The trouble with being a gamer

Danikat

You know that scene in the latest Wonder Woman movie where she's just stopped a plot to destroy London and then someone at her day job asks what she did over the weekend and she says "Nothing very interesting"? That's kind of how I feel sometimes.

This weekend I spent a chunk of Friday night getting the Summerset Pathfinder achievement on both PC servers, then realised I'd never played the Summerset tutorial so I made a character on NA to do that. Saturday I was out for Pokemon Go's community day, meeting up with other people from my Pokemon Facebook group to catch Chickorita and do raids. Both myself and my husband finally got a Mewtwo. Sunday morning I finished my Kanto pokedex when I finally caught Mew.

Then I spent most of Sunday helping other people with the Summerset pathfinder achievement, had a humorous run-in with the Alinor guard when I discovered 'prevent attacking innocents' was not active on my crafter in the most dramatic way possible - I accidentally left-clicked while galloping down some stairs, leapt off my horse and smacked a guard round the head with my mace. Instant 100g bounty and 'kill on site' so I made a mad dash out of town and spend about 30 minutes hiding from the guards (why are there so many in Summerset?) before I could finally head back to town and craft the carpet I wanted for my inn room.

Monday, which is a day off for me, I finished the latest Guild Wars 2 story, helped more people with the Pathfinder achievement and traded furniture for jewellery with a friend.

Then I get into work on Tuesday and my co-workers (who are mostly women in their late 30's or older and all fairly traditional types who think video games means Candy Crush or 2D Mario) ask what I did over the weekend and I realise there's nothing I can tell them that wouldn't take far too long to try and explain so I end up saying "not a lot, saw some friends but otherwise just stayed home".

It's kind of frustrating, it feels like this big secret and I don't want it to be, but the one time I tried explaining ESO to one of my co-workers (because she saw me on the forum at lunch time and asked about it) I said it's a video game and got "Oh so like Candy Crush? Or more like Angry Birds?" - there was so much of a gap between what she knew about games and the reality of an MMORPG that I couldn't seem to explain it properly. I tried explaining that it's like Lord of the Rings, but you control one of the people and choose what happens but she literally laughed at the idea of a game telling a story and couldn't understand how it could be done or how it could be fun for more than a few minutes at a time. You'd think Pokemon Go would be easier but even then I can't seem to get across that there's more to it than seeing a Pokemon pop up and mashing buttons until you've caught it, especially that there's a whole social side where people play it together.

Has anyone else felt the same? Or got any advice for explaining games to people who have no experience with them? I don't want to convince them to play or even to like it, it would just be nice to be able to say I did get up to a lot of stuff over the weekend...even if it was via the computer.

StamWhipCultist

When ppl on work ask me how I spent weekend I say I did drugs, drunk gallons of vodka and had wild *** with all possible sexes one can invent in 2k18. Then they feel bad for playing video games during weekend or taking their kids to zoo. Envy is real.

Hostee

I play too much eso to have a job or a social life.

Vizikul

If they are more than just colleagues, more like buddies, you could simply show them a video of the game you want to "explain". Like a trailer, or a video montage, something that "explains" the game for you.

Reivax

Being a gamer in this day and age is no reason to hide - flaunt it! Tell people about it! They might love your stories and be encouraged to game because they see someone else does it. Or you will discover someone who games too, but is shy to share like you are.

Turelus

I've always just kept it broad and simple "I did an event in a video game which millions of people around the world are doing this week as well" or something.

Try to focus on the social side or broad descriptions of the game "it's a fantasy game like Lord of the Rings" as it helps non gamers grasp the ideas of what you're doing.

Mister_DMC

Just don't talk to people. People are the worst.

LordGavus

The majority of people at my work are gamers. The rest of them have to listen to us talk games over lunch and around the coffee machine, good times.

EvilAutoTech

Mister_DMC wrote: »

Just don't talk to people. People are the worst.

If only I could give you an awesome and an agree.

Hippie4927

When I was in my 50's and still working, I wouldn't talk to people my age because their eyes would glaze over and they just didn't get it. So, I would talk to the younger people and most of them 'got it'. The older employees would laugh at us but I didn't care. The store manager used to say, "There must be a new game coming out because Linda's taking a vacation!" lol

profundidob16_ESO

Danikat wrote: »

You know that scene in the latest Wonder Woman movie where she's just stopped a plot to destroy London and then someone at her day job asks what she did over the weekend and she says "Nothing very interesting"? That's kind of how I feel sometimes.

