm now a freelance writer and every day i thank my mmo history for the speed at which i'm able to write my articles and then get back to gaming
it's one of the only hobbies that doesnt give you any skills applicable to life whatsoever.
I have to disagree with this based on my own experience. I mean, obviously it depends on the type of gaming you do and the types of people in your MMO and your MMO social circle.
(Sorry long read ahead, if not interested, no one is forcing you to read
Two examples from my own gaming life:
Example 1...
6 years ago I was playing EQ2 and at one point things were really not working out for me in the guild i was in or even on the server (back then server xfers were pretty rare in gaming). I was max level and knew quite a few people, still I made the decision to leave the guild and the server and get a fresh start. I moved to a different server, where I had to meet all new people - none of whom knew me from leveling or grouping - and a new raiding guild.
Eventually, I found a guild, proved myself as a reliable and capable, etc, but the guild ended up breaking up a few months later. I then join another guild and while I was able to quickly rise to the top, the guild wasn't a particularly good fit, so I decide to switch again and finally found a good home with many of the people I am still guiled with to this day.
Meanwhile, in my RL, i was working my (pretty decent job) and humming along thinking about what's next until one day it just "hit me" - the whole process of switching guilds, having to learn to work with new people, having to prove yourself all over again in the eyes of new leaders - this was just like what it's like to switch to a new job! Better yet, I was good at this! Shortly thereafter, I applied for a job that was a huge promotion, got it and moved up in the world significantly.
Say what you want about the experience, but for me, the experiences gained gaming gave me a great amount of confidence and comfort in my ability to adapt to a new environment and new people. Could I have gained these elsewhere? Sure. But I did gain them while gaming.
Example 2...
Same game, only fast forward to 1 year ago. Having been in my guild for many years, I never wanted a leadership role. I was well-respected and quite capable, but i had no interest in being the big boss or the responsibility associated with any of it. Then one day I went on vacation and came back to the "unthinkable" having happened. Not only was our guild leader quitting, but he was actually maliciously trying to destroy the guild. We'd had leaders retire before, but we always carried on under new leadership. This time the leader's stance was "without me you're all nothing, therefore i will destroy the guild before letting anyone else lead it!".
I saw little choice in the matter. No one else was taking any action or standing up to this person and I saw that if nothing was done, the guild would collapse and all the relationships built over the years would be severed, etc. So i started working with a bunch of other people and getting everyone to keep in touch (the former leader revoked everyone's forum and vent access so we couldn't keep in touch well).
Eventually we reformed under a new name with all but 3 people sticking together. When it came time to lead the new guild, no one really wanted the responsibility and it so turned out that people looked to me to do it. I had no interest in it, so I set up a co-leadership with someone else that was capable and together we did our best to run it. A few months later his RL called and he could not longer partake, so I was left to lead on my own.
In a couple of weeks, it will be the one year since the day I became the leader of the guild. I have learned and applied more about leadership in that one year of gaming than I have in my entire life. Having to manage the needs, wants, expectations and performance of 25-30 other adults is difficult and challenging. And it honestly doesn't matter if it's online or not. They are still people and still have REAL feelings and attitudes and vices. In that time I had recruit, promote, demote and kick out all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. Sure, it's not the same as firing someone. But it's probably as close as you'll get without actually doing it.
I've interviewed people, dealt with performance issues, dealt with personality conflicts and all kinds of other crap that in the MMO world is commonly called "drama". And i've done it well and the guild is stronger today than it ever was and we have maintained our high performace without losing our "casual" attitude and good relations with each other.
A year ago, if my manager at work had asked me if i was ready for a leadership role, i would have said "no". Last week, I applied for a leadership position and regardless of whether I get, i feel confident that I would make a good leader sometime down the line.
So in my experience, MMO gaming has NOT been something that "taught me nothing". But that's my experience and I recognize that mileage may vary.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
it's one of the only hobbies that doesnt give you any skills applicable to life whatsoever.
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I think it depends on what games you're playing. Mario Kart won't teach you much of anything. Games like Civilization or many hex wargames can teach you a whole lot...about history, about gaming, about solving puzzles, etc. Same with many point and click adventures or games with lots and lots of text.
