[ot] Argh!!!

[Celtavian]

Re

Its a very time consuming addictive game. I have blown friends off to play EQ more than a few times. Sorry to hear your friend is doing that to you.

I stopped playing when I finally realized that there was no way to obtain a high level of EQ success unless you invested an extraordinary amount of time to obtain that success. I guess that is one way in which EQ simulates real life and gives the illusion of accomplishment, because it takes a great deal of time to get anything done. Hopefully your friend will see the futility of EQ and come back to the real world.

I know people who think playing EQ 3 or 4 hours a day is moderate. To me, that is a 2nd part time job, not moderate play.

Yet most people that play EQ equal or exceed that number of hours per day playing EQ. There is just no other way to progress at high levels.

EQ deserves all the press it has received regarding addiction. It is a highly emersive virtual world that draws a person in like no other game I have ever played.

 

[mistergone]

I just came off a pretty hardcore DAoC jag, and I must say I'm totally burned out. I crave actual face to face gaming now. Far too long have I been out of the scene. But now it seems everyone around here is playing EQ or something so they don't want to game either. Freaks.

My advice, have an intervention for your friend. Kidnap him and take him blindfolded to a warehouse and dunk his feet in buckets of ice water, while beating him with wet socks and yelling "Everquest is bad!". Note that in some states/countries this is illegal. Consult the local authorities. If that doesn't work or is not an option, email him a picture of your ass with a note stuck to it saying to kiss it goodbye. Or leave him some bars of soap on his porch. He'll need them.

 

[arwink]

One of my friends once used the lunch break in our regular game to go to some event with his Ultima Online clan. It didn't really bother me cause we were breaking for a meal anyway, but he did cop a mocking when he returned.

I mean, there's geeking out, and then there's just going overboard

 

[Henry]

If a person is new to the game, expect much blowing off of commitment and absenteeism. It's a rush to initially try and start off a first level character and build them up.

But if it's an established habit, one cannot make someone be where they don't want to be. You have to plan for it.

I'm learning that lessson now myself. I was set for a weekend of gaming this past Saturday. The other DM in our group wanted to run a new game of his own devising, but using d20 rules as the base. I was game and ready. Wednesday, the same friend called and asked if I could run a session from our ongoing d20 Modern instead, because family commitments had made him run short on prep time. I gladly agreed, and worked for two nights getting the next session ready.

The other DM then called friday night to inform me that three of the players bailed out at the last minute, and that he and another player were bailing out too to prepare for some family time.

I don't mind cancelling a session due to commitments, but the fact that I was given less than 24 hours notice really steamed me. Bummed me out the whole weekend, until my wife and I made other plans.

But you can't make someone be where they don't want to, although you have every right to demand consideration when their choices ruin prior commitments that YOU have made.

 

[Napftor]

I lost two of my core players to EQ. I still do not understand the attraction. The game doesn't even look interesting. It's been a couple of years since I've laid eyes on these two and I can't say that I miss them anymore. If EQ addicts want to spend more time with themselves than gaming with live human beings, than they don't know the meaning of the term "role-playing game" and are better off out of the picture.

As someone else suggested, kiss your player goodbye and move on.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Wait 'till night, then cut his phone/cable lines.

 

[DerianCypher]

The thing is, every player in my group plays (including myself to a MUCH more limited extent). The thing that I am probably most annoyed at is that when we do game (note: when we game we probably go for about 16-20 hours) about 4-5 hours is spent talking about EQ!

I really don't want to "kiss the player goodbye" considering 1) I made the mistake of pretty much centering the campaign on him [for the time being] and 2) he's a pretty good friend of mine.

Well, if anything this thread ia ccomplishing is making me feel better, heh

DC

 

[Wippit Guud]

First of all, it goes way beyond RPGs. I used to be really into online games, starting with MUDs, moving into UO, and then discovered the awe-inspiring, addiction find of online Quake. That lasted a couple of years, and turned into Coutner Strike.

Nowadays, the computers take a really big back burner, as it started to take a toll on the marriage. I'm only on the computer when my wife's not home, and my son's asleep, so I get maybe 1-2 hours online total, and that's games + other stuff like boards etc. Only thing I play lately is Diablo 2, and I'm starting to get bored of it. I can see a problem popping up when Star Wars Galaxies comes out, but hopefully I can work through it with help

 

[mistergone]

Yeah, don't mention Star Wars Galaxies... the addict inside me starts to twitch. I try to keep in mind my disappointment with the new trilogy, and that makes me strong.. but.. SW:G ain't set during the new trilogies.... But no, no, I WILL game face-to-face. I will accept no substitute. Plus, I can't afford to play online anymore.

Nothing sucks more than having one of your friends get eaten up by something like EQ, looking back at my sarcastic advice earlier, I can now only say. Intervention. Kidnapping. It's the only way. De-programming the human brain is not as hard and most people think! Fight the machine! Fight the machine!

 

[Larry Fitz]

Derian,

I think we may have some confusion here. Is your friend making plans with you and then not going through with them? Or is he not committing to making plans because, he already has plans? I understand that many here view an online gaming commitment as no big deal, but scheduling a raid on EQ can be a logistical nightmare. I'm a casual player myself, heck it's been weeks since I loaded it up, but I do belong to a guild and I've gone on well-organized raids and participated in some really fun RP in EQ. Your post said that he "often says he can't because he wants to play EQ!" That leads me to believe that he has a prior commitment, unless you have an indication that he's soloing, in which case he is choosing EQ over you and not just honoring a previous commitment. To me, "blowing someone off" is when you make plans and then cancel with little or no warning. If he is just letting you know tyhat he already has plans then your dilemma is actually simpler, make plans with him further in advance and that way whe someone says to him on EQ, "Want to go to ToFS on Thursday?" He can say, "No, I have plans to do some TTRP with my close RL friend Derian.... who rocks by the way... we're going to play in his cool new Twin Crowns Campaign .... which also rocks... yeah... W00t..." Or something like that anyway....