This weekend I spent a chunk of Friday night getting the Summerset Pathfinder achievement on both PC servers, then realised I'd never played the Summerset tutorial so I made a character on NA to do that. Saturday I was out for Pokemon Go's community day, meeting up with other people from my Pokemon Facebook group to catch Chickorita and do raids. Both myself and my husband finally got a Mewtwo. Sunday morning I finished my Kanto pokedex when I finally caught Mew.

Then I spent most of Sunday helping other people with the Summerset pathfinder achievement, had a humorous run-in with the Alinor guard when I discovered 'prevent attacking innocents' was not active on my crafter in the most dramatic way possible - I accidentally left-clicked while galloping down some stairs, leapt off my horse and smacked a guard round the head with my mace. Instant 100g bounty and 'kill on site' so I made a mad dash out of town and spend about 30 minutes hiding from the guards (why are there so many in Summerset?) before I could finally head back to town and craft the carpet I wanted for my inn room.

Monday, which is a day off for me, I finished the latest Guild Wars 2 story, helped more people with the Pathfinder achievement and traded furniture for jewellery with a friend.

Then I get into work on Tuesday and my co-workers (who are mostly women in their late 30's or older and all fairly traditional types who think video games means Candy Crush or 2D Mario) ask what I did over the weekend and I realise there's nothing I can tell them that wouldn't take far too long to try and explain so I end up saying "not a lot, saw some friends but otherwise just stayed home".

It's kind of frustrating, it feels like this big secret and I don't want it to be, but the one time I tried explaining ESO to one of my co-workers (because she saw me on the forum at lunch time and asked about it) I said it's a video game and got "Oh so like Candy Crush? Or more like Angry Birds?" - there was so much of a gap between what she knew about games and the reality of an MMORPG that I couldn't seem to explain it properly. I tried explaining that it's like Lord of the Rings, but you control one of the people and choose what happens but she literally laughed at the idea of a game telling a story and couldn't understand how it could be done or how it could be fun for more than a few minutes at a time. You'd think Pokemon Go would be easier but even then I can't seem to get across that there's more to it than seeing a Pokemon pop up and mashing buttons until you've caught it, especially that there's a whole social side where people play it together.

Has anyone else felt the same? Or got any advice for explaining games to people who have no experience with them? I don't want to convince them to play or even to like it, it would just be nice to be able to say I did get up to a lot of stuff over the weekend...even if it was via the computer.

there's a reason why Wonder Woman chooses to give this answer to anyone that asks. After all remember, "with great power comes great responsibility !"

The burdens of being a superhero...;)

Galaen_Frost

I usually tell people I didn't get up to much. They usually don't understand when I say I play games almost all weekend, even though most of them sit around and watch other people play games in one form or another. Humans are weird.

srfrogg23

I know this story all too well, lol. That's why I'm on the forums!

SanguineMyBrother

I've always been pretty open about my gaming life. Let your freak flag fly!

nryerson1025

Yeah. No one understands, really. I sense pity sometimes, which means that its being interpreted literally the opposite way i intended

Nestor

I always tell people I spent the weekend playing games. Reason, my gaming is no less a legitimate activity than anything else short of Charity work. And I can still do both of those in a weekend. I am also amazed at the number of other gamers I get to know just talking about games.

Wear your gamer cred like a badge of honor. Wear it proud and say it loud. There are more of us out there than you know.

profundidob16_ESO

Also, it's best to just be honest in life. It gets you the furthest. So next time they ask you just tell them the truth about what you did:


"started the weekend off by hanging around town talking to some people. I joined some of them to go on a field trip through nature, discovering new locations."

"the next day I broke into a house, stole some things but got caught red handed by owner who I killed in response but then got caught by law enforcement and managed to run off but now I'm a fugitive until they hopefully forget about me."

Casul

I can understand what OP is saying, I tend to keep my gaming to myself because most people don't realize that gaming is a perfectly normal form of entertainment. But actually I had something funny happen over last week. I have a few people I study with for my college exams, during out studying I pulled up the forums. Turns out they both have played ESO but stopped to play FFXIV. So they asked me about how it was currently and after showing them some PvP and a few videos of Cloudrest and vAS they said they would likely give it another try in the near future.

