Poll: Gaming & partying & wasting time.

[Deathwatch050]

To be honest, it really depends on the circumstances. If I've spent most of the day playing Battlefield 3 and my friends (who are really really cool people, no really, no peer pressure to do anything, you can do what you like and nobody will get at you for it) ask me if I want to come out to the beach and have a little party there, or go to an open-air bar and hang about and generally have a good time, you bet your ass I'll go out!

If, on the other hand, the people who invite me out want to go drinking then dancing in loud pubs (which I absolutely hate, except for if I'm dancing with my "good" friends) then there really isn't anything in it for me. I'd rather stay at home and play a game.

Truth be told though, my favourite parties are the sort that combine both that a friend of mine hosts whenever he visits Portugal, where I live (a few times a year for a few weeks at a time). He basically hosts a house party, guys and girls invited along, where we'll dance in his roomy basement to some good music for a bit, play Just Dance 2 on his Wii, hang around, chat, laugh, and generally have fun. After that, the girls leave (as well as the guys who don't want to stay the night) and the rest of us play videogames until about 4-5 in the morning, upon which we'll all sleep over and go home in the morning.

It's all a matter of perspective. If there's any wisdom I can share from my experience (I'm only 17, mind), it's this:

1. Make sure the people you're partying with are genuinely your friends and won't harass you if you want to leave early or don't want to do what they're doing.
2. Make sure they're doing something you want to do.
3. If you don't want to do it, have you tried it a couple of times before? If no, go try it a few times, you never know. I never thought I'd enjoy dancing in clubs but it's a LOT of fun with friends, I was very surprised. If you have tried it and don't like it, then don't go. Simple as. Stay home and do something else you enjoy.
4. Don't feel like you have to get drunk or laid to enjoy yourself. It's a common mistake. I have another really great friend who doesn't drink and doesn't worry about getting laid, and he always says, when people ask him why he doesn't drink, "sobriety is a LOT more fun if you do it right". It really is. If nothing else, you can sit and laugh at all the drunk people, can't you?

So yeah, that's my opinion on the matter. Hope someone decides to take my advice and ends up enjoying themselves. I'm off to a party with my friends at the beach in Cascais in an hour or so, and I know it'll be a lot of fun, even though I don't drink and aren't in it to get laid. (of course, if I can get in on the latter than cool beans!)

 

[Scrustle]

Easy. Play. I hate parties. Too many people.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

my observation was that you had to either be high, drunk, or absolutely guaranteed to get laid to actually enjoy them, & if you're dependent on a drugs & alcohol to have fun, then exactly who is the one with no life?

I think you have the wrong idea here, getting high or drunk isn't because people are dependant on them to have a good time, it's because while under the influence of certain substances certain things are magnified, which can vastly improve your experience, it's when people go overboard or develop an actual addiction that it becomes a dependancy.

Also if you're totally against the recreational use of substances to improve your current situational experience, you're generally not going to fit in with most people, are unlikely to have fun in most social situations involving people with an opposing viewpoint, and why the fuck are you even at that kind of party in the first place?

Also the "guaranteed to get laid" part... NOBODY IS EVER GUARANTEED TO GET LAID, but if you think you won't you won't, getting laid is generally much, much, much harder to do when you've got a pessimistic outlook.

Also have you ever been high? Have you played games while high or drunk? I find that certain games feel so much more satisfying with a bit of a buzz from downing some whiskey, or smoking a bowl, but hey to each his/her own I guess.

But this all comes down to depending on the game, whether I had it pre-ordered and have been waiting a year or not is the real defining thing here, but I almost always would rather go out and hang out with friends, possibly have an adventure to give me more funny stories to tell, than sit on my ass alone and unloved in my home playing video games, which I can do any time I feel like it, as long as I'm not at work. Parties and gatherings aren't as conveniently available 100% of the time so I would generally do the party thing instead because I know I can always just game tomorrow.

Funny thing is, I used to be a reclusive and totally insular person... Now I hate that kind of life with a passion... why? Because I've seen the other side, I've been all over the board, and I know that while gaming is fun, if you go and experience and learn and grow socially, life outside gaming becomes SOOOOOOO much better than sittin in front of a screen.

