What's Your Relationship With Your Fellow Gamers?

[UltimaGabe]

I recently moved. Before I moved, my gaming group was entirely comprised of my closest friends, and if we weren't playing D&D we'd be spending all of our time together anyway. However, since the move, I haven't been able to reliably hang out with any of my current gaming group outside of D&D for whatever reason (one of my guys lives too far away to hang out with regularly, one is a putz that I only invite to my game because I can't find anybody else, one lives around the corner from me but we just don't click enough to hang out personally).

 

[Piratecat]

D&D Encounters is "sociable"; with an exception or two, I'm friendly with the other players but not close to them. The other games I play in are all people I delight to spend time with.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

My gaming group is made up of my good friends, and we've been gaming together for about 15 years. We don't really see each other outside of game nights, but that's because none of us are really all that social, generally.

 

[Mengu]

Let's see, am married to one, was roommates with two, known most of them for 10+ years, and was co-workers/lunch buddies with four for 5+ years, and I consider most of them family. So, I'd have to say we're pretty close (as a matter of fact, none of the options in the poll are sufficient to describe how close we are).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My experiences run the gamut of the poll's choices, so I didn't vote.

Currently, though, I'm mainly gaming in a group with 2 guys I've known since HS, the rest of whom I met through them. However, despite starting off as strangers, I've been gaming with this group for more than a decade, so we do socialize away from the gaming table.

 

[wedgeski]

I play or run at three tables and my relationships are different at each one. In general though, even if I don't hang out with some of my fellow players outside of the game, I'd be happy to do so, therefore I voted for the first option.

 

[Jack7]

I've gamed with strangers (to me, though some of my friends knew them) on a couple of one shot deals. Otherwise it has always been either family, friends or people with whom I am sociable and friendly (church members, colleagues, co-workers, etc.).

I've never gamed with someone I didn't like or, to my knowledge, didn't like me, and can't imagine that would have any draw for me. So I just wouldn't do that, it would be better not to play or do something else, than for me to play with adversaries (in the bad sense of the term - I could easily play with competing adversaries that I liked) or hostiles. To me a role play game is about cooperation, achievement, and fun. It's hard to imagine accomplishing any of those things with someone you really disliked, or who really disliked you. (Of course, there's not a lot of people I actively dislike unless they are involved in harming others or in criminal activity, then I doubt most of those people would be playing RPGs anyway. It wouldn't be a priority activity for them.)

Now I have, over time, become real close friends, or better friends with people I have played with. But I can't recall any relationship going south over the course of play.

I'm generally pretty easy going and it seems to me that most of the people I've ever played with have the same general attitude.

 

[amerigoV]

The best advice I have ever gotten is don't game with poeple that you would not otherwise socialize with. I am very open to gaming with new people. But if I would never consider grabbing lunch or a movie with them, I probably will not enjoy gaming with them long term. Looking back over the years, that has held pretty true.

 

[Gilladian]

In the game I RUN, I'd say close friends (husband, best friend) for two, very close friend for the third person (but really only see him as a gamer anymore), and two people (father and teen son) that are friendly game acquaintances whom I'd be happy to see outside games.

In the game I PLAY, the DM is my brother, two players are my best friend and another dear friend who lives far away, so gaming is our only real connection anymore (this is an online game), and one of my brother's good friends, whom I've never actually met, but like a lot.

So I guess, I'd say we're "close friends". In general, since the groups I play FtF are always in my home, I'd not invite anyone I didn't feel was at least a good gamer friend. In years past, I've played in public places, and had to put up with "contemptible" because I didn't control the situation. Not anymore!

 

[Herschel]

I like the people I game with and we hang out, but usually we play games of some sort along with whatever else we're doing.

I'm the kind of person who rarely has what would be considered a "best friend" outside of my S.O. because I have different, diverse groups of friends that I do different things with and I don't like to "choose" any side over the other.