How video games helped me.

[Cameoflage]

As a kid, I picked up bits and pieces from various video games (including browser games): in no particular order, I learned about basic economics/financial management from Neopets, what nitroglycerine was from The Incredible Machine, and probably a boatload of other things that I can't think of at the moment. (Also, first-person cameras no longer make me dizzy/nauseous as of late, because I've been playing a lot of Portal -- my first game with that viewpoint ever -- lately. That's not really a skill or piece of knowledge, though.)

I also played a lot of edutainment games like Math Blaster and the Magic School Bus games (for instance, one of the latter taught me about volcanoes and why the different types are like that), but I wasn't counting those because they're supposed to teach you things.

 

[Girlysprite]

I learned to read English properly. In the first year at high school I got very low grades for English, but it got better as i played games (I'm Dutch myself).

And I have a job thanks to games, in the games industry itself. So yeah, games gave me a lot in life

btw; mshcherbatskaya, your reminds me somewhat of myself. Also work in a male dominated environment, and getting along with guys better then with many of the women out there. And laughing about jokes like 'you are standing in my collision box!', 'Hey, you do your pathfinding routine to the supermarket?' and more.
We're such nerds.

edit; some more nerd jokes- by programmers.

for (int i = 0 ; i < LevelDesigners.GetCount () ; ++i)
LevelDesigners.Delete (i) ;
LevelDesgners.Clear () ;

((Programmers dont like level designers bugging them))

oh, and my reply when programmers always blamed the person that was conveniently away.

--When a problem is presented
for i=1, 5, 1 do
if GetGlobalBool("Programmer"..i.."Present")==false then
Blame Programmer..i
break;
end
end

 

[Mr.Expendable]

I got into Fitness and MMA because of Tekken.
After the first game I wanted to learn Judo to be like Paul. As my interrest evolved I wanted to learn Kick Boxing to be like Brian Fury. Now I train MMA 5 times a week and am in great shape. Still play alot when I get home from work thou ;-)

 

[sammyfreak]

Psychonauts tought me what psychotherapy should be. I have a new ambition in life now.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

btw; mshcherbatskaya, your reminds me somewhat of myself. Also work in a male dominated environment, and getting along with guys better then with many of the women out there. And laughing about jokes like 'you are standing in my collision box!', 'Hey, you do your pathfinding routine to the supermarket?' and more.
We're such nerds.

I never learned to code - I tried but it made me want to stick screwdrivers in my head, so that was the end of my software test career, because I couldn't write test tools myself. I ended up in support and then moved on to process enforcement, which was basically me standing on a rack of E-Learning and SQL servers telling people, "No, that module is not going anywhere near this server until you test and validate it....No you didn't test and validate it because I ran through it myself and it breaks a third of the way in." I didn't even have to be that technical, I just had to not take shit from people that outranked me in the company. But still, give me technology that will make it so I don't have to spend a third of my damn day replicating files from Seattle to Shanghai and I will probably offer you inappropriate favors.

My favorite troubleshooting flow-chart is still

Did you fuck with it? Yes/No
Yes: You stupid bastard!
No: Do not fuck with it!

etc.

Now I'm in technology *sales* and you want to talk about some Madden-playing, teabagging, Xbox Live trash-talking console-tards? Oh. Em. Gee. I love my Xbox dearly, but you'd never get me in multiplayer with these guys. Half of them are hyper-competitive assholes when they are being nice, but give them headsets and some BFG 9000s and they are like a troop of rabid howler monkeys.

 

[Shrapnelwolf]

Video games taught me how to read. Specifically, my desire to read the strategy guide for Crash Bandicoot 2.

Of course, looking back on that now, I realize that I must have been pretty stupid to have had to use the strategy guide.

 

[MegamattZero]

What have video games taught me?

1) Never punch someone in the head while screaming, "Hammer of Justice!!!"
2) Everything is a weapon...that includes a empty pop can and a hot pocket.
3) If i dream and work out enough, i can wield a massive sword too.
4) I am stronger than my PC. If i start to fall to the mind control of PC games, start to power up the MAC.
5) The Cake isn't real. I still believe...
6) Master chief 117's real name is "John." How do i know that? Read the book sometime.
7) Besides that she can kick ass and can heal, her boobies can keep her in my party.
8) Half-Life rocks. Enough said.
9) I can have sex with blue aliens too. But i can't land on Earth for some odd reason. (From Mass Effect if you didn't know)
10) Pizza heals me.
11) So does alcohol and pop.
12) Cows can kill.
13) I can cheat life by going over level 99
14) Bullets can be deflected back or sometimes does only 2 damage.
15) Don't bother to put your headset on, you might hear little demon children on the other side.
16) "Camping" with your party will sure bring the bears to the fire.
17) Everyone has a sniper rifle but you.
18) Barret was the coolest nigga in RPGs'.
19) Cops are stupid.
20) E=Mo^2 (the EMO equation)
21) Kittens can be used as silencers.
22) Nothing is free, not even X-box live.
23) Having a girlfriend gets you kicked out of your guild.
24) the P90 is never the same in every game.
25) I will always rock on guitar but never on Guitar Hero.

-you continue it...

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

What does that make me? D:

a.) Not at my workplace.
b.) Probably not legal under the age-of-consent laws in my state.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

So if I were 19?

Then you would be legal, literally half my age, and young enough to be my son. So...