UnseenCat

Try being a 50+ year-old guy in an office where watching football / basketball is the #1 pastime and social bonding activity. Don't get me wrong, I love watching a good match-up, but I can't just passively watch all the time. Maybe because I did play when I was younger -- been there, done that, and watching isn't the same as bing in the game for me. But running dungeons with guildies, or questing with my wife is more appealing since I have to have my "head in the game" same as any competition. But to non-gamers, it's pointless. Humans... Go figure...

eso_nya

When workcollegues ask me what i did on the weekend, i tell them: "I used the leg-things, to venture into the outside. While the daystar was there aswell! I also had contact with those big, scary things, umm 'humans' i think u call 'em. They can actually make sounds that r similar to speech!! O.O"

Tib

"Women in their late 30s"

I'm a woman in mid-30s and I grew up with games. You must have a workplace with extreme stereotypes I guess because 35-40 is not so old.. I cant imagine they dont know what roleplaying is? 50+ I could understand. But heck, even my grandmother grasped the basic idea of games and she is 95 :P (of course, she still went on claiming that "all this time at the computer will make you crazy in the head")

Galaen_Frost

Eh, granny may be on to something there.....

greylox

I'm 35 and play ESO and L2R at work (car bizniz is slow ATM) and have had a few of the older lot have a look over my shoulder and generally be interested in what I'm doing, a few blokes in their 40's and 50's still game which I hope I will be doing too. Basically I was surprised how many people 'got it' that are normally just talking about football, cars and shagging.

inthecoconut

It is kind of funny how I feel like I have to hide that part of me from other women. I feel comfortable going up to my male coworkers, completely nerding out, and just talking about the latest games we played over the weekend. I get roped into playing games I wouldn't normally play just because that's what everyone else at work is playing, and it turns out to be really fun when we all get together and play.

But it also feels lonely being the only girl in the group. I don't have any female friends that enjoy playing games and it makes me sad. But at the same time I often get really shy, apprehensive, and even anxious if other women inquire about what I did on the weekend. I fear their judgement and so I often just use the same excuse and say "not much." It sucks being in this paradox. I want to reach out and find out if they like games, but I'm more afraid of being ridiculed based on past experiences.

NolaArch

I’m just honest about it. Although, I work as an archaeologist in a large anthropology department of a major state school. The people I work with tend to be largely accepting of and curious about others. I’m a 37 year old mom and the people I work with just wouldn’t look at me sideways for saying I played some games over the weekend.

If I weren’t in this environment, I’d still be honest. If someone didn’t understand what I meant, I’d show a trailer or explain as succinctly as possible while still trying to make it sound like lots of fun.

Ilsabet

Heh, just yesterday I went to install some software for a coworker (which took about 20 minutes) and he made the mistake of asking how my weekend was while we were waiting for the download. I ended up explaining Dungeons & Dragons to him since that was the main thing I did this past weekend, and he didn't know anything about the game. He actually seemed fairly interested in it, but it was kind of a foreign concept to him especially since it's not the same as a video game.

I think it mostly depends on how much you want to get into explaining something to someone who has no clue what you're talking about, and how receptive they are to hearing about it. In some cases it might not be worth it, but sometimes it can turn into a fun conversation.

antoniotf5

i'm 20 and i already gave up on social life, i don't even bother talking to anyone. People i have an interest in are mostly shut in nerds so of course i can't find any at my workplace or in school, most "gamers" there usually play fortnite, or some sports game on console, so that's enough of a reason not to continue the conversation for me.

And i'm not even mad about it, i like my alone time and i feel better spending my time developing useful skills and trying to be the best version possible of my self.

Elrinthil

.

SydneyGrey

I spoke to an old friend I haven't seen in a while, and she asked me what I've been doing lately. I realized that I'd done practically nothing but play ESO for the past month.

I need to get out more.

AhPook_Is_Here

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that woman skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after she plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Alinor.
Always trying to return to her beloved cubicle.

Berenhir

I really mix great cocktails and have a fully equipped cocktail bar at home. When I invite people and mix some drinks it's a wild night and with a bit of exquisite finger food and tapas and the decoration skills of my GF fully maxed it's a really really good night out, though we just stay at home. And all in all with 6 people its not expensive at all once you have all the things you need to make stuff yourself.

Yet others listen up when you say we had some cocktails and tapas and want to know where you have been. Then the pitiful smile when you say "At home"

Meanwhile they spend 300 bucks for the night out and I spend 30 and their cocktails were crap, their dinner worse and they couldn't have a laugh because the bar was too loud.

People are like that so just don't bother with these type of colleagues and "friends".

Those who can relate do so because they are really interested in your activities, want to know more about you as a person and will not be turned off when you say you did an awesome guild raid.

Those who give you that awkward look actually just wanted to show off with their leisure time activity and have no original interest in the answer to the questions about what you enjoy in life.

The earlier you don't give a damn about these types of people the sooner you start to make friends with people that actually share a passion with you and think alike.