Has Playing Games Affected Your Social Life?
As most of you know, I'm a big gamer and a big proponent of maintaining an active social life while keeping up-to-date on my favorite hobby. I have also written editorials in the past, praising the older generation of gamers for finding moderation, and in general, for growing up. I believe the majority of us have moved past a time when we could be accused of using video game as an escape; or when games really did have an adverse effect on our lives. However, as is the case with any hobby, we can often lose ourselves for a certain span of time, sometimes at the sacrifice of other things...things that probably shouldn't have been sacrificed.
So, let's take a moment and laugh at ourselves. Bear in mind that I don't believe any of you are "addicted" to gaming and that I know we have plenty of older, knowledgeable members at PSXE. So feel free to tell us your most embarrassing moments; times when gaming really robbed you of a great experience or simply made you miss out. Just to make you feel a little more secure, I'll get the ball rolling. Here are examples in my past when gaming really...well, got me:
"Dinner at 8 p.m...yup, got it"
So there I am in college (shut up; it wasn't that long ago) and although I only dated one girl in that span of time (again, shut up; I was an RPG freak at the time), it did last for a good six months. The week after finals, she tells me she wants to celebrate with an intimate evening alone; i.e., she'll cook and make the atmosphere perfect and all I have to do is show up. Eight o'clock sharp. Well, I get home at about 5 p.m. and I figure I've got time to play some Final Fantasy VIII; I had been gearing up for my encounter with Omega Weapon, and I really didn't think I'd be able to fight him. I wanted to do more preparation but for whatever reason, I just decided to go at him...without looking at the clock. It was 7:30 or thereabouts. I failed the first time but I knew what I had to do so I went to go do it...about an hour later, I get a phone call. The conversation went something like this-
Me: "Hello?"
Girl: "Ben? Um...it's 8:30. Where are you?"
Me: "Oh...yeah. Well, you know. Boss fight.
Girl: "Boss fight? That's why you haven't showed-"
Me: "YOU BUST OUT TERRA FLAME ONE MORE FU***** TIME AND I'M GONNA SHOVE IT UP YOUR BIG DRAGON ASS!!!!!"
'click'
Yeah, so, I didn't really talk to her much after that. Oops.
"Party? Downstairs? ...be right there"
College again. This time, me and a few friends set up four computers in two dorm rooms so we could play multiplayer Diablo II and Heroes of Might and Magic III. Some girls walked by the rooms (which were right across from one another), stuck their heads in and said there was a party downstairs and everyone was invited. We all said something along the lines of, "oh, okay, cool. We'll be down." Then we got involved. We kinda forgot. At one point, one of my friends, who always insisted on being a mage and rushing into battle, managed to sprint ahead of our group and we lost him. Two minutes later, I hear this shriek from across the hall: "Oh my God, RUN!" That freak had basically rounded up every enemy on the map and he was dragging them all back to us. I see his character on my screen shoot across at about a million miles an hour, followed by like a thousand enemies. If I hadn't laughed so hard, I might've escaped.
A few hours later, one of those girls stuck her head in again and inquired after our absence. I think I may have nodded vaguely in her direction and proceeded to instruct my buddy on the dos and don'ts of attacking Necromancer armies in HoMMIII. "Yeah, see, you better hope they don't have Expert Earth Magic and Animate Dead, 'cuz you're screwed." I left at 2:30 a.m., and not a one of us had set foot downstairs.
The mother of all eff-ups...
Arnold will still ride me for this even now, as well he should. This was back when I was doing entertainment journalism for the papers. If you weren't aware, I did handle a lot of interviews in that span of time, and although most were phone interviews, some were face-to-face. Well, I did meet and hang out with one particular singer who, although not so famous then as she is now, was downright adorable and a real pleasure to be around. Most of my interviews weren't so down-to-earth and sweet, and it seemed to help that I was way out of it in terms of pop culture knowledge. I believe my first comment to her was, "okay, yeah, I really don't know who you are. I just wanted to get that out in the open." She laughed really hard and things went well after that. Anyway, she asked if I might come back and do the same interview for the same paper for another concert tour the following year. By that time, I had moved on (I was here, peeps) so I had to decline, but she said I should show up anyway to "say hi."