First step is, stop taking yourself seriously, life is one big fat retarded joke, and if you take it, or yourself too seriously, you become the punchline, not one of the people laughing.

Second step, do not take heed of fear, social anxiety, though sometimes requiring medication(because sometimes it's a medical condition), mostly just stems from the prior, and from letting past experiences tint your view of how people see you, truth is people see you how you present yourself, they don't see you as awkward or laughable, unless you present yourself in such a way that they see that rather than who you are...

In reality, all these people striving so hard just to be "successful" are missing the point, and those who hide from life in an escapism driven state of fear and self loathing, are missing out.

Life is short, real experiences trump the fuck out of fake ones, success is a lie, and once you die, unless you do something so astoundingly good or horrible that you become an object lesson to people on a global scale, people including your family will forget you ever existed anywhere from 2-4 generations down the line anyway, so have FUN while you can.

Anyhow this is not meant to antagonize anyone, but to open your eyes, I game as a hobby, it has it's place, but I would far rather be camping with friends, or at a party, or other social gathering where I can share life and generate real positive connections with the world around me, whenever possible, than stay locked in a little room behind a screen, paralyzed by an irrational fear of the unknown(social success)... I was bullied all through school, I was suicidal for years, and developed a major self hate complex, why? because everyone in my peer group thought I was different and constantly made me feel less than human with a constant string of negative commentary and turning me into the butt of all their jokes... only later did I see that if I had taken myself less seriously, and been less of a stiff, I probably would've had a much easier time of things, y'know aside from being the poor kid(you can never escape bullying completely if you're poor and in school in a rich neighbourhood), and having family problems at home constantly(cuz seriously when your house is a warzone it gets kinda hard to do homework, or sleep propperly.), but if I hadn't been anti-drinking anti-smoking and anti-marajuana at least I could've had a social circle to support me and may not have fallen into the circle of depression lonelyness and suicide attempts...

And y'know what? I'm still geeky, have a quirky sense of humour, and I watch MLP, but because I don't take myself seriously, and laugh off most negativity, and tend to use comparative example to make people who TRY to make me feel shitty, feel pretty stupid themselves, I have no problem making friends, having fun, and generally just enjoying what I can.

Sorry for the text wall, it just saddens me to no end seeing people with (for all intents and purposes) the same view I held at the least healthy least happy point in my life, limiting themselves, or just plain missing the point to the point of missing out on great fun and good times.

After all, studies have shown that human beings tend to rely on social interaction to remain healthy psychologically, and that removing yourself from those situations for long enough can cause major negative neurosis to develop over time, crippling you as a human, and causing shit mental health... But hey, gaming all the time is fun right? And nobody ever has regrets in their later years over all the stuff they missed out on... No... nobody ever does...(heavily inferred sarcasm)

But yeah, feel free to call me stupid, crazy, wrong, or an asshole if you wish, I'll be busy hanging out with friends, celebrating life, and enjoying every minute of it.

 

[major_chaos]

alcohol is a wonderful mood enhancer -- whatever you enjoy sober, you enjoy ten fold while drunk.

Just wanted to point out that while you might be enjoying yourself the people you punch/throw up on/ destroy to property of/ crash into in your car don't enjoy it, and that is why I am against getting drunk. Just a thought.

OT: Game with friends. IMO the best way to do that is with split screen or a LAN party, but if that doesn't work out there is nothing wrong with playing with friends over the net. The parties I have been to were nothing I enjoyed, and some of the things that go on where downright awful, and yet I was told that's just how it was supposed to happen, so I gave up on that scene very fast.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Meh, I don't see the appeal of parties. It's just a collection of people either drinking heavily or dancing incomprehensively (most often the former begets the latter). I've gotten some flak from my friends in that regard, but understand that, since I don't drink, nor do I like being in public, the party scene is not for me.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Poll is too polar for me to answer, so I'll have to chose gaming.

I'd go to the party, because I'm still in highschool. Got a rep to worry about :|

He's the funny part - you won't have to worry about it ever again about your reputation in highschool.

