Gaming is better with friends.June 25th, 2008 by Leslie
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I can enjoy a good single player game as much as the next gamer. In fact, being by myself can sometimes be cathartic. But only sometimes.
Having an added interactive personality or two to spice up the time you spend with your favorite pixels? Why, who could resist? Friends, and people in general, make gaming multidimensional. They point out things you may have missed, spend joyous hours entertaining you, share the journey of your characters from one point to another, and make you feel like not so much of a geeky gamer freak because hey – you’ve got friends who play too, so spending twenty hours a week or more on an activity atypical to most people in society isn’t quite so lonely an affair.
My personal favorite? Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions on Ventrilo during PvP combat.
Playing video games with your friends has been revolutionized by the widespread use and acceptance of the Internet. Nowadays getting everyone together for a game or two can be a whole lot more frequent than once every one to two or more weeks, depending on lifestyle.
I can’t tell you how glad I am for that fact. I see my friends congregated for an evening once every four months. What a lonely gaming life that would be if connectivity weren’t so readily available.
Friends bring so much to the table, all of which is based on their own personality.
You may have a strategist who thinks up imaginative plans to defeat a boss or event, a jack of all trades who can supply you with necessary information on that secondary profession you’ve always hated and couldn’t stand to level, the organizer who plans dungeon crawls and leads everyone through, or a joker that will always manage to get a laugh or two. Perhaps you’ve got all types.
Or maybe you’ve formed a dynamic duo. Here’s my tribute to you - so activate those wonder twin powers. Pairs in games create well oiled and much more easily mobile machines.
Friends are there to share the good times where you reach the maximum level, the bad times when the boss refuses to drop your shiny new armor, and the worst times when the Game Masters accidentally turn your toon into a boy. Yech.
And sometimes you’ll find that it’s not just friends who lend amusement and more enjoyment to a game, but also any random players you may meet in persistent worlds or the game chatrooms.
I will never forget the day I walked into the great foyer of a game’s hardest instance with a raid ready to tear apart the most difficult boss, to be greeted by a group of individuals reciting poetry.
Yeah, I have no idea either.
While I do enjoy NPCs being totally off their rockers and bickering incessantly with my character as in many RPGs, real humans add the elements of surprise and change.
I certainly have my share of anecdotes and very fond memories. Don’t you?
June 25th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Ah yes, growing up around video games I realize that some of my best memories have been playing with friends. Whether it’s playing drunken Wii Sports or winning a 2v2 Starcraft tournament, my friends have been why I still play today.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Ahhhhh so many memories. Me and Brian doing our retarded TWIN EMO POWERS ACTIVATE during AQ40s and wiping raids (FORM OF RAZORBLADE GO, FORM OF BATH WATER GO)–PvPing with Sch and being an idiot–Spinwaffin playinG Gorillaz on vent, me responding with Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” Brian replying with “Lovefool,” Shawn instantly banning us both–Chris, Chan and me being Lady Croft, Lady Redfield and Lady Brea respectively in Counter-strike 1.5–playing Lost Temple with Bria in Starcraft and always getting a stalemate against good teams until I went insane and SCV rushed people rofl–Mind controlling people as my alt Priest to kill alliance andgetting an @DNT AND INSOMNIACS realm forum post–Shawn and I running through AQ40 to see how hard Ouro hit and me bubble hearthing out as he took a dura hit (was supposed to di lulz)–This one kid getting his “dodge” (AQ40 red mount) and being drunk–Rena and I exploring Furcadia–Alex and I pulling like 900 Quadavs in FFXI with Lindsay–Bopping Main Tanks no matter what faction I was, mostly on purpose, and the jokes–HOON WHARZ UR GOOGLES?? (Nightbane Progress)–”MONIQUE HAS NICE BUNS”– The time Gian and I stayed alive against 5 of our clan members by using only deagles–The true origine of Moniquwa, the blackest Druid to live–Reinacting Romeo and Juliet in Jeuno–The Tusker Den RP sessions in AC–Dueling Horde naked outside Ironforge and hitting for 666 with my Holy Shock and everyone lmaoing for fucking hours–YOU AND ME TAKING OUT THE DEVILSAUR AND FLEXING
ok I need to fucking STOP
June 26th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Ahh there’s too many to remember.
Other people in MMOs are important. I’ve met quite a few people in real life as well after getting to know them and some of them have stayed friends even after we stopped playing together. Heck, one of them became my boyfriend.
http://pics.livejournal.com/tilmitt/pic/000p9b0t lulz
June 26th, 2008 at 11:16 am
http://rheamonique.com/1984/wow/23.jpg
June 26th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Too bad I don’t have any friends, huh?
June 26th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Reginald - If you’re as funny all the time as you were just then, I’ll be your friend!
I love everyone’s screenshots and memories. And zawmgwalloftext. I’d like to see more, though!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I remember when my character popped in Diablo II where all your gear drops to the floor, and all five of my friends rushed in and grabbed ALL my uniques (epics for WoW peeps) and blackmailed me for like a week
Arent friends great?
June 27th, 2008 at 5:23 am
I’ve never laughed so much as the time I played a friend at Bomberman while we were both drunk. My sides still ache to this day. I’m taking that memory to my deathbed!
June 27th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Demo - That’s awesome. I miss Diablo II so very hardcore. I have a lot of fond memories of that game. Our crew played that to death. Memories of ladder climbing, lagging out on a hardcore character (cya), making a trio of sorceresses for each element, moo moo moo moo moo MOO.
Vlad - Drunk games are the best evar!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Drunken video games is a great past time. Me and my boyfriend play together every day and its sooo enjoyable playing with him. I loooooove playing Mario Kart with all of my friends too.. especially on DS.. aww fun times!!
June 30th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I never had much inclination to play video games growing up or for a large amount of time in my adulthood. Then I discovered online gaming. Pretty graphics, storylines, and friends to share them with! My very best memories are those from time spent with my WoW friends. That is what makes the game cool.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:46 am
I had an intense counter-strike addiction in my elementary years. I figured out why at the same time I learned why WoW was so addictive. Friends. People. If I had to shoot mindless bots, that feel no grief or agony when I headshot them, every round, I’d perhaps turn into one as well. On WoW, I’d be the last person in my guild/friends list from PST to EST timezone to log off. But I’m glad I’m not as attached to or dependent on friends as I was. Just not healthy
Oh and driving in endless circles “Warthog Derby” in Halo 3 on Sandtrap for 3 hours straight while stoned with a friend was pretty stupid (what isn’t stupid when you’re high? o.0 ) but it was chest-achingly hilarious.
@Vlad - Bomberman while drunk!? Sounds so wild!