'deep breath' I forgot. I really did. I had started a new game of Final Fantasy Tactics the day before, and although I even got dressed to go the following evening, I sat down and suddenly got it into my head that I had to Master Summoner for Ramza before I left. I lost track of time and when I stood up, the concert had been over for an hour. ...I'm not proud of this. It's my most embarrassing story ever. But there you have it. Now if y'all don't reciprocate with your own embarrassing stories, I'm gonna be pissed.
P.S. No, don't ask after the singer's name. That will NEVER be made public.
7/3/2009 Ben Dutka
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Comments (Beta)
CH1N00K
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:34:28 PM
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Last edited by CH1N00K on 7/3/2009 10:35:33 PM
GuernicaReborn
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:35:05 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:40:08 PM
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When I was a kid gaming was probably one of the bigger parts OF my social life, as a teen the only thing that I let get in the way of social stuff was a Final Fantasy, and that was a price I gladly paid. Now I have such few social things left to do (Growing up sucks, your friends all bail) that I never let them get in the way. I'm supposed to be introduced to a girl tomorrow night and even inFamous isn't gonna get in my way!
Sorry Ben, can't think of anything horribly embarrassing but I'm sure there is something I'm missing as I block out awful past experiences :)
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 7/3/2009 10:41:09 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:41:14 PM
www
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 6:38:47 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:38:18 AM
SarahPalinMILF
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:44:49 PM
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TGG
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:52:08 PM
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GuernicaReborn
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:55:26 PM
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Long story short she ended up breaking off from the old guy. My best friend and one of her friends were dating, and after she broke up w/ the other guy she went to my best friends house. I was also there, playing Tekken 5 with a couple of my friends. And I played all night. I never said a word to her the first night she was officially single, and she was literally one room away talking with her friends. It all worked out ok, but it could have easily went the other way.
Last edited by GuernicaReborn on 7/3/2009 10:55:56 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:59:27 PM
LimitedVertigo
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 11:20:46 PM
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My biggest problem as far as gfs go is they seem to be fine about the videogames early on in the relationship but eventually it turns into false hope on their part that it's just a phase I'm going through.
fatelementality
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 11:21:23 PM
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LimitedVertigo
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 11:26:25 PM
fatelementality
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 11:43:42 PM
fatelementality
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 11:50:22 PM
LimitedVertigo
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:03:04 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:59:42 AM
SarahPalinMILF
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 1:49:52 AM
fatelementality
Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 11:49:11 PM
Reply
Jawknee
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 11:13:53 AM
mastiffchild
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 1:54:17 PM
Gam,ing, as such, has never made me miss out on anything good, not that I can remember(maybe 'cos nearly all my long terms gf's have been partial to gaming as well as me)anyway! So I don't have any "Ben" stories!
I will say, though, as we gamers do get some real stick from those ignorant of our hobby/passion/obsession that since I've been too ill to either work properly or play sports anymore the way the gaming community has helped fill the void has been amazing.
I fell really poorlt around ten years back now and in that time I've fallen into real and online friendships that I never would have otherwise done and it's made me realise that even a really bad thing can have it's upside. Although a few of us get het up over console preferences and such and we have an image that's skewed from Xbox Live potty mouthed kids the truth about us is very different.
I've found 99% of gamers very accepting and sympathetic and am eternally grateful for this treatment as at the time I was down on everything and felt "real" life was over for me. May sound daft and sickly but, really, a lot of what I found among the gamers I met really did help me get on with my different life.
Now I'm members of clans from websites, from my football supporters club and good mates with all manner of interesting people that didn't need to even acknowledge me.
So, far from harming my socual life Gaming, and gamers inparticular, have helped to rebuild mine!
Sorry for being such a smaltz freak but it really is true.
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:01:16 AM
Reply
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 7/4/2009 12:02:36 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:22:51 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:58:53 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 4:30:14 PM
Abidan13
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:21:01 AM
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mackid1993
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:46:54 AM
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StevieRV
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 1:06:12 AM
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Last edited by StevieRV on 7/4/2009 1:06:56 AM
BikerSaint
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 1:07:22 AM
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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:58:00 AM
Wage SLAVES
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 2:43:11 PM
LimitedVertigo
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:26:12 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 4:02:32 AM
jmo_INDY_Repub
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 1:35:46 AM
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jmo_INDY_Repub
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 1:40:36 AM
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Oyashiro
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 2:17:37 AM
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Lets see... Embarrassing stories...
I was once playing Fatal Frame with my Ex. That one ghost that is really fast and had the long arms came out of nowhere and scared me to high hell, And I literally screamed like a school girl.
