Hardcore gamers

[Wycen]

Getting back on topic...

For myself, I kept gaming while I was going through 8 months of chemotherapy last year. I went to sessions even when I had to wear a mask and have my fiancee carry my game bag, and sometimes had to come in through the GM's garage because I couldn't manage the steps down to the basement. I missed a few sessions, but not many.

Nope, I don't count that as hardcore. That is life saving, or at least life affirming. I had a friend suffering from Hodgkin's Disease and when he was going through chemo he'd run games for us and brought along one of the younger kids from the hospital who was going through chemo with him.

I can't think of any current gamer I know who'd I count as hardcore. I suppose I used to be quais-hardcore, but never anything remotely like the stuff in this thread.

 

[Devilkiller]

I've known several people to pass up immediate sex to go to their game. ["Sweetheart, why didn't you offer last night? Why don't you keep it in mind for tomorrow night?"]

Isn't this what the "quickie" was invented for? Seriously, if you are having so much sex that you can't make time to play D&D once or twice a week then how do you manage to eat, sleep, or mow the lawn?

I think it is often the guys who never get to have sex who tend to find this sort of stuff confounding. I know one of our players is fond of saying that D&D is what we do when we don't have anything better to do. He also says that you'd be crazy to play D&D on a particular night if you could spend time with a woman instead. He is the guy who plays D&D pretty much every night and often goes for months or years without dates, sex, etc. I'm not saying that to belittle him. I just think that your situation changes your perspective. If you can have sex every day then skipping it once to do something else might not be such a huge deal. Of course some guys are bound to find that if they play D&D they can't have sex with their wives on other days either.

That doesn't really have anything specifically to do with hardcore gaming though as there are a variety of activities women will withold sex over, including watching football games, playing poker, having a few drinks with the guys from work, etc. Either a guy puts his foot down (and generally gets divorced, kicked out of the house, and forced to pay a lot of money), or he becomes a thrall to his wife's petty demands and is never heard from by his friends again. The same thing happens to my non-gaming friends though. That's marriage in a nutshell. A man gives up his old life, friends, and freedom in exchange a for a permanent supply of sex. Unfortunately many men find that the frequency and perhaps quality of the sex steadily decreases as the weight of the woman supplying it steadily increases.

One of the guys in my last group was gaming with us while his wife was having labor pains. We all thought he was crazy for even being there

That woman needs a doctor, not a DM! Seriously though, how do some guys get away with stuff like that?

 

[Dark Jezter]

I once turned down an opportunity to go to a party (with girls and everything) because I had a gaming session scheduled for that night. Yeah, I know, this story isn't as bad as some of the others here. I guess I'm not a very hardcore gamer (which I guess is a good thing).

As for online gaming, I know a guy who dropped out of high school halfway through his senior year because it was interfering with his Everquest playing. A year later (when he'd gotten over his EQ addiction) he finally ended up taking classes and getting his GED.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

On the other end of the scale, I'm not a hard core gamer at all. I love D&D, and spend lots of money on books that actually see very little use as time goes by. I'd play every night if I could, but it's not ever going to happen. My group hasn't met since April, and I've only played once since January 15th (yes, I can remember the date), even though they've met a few times since.

D&D is a hobby, and a hobby, IMO, should never supercede real life. I get to play maybe 6-8 times a year now (and that includes running games for my son and his friend). But I refuse to game when something else comes up. If I'm not feeling well (and since my accident that's been a lot) I won't game, because I know I won't have fun. If my son wants to do something non-gaming, we do that instead. My wife and I are separated, but we get along and still go out and do things. That takes place over gaming. Some of the guys in my group really can't grasp this, but I see that as their problem, not mine.

I've never given up sex for gaming. EVER. I once stood up and walked out of a game I was DMing, leaving the screen and notes where they were, when a girl I was very interested in dating showed up at my house asking if I wanted to go to a bar where she was participating in "sexiest banana eater contest". It was well worth leaving my players in the lurch. Well worth it. I have, in my single days, made my players wait in the living room while I and the girl I was seeing at the time had our "alone time", and I don't believe in quickies. Some of my players got mad and left. Too bad for them. I was always in such a good mood afterward I ran some great games.

Anyway, like I said, I love gaming and wish I could do it more often. But it's nowhere near as important as everything else in my life. It's a distant, distant runner up to real life.

 

[Templetroll]

I've known several people to pass up immediate sex to go to their game. ["Sweetheart, why didn't you offer last night? Why don't you keep it in mind for tomorrow night?"]

In college, one of my Players was hit by a car (he was riding a bicycle) and still came straight to the game. [He didn't even call the police because, "It was my own fault."] No apparent broken bones, but plenty of blood. We used up half a roll of paper towels staunching the bleeding. Only delayed the game about 30 minutes.

What's your best hardcore gamer example?

Quasqueton

one of our group showed up at the game unexpectedly. We knew he had a date that night. His explanation was, "You can get laid anytime, but a good game of D&D is to be treasured." We were stunned, then laughed at him. He didn't understand why.

 

[devilbat]

"You can get laid anytime, but a good game of D&D is to be treasured."

You know, I live comfortably in the gaming closet (meaning most people I know would never guess I'm a gamer, and I like it that way), but this makes plenty of sense to me.

Of course I've been laid far more times then I've played truly memorable D&D games.

 

[sniffles]

D&D is a hobby, and a hobby, IMO, should never supercede real life. I get to play maybe 6-8 times a year now (and that includes running games for my son and his friend). But I refuse to game when something else comes up. If I'm not feeling well (and since my accident that's been a lot) I won't game, because I know I won't have fun. If my son wants to do something non-gaming, we do that instead. My wife and I are separated, but we get along and still go out and do things. That takes place over gaming. Some of the guys in my group really can't grasp this, but I see that as their problem, not mine.

Although I agree with that, for some people gaming -is- real life. I have a friend for whom it is his only social outlet. If he didn't game, then the only people he would interact with would be his coworkers and tenants at his apartment building. He doesn't go out to eat, he doesn't go to movies, he doesn't drive. He won't go out with any of us, either. He refuses to accept a ride, so he sometimes has to leave game sessions early in order to catch a bus. We also play a lot at his place because he won't go to other people's houses, except under certain very limited circumstances. He doesn't understand when the rest of us have other things we'd occasionally like to do, or family commitments to fulfill. If there's no gaming scheduled on a weekend I'm not sure what he does with his free time. I guess he's a far more hardcore gamer than I am. :\

 

[JoeGKushner]

I choose gaming over one girlfriend and that spelled the end of that relationship.

Pardon me, but I don't see this as hardcore at all.

If someone tries to change you from something you enjoy doing, they should be dumped.

I can see someone wanting a person to cut back or change game days occassionally, but give it up? Yeah, and take up poker and strip clubbing!

 

[der_kluge]

He is the guy who plays D&D pretty much every night and often goes for months or years without dates, sex, etc.

Crothian?

I keed, I keed

 

[der_kluge]

Either a guy puts his foot down (and generally gets divorced, kicked out of the house, and forced to pay a lot of money), or he becomes a thrall to his wife's petty demands and is never heard from by his friends again. The same thing happens to my non-gaming friends though. That's marriage in a nutshell. A man gives up his old life, friends, and freedom in exchange a for a permanent supply of sex. Unfortunately many men find that the frequency and perhaps quality of the sex steadily decreases as the weight of the woman supplying it steadily increases.

Let me guess. You're single, right? 'Tis an odd view of marriage.