I can totally agree with arieste. It's not "virtual life". It's your life. Maybe you have never seen them, but do you know the people in India writing the software you use? Or the people in China who sew your clothes? Or the people in South America who built your car?
Most of the people i play with are not as far away as the ones listed above, and as we have a mutual interest, the chance that we will meet some day is way higher.
The differentation between "real" and "virtual" life leads to situations where people say "it's just a game" when you have plan a raid, and decide to watch that movie they recorded, without even telling you they aren't coming. Then you end up with a bunch of people who waste hours waiting for one guy, a bunch of people who told they would come tomorrow, because they have other plans today, because someone thought "it's just a game, who cares".
Obviously you should not do it the other way round either, but gaming is exactly the same as every other hobby. If you have no plans yet, you can read a book, go to the gym or play a video game - or not. But as soon as you involve other people, because you told them you would go to the cinema with them, or they asked you to come to their birthday, or you said "a raid? sure, i'll be there", you have to treat it the same way. They could have asked someone else, or just go without you, but they decided to do something with you, so you should not waste their time. Waiting is waiting, no matter if you wait for someone to login or to show up.
And you surely gain more experience from playing games, at least MMOs, as from watching movies. You won't be a kung fu expert no matter how much you play or how often you see a movie, but you surely won't be able to lead or to deal with people because you've seen a movie, but in a MMO you have to do that. It's not the same "level" as in the so called real life, but it's the same process.
Still, if someone says "can't, theres a good movie on tonight", it#s more acceptable as if you say "can't, gonna raid tonight" or "got a important match in SC2/CoD". I wonder how long it will take for them to be at least equivalent.
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
Nothing in life is a bigger drag than being around a person you care about who's addicted to bad MMOs.
As a 12-year veteran of the MMO industry, nothing would make me happier than to see weekly regularly scheduled raiding be completely and utterly abolished - maybe then we could move past the current dark age of user-using, predatory, "themepark" gameplay, and once again become interested in just hanging out with our friends.
I mean, It'd have to be better than the current alternative of frittering away hour after hour rolling around in the hampster-wheel of "progression" gaming... right?
/soap box
Content Writer for RTSGuru.com And overall bitter old man.
I can totally agree with arieste. It's not "virtual life". It's your life. Maybe you have never seen them, but do you know the people in India writing the software you use? Or the people in China who sew your clothes? Or the people in South America who built your car?
Most of the people i play with are not as far away as the ones listed above, and as we have a mutual interest, the chance that we will meet some day is way higher.
The differentation between "real" and "virtual" life leads to situations where people say "it's just a game" when you have plan a raid, and decide to watch that movie they recorded, without even telling you they aren't coming. Then you end up with a bunch of people who waste hours waiting for one guy, a bunch of people who told they would come tomorrow, because they have other plans today, because someone thought "it's just a game, who cares".
Obviously you should not do it the other way round either, but gaming is exactly the same as every other hobby. If you have no plans yet, you can read a book, go to the gym or play a video game - or not. But as soon as you involve other people, because you told them you would go to the cinema with them, or they asked you to come to their birthday, or you said "a raid? sure, i'll be there", you have to treat it the same way. They could have asked someone else, or just go without you, but they decided to do something with you, so you should not waste their time. Waiting is waiting, no matter if you wait for someone to login or to show up.
And you surely gain more experience from playing games, at least MMOs, as from watching movies. You won't be a kung fu expert no matter how much you play or how often you see a movie, but you surely won't be able to lead or to deal with people because you've seen a movie, but in a MMO you have to do that. It's not the same "level" as in the so called real life, but it's the same process.
Still, if someone says "can't, theres a good movie on tonight", it#s more acceptable as if you say "can't, gonna raid tonight" or "got a important match in SC2/CoD". I wonder how long it will take for them to be at least equivalent.
I couldn't agree more, particularly about accountability to others.
Hey, having non-gamer friends is a great thing. Like Coyote mentioned, if you hang in there long enough, you get bribed with free drinks or other various consumable intoxicants.