The rest of the is completely false and I made it up in my head to make me feel better.
She turned to me and said "That manly war cry has turned me on." And we made out the whole night. ;)
www
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 6:43:41 AM
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One thing my dad always tells me is "Your game will be there FOREVER" those events happen once in a while, its not worth missing them because of game.
Anyway LOL at the "Dinner at 8.pm" story.
Last edited by www on 7/4/2009 6:48:52 AM
XRAVE
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 7:22:05 AM
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the worst thing happened was when i played EQOA on the ps2.. i was logged in on my necromancer when i suddenly got horny we started to make love and suddenly i hear my necromancer was attacked and i didnt want the debt you get if you die. so i just hurry up grap the controller and safe my self....but after the her legs was closed lol.
Deadman
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 9:29:29 AM
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The most recent was God of War, so I picked it up April of '08 and imediatly thought wow what a good game. Now the week I spent playing it I was working a 3pm-11pm shift at work which got me home about 11:30pm my wife would wait up for me to say "goodnight" but I had no interest that game was too fun.
Teusday night Wednsday morning trouble started not only was she extra bitchy cause I'd rather play the game than well you know, but Wed. morn. I was still up playing while she was getting up for work at 6am. "You know you have to be up to get your daughter on the bus!" she shouted. "I know I will be." My response.
Well I shut off the game at this point cause I knew the rest of my day would suck if I didnt get any sleep, my duaghter was up 15 min. later I got her dressed and she watched some cartoons and I fell asleep on the couch next to her OOPS. I woke up to my phone ringing and the wife furious cause the kid missed the bus now I have to wake up and sit with both my kids so they dont tear up the house. I still managed to come home and stay up till 3am playing.
Friday the real fun started I made it to Ares at 2pm, the time I gotta start getting ready for work I kept thinking this wont take long beat him in 20min get ready then, Nope 2:45 and still didnt beat him and I knew if I turned it off I'd have to do the whole battle over again so I called off from work, which was one call off too many and got me suspended for 3 days. At least I had God of War II to play for those days off.
phade2blaq
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:28:00 AM
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ResinChem
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:38:42 AM
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So, one Saturday I had finally managed to land a date with a girl I had had a crush on for quite some time. Stopped by the house to have her meet the parents. Dad was great, but Mom could hardly be bothered to say "Hi" because she was engrossed in her Pac-Man.
We went to a local drive-in (remember those?) and things went MUCH better than I could have hoped. So good, we decided we could go back to my house and sneak up to my bedroom. We do the whole "shut the car off early and coast up to the house thing". We quietly sneak in through the garage... and BOOM... there's Mom STILL playing Pac-Man over 4 1/2 hours later! Busted! Never went on another date with that same girl.
So, yes, gaming has affected my social life. But it wasn't MY gaming... it was my mom's!
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:56:22 AM
dr-GerOme NimZO
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 8:39:23 PM
tlpn99
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 10:58:46 AM
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When I was seeing my ex (it lasted about 6 months) while seeing her I was able to play with her son on his PS2 (it was before PS3 had come out, the 360 was out but I didnt have one at the time either) so I got my gameing fix playing games with her son. We would do co-op etc on most of his games and I helped him complete a couple. She didn't mind as she could watch her shows while I was keeping her son quiet for her and I was in the next room in her eye view. Boy did I get it when he went to bed she couldn't keep her hands off me. So playing games helped me get it so to speak she was just happy he was kept quiet of a night.
I missed playing on my own games though as sometimes playing with someone else while the experience is fun after a while you start wanting to game on your own and complete and do stuff. So what did I do when I split up with her, I bought myself a 32" LCD LG tv I got a 360 as the PS3 had been postponed until March the next year (I am in UK) and then by the time October come the following year I got my PS3. So I am more than happy now :)
Last edited by tlpn99 on 7/4/2009 10:59:58 AM
Jawknee
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 11:00:16 AM
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Last edited by Jawknee on 7/4/2009 11:01:55 AM
FireWarrior
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:25:00 PM
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Russell Burrows
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 12:32:25 PM
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Yeah that movie called Star with Madonna and Clive Owen as the driver that was Directed by Guy Ritchie.
Well there was an online game that you played and it gave as a final clue a location.
That location I solved and decided to go there since curiosity was killing me.
Car full of gasoline and every thing ready for the discovery trip.
