Is it bad...

[Fretty]

...that I'm 28 and still itch for a game to the point that I can't wait to get out of work so I can run home and play it all night long?

...that I'm 28 and still get excited for the release of a new game to the point that I can hardly contain myself on the eve of it's release?

...that I'm 28 and find myself spending most of my non-gaming time talking about or thinking about games?

Just wondering.

[Diggles]

i could care less about sports, besides UFC, so games are my 'manly' thing. I get the same thing at work, cant wait to cut out and kill some stuff/people online...or i'd go postal up in here

[Jakensama]

Yes. Nerds.

[Vllad]

Just so you know.

All men have passions. Whether it is cars, guns, fishing, gaming or football. You are doing what all men do. Just because the outside world may look upon gaming differently then a car doesn't really change anything. When your grandfather was spending his week nights and week ends working on his 53 Ford isn't any different then your gaming passion. I am sorry but we don't think about wives and shopping 24 hours a day.

You are a typical man and don't let any woman tell you different. That doesn't mean men don't or shouldn't sacrifice our extreme behaivor in the name of family and sex but inside we are still men.




Vllad

[Moristans]

Sure Vllad, but there are those who would argue that feeling the same level of passion about a video game that some guy feels about a 53 Ford, or the New York Yankees, is precisely what makes you less manly.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a video game addict and I've spent many a workday thinking about logging on the minute I get home. It's kind of a sad day when you find yourself hoping that your girlfriend will go get naked and take a shower, alone, just so you can sit in front of the computer and get that extra 30 minutes of gaming in undisturbed.

Still, I do have a slightly different view of myself when I'm feeling the exact same way about installing new turbocharger parts on my car. :wink:

[Hoofhurr]

Passions vs. Addictions. Know the difference.

[Moristans]

True true

[Diggles]

Sure Vllad, but there are those who would argue that feeling the same level of passion about a video game that some guy feels about a 53 Ford, or the New York Yankees, is precisely what makes you less manly.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a video game addict and I've spent many a workday thinking about logging on the minute I get home. It's kind of a sad day when you find yourself hoping that your girlfriend will go get naked and take a shower, alone, just so you can sit in front of the computer and get that extra 30 minutes of gaming in undisturbed.

Still, I do have a slightly different view of myself when I'm feeling the exact same way about installing new turbocharger parts on my car. :wink:

Working on cars is dangerous to your gaming habits! Wrench your back out or cut up your fingers!

[Vllad]

Sure Vllad, but there are those who would argue that feeling the same level of passion about a video game that some guy feels about a 53 Ford, or the New York Yankees, is precisely what makes you less manly.

The argument is just semantics at that point. They are exactly the same thing. The point is the feelings that Cherry has about gaming all men have about something.


Vllad

[Jakensama]

So definitionally all passions are manly regardless of the object?

Theater? Opera? Interprative Dance?

Not that it means a goddamn thing but 'manliness' is a concept that is judged by others moreso than ourselves, and the target of our passions is judged by others as much as the depth of it.

Its all relative to who you hang out with.

[Breand]

Gaming is a manly thing to do. It's survival of the fittest on a different platform. Think about all these MMOs and online FPSes....it's the same old dance of trying to be better than everyone else to prove you are the dominant male. Video gaming is the ultimate man sport for people with no physical prowness. Dweebs still have the same primal need to be the best at something.

I guess the only question is, if you get a Fungal Tunic and there's no women around that know, nor care enough to appreciate it, did it really happen?

[Hoofhurr]

I guess the only question is, if you get a Fungal Tunic and there's no women around that know, nor care enough to appreciate it, did it really happen?

I don't know the answer to that question but it certainly didn't get you laid.

[Dustie]

Gaming is not manly. Going out in the garage and fixing the lawnmower is manly. Logging into a game and taking control of a fairytale creature is not manly. Moving a large mass of material from one place to another is manly, killing small mouse-like people in the mines of Dukaki is not manly.

[Moristans]

The argument is just semantics at that point. They are exactly the same thing. The point is the feelings that Cherry has about gaming all men have about something.


Vllad

Ok, first, let me state for the record that I can give two shits about people's perception of my manliness. That's why I'm a gamer, I wear Japanese kawai T-shirts, and I have no qualms about going with my girlfriend to see The Time Traveller's Wife.

That being said, if you are that concerned about being judged on your manliness, put down the gaming mouse and the n52, back slowly away, and go join a fast pitch softball league. Pick up a hobby that involves power tools, or at the very least, a hobby that requires you to collect tools. Big tools. Black and Decker type tools. And duct tape. Lot's of duct tape.

I'm definitely with Jake on this one.

Your argument is completely logical Vllad. All men have passions. Having passions defines being a man. Therefore, whatever your passion may be, it's manly. However, manliness, for those who prescribe to such a thing, is based on perception, not logic. You have to change the preception, not argue logically.

If you're a gamer, you're a geek. Period. Embrace it. Find a girlfriend who doesn't care, or balance it out with properly manly things like fantasy football.

It's survival of the fittest on a different platform. Think about all these MMOs and online FPSes....it's the same old dance of trying to be better than everyone else to prove you are the dominant male. Video gaming is the ultimate man sport for people with no physical prowness. Dweebs still have the same primal need to be the best at something.

All that is true. However, like Jake says, being the best at just anything and beating everybody else at it is not what makes you manly. That's exactly how manly men get around that whole "I'm better at this than you" thing.

