(OT)Your Kidding Right?

[Ludes]

It's 11:45pm here and I'm watching tv.. Lady Kyra is snoring a little and drooling on my left shoulder.. I'm still awake.. (barely) and watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" Ray won't come to bed cause he's playing Madden on his PS3. I hate how they depict gamers on TV.

It's not accurate and is wrongfully depicting of a fairly innocuious hobby..
C'mon games are fun, addicting and time killers.. but ignoring your wife cause you want to play more? I don't believe this happens.. You can log out of a game and come back tomorrow at the exact same place you left.
Anyone that has a wife, girlfriend, significant other, knows the difference.
It's wrong of Hollywood to group us in the same stereotype as a crack addict who can't drop the pipe to go to bed.

Yeah , Yeah, Yeah I'm in bed and should be asleep but I can lay here and post on Stratics as I fall asleep and I hurt noone.. My entire gaming cost is less than a hundred a month.. which includes the internet carrier that is used by everyone in my house.. Lets see you be a crackhead on a hundred a month. We've all seen the Southpark depictions of a gamer. I take offense to this and I think you folks should too. I know it's kinda off topic but I did put that in the title.. Thoughts?

 

[AirmidCecht]

1st thought: You mad bro?

2nd thought: OMG I'm still up too

3rd thought: I wonder if Kelmo is moving this as I type

Last thought: No need to be oversensitive about these things. They depict gaming this way because it's funny. That's why more comedies will depict them than say a 60 Minutes in depth evaluation. There is some kernal of truth to all of it. Finding the balance between fun and life comes in all forms. Gaming is just one of them.

True story (staff has heard this already): Years ago I got my hubby to finally log into UO. I figure he likes crafting so voila! Honey look! You can make cabinets n stuff! He is mildly interested......clicks a few times on the menu. Likes the armoires enough, then leaves the room
The next few days I had a simple but beautiful armoire crafted in pine being stained in the garage....

*sigh*

 

[Viper09]

I don't take offense. I know they are simply exaggerating for comedy. They do this all the time. If they never exaggerated anything and just showed everything as normal it wouldn't be so funny.

 

[Ludes]

Yeah your right I'm over sensitive.. prolly cause I'm nodding off.. i use Dragon natural(tm) so it's way to easy for me to spout off and post.

But yeah your right it's a comedy sitcom and I'm wrong taking it seriously..

But I have to ask.. are you saying he made an actual armoire? Outta real wood? Even in pine that had to have been quite an expense in time, materials and effort..

*wonders if I would do that*

I guess if Tina really wanted it I'd attempt it.. but here's a good example of crafters.. I'd rather buy her a nice armoire than make her a crappy one.

 

[AirmidCecht]

But I have to ask.. are you saying he made an actual armoire? Outta real wood? Even in pine that had to have been quite an expense in time, materials and effort..

*wonders if I would do that*

I guess if Tina really wanted it I'd attempt it.. but here's a good example of crafters.. I'd rather buy her a nice armoire than make her a crappy one.

He was a house builder now sign maker by trade so it didn't surprise me at all that he'd see this and head out to the garage. Our daughter has it now and it's a very basic and simple design but it is beautiful. That was however the last time I attempted to get him to come over to the gamer side of life....

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Err... you'd be surprised how often truth is stranger than fiction.

Not to cross the graphical line, but the girlfriend of one of my ex-roommates used to complain to me because she would have gone to the point of sitting naked on the corner of his desk and she still couldn't get him away from the computer.

Some people are obsessive. Television shows mock reality all the time.

 

[Elffin]

Tell ur hubby you want another armoire, but this time can he he make it out of Frostwood or bloodwood

Elf.

 

[Basara]

The only truthful depiction of gaming was "Make Love not Warcraft" on South Park.




















(just kidding)

 

[4gregu]

*you're

 

[MalagAste]

I've known many an in-game friend who had to quit for their significant other.

Most were men who's wives became so jealous of UO that the mere thought of them actually playing the game made them angry.

Me personally I've been divorced for over 18 years... I've not remarried and I haven't even considered it. I keep thinking... Hum... to remarry I'd have to find a man who is either:

A) Addicted to a game... could be UO or WoW... or something.... But then I think OMG if he was addicted to WoW he'd be all the time pestering me about playing that pile and I have zero interest in that... so... maybe that wouldn't work.

B) Ok not a game but maybe he'd have to be super into sports so he wouldn't care that I was on my game all the time when I'm not working... yeah... oh but wait... he can't want my TV/Monitor because um... well it's the best one in the house... and I'm not giving it up! And if he thought I was going to watch freaking sports with him.... well... we'd have to have words... and if he thought I'd get up and get him a beer every 10 to 20 min... we'd be having words... yeah... that's probably NOT going to work...

C) He'd have to be like a rich doctor or something that works 90% of his life away and is gone all the time... maybe a guy who travels A LOT for work who's gone all the time... yeah that might work... but then what about when he's home??? He'd like expect me to drop everything even if like there is a super awesome event going on... hum... but if he was rich ... I think I could forgive him. Ok that might work... Maybe... and maybe I could teach him to play UO... and he could just buy the darn game from EA and then make me in charge... yeah... and then I could hire all kinds of other friends I know who play UO to help me with it... yeah... That's it!


