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| Annoying Gamer Habits | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 1 2006, 11:43 PM (541 Views) | |
| kismetrose | Feb 1 2006, 11:43 PM Post #1 |
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One of the things that I cannot stand about gamers is the "my life has been the hardest life ever lived" monologue that some of them slip into. This has happened to me when meeting new gamers and has happened to me more than once - and it drives me up a fucking wall. Not long ago it happened to me with a gamer I met in a McDonald's. I didn't even know the guy and not ten minutes into our conversation he's telling me how he's had this horrible life. And nowhere in his ongoing list of events did I hear anything that was beyond the pale. I wanted to look at him and say: "Look, there are a lot of people out there who have gone through far more horrible thigns and are a lot worse for wear - so shut the fuck up and eat your goddamned Big Mac." It wouldn't have done any good, of course, because folks like him are totally convinced that their drama is the only drama that's worthwhile. But such attempts to impress me always fall flat, without fail - and most of the time my Bullshit Meter is detecting the falsehoods that kill all sympathy. |
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| kismetrose | Feb 1 2006, 11:47 PM Post #2 |
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On the other hand, I also can't stand the folks who know and have done everything known to man. They are superpeople who can do it all, and do everything right! And I still don't give a fuck. What's worse is when people get into pissing contests about who is the most bad-assed. The only people who care are the people doing the competing. Me, I am dead skeptical about folks who claim to be perfect or anywhere near, because over and over again in my experience I have found deep, dark, ugly things in such people. |
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| kismetrose | Feb 1 2006, 11:55 PM Post #3 |
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"Well, I've been gaming since D&D was nought but a glint in Gary Gygax's eye. You remember the (insert color here) boxed set, don'tcha? What, you don't? Well..." Another of my peeves is when gamers start going on about how long they've been playing as though by default the years they've spent makes them right in some argument. Now don't get me wrong - experience can be a great thing. But I've also found that repeat experience with gaming does not mean that folks are good roleplayers, or good sportsmen, or good DMs. Some folks play the same thing over and over again, with little to no growth. A lot of times when some gamer claims to be an old man of the mountain, they're really saying that they've been playing long enough to be automatically held as superior and as a source of knowledge by all younger gamers - and that's just bull. That argument didn't work for my parents and the rest of my elders, and it sure as hell isn't going to work now. You want my respect? Or my awe? Or my praise? You will fucking earn it, one step at a time, and I don't care what color your first box set was. |
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| Fixxxer | Feb 2 2006, 03:08 AM Post #4 |
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Oh damn. *hides* I often step back and look at myself from what I hope is an objective point of view. Sometimes, I have to wonder if people think I'm lying when I talk about some of the places I've been and the things I've done. Very often, I find myself going off on a tangent story about something I did when I was a teenager or about how this one time in Okinawa, we such and such. I've led a fairly interesting and eventful life, but I sometimes wonder how much of my real life stories people believe. |
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| Aladdar | Feb 2 2006, 06:00 AM Post #5 |
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Well you do realize that I've been gaming ever since 1970, It's been a sucky life at times. I mean I had a dog die once and my mother yelled at me when I was a kid. I don't know how I ever survived, but it was due to my ultimate ability to overcome. I mean I have hanglided from the top of Mt Everest and run for president. I'd never have been able to do that had I not gamed for 30 years and had that dead dog though. |
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| DaveReaves | Feb 2 2006, 06:32 AM Post #6 |
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Can't believe its not butter
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The "done everything" people irk me pretty bad, but there are two classes of done everything people. One set is lying; the other really has interesting experiences to share. The later is fine by me, the former can shut up. The same goes for the "know everything" people. The hard knock life folk really piss me off. At some point its time to get over it, and understand bad things happen to everyone. You should see the reactions on these people’s faces when you ask them what they have done about it. You get an excuse for everything. Just for the record, I invented Gary Gygax making me the grandfather of D&D so I have been playing before all of you! Remember when it was just a five sheet document printed on a used Smith Corona with a miss-spaced 'E'? NO!? Well... |
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| Didge | Feb 2 2006, 02:57 PM Post #7 |
