[ot] Argh!!!

[DerianCypher]

Okay, the following is me venting some steam

ARGH! Does anyone else get frustrated when their friend blow them off for video games?! Lately a friend of mine has been blowing me off to play EQ. He plays a lot already, and when I want to get a session or something going he often says he can't because he wants to play EQ! ARGH!!

This is frustrating beyond imagination.

Okay, I'm done.

To make this more conscructive, does anyone have an advice?

DC

 

[magnas_veritas]

Okay, the following is me venting some steam

ARGH! Does anyone else get frustrated when their friend blow them off for video games?! Lately a friend of mine has been blowing me off to play EQ. He plays a lot already, and when I want to get a session or something going he often says he can't because he wants to play EQ! ARGH!!

This is frustrating beyond imagination.

Okay, I'm done.

To make this more conscructive, does anyone have an advice?

DC

I've something similar. I try and drag one of my friends into our games, but he's busy playing Earth & Beyond. To be fair, he wasn't budging before EnB came out, so it's mostly because he doesn't want to play D&D right now. And it's not like I don't hang out with him. But it is annoying.

So, extrapolating, honestly, it might be best just to not invite him, or invite him occasionally. Don't let it bother you.

"Hey, dude, wanta play with us Tuesday?"
"Nah, I've got a raid that night."
"Well, you suck. See ya!"

Brad

 

[Teflon Billy]

EQ will suck a person in like crack if they don't have much else going on in there lives.

It gives the illusion of activity, social interaction and accomplishment (I assure you, it is illusory).

I went through an EQ phase, so did my ex-wife, so did a good number of my friends. It wrecked two marriages (not mine) though in all fairness, it may well have just been "the straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak.

I could go on an d on about the things I dislike about EQ, and the things I like couldn't fill a paragraph.

I feel for you man, but get ready to lose your friend.

 

[Mercule]

I've got a friend who will blow us off occasionally for a "raid". I admire him for keeping to his word (given to someone over a modem, granted). Still, I tend to think it's an indication of totally fubared priorities.

Fortunately, after pointing out that "it's just a game" and "you have fleshy people here who give a rip about you" my friend has pretty well determined that raids are a significantly lower priority than other activities.

If he hadn't.... Well, I'd probably be saying "I knew a guy..." rather than "I've got a friend...".

 

[Ranes]

I've done EQ. Hard. I've been clean about nine months now. I never blew anyone out to play it though, despite getting one character all the sorry way to 60th level.

I was worried about a close friend of mine who lost his job, because he would rather play EQ than work. However, he is now cured and back in work.

The other side of the coin: two of my current group are scarily die-hard EQers but they never let the side down when it comes to the Monday night D&D game I DM, which is a good thing considering the game is held at their house.

These two also got married last year. They 'met' in EQ, though they were, in reality, on opposite sides of the Atlantic. IMO, they also make a great couple.

It knocks me out every time I think about it.

As for advice, I don't know you or your friend, obviously. If he has a sense of humour, make fun. Next time he dosn't want to make your session, tell him how you've got a new campaign based on EQ. Tell him the characters will just be sitting around for hours, killing the same monster repeatedly, every time it pops out of nowhere, in exactly the same place the last one was standing. Tell him that there will be NPCs who wander over to ask the following class-related questions (as appropriate to the class played by your friend):

Druid - "Sow plz?"
Cleric - "Can I get a rez?" (Describe how the NPC is dragging an identical corpse behind him.)
Wizard - "Can you port me to [wherever]?"
Any casting class: "Buff me!"
Any class: "Have you got any cool stuff I could have?"

Remember to tell him that, during the game, he and the rest of the party will occasionally hear the voices of other characters from miles away, asking if anyone can tell them who won the football game that was on television earlier.

And so on, ad nauseam. Good luck.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Well, I've been weaned off of the EQ narcotic, but I've relapsed and been pulled in by DAOC, which unlike EQ (at least at the time I left it, back in the hoary days of Velious) is pretty sweet-looking, too.

 

[Hatchling Dragon]

As a fellow On-Line 'RPG' (to use the term very loosly) addict I can certainly understand what he's doing. I've done the same thing on, thankfully rare, occatoins. You will hopefully hold out for that time in the (if lucky) not-so-distant future when he'll realise that those games aren't nearly as much fun as a true RPG played with a real DM 'n players.

The computer games have that immediacy thing going for them, they're always there and you can log in and play whenever you have the urge. Real life is rarely so obliging. With a little luck it won't be too much longer before he notices that the on-line games can't hold a candle to the flexability of true RPG'ing. That's what dampened my urge to log in. I've still got an account for Asheron's Call 2, but I play very little compared to what I once did.

I've played Ultima Online; Asheron's Call, EverQuest, Earth & Beyond; and finaly Asheron's Call 2. And of course I'll end up over in Star Wars: galaxise if/when it's been out a few months (ie: the BIG bugs are worked out, I hope ). It's that 'new game' feel that still sucks me in I suppose.

Hatchling Dragon

 

[DerianCypher]

I should probably mention he's been playing for 3 years and his blowing people off has always been there, but it's become worse as of late.

 

[Dragongirl]

I played EQ and Dragonrealms for years, played AO, UO and DAOC before. It is not the game's fault, people who get addicted on this sort of thing and ignore the rest of their life have issues.

My advice would be just to have a heart to heart with them and tell them of your concerns.

 

[Zappo]

I'm currently playing Ultima Online, and I've found the perfect solution: when I'm playing D&D, I run UOAutopilot and macro away.

I did get jailed once doing this, though.