To put it another way, they're both fun activities, so neither are really a waste of time. Also, what is it with all the anti-alcohol opinions on this site? I understand if your parents are alcoholics or something, but most of you just come off as prudes. Sure, I /can/ enjoy myself without alcohol, and often do, but alcohol is a wonderful mood enhancer -- whatever you enjoy sober, you enjoy ten fold while drunk.

Perhaps because the most common "adult drink" is beer, and beer is fucking awful in so many parts of the world. I feel sorry for Americans for that reason. In my country it's hundreds of times better than American beer, and it still sucks.

And if your problem is alcohol, then non-alcoholic beer is even worse: the disadvantage of the taste with no advantage of the alcohol.

I have lost count on how many of my friends won't touch beer until they are completely shit-faced with vodka. Even Jim Sterling said in one Podtoid that he has to be under the influence to enjoy beer.

About the anti-alcoholic opinions:

- Some of them might have had bad experiences (read: "taken advantage of", take it any way you want to interpret it)

- It's hilarious when one or two guys are drunk in a group, but if you're in the middle of a group of drunk people it's terrible. Put a clean person in the middle of people tweaking on crystal meth, it's that awful. Don't forget designated drivers.

- Peer pressure: when other people want you to do it, it's probably wise not to

- People who hate it because of the portrayal of the "highschool" stereotypes on TV, realistic or not

- Hipsters (alcohol is too mainstream)

- Maybe they just don't like being under the influence/doesn't "do" anything for them, everyone is entitled to his tastes

- Alcohol is a depressant. I.E. you are not supposed to take it if you want your senses tuned in. If you have to walk back home at night drunk you won't even be able to avoid the muggers. Or you might get your ass kicked because you can't fight for shit.

- Again, maybe alcoholic drinks just taste horribly to someone, and they don't want to be seen with those girly drinks.

- Money. Adult drinks can be overpriced in the places around them. Probably it would be more cost-effective to just drink isopropanol at home and go party after that.

- Maybe the places suck and the "friends" suck, and no way alcohol is going to change that

- Concealed Carry - license holders in America are supposed to not have the gun before entering a bar/club and while under the influence they can't carry it anymore. Essentially turning the gun into an expensive hammer that must stay in the car while there are "nails sticking out the board", if you get what I mean.

To me alcohol is not like weed. I don't think that things get funnier. People don't become any nicer.

I can be a little hostile when sober, but drinking I doesn't make me any friendlier either. If you want a guy ruining the mood Max Payne 3 style and possibly headbutt others, make me hit the bar.

You're entitled to your opinion on alcohol and to enjoy it in the way you can, but there's no need to call people "prude" over the silliest thing ever - what they like to drink.

Beer tastes awsome, you just have to get the right stuff. Even in America, there are some amazing beers being made. You're makin' me want to go get a bottle of Old Rasputin, a nice imperial stout.

alcohol is a wonderful mood enhancer -- whatever you enjoy sober, you enjoy ten fold while drunk.

Just wanted to point out that while you might be enjoying yourself the people you punch/throw up on/ destroy to property of/ crash into in your car don't enjoy it, and that is why I am against getting drunk. Just a thought.

OT: Game with friends. IMO the best way to do that is with split screen or a LAN party, but if that doesn't work out there is nothing wrong with playing with friends over the net. The parties I have been to were nothing I enjoyed, and some of the things that go on where downright awful, and yet I was told that's just how it was supposed to happen, so I gave up on that scene very fast.

If you're getting into fights while drunk, that's because deep down you're the kind of person who gets into fights. Driving drunk, same deal -- alcohol is not as bad for your judgement as the D.A.R.E. program and its imitators would have you believe. There are some things people just won't do, no matter how drunk they are. What those are depends on the person, and some people are just idiots who have no qualms about driving drunk. As for throwing up, if you're drinking to the point of puking, you're doing it wrong. You can be drunk off your ass and still not wind up vomiting. You just have to know your limits.

 

[ElPatron]

Beer tastes awsome, you just have to get the right stuff.

Which is already expensive as fuck (has to be imported, we only have 2 brands) and on top of that 23% tax.

By that point I am enjoying it, not "drinking" as in "drinking".