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One of the most annoying habits that bothers me is when a gamer can't talk about anything but game-related stuff. Such that they are always referring to their characters, and the mighty battles they were solely responsible for winning because their companions didn't know better, etc. Especially in public, non-gaming friendly area, or in a work environment. I'm not ashamed of my gaming status, but I don't shout from the rooftops about it neither. And although I may enjoy talking about the game I love, there are times when I'd like to talk about other things, like...anything else. I don't feel the need to talk about the game all the time, and neither should you. I'll defend my gaming if need be, but for the most of the time non-gaming folks have already made up their minds so debating finer points with them tends to go nowhere. So in short, shut the hell up already about Grogax the Giant-Slayer and his mighty two-handed, flaming axe +2. I don't want to hear about it anymore mister. |
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| kismetrose | Feb 2 2006, 04:51 PM Post #8 |
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I'm with you there. Preach on. |
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| Vacerious | Feb 3 2006, 10:54 AM Post #9 |
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hey, i know one of those. aren't they typically older than 20, live with their parent(s) in a trailer home, are extremely overweight, and are constantly ridiculed when they aren't looking (and sometimes when they are)? For those who haven't played Munchkin, there is a card called, "Shut up about your character." We've deemed this card the "Brandon Card" at the local gameshop. It's the same damn thing every time he plays a character: NE Female Fighter, who's attitude is "Me, Me, Me! Oh, did I mention me?" For god's sake, there's other characters you can play. Note: while most of my DnD career has composed of NG clerics of <insert god of healing and sun here>, it was more out of party necessity than want. because any character i play can't have fun if he's been killed after the meat shields. Not to mention that I try to vary what I play whenever I can get away with it [read: there is already a cleric]. But this guy, even if there is 20 other fighters/tanks in the group, he will still only play the same fighter. Not to mention he goes into every single possible detail he can when describing his character. I'm all for roleplay, but when you spend a good 20 minutes at the table describing your armor, it can easily be deduced that you're starting to waste my time. For those who don't know the Univeral Formula for Pissing Vacerious Off, its "Wasting Vacerious' Time=1 Pissed-Off Vacerious". I was thinking about bursting his bubble one day and building an LE drow fighter with spiked chain proficieny and eventually taking his character back to the underdark to sell as good manual labor. |
Disclaimer Warning: Parental Advisory (this poster contains strong language and many references to adult situations) It's not that I'm racist, sexist, or whatever. I'm just extremely allergic to idiots, and if your race/gender/(homo)sexual preference happens to contain a lot of idiots, then that's YOUR problem. | |
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| Mocha Torte | Feb 3 2006, 11:18 AM Post #10 |
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The ones who have had the hardest life tend not to shout it from the rooftops. They tend to NOT TALK ABOUT IT, because, you know, it was BAD. And they don't like to remember all that crap. Or if they must, they try and gloss over it. I find the pissing contests to be hilarious, though, especially if they're just doing it cuz a female's around...it makes me laugh so hard.... As for interesting things they've done...again that's something I think people tend to reign in of their own accord, because they realize people probably won't believe them. What I find irks me is when I find another gamer who obviously took the title of the rulebook and didn't bother to read anything inside it. (Such as the guy who was all too happy to launch into how his level 20-something D&D sorceress had a metal thong of Cha +20 permanently welded onto her...before either my husband or I caught his name.) Disruptive players are really annoying. So are stupid ones. I do my best to avoid them when possible. |
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| kismetrose | Feb 6 2006, 01:11 PM Post #11 |
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Oh, and here's another annoying gamer habit: not bathing, or not bathing enough. We went to a gaming store on Friday that was not a pleasant experience; the further back in the store you went, the worse the gamer funk got. While there were some kids and teens in the store, there were enough adults there who were greasy. I tend to have a very good sense of smell, which is very bad on such occasions. |
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| DaveReaves | Feb 6 2006, 01:48 PM Post #12 |
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Can't believe its not butter
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You know another one that gets me is people who say they play D&D (or any other rule intensive PnP RPG) but when it comes time to game with those people they don't know what the hell they are doing. I knew a guy who said he played D&D and my friends played a one session with him and I just happened to be there to watch (I was in a phase of my life where I would not play those games due to being 20, living with my parents and not having a girlfriend- I was just too close to the stereotype and I could not stand it). It was a constant stream of "how do I role an attack?" and "what do I add to my saving throw?" It was awful. We would have taught him if that’s what he was looking for but none of us particularly like liars. Another bad one is the newbies who argue about the rules refusing to believe that the experienced DM might know what he is doing. Another one session wonder (during the same period of time) was playing in a group with a handful of level ten characters. The