That's my option, right there: eff the MMO if I can get a free buzz outta duping my friends.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
lol got any tips for wife aggro, friends aint the problem its that pesky wife that always wants you to go do something right when you start a boss fight.
Trade in all your nongame friends for gamer friends. They're more loyal and most of them don't make up lame excuses why they can't make it when you have plans.
If it has come to that point one should get a life...
And yes, I've been there so it's not like I can't relate.
Hell, if any of us had "a life", we'd not be playing most of these games, now would we?... ^^ But seriously, it all depends on the person and situation. This is a hobby to me, not an obsession. I have a quite a few social contacts, but only a few people I consider to be friends. I'd rather spend time with them, than play (most times). Everyone else, it depends on the situation and context.
gaming in large amounts by yourself is generally considered deviant behaviour. and with good reason. it's one of the only hobbies that doesnt give you any skills applicable to life whatsoever. it takes you away from socializing, prevents you from getting properly socialized, and is generally considered to be escapism from reality.
whenever a friend calls me, i will always drop the game, no matter how fun or intense, because choosing the game over RL is sad. if you find yourself choosing virtual realities over RL, you need to carefully think about what's wrong in your life. my 2 cents.
That statement is so wrong its not even funny. One of the ONLY hobbies that does not give you any skills to use IRL? Name me one hobby that does give you any real life skills outside of being entertaining. Thats what a hobby is if you didnt know that. Something you do in your spare time to entertain you. Watching TV gives you RL skills? Nope. Going to the movies? Nope. Going out drinking with friends? Nope. Bowling? Ummm pretty sure that doesnt give you any RL skills. No more than playing a game does. Reading books or comics? Again nope.
As to sociallizing, since this is an MMO article on an MMO website your statement is again false. Playing MMO's DOES give you social skills. Maybe not the way you THINK they should, but they do. You deal with people in games through chat instead of face to face sure but its still there.
The only thing you have there is escapism from reality which is the whole point to a hobby. Sure some people make money off hobbies but most do not. A hobby is there as a form of entertainment. As to picking friends over games it all depends for me. If my buddies want to go out drinking then nah. I'll stay at home. To many things can go wrong when you go out to a club. If its out bowling or just hanging out and I havent made plans in advance with my guild? Then yea I'm going out with my RL friends. One thing to keep in mind is if you make plans with your online friends they depend on you to come through on the plans you made for them. Dropping them to go out with your buddies irl last min ruins there time and is pretty selfish imo.
Now if your statements are strictly about single player games then I agree with you 100%.
I feel bad but I have had to lie to my friends in the past about my gaming habits. On a few occasions I skipped out on a movie, or a party, or whatever because I had to raid or I was in a 300 man carrier fleet or whatever. I do have quite a few friends now that game and they understand when I tell them, "Sorry dude, I can't hangout. One of the stations we shot at is coming out of reinforced tonight. I'll catch up later!".
However the majority of people in my life....if I said that to them they would just call me a nerd and tell me I need to spend more time outside
And to people who think that is sad or "deviant behavior", get a grip. I have friends online as well (people I have been gaming with for 8+ years) which sometimes rely on me to be there. It's just that some of my non-gamer friends would never undestand that. I get out more than enough!
Trade in all your nongame friends for gamer friends. They're more loyal and most of them don't make up lame excuses why they can't make it when you have plans.
Oh I don't know, my lot of non-gamer friends have been like family since 1985.
That's pretty loyal in my book. Maybe people aren't so great at picking their "real life" friends.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Haha. Nice. I'll never forget the time where I was playing an MMO while at college. I was in a raid and my friends called. They asked me if I could go to the dining hall with them. I said I was out and busy. However, my computer was literally right in front of the 4 by 8 foot window that faced the quad. My friends were standing outside staring at me.... It was a major fail for trying to lie my way out.... haha
Games Played: World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2 and Star Wars Galaxies.
Comments
hahah. I lie. I say I'm tired. People that grew up with me must think I'm showing my age, because I'm as hyperactive as they come. I have never actually been tired a day in my life. My wife suspects - says "I thought you were tired?" when I jump up to curse or throw up my victory arms after a PvP loss/win. I then lie again (or maybe not if its darkfall) "adrenaline."