Now, that said, I still get carded for alcohol, so I don't look my age, obviously. I had neon blue hair until recently (OK for tech support, not so much for tech sales, so I had to get rid of it) so that scrambled people's perception of my age as well. That and my media shelves look more 19-year-old guy than 38-year-old woman.

Knowing all that, you decide if you still want a flirt. Oh, that and the whole "I date girls" thing, which probably makes it all a moot point anyway. The irony of this conversation is that someone was trying to chat me up in a coffee shop the other day and I was like, "Why is this old guy flirting with me?" Then I realized he was probably about my age. >_< And he was a New Age hippie dude, so he was barking up three different wrong trees simultaneously.

Well, maybe that's another thing gaming, etc. has done for me - kept me young, or at least immature enough to pass for young.

 

[Melaisis]

Ocarina of Time taught me how to read quickly, alongside the such value of principles as courage, power or indeed wisdom. Age of Mythology inducted me to the Internet. WoW taught me people management skills. I out-pace all my friends at typing now, too. SimCity taught me the delicate nature of economics.

 

[TheHaunt]

Not as moving as some stories here, but....

I play mostly MMO's and it's improved my keyboarding speed.

Before I gamed, I might have been lucky to hit 35 wpm... (I hated my highschool typing class). Now,(after about 10 yrs of MMO gaming) having just been tested during a job application process, I can hit 58-60 wpm without really working up a sweat.

I can pretty much promise that if I had not been involved in gaming, I would not have been motivated to improve my typing speed... and it is an important skill with so much work requiring a keyboard.

Not emotionally moving... but a rather nice, positive result, simply from having to type fast in MMO's.

 

[Baba booey]

Hey, I've got a good one. From what I've witnessed all by my own isolated self, a good chunk of teenagers grow up and blow their cash because Mommy and Daddy never trusted them to manage much in the way of finances. I started playing Guild Wars around Junior year in high school or something like that, and guess what? Saving up gold for that ultra-awesome high-double-o-rollover armor I wanted taught me how to use money properly.

I'm in college now, and people ask me for money advice. My replies usually begin with, in the words of the immortal Yahtzee, "It's just like an MMO but". I figure mentioning that is worth finally making an account at this awesome little site. (cough, first-post, cough.) ^_^

I started playing Guild Wars the summer before my Freshman year in high school around when it came out. Then I started working. It's been collecting dust in my room for the past two years but if I were to manage my time better by not sitting in front of my laptop hours when I get home from school and managing my time with other games(ps2, wii, ds, psp), I could probably play some guild wars.

 

[Gundark927]

Everquest taught me how to type really fast and accurately, because I didn't often use a lot of abbreviations, l33t sp33k or acronyms. By the time I was done playing that game, I had gone from maybe 50 words a minute to more like 90-100.

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

....Its funny. I've noticed that anyone who plays anything like Final Fantasy reads much faster then the average person.

Well, thats what videogames taught me. They also taught me to spell, surprisingly.
They also gave me something to philosophize about. Like why people hate video games, well okay, they make kids fat, my nephew is a BIT chubby, but still. And I don't get why people only care about graphic games like GTA,Manhunt,Bully,and Mass Effect,I mean honestly, the Hot coffee, thing barely had nudity, I mean really, What the Fuck. And Manhunt, Thats about as violent as the newest Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, and they aren't protesting that,what the fuck, man. Bully, What the fuck is jack thompsons problem? So you can kiss a boy,big fucking deal,and calling it a Columbine simulator? I doubt Jimmy can get guns, and I don't think Harris and Klebold used Slingshots and baseball bats. Now Mass Effect I haven't played yet, so I will leave it alone. EDIT: Whoops, this turned into a rant.

 

[Sinoda]

Well I'm schizophrenic, and hear voices/feel bugs crawling over me. I often will play videogames, as they soothe and distract me when I'm hallucinating. Many schizo's listen to music, but that doesn't work for me. Videogames are my one relief.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

I honestly find this fun. I'm not American and I'm not going to give out my age. We are on completely different sides of the world and there is a little chance I would ever be able to bump into you on the street and flirt in real life. Even though that would be a fun experience.

To add to all that, I'm completely unlikeable. The fact that I hate everyone and everything makes this aspect more illuminated than many of my other ?good? ones. But for some sick, twisted reason hating all makes people like me. It supposedly gives a me (not fucking with you, this was said by many) ?Some kind of charm about him.? Jesus Christ, the world has gone to shit. The day people start liking Elis is the day we are all labelled mentally retarded.

So even though we may be on the most incompatible terms, even sex wise. I still think there is enough reason to continue to flirt. Considering I get no other action and you would be mean to take it away from me T.T

I don't expect you to give out your age, nor to I expect you to be 19, though that does seem to be the median age around here. However, I have had people completely wig on me once they find out who they've been flirting with or get a little, um, overzealous? until I fend them with my walker. Either way...awkward. Also, I'm the third generation of TMI blackbelts in my family.

The other option re: people liking your unlikeableness is that you aren't completely unlikeable. Maybe you're only 90% unlikeable, or even 75%. I've done the hate thing and found it to be too exhausting and self-destructive to maintain, but hey, if it's working for you, by all means carry on.

Anyway, if it is an act of kindness to continue with the flirtation, I'm totally about the random acts of kindness, so go for it.