A pal brings by my FF 7 game from Electronics Boutique that I never got to play when it first came out.
So I pop in the FF7 game and play for a bit saying ehhh I can hit the road in an hour or two.........sure ha!
Long story short I missed going on that road trip to a party hosted by BMW! to hang with Madonna, Clive Owen and Guy Ritchie.
And to those lucky few that went to the party BMW gave away a single brand new BMW! like the one in the film STAR!
Radio edit..........I was so pissed! that I missed that party!
Oh well at least I got to play FF7 at last.
BigBoss4ever
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 2:56:58 PM
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gaming when going to the high school, that means drop out of the class + teachers phoning parents for no show.
gaming when going to the university, that means copy other's assignments + do only printing/binding for team projects + cramming endlessly for midterm/finals.
these are my 20+ years of gaming life and to summarize it all: bad for school but good for gaming and leveling up! lol
Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 7/4/2009 3:10:04 PM
www
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 3:11:54 PM
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"Thank goodness i stayed at home and played game,there was trouble at the nightclub"
"Glad i stayed home and played game,the party was a flop after all, i didn't miss out on nothing"
YES! I just remembered, one time i had to meet this girl at a restaurant, i sat there for like 2 hours waiting and in the end she didn't show up,hell! I remember that night i was so furious for wasting all my time.
So it would've been beneficial if i stayed home and played some games,right?
I think you should have another article like "Times we were glad we stayed home and played games"
Last edited by www on 7/4/2009 3:13:03 PM
www
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 3:45:30 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 8:18:49 PM
Robochic
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 3:54:06 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 4:32:27 PM
Ultimate_Balla
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 5:18:00 PM
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sobleck
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 5:54:55 PM
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Sooo since i conquered social events, lets talk academic events, when uncharted came out, i was meant to be taking exams and I was obsessed with the game because I had played the demo. again it came in the mail as a pre-order and was one of the earlier games in my ps3 library. I told myself i wouldnt touch it untill exams were over but i got bored of studying and just though why not? I played the game and beat it in about 3 day between studying. I actually took the ps3 over to my friends place the day before the exam and played all night until i beat the game. I then checked my exam schedule and realized the exam was in the morning instead of the afternoon like I orginally thought. I fell asleep woke up early took the exam, but found myself replaying the most cinematic sequences of uncharted in my head while taking the exams, i passed with good marks, but man was i pushing it.
Ok finally, here's how gaming put me in a jaw dropping situation. I was about 15 when this 17 year old (insanely hot) girl and her 18 year old (EVEN HOTTER) friend moved in down the street. I welcomed them to the neighbourhood, and surprisingly enough we got to hangin out (I had a pool) and we became pretty good friends. One day the 17 year old comes round and see me playing my n64, she tries to strike up a convo but i have a friend over and i'm so engrossed in f-zero x that i pay her little attention. she gets up and leaves. next day she comes in and acts like nothing happened and happens to let it drop that she has and old nes lying around her house and would love to play but she can't seem to get it ot work in her new place. I said hey i'll come over and set it up for you. I show up at hers a few hours later and she welcomes me in and takes my upstairs. She has the nes on the table and i say 'cool stuff, i'll set it up' she says its hot and shes going to go change and head off to her room. I fiddle around with the nes and have it connected, but there is a cable missing. I hear her walk in behind me and I turn around to see her in some lacey unmentionables and my 15 year old brain fries on the spot 'uh...uh...theres a cable..um..er...missing...(inhales and exhales in half a cough)' she says 'whats wrong its just some underwear' i say 'um nothing nothings wrong'. shes like 'ok well i think i misplaced the cable when i moved, so what do you want to do now?' I'm sure you'd like to know what i said, but honestly do you really need me to spell it out, ok ok, it went along the lines of 'whatever you have in mind, lets do something so you don't have to change again' she smiles, end of story, you can figure out the rest. Gaming is one of the greatest hobbies in my life for oh so many reasons ;)
Last edited by sobleck on 7/4/2009 6:08:44 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 8:18:04 PM
Alienange
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 8:38:13 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 9:14:50 PM
Kangasfwa
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 11:34:00 PM
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Manager-"[Kangasfwa], you haven't been late in five months. What happened?"
Me-"... inFamous."
Manager-"What?"
Me-"It's a game."
Manager-"You were late because of a video game?"
Me-"If you played it, you would understand."
