SMASHES! a rant

[NightAngel]

I am a gamer. My Mom is a gamer. My Hubby is a gamer. My kids are gamers.

We are all gamers. Yes, video games are alive and well at my house. This has never been a problem before and maybe I'm going to sound like that 'whiney' wife but, ya know- I don't care.

recently, my hubby has started playing this game online and he and all the people on his team have microphones so they can talk to eachother. I don't really have a problem with that specifically.

It's the fact that, like just now, I tried FOUR times to say ONE sentence to him and ALL four times he interupted me so he could talk to his teammates.

I finally wrote him a note and left it next to him.

Could it have waited until the game was over? No. I'm going to be leaving for work soon. Besides that since he started using this microphone he is literally on the game every.single.waking.moment. He is staying up WAY too late and has been late to work 2x because of it.

No, they can't pause but when they die they just respawn so that's not the issue. It's simply taken over his life to a degree I've never seen anyone become addicted. And believe me- I've been (and am) addicted to games. I've never allowed my life to come to a screeching halt for a game though.

I am married to you and what I have to say is probably more important than your teammate saying, "Yeah! Headshot!" or whatever.

Oh... and you have to LIVE with me. Remember that.

This had better be a novelty phase.

*trying to find my Zen place*

[Boozy]

Same thing happened in my household after my husband got his 360. He has been a gamer for years, but he'd never been into online gaming before. But the 360 is known for its online capabilities, so sure enough, within weeks he was hooked.

The annoying part of those headphones is that he can hear the other side of the conversation but I can't. So I'll be in the other room and I'll hear him say something. Naturally, if I haven't seen him start playing, I'll assume he's talking to me and get up, walk into the living room, and then realize that he's just online. Or he'll try to carry on a conversation with me at the same time as his gamer buddies and I have no idea when he's addressing me or them.

I finally put my foot down and said, "No online gaming when I'm at home." I'm out of the house often enough that he can get his fix then.

[Ryu]

I had a headset for WoW and it made it that much better so I can understand
I'm glad I stopped when I did because good online community games truly are addicting

[iradney]

TTO is the same. however, he KNOWS on which side his bread is buttered. If he doesn't pay attention to me when I'm home (I get up at 7, coz I start work at 9, and I'm home by 7:30 pm coz I gym after work, he works from home and makes his own hours, so he can play whenever) then he doesn't get fed or bed privileges. I don't begrudge him his games tho, coz they help him unwind from hard days and they're good mental stimulation. Plus, we try to go out on dates once a week so we're not completely ignoring each other.
NA, start "neglecting" him the same way he's neglecting you. If you cook dinner, don't dish up for him, etc etc. If he complains, then point out that you're entitled to some of his time and attention, and until you get it, he gets the same amount of attention that he gives you.

[GyroKat]

I'm guilty of this, actually. But I only use the microphone during large 25-man raid in Word of Warcraft, which is only a few nights a week, for 4 hours (8 PM to midnight). And it's after dinner, and my boyfriend knows that I might be hard to reach. He's OK with it. If it's important, he'll poke me, and I'll take of the headphones and ask what he wants, as soon as there's a break.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Does his computer have a electrical plug?

Hey, I"m just asking.:devil:

[NightAngel]

Well, I think we've got it worked out. I'm going to prod him and make absolutely certain that he knows I need to talk to him and he has said that he WILL stop and talk to me.

This should work out fine because I usually don't talk to him much while he's playing anyway- but when I do he knows he needs to hear what ever it is.

This happy ending brought to you with no yelling...:)

[VicSilver]

I can totally relate. Hubby and I both play WoW, but I think that if his Vent server crashed and he couldn't voice-chat, he'd curl up and die.

All in all, he's a pretty great guy, but repeating myself 4+ times to ask him if he wants anything while I'm downstairs, and listening to him start to answer, and then cut himself off to talk about clearing trash in Karazhan ain't doing it for me. (I get into a special kind of cranky place when I *think* he's talking to me, so I answer, and he didn't even realize I was in the room.)

I feel like a hypocrite because 1) I'm also a gamer, and 2) we freaking MET online in an MMORPG....but come on. I get less time to chat with him a week than some strange guy in Canada does.


I told him last weekend that if he didn't get off his butt and go somewhere with me, I was going to spend 3-4 LONG hours at the mall, spending tons of money on crap that I don't even really need, just to get myself out of the house and away from the computers. Thankfully, he got the message and we had a lovely weekend...

However, it's five days later, and I'm listening to the soothing buzz of strange men whooping and hollering and chatting (from his headset) once again... Sigh.

(For mine, this is not a novelty phase. We have played WoW since release, and if anything, his addiction has gotten stronger since TBC release.)

:doh:

[AFpheonix]

Hubby does teamspeak on evercrack. He does play a lot more than I do, but then, I have the whole horse thing going on.

He is very good at talking with me while he's playing, although I get confused sometimes on whether he's conversing with me or his guild mates sometimes :lol:
Sometimes I think he's talking to his friends but he's really talking to me, and then he has to repeat himself so I pay attention, since I'll busy myself with something else.

[Jpurple]

See, this is why I'm glad that my husband, while a rabid gamer, prefers to play single-player games. (He refers to himself as an anti-social bastard- he's only partly kidding) I know that if he's talking while playing, he is either addresssing me or our daughter. Unless he's yelling/cursing at the computer, but I'm very good at tuning that out.

Personally, if I'm going to game, give me a bag of dice, some paper and pencils and real people to talk to and share munchies with. I guess I'm just wierd.:D

[Dawnchaser]

Personally, if I'm going to game, give me a bag of dice, some paper and pencils and real people to talk to and share munchies with. I guess I'm just wierd.:D

Yep that's mostly how I feel too.

The husband was sucked into EVE for...God, I don't know...seems like years. As others have mentioned he got the headset and it got 10 times more painful. 1600 sq ft house and you could hear him anywhere in it, even with the TV on to drown it out. This was every night, 99% of the time.

There was seriously almost a divorce because it just got stupid to be married to someone I never saw who only wanted to talk about this game that I had tried and didn't see the appeal of.

Finally out of desperation to get him away from this thing I suggested we both try WoW. First multiplayer game I've ever liked, despite the dumbassedness of 90% of the players (but that's a common theme among MMORPGs - tis why I usually don't like them). Now we mostly just group together, occasionally with other people also...and it does suck up a lot of time but hey, it's time spent together :) And EVE is a thing of the past.

But yes, actual roleplaying with friends in person is better in my opinion.

[NightAngel]

See, this is why I'm glad that my husband, while a rabid gamer, prefers to play single-player games.

Me to. Because in MY world I rule- I'm an awesome gamer. I don't want to play in someone else's world and find out I suck. Alternately, if I do rule I don't want anyone else in my way. :lol:

I used to game WarHammer waaaaaaayyyyyy back before there was WH40K. The medieval style WH.

Oh, and I :heart: Paranoia. I don't do RPG's anymore but I'd probably do it if it was Paranoia!

Yes! The computer IS my friend!