Some people just don't get it

For alot of us we play starcraft as a hobby, but i would go further and say for most of us its even an obsession. It takes alot of time out of our week just to maintain our skill level and even more to actually improve. This has a big effect on our lives, we need to make time for other things such as family and work etc. In this case i mostly want to focus on family and friends and how they are effected by you trying to find time for starcraft.

Some of my friends think that i am completely stupid for playing this much starcraft, my family are pretty chill they just leave me alone. But some of my friends just don't seem to understand what starcraft is all about I'm considering trying to get some of them into it a bit as a solution. Plus having somone else to play with is always good :)

So what do your friends and family think of you playing alot of starcraft and does it cut into your social life much?

Cool topic.

For me personally, my parents don't really care I play video games. However when I'm casting or talking to you guys over mic I do get a little shy not with you guys, but with my older brother or my parents overhearing me talking about colossus and ish :P.

As for my social life, I think I balance it fairly well. I play at a local pub every Friday night for an hour and I have friends go watch me and/or check out the other acts that perform as well. Almost everyone I know knows I play computer games and my really close friends know I play SCII specifically. The way I deal with it is embrace my passion. Like dwain said once, some people like to play football, basketball, whatever, we like to play SCII and it takes just as much dedication to be good at it as the other sports.

I think society has embraced such a negative image of kids infront of computers playing video games for hours that it gets to us gamers and we start worrying about our image. I say fuck 'em. I'm a gamer and im proud of it. My facebook status' prove to you how often I get called a nerd from my friends and I always respond "proud of it :)".

This topic was a lot more relevant to me when I was in high school I think. But still, I do associate with some people who think my love of games is not normal. There are two important questions though:

1) Do I care? No
2) What is normal? ...

Normality is determined by a society's lowest common denominator, and the lowest common denominator in ours is generally a retard.

All the sports that are played professionally today; think about them. Were they played professionally 200 years ago? Most definitely not. And I'd stake some high bets that when people first decided they wanted to play these sports 'competitively' or with some level of regular training and dedication (let alone professionally!), the lowest common denominator yet again would've ostracised these people.

I guess when it comes down to it, you're better off copping shit from others and loving what you do, rather than being loved by others and hating yourself for it.

Also, Day[9] really spoke my thoughts when he said in episode 100: "I love StarCraft. And, I love that I love StarCraft."

As for actually trying to change the attitudes of others, I don't. I think when I was in university I tried to talk to my friends a lot about it to try get them into it. When it comes down to it though, StarCraft is the kind of thing you only really love once you're pretty good at it, so I tend to think people have to come to StarCraft on their own usually.

I get bagged out by my friends but I keep doing it anyway. My family probably think it's silly but don't care too much. My wallet fucking loves it, especially on weekends. My dick doesn't like it very much, but enjoys the internet connection that is bundled with it.

The person that doesn't like it the most is me. I place high value on life progression, and all the days I spend playing Starcraft don't actually lead me anywhere. I enjoy it lots, so I can validate it somewhat, but I never lose sight of the fact that all this time I spend on Starcraft could be spent bettering my life. I've played Starcraft for almost 10 years....god knows how many hours that equates to.
I don't doubt that at some point soon I will stop playing altogether and focus on other things. I have such an addictive personality that I just can't do it in moderation.

...but until then gogogo! ;)

NapE wrote:

I've played Starcraft for almost 10 years....god knows how many hours that equates to.

Probably no more than someone who does something else competitively.

I agree with what you say about your wallet nape! If you are really interested in how many hours it is, since the release of sc2 i've played more than 800 hours :) so god knows how much you have played.

@Bobo i do feel similar on the mic but i have been playing online games for ages now and my family just ignore me, however i do turn down the speakers when they come in the room. They don't need to hear our crap :)

Thanks for the replies

I find this really interesting also. I think there is this weird connection between being a nerd and being some kind of loser that just shouldn't exist. Albiet im not as good as any of you guys, sc2 is my first RTS and ive only been playing for a few months, but i feel my progress is ok. Ive never had a problem with girls, always been happy to go out or party or whatever, played rugby at school at a decent level and now am practicing mma most days after work. I dont feel like video games have really negatively effected my life (except for when i was raiding in wow every day around HSC time).

I also feel what lucky said is true, you cant really get people into stacraft like you can other games. You do have to be decent at 1v1 to enjoy it. I have 4 or so friends who are just kind of getting a feel for it, and one or two of them just cant handle cheese and things that are rampant in the bronze league. They rage and curse the heavens due to imbalance and then dont play much anymore. I have 2 mates who i play team games with who are just starting to get into it, but they definitely dont see it all how i do. Luckily i have 1 last mate, who i first started playing with who really gets it and is happy to sit and watch gsl with me and practice 1v1s. I guess this is why i sort out a clan to play with, so that when i log on i always have someone to chat and practice with. Hopefully ill be able to continue doing that with you homies.

Before this i played heaps of different games, and i was a massive fan of the call of duty series. I even had a crack at doing commentary and things, and earned a machinima contract which i have barely made anything for, heres an example (they fucked up the upload so the video is a bit laggy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrDpF25SoD4
I would really like to start doing some of that for starcraft but have yet to find the time :(

3 of my friends and I had a podcast going that was heaps and heaps of fun, but so nerdy. I also found that being a nerd has gotten me to a decent place career wise, almost finished a degree in digital technology and culture at sydney uni, which i should be able to get into an IT stream at a decent company with. One of my subjects was video games and simulation, which was awesome. The job i have currently i mainly got because of my youtube work, and the fact they needed to do lots of video uploading, so that was nice also. I guess being nerdy has helped me a fair bit to be honest.

so after that huge ramble, to veoms question i would say, my friends think im a massive nerd, my family thinks im a massive nerd, but honestly if you rack up the time people spend doing pointless things like watching tv and sitting on facebook that would be pretty equivalent to the time i spend playing video games, so i dont mind. If your worried about girls, every girlfriend i've had has eventually gotten used to me sitting on the computer for hours, its actually really weird. My second girlfriend actually started playing wow with me... this was probably the worst time in my life actually. There is something about having a super addictive video and not needing to go out to try and find sex that makes a young man quite the introvert haha.

ps, what a wall of text/crap. good thread though. I would like to add, day9 has helped me embrace my inner nerd, and that makes me happy. also im away this weekend and playground weekender, so wont be on, but after that 2 weeks of saving for new computer and will be practicing tonnes and tonnes, would like a practice partner/teacher for each race :P

I actually don't think you have to be good at this game to enjoy it. I remember when I was a massive noob (some of you old school guys may remember the accounts Gizzabago,
LegiT-Gizzabago,2much.HeaT or GooD[FighT] kekekeke <3), I just had fun macroing up and coming out with a 200/200 army against other noobs lol. I was lucky enough to meet a group of people who were in the same boat as me, being ultra nooby but still just mucking around having fun playing bgh, fastest, ums and 1v1s. During this time I had SO much fun, this was when I developed an absolute love for Starcraft. I thought it was the best thing in the world and I haven't changed my mind since :D

I guess it might just be a personality thing for you too like Starcraft or not.

Yeah, I developed my love for Starcraft when I played Fastest Maps. When I first joined op proxi on West server with maar, I had barely been playing low money maps(as so we used to call it) for a couple months. Literally took me 1 year for you assholes to accept me in the clan :) <3.