I've been working as a server 5-6 days a week for the past 7 or so months. So yeah.
Last edited by Kangasfwa on 7/4/2009 11:35:29 PM
BikerSaint
Saturday, July 04, 2009 @ 11:39:20 PM
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Nahhh, I don't remember much of the 60's & 70's anymore due to all those goodies we did back in the day. Like the old saying goes....
"If you can remember the 60's-70's, then you weren't there"!
Anyway, I've always been far from the mainstream, & always thought of most people
are just mindless sheep following the manipulators like Lemmings jumping off the cliff & into the sea.
That's mostly why I became a biker, I hung around a few clubs even when I was young.
I've always had a hard-core attitude & I've never taken sh*t from anyone. I also love the camaraderie that comes from running my own club now, and being a freedom fighter & biker rights advocate, plus my love affair with Harley's since way back when.
Anyway all this above relates to my gaming indirectly......
Since I've never been mainstream, you would never see me hanging in the "usual places"
with the "usual people as most people, I'd much rather be hanging with the "usual suspects".
With me & women, it's all "what they see, is what they get"!!! My Harley & my club takes 1st priority over life, 2nd priority is my gaming, & then 3rd is my women, in that order.
But even with knowing our priorites, most women STILL gravitate towards us "bad boy" biker types & they love the feel of 780 lbs of pure thobbing raw power pounding between their legs(that is, if they don't count my bike's rear-view mirrors too).
So long story short, if I'm TCB with my club, or I'm playing a video game, my women know that I'll get around to them when I get around to them. It's just the ways things are, & they either understand it & go with the flow willingly(99% do), or the few that don't, are just groupies or wannabee posers anyway, & they decide early on to hit the highway in search of a more greener pasture(I hope they found it).
So unfortunately, I can't say that my gaming has ever gotten me any relationships or problems with women. But my combined "f*ck off" attitude & my Harley has.
It's certainly gotten me more than I ever want or need. And only the cream of the crop ever gets a ride on the back of my bike, or a ride in my bedroom.
www
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 12:28:06 PM
dr-GerOme NimZO
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 8:44:47 PM
Skatejimmy5
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 3:35:32 PM
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ninja_gamer
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 7:24:18 PM
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dr-GerOme NimZO
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 8:49:34 PM
BikerSaint
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 10:00:32 PM
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So I'm guessing you're more the crotch rocket kind of guy.
Although they're not for us, I personally have no problems with rice riders.
But what I do have a problem with is, a few of the new sportbike rider f*ckheads who think it's cool to scream out to 70MPH in first gear just to show off, then pulling wheelies & stoppies in traffic, &killing innocent people when they lose control of their brand new bikes. Those few a-holes are the biggest reason all motorcyclist's get a bad rap.
We clubs police our own & have been known to bring the hammer down on the members who don't, quick, fast, and in a motherf*cking hurry.
ninja_gamer
Sunday, July 05, 2009 @ 10:09:56 PM
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Cheap WoW Gold
Monday, July 06, 2009 @ 11:41:16 AM
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Last edited by Cheap WoW Gold on 7/6/2009 11:45:09 AM
smileys_007
Monday, July 06, 2009 @ 2:29:58 PM
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ADAM WEST
Monday, July 06, 2009 @ 3:55:18 PM
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The next time I saw her, I slipped up and let out that I played the game all weekend. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "So you avoided me to stay home and play your game?!?!?!" Amazingly we are still going out :)
Douchebaguette
Monday, July 06, 2009 @ 9:45:45 PM
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Can you at least describe the singer? She a solo artist? Does she play an instrument as well as vox?
-----------------------------------
As for me: well, the person that I'm kinda seeing has had a discussion with me of how she wouldn't fail to seduce me if I was to be playing my fav game of all time. She confirmed that the destruction of my PS3 would occur before she'd fail to achieve this xD. So I guess I'll stick to being able to play later.
-----------------------------
[I know, late reply. I was going to reply 2 days ago, even on this page, but I have the memory of a goldfish].
Dinner At 8pm is awesome.
Lastly @ www: true; I also agree that gaming has helped us avoid potentially negatives times more than positive.
JiggleBeetz
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 @ 3:12:42 PM
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What makes the situation worse was it took me three months to build up the courage to even talk to that girl, eh I was young

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SerichA
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Friday, July 03, 2009 @ 10:33:32 PM