Plus, the piss. If I'm thirsty I drink water, and I hydrate a lot during the day. I hate drinking "just because" because then I'll have to keep pissing. To me it's not different from just drinking coke for no reason or drink Monster/Red Bull when there is no need for it.

 

[spartan231490]

I don't "party" much, even know that I'm at college I go to the bar maybe twice a semester. However, me and my friends get drunk and hang out at the apt at least once most weekends. sometimes we play video games(mostly cod) at the same time, so I have no idea how to answer your poll.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Beer tastes awsome, you just have to get the right stuff.

Which is already expensive as fuck (has to be imported, we only have 2 brands) and on top of that 23% tax.

By that point I am enjoying it, not "drinking" as in "drinking".

Plus, the piss. If I'm thirsty I drink water, and I hydrate a lot during the day. I hate drinking "just because" because then I'll have to keep pissing. To me it's not different from just drinking coke for no reason or drink Monster/Red Bull when there is no need for it.

Where the heck are you that there's only two brands of domestic beer in the entire country? Vatican City? Monaco? It's got to be tiny, regardless. They say the US has terrible beer, but there's literally hundreds of micro breweries scattered around the country, most of which make absolutely excellent beer. It tends to only be slightly more expensive than macrobrewed beer, too. An average macrobrew will run you about $1 a bottle. An average microbrew will run you closer to $2 a bottle. Yes, that's double the price, but we're still talking pocket change, and it's usually much more than double the quality.

 

[the doom cannon]

- Alcohol is a depressant. I.E. you are not supposed to take it if you want your senses tuned in. If you have to walk back home at night drunk you won't even be able to avoid the muggers. Or you might get your ass kicked because you can't fight for shit.

I am master of the drunken fist, so I don't have this problem lol. I also say that lan parties with copious amounts of alchohol or energy drinks and a bunch of people is awesome.

 

[ElPatron]

Where the heck are you that there's only two brands of domestic beer in the entire country? Vatican City? Monaco? It's got to be tiny, regardless.

Portugal. We used to have a few more brands but the big players hushed them out. It's very hard to find them now as they are smaller producers. Like I said, we don't actually have anything in between (in my opinion, might vary with location). They were pretty common in bars and supermarkets before I was above the drinking age.

 

[Razentsu]

LAN party, best of both worlds!

Hell, yeah! LAN parties are the best.

But between a gaming session and a party, unless I'm guaranteed to get laid like the OP says, I would probably stay home and play my new game.

 

[AngloDoom]

Depends. I've been to a party where I met a someone who is now a close friend, shared some amazing experiences with me in a hobby I'd never tried before, and actually saved my life once. He was great to get to know and I managed to meet up with some people I'd lost contact with and have a great time in the parts where I wasn't with that guy, and even got hit on by a couple of girls that night which made me feel rather good about myself.

I've also played games I've thoroughly enjoyed for days and days on end and walked away with something to think about outside of the realm in that world. Games that won't let me sleep and rob me of all my thoughts and tie me into the world so much that they've inspired me and somewhat melded into the way I think so subconsciously that I feel an instant affiliation with people who have shared that same experience and have come out the same.

However, I've also been to shite parties where I end up calling an ambulance for some idiot who can't handle their drink and refuses to learn, and wasted money on games which have been hyped only to disappoint me so bitterly that I feel sour about the whole experience. In the end, both are entirely different.

CAPTCHA: 'van surfing'

Better than both suggestions for a good time-waster =D

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Where the heck are you that there's only two brands of domestic beer in the entire country? Vatican City? Monaco? It's got to be tiny, regardless.

Portugal. We used to have a few more brands but the big players hushed them out. It's very hard to find them now as they are smaller producers. Like I said, we don't actually have anything in between (in my opinion, might vary with location). They were pretty common in bars and supermarkets before I was above the drinking age.

I'm surprised Portugal is primarily a beer drinking country, I thought the Iberian penninsula was better suited to growing grapes than grains? If that's the case, I can kind of understand the relative lack of beer, but not why you're saying it's the main thing people drink. Next I'm gonna find out that French youth drink more beer than wine XD

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

So it's Friday night & you have a new game & were invited to a party. Whcih are you going with?

