dan_oz ([info]dan_oz) wrote,
@ 2007-02-27 21:50:00
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Current location:Game Room
Current mood: confused
Current music:Funk

Time, place, activity ... problem?
OK, folks out there with gaming groups - how in God's name do you manage it?

I find people to be so singularly unreliable that I haven't the slightest bit of faith in anyone's ability to keep an appointment for gaming purposes. The inherent chaos in the universe simply means that there's always SOMETHING that fucks with your plans. I used to think that this chaos would be mitigated by the brilliant onset of network gaming - because it eliminated the geographical factor and meant that people merely had to manage "on ass, in front of screen, at appointed time" - but even that is too much!!!

There's always:

My computer fried itself.
My kids are _______.
My laundry needs doing.
Power outage.

Simply put - SOME factor in a person's life will go wrong and prevent them from making their gaming appointment, say, 50% of the time. So, if you want a gaming group of 5 or 6 you need 10 or 12 people on tap. And then what the hell do you do for the random weeks when 10 or 12 ACTUALLY show up???

I don't blame people - I really don't. I know what it's like to have THINGS happen and the last thing you want to think about is being cheery and playing games and doing stuff. I don't want anyone to have to fight through Hellfire and Brimstone to play games with me - that sucks! At the same time, why aren't I afflicted? I can keep a weekly appointment. I can be on my ass at X time in front of my gaming screen of choice ready to play. Why am I so rarely the one saying "My poodle needed surgery and on the way home there was a high-speed chase and the cops threw out a tire strip and blew up my tires and I could have hitchhiked home, but my thumb was sprained in a session of furious masturbation the other day ... so I didn't make our game - sorry." ? Am I just lucky? Should I be thanking God that I CAN make gaming sessions without "Shit Happening"?

How do you folks do it? Because, I can't even get 4 other people together to play online video games anymore - and it's about to drive me nuts. I miss all my friends, and I have this constant hope that the wonder that is the Internet will help me connect with them - but when "Shit happens" I'm constantly thwarted, and I'm starting to take it hard.

Anyone? Bueller?

Oz

PS - if you're reading this and you think I'm talking about you, I'm not. I'm just into the Abita and musing in a moderately depressed state because my gaming evening ended early. NBA Street will fix things...

PPS - this is why MMO's are so dam successful. There are SO many people in game that you always have people around that want to game with you. Bunches of people fall by the wayside? WHO CARES? There are more here ... and playing with me! Problem in this case becomes TOO many people, so you have to deal with assclowns. *sigh* Damned either way. Such a fine balance!


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[info]runoknows
2007-02-28 04:56 am UTC (link)
But my computer *DID* fry itself! :-) :-)

Here's the big thing for me - you're talking about computer gaming nights.

WoW killed that for me.

I just can't do it.

I didn't realize the damage it did to my social life. I'm still learning the toll. I'm still getting complaints.

And now, I have an aversion. I *want* to play with my friends, but it literally makes me nauseated to try to do it.

That's not my usual 360 complaint. That's the "I'm too polite to ask my brother and his girlfriend to put up with me if they happen to be around when it's time to play." Given that Matt paid for the TV and surround system, and just me the 360, it's hard for me to justify kicking him off if he wants to hang out in the living room.

Damn. I want some Crackdown. Hey...I don't *have* to go to work in the morning...

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[info]dan_oz
2007-02-28 03:10 pm UTC (link)
"I didn't realize the damage it did to my social life."

I didn't say gaming 5 nights a week for hours on end. I'm not even talking about WEEKLY nights. I'm talking about:

"Hey, you 5 people - March 3rd - 8PM Eastern through 11PM Eastern - let's do eet!"

... and there's a very real chance, I might even say probability, that 2 of the 6 people involved won't make it for whatever reason.

If you're a socialite about town, you certainly don't want to be tied down with a schedule. If you have people that you want to hang out with, and the only real way you can do so is online - well then you've hit a problem, since you NEED a schedule (at least a minimal one) to play video games with someone hundreds of miles away. For me, I'm NOT a socialite about town, here. I'm trying to create what minimal social requirements I have (I'm pretty good at entertaining myself) through online gaming sessions, and I'm finding out that most adults just can't hack it. This, of course, strikes me as ironic.

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[info]runoknows
2007-02-28 03:22 pm UTC (link)
Errr, right. I think perhaps I didn't write as clearly as I'd hope...

After the gut-busting repeatedness of raiding, *any* attempt to schedule *anything* on my computer literally makes me sick to my stomach.

After I pulled back from WoW raiding, it just hit me really badly. It's much better now than it was a while ago, and the computer thing was just one of those incredibly frustrating coincidences that pisses me the hell off. (Almost as much as seeing my computer in pieces on my desk while I futilely wait for a new motherboard, which may or may not fix the whole thing. And even if it DOES fix the thing, I've still got to deal with RMA-ing parts that I don't need, or figuring out if I want to just give the computer over to my brother and start building the new one...)

I think I keep digressing. It's early, and I haven't finished my first caffeine before delving into the fun of material requisitions for work, guaranteed to make one's head spin no matter how wide awake or well caffeinated one may be.

Anyways, it used to be really bad for me, but now it's not as much bad. I was looking quite forward to gaming the other night, and like I said - I may see how it works on the old laptop.

Speaking of - how did the 360 controller work out for you?

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(Anonymous)
2007-02-28 07:37 pm UTC (link)
WoW damaged your social life? You had a social life?

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[info]walsfeo
2007-03-01 06:36 am UTC (link)
Regular events are easier to make than irregular events.

It takes about 1.5-2 years to build a good strong game group. At least 2 years if you want to be sure you actually like everyone participating. It is not that tough, it just takes time.

(Reply to this)


[info]zeno
2007-03-05 02:32 am UTC (link)
Hey there, fathat, what the hell are you doing?

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[info]dan_oz
2007-03-05 02:23 pm UTC (link)
I the hell am trying to figure out why people can't make a game on time! So far, the most apparent solution is "Don't game with morons" - but that's so hard to arrange!

I am also working on having my MD contacts order a bottle or two of rum for me so I can get it and smuggle it into NC - since NC manages to be incredibly strict in its liquor laws while simultaneously not being a particularly good supplier. Bastards!

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