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
Option 1 lol.
When I started playing WOW my wife was curious so I encouraged her to roll a char on my account. When she got to level 12 I told her to quit and get her own account, she was hooked so of course she did, she's been going 5 years and still doing Cata!
Everybody wins! Hahah
Nice article=)
Eat me!
I don't want to go too much into my own life, but i've been doing MMOs for about 10 years now and while my playtime gets pretty high sometimes, it's never been to the level of "ok, page me in the middle of the night if the mob spawns!".
I've always worked and i do have RL friends. However - and this doesn't just apply to gaming - none of my RL friends are geeks in any way. None of my friends like the same movies, music, books or just about anything else that I enjoy. (Actually most of my friends wouldn't know what a book is if it fell on them). So with that said, me and friends have been drifting apart for a long time.
A bunch (not all) of them have families now. So while my excuse twice a week is that i "got plans" (to raid), their excuse the other 5 days a week is that "the wife needs me home" or that "the baby is crying". So we meet like every two months with ALL my friends to play poker, because that's the most that THEY can get out. More often with my "unburdened" friends.
I do consider my gaming social. Both in the sense of gaining social experience and socializing with people. I firmly believe that my gaming has helped in my career in at least a couple of ways and I've met at least 2 people from my guild over the years in my travels - both were people from Europe, in countries where i otherwise wouldn't have known anyone. In december, on another vacation, i am hoping to meet yet another former guildie on yet another continent. I probably share the same number of common interests with people in my guild as i do with my RL friends.
The one place where i've learned to just plain out LIE about my gaming is at work. I've heard way too many stories of people talking about their gaming lives and getting fired, etc. It's kinda sad in a way. I mean, I don't judge people for what they do on their spare time, but it seems that there is still some kind of taboo about gaming as there is about gambling or being a drunk. /shrug. It's normal I thikn to not share EVERY part of your life with EVERY person you mean. You open some parts to some people and other parts to others.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
erm actually i learnt to type due to mmo gaming.
having to type warnings/orders etc ingame in instances etc. (in the days before everyone was on Voice Coms)
i'm now a freelance writer and every day i thank my mmo history for the speed at which i'm able to write my articles and then get back to gaming
Megan Fox isn't good looking. Her face is disgusting up close. Her thumbs are just one small trait about her that is repulsive.
I have to disagree with this based on my own experience. I mean, obviously it depends on the type of gaming you do and the types of people in your MMO and your MMO social circle.
(Sorry long read ahead, if not interested, no one is forcing you to read
Two examples from my own gaming life:
Example 1...
6 years ago I was playing EQ2 and at one point things were really not working out for me in the guild i was in or even on the server (back then server xfers were pretty rare in gaming). I was max level and knew quite a few people, still I made the decision to leave the guild and the server and get a fresh start. I moved to a different server, where I had to meet all new people - none of whom knew me from leveling or grouping - and a new raiding guild.
Eventually, I found a guild, proved myself as a reliable and capable, etc, but the guild ended up breaking up a few months later. I then join another guild and while I was able to quickly rise to the top, the guild wasn't a particularly good fit, so I decide to switch again and finally found a good home with many of the people I am still guiled with to this day.
Meanwhile, in my RL, i was working my (pretty decent job) and humming along thinking about what's next until one day it just "hit me" - the whole process of switching guilds, having to learn to work with new people, having to prove yourself all over again in the eyes of new leaders - this was just like what it's like to switch to a new job! Better yet, I was good at this! Shortly thereafter, I applied for a job that was a huge promotion, got it and moved up in the world significantly.
Say what you want about the experience, but for me, the experiences gained gaming gave me a great amount of confidence and comfort in my ability to adapt to a new environment and new people. Could I have gained these elsewhere? Sure. But I did gain them while gaming.
Example 2...
Same game, only fast forward to 1 year ago. Having been in my guild for many years, I never wanted a leadership role. I was well-respected and quite capable, but i had no interest in being the big boss or the responsibility associated with any of it. Then one day I went on vacation and came back to the "unthinkable" having happened. Not only was our guild leader quitting, but he was actually maliciously trying to destroy the guild. We'd had leaders retire before, but we always carried on under new leadership. This time the leader's stance was "without me you're all nothing, therefore i will destroy the guild before letting anyone else lead it!".