Considering the only parties I ever get invited to are made by my friends and are either a) Gaming parties, b) Board game parties or c) pool/outdoor parties...I'll take the party. XD

Now, if you mean I get to go to some party that's NOT made by my friends and isn't one of the above style parties.....then !@#$ it, I'm staying home. Those don't sound fun to me. My 2 high school friends were always wanting me to come to their "get drunk and do stupid stuff like try to steal forklifts" and I was never interested.

I'm not much of a drinker (I want to die having never gotten shitfaced smashed drunk)...But if there's alcohol at a gaming party my friends and I are having, then by all means I'll go for some. One time we played F-Zero after/while drinking...That was fun. XD

 

[Zantos]

Party's are time sensitive. They won't be there the next day.

Games are not time sensitive. They will still be there a decade from now.

Thus, the only logical, not-retarded, answer is to go to the party because that's the only way you can have *both*.

That's only the logical answer if you like partying though. If you don't like them then it's almost like saying that if you own your TV but have only rented a nail gun for the weekend you should make sure you nail your feet to the floor before you watch tele. Almost.

OT: I'd take the party over the gaming, when I was at uni I would do that as a rule. But then I only go to relatively sedate parties with friends anyway so I could enjoy it without being drunk. That's not to say I wasn't, I often get drunk and do stupid things at parties, but it's not a requirement of enjoying it. Plus then I could hit up the gaming from my curled up in bed making this face ^:$< when I didn't feel like doing anything the next day.

 

[ElPatron]

I'm surprised Portugal is primarily a beer drinking country, I thought the Iberian penninsula was better suited to growing grapes than grains? If that's the case, I can kind of understand the relative lack of beer, but not why you're saying it's the main thing people drink. Next I'm gonna find out that French youth drink more beer than wine XD

The culture of the "red nosed drunk" is disappearing - the people who drank wine made from grapes grown less than a mile away are getting old (I never touched that stuff, but I've been told it is quite the "bombshell" when it digests). We still drink a lot of wine, mainly on meals, but personally I can't learn to enjoy it and many of my friends think it's "disgusting".

So basically not many drink wine for leisure in the cities except for the upper classes. Beer is very strong: it's part of anything related to football, barbeques, beaches and all time favorite of construction workers.

- Alcohol is a depressant. I.E. you are not supposed to take it if you want your senses tuned in. If you have to walk back home at night drunk you won't even be able to avoid the muggers. Or you might get your ass kicked because you can't fight for shit.

I am master of the drunken fist, so I don't have this problem lol. I also say that lan parties with copious amounts of alchohol or energy drinks and a bunch of people is awesome.

Yes, caffeine is a stimulant which counters the depressant effects of alcohol. It was the reason Four Loko had to ditch the caffeine - people couldn't tell their alcohol levels were way too high to keep drinking.

 

[lithiumvocals]

Spoiler: Snippity

I think you have the wrong idea here, getting high or drunk isn't because people are dependant on them to have a good time, it's because while under the influence of certain substances certain things are magnified, which can vastly improve your experience, it's when people go overboard or develop an actual addiction that it becomes a dependancy.

Also if you're totally against the recreational use of substances to improve your current situational experience, you're generally not going to fit in with most people, are unlikely to have fun in most social situations involving people with an opposing viewpoint, and why the fuck are you even at that kind of party in the first place?

Also the "guaranteed to get laid" part... NOBODY IS EVER GUARANTEED TO GET LAID, but if you think you won't you won't, getting laid is generally much, much, much harder to do when you've got a pessimistic outlook.

Also have you ever been high? Have you played games while high or drunk? I find that certain games feel so much more satisfying with a bit of a buzz from downing some whiskey, or smoking a bowl, but hey to each his/her own I guess.

But this all comes down to depending on the game, whether I had it pre-ordered and have been waiting a year or not is the real defining thing here, but I almost always would rather go out and hang out with friends, possibly have an adventure to give me more funny stories to tell, than sit on my ass alone and unloved in my home playing video games, which I can do any time I feel like it, as long as I'm not at work. Parties and gatherings aren't as conveniently available 100% of the time so I would generally do the party thing instead because I know I can always just game tomorrow.

