The Worst Thing You Can Bring to Game Night

SuperflyTNT wrote: I banned my best friend's 20 year old from game night for exactly that reason...texting constantly. It's rude, and it illustrates that they'd rather be talking to someone else.

Her and her mom are BAD about that...they'll sit and text one another in the same fucking room without actually speaking, and so in the beginning I banned texting at the table so no cheating would be going on since they always "seemed" to collude. But then it went ON AND ON AND ON with that buzzing every 3-4 seconds. Truth be told, of the two daughters, I've always really not liked her since she's so bitchy and self-centered to begin with, but that texting shit was too much.

At times, I have been sorely tempted to buy one of those Israeli cell phone jammers, despite restrictions in the U.S.

Shellhead wrote:

Dogmatix wrote: So, shellie, your friend was *on-call* (which means "at work" for those not familiar with the concept) and, even though "being distracted" is clearly a crime aganist humanity for you and yours, you invited him to play anyway? How stupid are you?

In my case, there's no such thing as a game night/day/afternoon for me when work might NOT interrupt anywhere from 1 to 3 times over the course of a 6-7 hour stretch of daylight. I truly don't give a shit if your turn is delayed 10 minutes. Get a beer; I'll be back ASAP, but letting it go to voicemail could easily turn into a disaster that takes me 2 days to un-fuck. Depending on the degree of clusterfuck, it could also cost me MY job. This is why I generally don't play games with strangers. If I've got to eat shit because you think your game is more important than my family or my job, I can honestly say, I hope you die screaming and alone. You deserve it.

He didn't tell us that he was on-call that night, or even that he had just started working that month at a job that involved on-call work. And when he got the call from work, he didn't even tell us then what was going on, he just opened up his laptop and started doing stuff while talking on the phone. It was rude bullshit because of the total lack of communication on his part. A brief explanation would have been nice, but we had to finally straight out ask him what was going on. Since he's the same guy who sometimes gets totally distracted by a smartphone game or text message conversation while hanging out with people or playing a game, it's apparent that the issue isn't his on-call work but his lack of manners. Even you might have been pissed if you were there.

Ok, I recind and apologize for my comment as THAT is pure, unadulterated douchebaggery on your friend's part. I have one of those jobs where a "90-day project" isn't "90 days M-F 9-5"; it's usually "90 consecutive days and as many consecutive hours as it damn-well takes." It's better now that I've got enough years in to be choosy about the gigs I take on, but it can't always be helped. When I've got a bad team, I've always let the gaming crew know that I could be utterly fucked at any given moment for a 10-15 minute span to talk someone off the ledge or to try to prevent a really bad idea from becoming a truly horrible decision and course of action.

Your friend, however, was a moron and should have been bludgeoned for that. "On-call" is one of those things that means "let's play some short or flexible games in case I have to jump up and run out the door." One of my former game crews had at least 1 guy who provided IT support for a DoD customer; we got together now and again on his "pager duty night" but, if that thing buzzed, we just all got up and headed for the door. The night was simply done right then and there as he needed to be out the door and on-site within 30 minutes of the page.

The cell jammers may be verboten, but I think the "deadzone devices" that high-end restaurants and some libraries now use are, as far as I know, not export controlled or law enforcement-restricted. They just kind of turn a space into the equivalent of a lead-lined box...

QPCloudy wrote: I have a friend who really doesn't care for Talisman. We all wanted to play so we asked him to try with us. He didn't even try. Played on the iPad the whole time.

I don't mind that. He would be miserable playing Talisman and you'd have more fun playing without him. I should probably do the same thing when Munchkin is brought to the table but I end up playing it anyway and complaining the entire time.

Dogmatix wrote:

Shellhead wrote:

Dogmatix wrote: So, shellie, your friend was *on-call* (which means "at work" for those not familiar with the concept) and, even though "being distracted" is clearly a crime aganist humanity for you and yours, you invited him to play anyway? How stupid are you?

In my case, there's no such thing as a game night/day/afternoon for me when work might NOT interrupt anywhere from 1 to 3 times over the course of a 6-7 hour stretch of daylight. I truly don't give a shit if your turn is delayed 10 minutes. Get a beer; I'll be back ASAP, but letting it go to voicemail could easily turn into a disaster that takes me 2 days to un-fuck. Depending on the degree of clusterfuck, it could also cost me MY job. This is why I generally don't play games with strangers. If I've got to eat shit because you think your game is more important than my family or my job, I can honestly say, I hope you die screaming and alone. You deserve it.