It's what you participate in that is percieved as manly. I can talk about killing streaks and how many times I got to call in a helicopter strike in CoH all day long, but I'm still a gaming geek. I roll up my overall leg and show off the scars from the double ACL and PCL reconstructive surgery on my knee from my high school football days, I'm a man.

[Dustie]

I agree with Mori. The two key pieces are 1) not caring and 2) balancing out your adventures in fairyland with duct tape and power tools.

I can feel good about myself at night because while I play a fairy in the mines of Dukaki, I know, even if no one else does, that I have lots of duct tape and power tools handy.

P.S. Mori -- DeWalt = high performance manly, Black and Decker = part time manly

[Hoofhurr]

Sweet so I can eat my Apple cinnamon cheerios for breakfast as long as I chase it with a mouthful of nails.

[Slamz]

I think you're reading waaay too much into what Vllad said. He's saying that "having a passion" is something all men do. He didn't say the activity itself is, therefore, manly. At least, that's not what I got out of it. He didn't really specify.

Whether the passion itself is "manly" depends on the culture and individual perceptions. If we defined "manly" as "gets you all the ladies" then I'm afraid that dancing would actually be pretty high on the list. Women like dancing. Crazy, I know. We wouldn't like to let the dancer sit at the man-table, though. That's for lumberjacks, bulldozer operators, people who work with explosives and anyone who can talk at length about football.

[Hoofhurr]

I agree that Vllad is being held to more than what he said as well. Anyhow let's not make this personal because this thread has potential for funny.

[Hoofhurr]

I balance my geek passion for video games with getting up at 5am working for 8-12 hours.

I balance drinking heavily on the weekends with working out for at least an hour a day 7 days a week.

I balance watching geek shit like Heroes and Flash Forward with watching manly football at a bar on Sunday's.

I balance reading the Twilight series after my girlfriend is done with it by teaching myself to program in VB.

I balance playing video games alone with walking the dog and going to gay Halloween parties with my Girlfriend.

I balance walking my girlfriends foofy Shih Tzu with doing yard work and fixing things around the house.

I balance cooking stir fry inside with grilling steaks outside.

Your turn.

[Jakensama]

I balance drinking heavily on the weekends with working out for at least an hour a day 7 days a week.
.

This weekend is shipbroker conference in Hamburg. I balance drinking heavily on weekends this week with drinking an average of 3 bottles of wine per lunch on workdays.

[Vllad]

Some of you are confusing an action with instinct or vestige with nature.

Sanding the bondo out of your car, taking out the trash or shooting your enemy in an FPS are vestiges of men but they do not make you manly.


The following is what makes you a man:

Single task oriented thought process
Constant battle for control of emotion or lack of emotion
Hidden violent nature
Territorial
Capable of thinking about nothing
Simple
Protector
Solution Oriented Communication
Urge to procreate as much as possible
Need for competitive and/or accomplishment outlets
Love is conditional

If any of you have learned anything about women in your lives you know exactly what I mean.


Vllad

[Moristans]

I don't know that I'm reading more into what Vllad says. I pretty much agree with the logical argument. If anything, I'm reading more into what Fretty is asking. I know all of this is written with tongue firmly imbedded in cheek either way.

Fretty never specifically brought up "manliness". That was more Diggle's interpretation but it's an interesting point of discussion when it comes to gaming versus other activities. Gaming is a passion/addiction like many other things men do, yes. Maybe in Korea it's considered manly.

[Jakensama]

The Big Lebowski: What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski?
The Dude: Dude.
The Big Lebowski: Huh?
The Dude: Uhh... I don't know sir.
The Big Lebowski: Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn't that what makes a man?
The Dude: Hmmm... Sure, that and a pair of testicles.

[Fretty]

Yea, this thread definitely wasn't meant to turn into something too serious, it was more about me throwing my curiousity out there to see what responses I got on the matter. I do appreciate everyone trying to help me justify my hobbies though, I can always use more excuses to throw at my girlfriend when I'm backed into a corner! haha

The format of my original post was meant to be a little more on the satirical side though, definitely not meant to be taken as some gloom and doom emo poem or whatever they call their written tears.

My personal justifications:

-I have a serious girlfriend of over a year and a half (the fact that she games with me is besides the point).
-I do work Mon-Fri like most people.
-I do go out with friends to partake in various activities (dinner, movies, bars, the odd club, concerts and so on), although I don't play any sports at all anymore.
-I read a lot (novels, graphic novels, comics, whatever).
-I was pretty obsessed with learning everything I could about the current line up of cars from all companies as I was on a mission to buy myself a fast sports car that also could handle well in the snow, as I don't have the room to own two vehicles for different seasons of the year. I ended up buying the Mitsubishi Evolution GSR.
-I play guitar, drums, bass and have a recording studio in my basement. I haven't touched that stuff in months though.

I just wonder now and then though...is there something more that I'm missing? Something essential that I lack? For 95% of my waking time, I am perfectly content with how I do things, but then there's that 5%, that little 5% that nags at me and makes me think "I shouldn't be doing this, I should be doing......*BLANK*". I can never figure out what that blank is though. Do any of you find that you have that same 5%? Perhaps a higher or lower %, but the idea in general?

[Moristans]

The Dude: Hmmm... Sure, that and a pair of testicles.

Yup, if you have a pair of testicles and you do it, it's what men do. Does that make it manly? Hmmm.