I saw little choice in the matter. No one else was taking any action or standing up to this person and I saw that if nothing was done, the guild would collapse and all the relationships built over the years would be severed, etc. So i started working with a bunch of other people and getting everyone to keep in touch (the former leader revoked everyone's forum and vent access so we couldn't keep in touch well).
Eventually we reformed under a new name with all but 3 people sticking together. When it came time to lead the new guild, no one really wanted the responsibility and it so turned out that people looked to me to do it. I had no interest in it, so I set up a co-leadership with someone else that was capable and together we did our best to run it. A few months later his RL called and he could not longer partake, so I was left to lead on my own.
In a couple of weeks, it will be the one year since the day I became the leader of the guild. I have learned and applied more about leadership in that one year of gaming than I have in my entire life. Having to manage the needs, wants, expectations and performance of 25-30 other adults is difficult and challenging. And it honestly doesn't matter if it's online or not. They are still people and still have REAL feelings and attitudes and vices. In that time I had recruit, promote, demote and kick out all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. Sure, it's not the same as firing someone. But it's probably as close as you'll get without actually doing it.
I've interviewed people, dealt with performance issues, dealt with personality conflicts and all kinds of other crap that in the MMO world is commonly called "drama". And i've done it well and the guild is stronger today than it ever was and we have maintained our high performace without losing our "casual" attitude and good relations with each other.
A year ago, if my manager at work had asked me if i was ready for a leadership role, i would have said "no". Last week, I applied for a leadership position and regardless of whether I get, i feel confident that I would make a good leader sometime down the line.
So in my experience, MMO gaming has NOT been something that "taught me nothing". But that's my experience and I recognize that mileage may vary.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
I think it depends on what games you're playing. Mario Kart won't teach you much of anything. Games like Civilization or many hex wargames can teach you a whole lot...about history, about gaming, about solving puzzles, etc. Same with many point and click adventures or games with lots and lots of text.
I can totally agree with arieste. It's not "virtual life". It's your life. Maybe you have never seen them, but do you know the people in India writing the software you use? Or the people in China who sew your clothes? Or the people in South America who built your car?
Most of the people i play with are not as far away as the ones listed above, and as we have a mutual interest, the chance that we will meet some day is way higher.
The differentation between "real" and "virtual" life leads to situations where people say "it's just a game" when you have plan a raid, and decide to watch that movie they recorded, without even telling you they aren't coming. Then you end up with a bunch of people who waste hours waiting for one guy, a bunch of people who told they would come tomorrow, because they have other plans today, because someone thought "it's just a game, who cares".
Obviously you should not do it the other way round either, but gaming is exactly the same as every other hobby. If you have no plans yet, you can read a book, go to the gym or play a video game - or not. But as soon as you involve other people, because you told them you would go to the cinema with them, or they asked you to come to their birthday, or you said "a raid? sure, i'll be there", you have to treat it the same way. They could have asked someone else, or just go without you, but they decided to do something with you, so you should not waste their time. Waiting is waiting, no matter if you wait for someone to login or to show up.
And you surely gain more experience from playing games, at least MMOs, as from watching movies. You won't be a kung fu expert no matter how much you play or how often you see a movie, but you surely won't be able to lead or to deal with people because you've seen a movie, but in a MMO you have to do that. It's not the same "level" as in the so called real life, but it's the same process.
Still, if someone says "can't, theres a good movie on tonight", it#s more acceptable as if you say "can't, gonna raid tonight" or "got a important match in SC2/CoD". I wonder how long it will take for them to be at least equivalent.
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high
And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll
Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
I used to be a nongamer but then I saw the light! Now I am one of those who needs to use these tips on my friends and family!
Nothing in life is a bigger drag than being around a person you care about who's addicted to bad MMOs.