Funny thing is, I used to be a reclusive and totally insular person... Now I hate that kind of life with a passion... why? Because I've seen the other side, I've been all over the board, and I know that while gaming is fun, if you go and experience and learn and grow socially, life outside gaming becomes SOOOOOOO much better than sittin in front of a screen.

First step is, stop taking yourself seriously, life is one big fat retarded joke, and if you take it, or yourself too seriously, you become the punchline, not one of the people laughing.

Second step, do not take heed of fear, social anxiety, though sometimes requiring medication(because sometimes it's a medical condition), mostly just stems from the prior, and from letting past experiences tint your view of how people see you, truth is people see you how you present yourself, they don't see you as awkward or laughable, unless you present yourself in such a way that they see that rather than who you are...

In reality, all these people striving so hard just to be "successful" are missing the point, and those who hide from life in an escapism driven state of fear and self loathing, are missing out.

Life is short, real experiences trump the fuck out of fake ones, success is a lie, and once you die, unless you do something so astoundingly good or horrible that you become an object lesson to people on a global scale, people including your family will forget you ever existed anywhere from 2-4 generations down the line anyway, so have FUN while you can.

Anyhow this is not meant to antagonize anyone, but to open your eyes, I game as a hobby, it has it's place, but I would far rather be camping with friends, or at a party, or other social gathering where I can share life and generate real positive connections with the world around me, whenever possible, than stay locked in a little room behind a screen, paralyzed by an irrational fear of the unknown(social success)... I was bullied all through school, I was suicidal for years, and developed a major self hate complex, why? because everyone in my peer group thought I was different and constantly made me feel less than human with a constant string of negative commentary and turning me into the butt of all their jokes... only later did I see that if I had taken myself less seriously, and been less of a stiff, I probably would've had a much easier time of things, y'know aside from being the poor kid(you can never escape bullying completely if you're poor and in school in a rich neighbourhood), and having family problems at home constantly(cuz seriously when your house is a warzone it gets kinda hard to do homework, or sleep propperly.), but if I hadn't been anti-drinking anti-smoking and anti-marajuana at least I could've had a social circle to support me and may not have fallen into the circle of depression lonelyness and suicide attempts...

And y'know what? I'm still geeky, have a quirky sense of humour, and I watch MLP, but because I don't take myself seriously, and laugh off most negativity, and tend to use comparative example to make people who TRY to make me feel shitty, feel pretty stupid themselves, I have no problem making friends, having fun, and generally just enjoying what I can.

Sorry for the text wall, it just saddens me to no end seeing people with (for all intents and purposes) the same view I held at the least healthy least happy point in my life, limiting themselves, or just plain missing the point to the point of missing out on great fun and good times.

After all, studies have shown that human beings tend to rely on social interaction to remain healthy psychologically, and that removing yourself from those situations for long enough can cause major negative neurosis to develop over time, crippling you as a human, and causing shit mental health... But hey, gaming all the time is fun right? And nobody ever has regrets in their later years over all the stuff they missed out on... No... nobody ever does...(heavily inferred sarcasm)

But yeah, feel free to call me stupid, crazy, wrong, or an asshole if you wish, I'll be busy hanging out with friends, celebrating life, and enjoying every minute of it.

I love you.

As for the OP, I've got a crazy idea. Have a party and play games with friends at it. Best of both worlds.

 

[Easton Dark]

>Played games e'rry day through High School

>Played games during class Senior year

>Continually got more popular

I didn't have to worry about rep, and I like gaming, so more games for me!

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Beer tastes awsome, you just have to get the right stuff.

that is entirely upon a persons opinion, i've been drinking beer for 4 years now and i still absolutely hate the taste. Give me a dr pepper or chocolate milk any day of the week and i'll drink 5 gallons of it, a beer is the last thing i ever want to drink.

not to mention, there is a direct exponential relation, the darker it gets, the more likely I am to spit it back in your face.

(Note: in the four years i've been drinking, i've thrown up once, and that was on whiskey, so no, i haven't had any "bad experiences" with it, i hate the stuff "ten fold" to steal your word choice)