scene: A huge tower encompassed by graveyard. The problem: standard skeletons followed by a drugar with class levels and a pair of iron golems (without the breath weapon). This guy stands off against a wolf skeleton and attacks then says "I put my shield right between me and the dog." Good for you we all say in unison with a puzzled look on our faces. When the dog's turn comes around it gets a good whack at the guy and his jaw drops as he informs us that is "unpossible" because his shield was "right between me and the dog!" After calmly explaining that the game assumes you are properly using your shield by adding a shield bonus to your armor class he repeats his statement in shear disbelief for five minutes. When he kills the skeletal wolf next round he shouts "I loot it! Ha I get it first, no ones around who can try and take it!" The DM looks at him funny but allows him to "search" the body. Of course the guy is pissed when there is nothing but wolf bones at his feet. Then he asks the DM, now wait for this one its awesome, "Are you sure there is not a sword there or something?" The group went to lunch on that note and didn't play for the rest of the day. Out of three groups worth of players and six practicing DMs at the comic book store no one will let the guy play. Seeing as how I have started to anyway I'll do one more. People who come up to you with good intention, informing you that they want to learn to play but know nothing of the game (so far so good right?). The problem comes when you talk to them for a few minutes to gauge why they want to play and what they want to do and you break out the Player's Handbook. "I'M NOT GOING TO READ ALL THAT!" And even then if that’s what they meant it would be ok, after all how often do newbies need the rules for grappling or counter spells? Just glance through the races and classes, and read the ones that seem interesting to you. But no, they won’t even do that. They will pick elf (they always pick elf) and ask for something "easy to play." Sure make an elf fighter. Ok now its time to go over the chapter no making characters and I am met with another stubborn refusal to read even though my plan was to walk them through the process following what the books says. It is at this point that I will say flat out that reading is required to play the game, and if they don't want to read the book they don't want to play Dungeons and Dragons and realize just how much time I have already wasted.We have sent people home to bath before.
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| Aladdar | Feb 6 2006, 02:10 PM Post #13 |
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the last player you referred has played one too many mmorpg's. I tried them for a while and they drove me crazy. Everything that you killed, no matter what, had some random loot. Look I killed a bat, cool a sword. I don't know why a bat would have a sword but ok, whatever. |
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| DaveReaves | Feb 6 2006, 02:16 PM Post #14 |
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Can't believe its not butter
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Yea he was an EQ nut. In World of Warcraft one of the best pieces of loot I ever got was a towershield from a fish
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| kismetrose | Feb 7 2006, 12:34 AM Post #15 |
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While it is good for players to have an escape plan, retreating, resting, and coming gack is often not possible (or plausible). I tend to think of this as part of the video game formula that players learn. I mean, in Final Fantasy games there's always someplace to rest and a save point before a boss fight. In a pen and paper RPG, however, fights can break out anywhere, and sometimes safe places to rest are far away. Enemies are not going to leave you alone just because you erect a tent and want to replenish magic points. On the point of dropped treasure: I never randomly generate treasure - I always want it to be consistent with the creature that has left it behind. Some creatures don't have treasure per se but they are treasure, with scales, feathers, or other body parts that can be sold as materials (for spell components and other things). With your typical video game, it makes sense that every creature drops something and that there is a sense of randomness to it - such tactics keep players wanting to kill things and see what new toys pop out. It doesn't have to make sense for a lot of video gamers, as long as there's loot. Again, pen and paper RPGs can operate differently, and in this case they should. |
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anyway I'll do one more. People who come up to you with good intention, informing you that they want to learn to play but know nothing of the game (so far so good right?). The problem comes when you talk to them for a few minutes to gauge why they want to play and what they want to do and you break out the Player's Handbook.
"I'M NOT GOING TO READ ALL THAT!" And even then if that’s what they meant it would be ok, after all how often do newbies need the rules for grappling or counter spells? Just glance through the races and classes, and read the ones that seem interesting to you. But no, they won’t even do that. They will pick elf (they always pick elf) and ask for something "easy to play." Sure make an elf fighter. Ok now its time to go over the chapter no making characters and I am met with another stubborn refusal to read even though my plan was to walk them through the process following what the books says. It is at this point that I will say flat out that reading is required to play the game, and if they don't want to read the book they don't want to play Dungeons and Dragons and realize just how much time I have already wasted.

5:38 PM Jul 10