He didn't tell us that he was on-call that night, or even that he had just started working that month at a job that involved on-call work. And when he got the call from work, he didn't even tell us then what was going on, he just opened up his laptop and started doing stuff while talking on the phone. It was rude bullshit because of the total lack of communication on his part. A brief explanation would have been nice, but we had to finally straight out ask him what was going on. Since he's the same guy who sometimes gets totally distracted by a smartphone game or text message conversation while hanging out with people or playing a game, it's apparent that the issue isn't his on-call work but his lack of manners. Even you might have been pissed if you were there.

Ok, I recind and apologize for my comment as THAT is pure, unadulterated douchebaggery on your friend's part. I have one of those jobs where a "90-day project" isn't "90 days M-F 9-5"; it's usually "90 consecutive days and as many consecutive hours as it damn-well takes." It's better now that I've got enough years in to be choosy about the gigs I take on, but it can't always be helped. When I've got a bad team, I've always let the gaming crew know that I could be utterly fucked at any given moment for a 10-15 minute span to talk someone off the ledge or to try to prevent a really bad idea from becoming a truly horrible decision and course of action.

Your friend, however, was a moron and should have been bludgeoned for that. "On-call" is one of those things that means "let's play some short or flexible games in case I have to jump up and run out the door." One of my former game crews had at least 1 guy who provided IT support for a DoD customer; we got together now and again on his "pager duty night" but, if that thing buzzed, we just all got up and headed for the door. The night was simply done right then and there as he needed to be out the door and on-site within 30 minutes of the page.

The cell jammers may be verboten, but I think the "deadzone devices" that high-end restaurants and some libraries now use are, as far as I know, not export controlled or law enforcement-restricted. They just kind of turn a space into the equivalent of a lead-lined box...

I have sometimes wondered if my friend is an alien or an android. For example, after years of minimal dating, he suddenly started seeing several women during his last year of college, in preparation for getting married right after college. He arbitrarily picked one of those girls and got married to her at age 22. He wasn't in love with her, he just felt that it was time to be married and get ready to have some kids. They're divorced now, and he has custody of their two kids more than half the time because his ex-wife managed to make a very bad impression on the family court judge.

My friend is somehow simultaneously very courteous and yet often oblivious to routine etiquette. If he knows a given rule, like how to arrange forks and spoons at a table setting, or when to open a door for a woman, he will always follow that rule. But sometimes he will behave in a very rude manner simply because he was unaware that there was a standard for behavior for a situation. This is especially true if there is new technology involved, because he defaults to assuming that there are no behavior rules regarding technology until somebody makes them up. Yes, he was that guy texting a lot in movie theaters several years ago. He isn't stupid, he just seems unable to identify the underlying logic behind manners.

I've got a couple of colleagues at work that sound quite similar to your friend when it comes to basic social graces--they're not consciously rude, but they're utterly unreliable in terms of what to expect.

But the whole wedding/ex-wife thing?

My vote is "alien" or "cybernetic construct." He sounds a bit like HAL made flesh..."I'm sorry Shellhead...I can't do that..."

Shellhead wrote:

Dogmatix wrote:

Shellhead wrote:

Dogmatix wrote: So, shellie, your friend was *on-call* (which means "at work" for those not familiar with the concept) and, even though "being distracted" is clearly a crime aganist humanity for you and yours, you invited him to play anyway? How stupid are you?

In my case, there's no such thing as a game night/day/afternoon for me when work might NOT interrupt anywhere from 1 to 3 times over the course of a 6-7 hour stretch of daylight. I truly don't give a shit if your turn is delayed 10 minutes. Get a beer; I'll be back ASAP, but letting it go to voicemail could easily turn into a disaster that takes me 2 days to un-fuck. Depending on the degree of clusterfuck, it could also cost me MY job. This is why I generally don't play games with strangers. If I've got to eat shit because you think your game is more important than my family or my job, I can honestly say, I hope you die screaming and alone. You deserve it.

He didn't tell us that he was on-call that night, or even that he had just started working that month at a job that involved on-call work. And when he got the call from work, he didn't even tell us then what was going on, he just opened up his laptop and started doing stuff while talking on the phone. It was rude bullshit because of the total lack of communication on his part. A brief explanation would have been nice, but we had to finally straight out ask him what was going on. Since he's the same guy who sometimes gets totally distracted by a smartphone game or text message conversation while hanging out with people or playing a game, it's apparent that the issue isn't his on-call work but his lack of manners. Even you might have been pissed if you were there.