As a 12-year veteran of the MMO industry, nothing would make me happier than to see weekly regularly scheduled raiding be completely and utterly abolished - maybe then we could move past the current dark age of user-using, predatory, "themepark" gameplay, and once again become interested in just hanging out with our friends.
I mean, It'd have to be better than the current alternative of frittering away hour after hour rolling around in the hampster-wheel of "progression" gaming... right?
/soap box
Content Writer for RTSGuru.com
And overall bitter old man.
Hey, having non-gamer friends is a great thing. Like Coyote mentioned, if you hang in there long enough, you get bribed with free drinks or other various consumable intoxicants.
That's my option, right there: eff the MMO if I can get a free buzz outta duping my friends.
"This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!" -Bernard Black (Dylan Moran)
Does this wife have a life insurance policy?
Trade in all your nongame friends for gamer friends. They're more loyal and most of them don't make up lame excuses why they can't make it when you have plans.
No bitchers.
I actually think this post would apply to my friends but in reverse.
"Eventually it happens... one of your friends is a gamer!
I think they usually just smile and laugh at me behind my back.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Hell, if any of us had "a life", we'd not be playing most of these games, now would we?... ^^ But seriously, it all depends on the person and situation. This is a hobby to me, not an obsession. I have a quite a few social contacts, but only a few people I consider to be friends. I'd rather spend time with them, than play (most times). Everyone else, it depends on the situation and context.
That statement is so wrong its not even funny. One of the ONLY hobbies that does not give you any skills to use IRL? Name me one hobby that does give you any real life skills outside of being entertaining. Thats what a hobby is if you didnt know that. Something you do in your spare time to entertain you. Watching TV gives you RL skills? Nope. Going to the movies? Nope. Going out drinking with friends? Nope. Bowling? Ummm pretty sure that doesnt give you any RL skills. No more than playing a game does. Reading books or comics? Again nope.
As to sociallizing, since this is an MMO article on an MMO website your statement is again false. Playing MMO's DOES give you social skills. Maybe not the way you THINK they should, but they do. You deal with people in games through chat instead of face to face sure but its still there.
The only thing you have there is escapism from reality which is the whole point to a hobby. Sure some people make money off hobbies but most do not. A hobby is there as a form of entertainment. As to picking friends over games it all depends for me. If my buddies want to go out drinking then nah. I'll stay at home. To many things can go wrong when you go out to a club. If its out bowling or just hanging out and I havent made plans in advance with my guild? Then yea I'm going out with my RL friends. One thing to keep in mind is if you make plans with your online friends they depend on you to come through on the plans you made for them. Dropping them to go out with your buddies irl last min ruins there time and is pretty selfish imo.
Now if your statements are strictly about single player games then I agree with you 100%.
loved every bit of it, i think this has applied to just about every gamer at least once
Free MMOs FTW?
I feel bad but I have had to lie to my friends in the past about my gaming habits. On a few occasions I skipped out on a movie, or a party, or whatever because I had to raid or I was in a 300 man carrier fleet or whatever. I do have quite a few friends now that game and they understand when I tell them, "Sorry dude, I can't hangout. One of the stations we shot at is coming out of reinforced tonight. I'll catch up later!".
However the majority of people in my life....if I said that to them they would just call me a nerd and tell me I need to spend more time outside
And to people who think that is sad or "deviant behavior", get a grip. I have friends online as well (people I have been gaming with for 8+ years) which sometimes rely on me to be there. It's just that some of my non-gamer friends would never undestand that. I get out more than enough!
Oh I don't know, my lot of non-gamer friends have been like family since 1985.
That's pretty loyal in my book. Maybe people aren't so great at picking their "real life" friends.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Haha. Nice. I'll never forget the time where I was playing an MMO while at college. I was in a raid and my friends called. They asked me if I could go to the dining hall with them. I said I was out and busy. However, my computer was literally right in front of the 4 by 8 foot window that faced the quad. My friends were standing outside staring at me.... It was a major fail for trying to lie my way out.... haha
Games Played: World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2 and Star Wars Galaxies.
I rememebr my first time.. I went over to a friends house.. got totally smashed and woke up the next day with a level 7 Beast Lord.....
Lmao.
You my friend made my LOL so hard...thank you.