*laughs* No I love my single life... no one to bother me. No one to tell me when I have to do anything and I can spend my money how I want. I figure I don't drink... don't smoke... am not into fancy clothes... tons of shoes or purses or jewelry... I can afford to "splurge" on UO. And if you think about it... you'd have cable and internet regardless of playing UO... so those don't count... and if you went out say once a weekend... that would cost you at LEAST 20 dollars... maybe 50... so if you take say 30 dollars times 4 weeks... thats 120... so keeping my UO costs under 120 dollars a month.... I can do that and if I want I can spend a wee bit more... once in awhile and get an expansion or two or 5 or 8... 10. *grins*



As for the stuff you see on TV.... they always use the most extreme of cases... because well it's comedy... it's supposed to be funny. Though yes sad and somewhat irritating that they show gamers as obsessed and almost bordering on crazed. But we all know that it's really not like that.

I think of the UO community kinda like a social group. How about the group you get together with and play cards. Like a card club or other social group. We just get to meet a bit more often than once a week.

I figure as far as the bang for the buck you get more out of gaming than you do out of most clubs, most movies and other forms of entertainment... UO is available to you all month for the price of a movie, pop and popcorn once a month. (though in some places you can't even get the pop and popcorn for that price!)

 

[Black Sun]

Well, it's not totally off base. There are some people out there who are like that. While I've never neglected my friends or loved ones because of a game, I have been known to have my crazy gamer moments.

The most recent one was about a year ago, I ended up taking the day off from work because of a game. I hadn't planned on it, I was only going to the midnight release to pick it up so I could go home immediately after work the next day and play it that evening. But when I got home from the midnight release I decided I'd just stay up until 1 and play the first level or 2. Well, long story short, I stayed up and played through the game in one sitting. The only breaks I took were quick bathroom breaks and one around 7am so I could call in sick to work.

In the end I ended up playing the game to completion one and a half times before I'd even had it in my hands 12 hours. I finally went to bed, slept for 3 hours, got up and went back to finish the second play through and collect achievements. In the end I spent the better part of a day obsessively playing a game, forgoing sleep, nourishment and work so I didn't having to put my controller down.

I guess what I'm saying is Raymond's depiction might not be too far of base for some of us.

 

[A Thought Elemental]

A major thing which complicates the "significant other" situation for us gamers is:

our hobby is IN the house.

If the person's hobby were, say, outdoors, away from the living space, and gives more of an appearance of being engaged in a more traditional activity, it's percieved differently. You do not see, for example, the girlfriend strolling around naked at the quarter-mile race track, expecting to interrupt the drag racer's hobby right then and there, and then being furious/jealous when the guy wants space to do his hobby. But a gamer could potentially have the equivalent of this happen.

That is all it boils down to. It does not get the same sort of reaction / situational respect / because being in the house sends the (unwitting) message that it's not a meaningful enough activity.

 

[Ludes]

A major thing which complicates the "significant other" situation for us gamers is:

our hobby is IN the house.

If the person's hobby were, say, outdoors, away from the living space, and gives more of an appearance of being engaged in a more traditional activity, it's percieved differently. You do not see, for example, the girlfriend strolling around naked at the quarter-mile race track, expecting to interrupt the drag racer's hobby right then and there, and then being furious/jealous when the guy wants space to do his hobby. But a gamer could potentially have the equivalent of this happen.

That is all it boils down to. It does not get the same sort of reaction / situational respect / because being in the house sends the (unwitting) message that it's not a meaningful enough activity.

Interesting point, people do seem to feel physical exercise and activity is somehow more desirable.. I see the point if you are out of shape.. but not everyone is.

 

[Warpig Inc]

Untill the wife sees the cost of a new engine for the drag car, bassboat or golf cart. Then she will say "What ever happened with the video game you used to play?"

Still being from Wisconsin gets you kidded more on TV. 70s show case in point. Being a gamer from Wisconsin puts you in a league with a serial killer for level of crazy.

 

[Lady Storm]

While your quite right of the depictions of gamers on tv is very off base I do see the other side of it too.
There have been times where kids do get so ingrossed in their play they forget time. To be honest in years past I to have been known to zen out when doing things in UO and not see time fly by.
We are all guilty of this, but most and I mean this whole heartedly 99% of us do Not over look the family and friends for the game.

Now if your eating dinner by the computer playing every night or forgetting your golf game on saturday, or worse yet forgetting a birthday, anniversary of your partner you might be a bit too ingrossed in the game.

Rule 1: Real life comes first.

Rule 2: You are not allowed ever to break Rule 1.

Rule 3: Its only pixels, relax you didnt loose your Kid(s), Wife/Hubby or Home in rl so calm down and try it again if you loose something. ITS ONLY A GAME.

Rule 4: Only spend RL money on ANY game if it is free for entertainment... this means uo gets turned off if you need to pay the house payment and are short the 14$. Refer to Rule 1 in this matter. Everything in moderation even UO.

14.13 $ for UO is cheap in comparison to other hobbys... we tend to forget for the cost of a movie ticket you can entertain Yourself/Family for a month in UO.

If the mate balks get her/him his own account and do what the rest of us did/do ask them to help mine up this niter! or help fill bods, stuff that is not sooo bad. Fishing!! try that... A family who plays together is having more fun. Dont let the game get in the familys rl life but make it a place to go to have some together time.