Ok, I recind and apologize for my comment as THAT is pure, unadulterated douchebaggery on your friend's part. I have one of those jobs where a "90-day project" isn't "90 days M-F 9-5"; it's usually "90 consecutive days and as many consecutive hours as it damn-well takes." It's better now that I've got enough years in to be choosy about the gigs I take on, but it can't always be helped. When I've got a bad team, I've always let the gaming crew know that I could be utterly fucked at any given moment for a 10-15 minute span to talk someone off the ledge or to try to prevent a really bad idea from becoming a truly horrible decision and course of action.

Your friend, however, was a moron and should have been bludgeoned for that. "On-call" is one of those things that means "let's play some short or flexible games in case I have to jump up and run out the door." One of my former game crews had at least 1 guy who provided IT support for a DoD customer; we got together now and again on his "pager duty night" but, if that thing buzzed, we just all got up and headed for the door. The night was simply done right then and there as he needed to be out the door and on-site within 30 minutes of the page.

The cell jammers may be verboten, but I think the "deadzone devices" that high-end restaurants and some libraries now use are, as far as I know, not export controlled or law enforcement-restricted. They just kind of turn a space into the equivalent of a lead-lined box...

I have sometimes wondered if my friend is an alien or an android. For example, after years of minimal dating, he suddenly started seeing several women during his last year of college, in preparation for getting married right after college. He arbitrarily picked one of those girls and got married to her at age 22. He wasn't in love with her, he just felt that it was time to be married and get ready to have some kids. They're divorced now, and he has custody of their two kids more than half the time because his ex-wife managed to make a very bad impression on the family court judge.

My friend is somehow simultaneously very courteous and yet often oblivious to routine etiquette. If he knows a given rule, like how to arrange forks and spoons at a table setting, or when to open a door for a woman, he will always follow that rule. But sometimes he will behave in a very rude manner simply because he was unaware that there was a standard for behavior for a situation. This is especially true if there is new technology involved, because he defaults to assuming that there are no behavior rules regarding technology until somebody makes them up. Yes, he was that guy texting a lot in movie theaters several years ago. He isn't stupid, he just seems unable to identify the underlying logic behind manners.

Looks like your friend isn't up to Nexus 6 standards. Failing a VK test is a Replicant's lot in life.

Good point, Rliyen. He has zero experience at owning a pet because he doesn't see the point to it. Out of curiousity, he sometimes tries to pet my cat, but my cat always runs away. He could be a replicant.

Then again, my cat runs away from everybody except my girlfriend and I.

He probably has PDD-NOS ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDD-NOS ), which is Autism without some features, normally without the need to adhere to strict routines or repetitive behaviors (I know one person diagnosed with this, and almost certainly another). These people can function in society and often are brilliant in some areas so normally go undiagnosed, but really struggle in many areas requiring social interaction.

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote: He probably has PDD-NOS ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDD-NOS ), which is Autism without some features, normally without the need to adhere to strict routines or repetitive behaviors (I know one person diagnosed with this, and almost certainly another). These people can function in society and often are brilliant in some areas so normally go undiagnosed, but really struggle in many areas requiring social interaction.

Interesting link. Hmm. It's hard to say in his case. He likes to talk, and his grammar is impeccable. He tends to make a good impression on women initially, but though he has been dating a lot since his divorce a few years ago, he hasn't had even one long-term relationship. Maybe his parents neglected his social development while pushing him to get high grades in school.

Shellhead wrote:

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote: He probably has PDD-NOS ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDD-NOS ), which is Autism without some features, normally without the need to adhere to strict routines or repetitive behaviors (I know one person diagnosed with this, and almost certainly another). These people can function in society and often are brilliant in some areas so normally go undiagnosed, but really struggle in many areas requiring social interaction.

Interesting link. Hmm. It's hard to say in his case. He likes to talk, and his grammar is impeccable. He tends to make a good impression on women initially, but though he has been dating a lot since his divorce a few years ago, he hasn't had even one long-term relationship. Maybe his parents neglected his social development while pushing him to get high grades in school.

The one person I know who is diagnosed also talks a lot and has very good grammar (as well as the obvious gifts in mathematics and computers), in spite of having a lot of trouble otherwise with social communication. I suspect there must be something about grammar to do with it having rules you learn and apply consistently that works with that sort of differently attuned mind. No idea about the talking though (though it is mainly about them, they aren't socially aware enough to ask about other's feelings/thoughts/etc).