Slashdot Mirror
Online Gaming for Couples?
psuedo_samurai asks: "My longtime girlfriend recently had to move to complete her studies at a University, which is nowhere near where I live. Talking on the phone is quickly becoming old, as I'm a typical guy and hate being on the phone longer than 3 minutes, but I try. So I was thinking - I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two? So are there any online games suggested for couples using a headset? I can't see Counter-Strike or Rainbow Six working, but I was thinking maybe DDR Ultramix on Xbox Live? How about PC titles with headset support? Any suggestions?"
you can try cybersex
...Gibbin' the ole' GF to show her your true affection.
Nothing disturbs me more than blind loyalism towards some unrealistic and over-idealistic notion of one's nationality.
I met my girlfriend playing counter-strike.
*Girls Love Guns*
.. to play the games and talk to you at the same time..
Cyber online using Good ol' Netmeeting and Notepad.
And why did you staple the trout to the RAM?
A friend of mine and his girlfriend, plays AA together. They use TS.
I would see any sort of online roleplay game working fairly well. You can even make her dress up as an elf or something.
Duke Nukem, he loves the ladies so I would suggest, Duke Nukem 3D. Oh wait . . .
So I was thinking - I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two?
How come this guy has a girlfriend and I don't?
I've found that a lot of girls really like the communication and character outfitting aspects of Phantasy Star Online. Back in the days of the Dreamcast, my sister would lord over my copy for hours on end.
Whether they prefer typing (GCN) or voice (XB) communication is pretty much the only difference in the versions.
- colin
...but my wife and I both play neverwinter nights- great multiplayer game that can provide good laughs if you have a good module. I highly suggest the nordock module.
Looking for Book Reviews? Check out Literary Escapism.
There are a lot of couples playing Everquest. You might give that a try.
Oh, come, come, come. Without a monster or two, it's hardly a quest... merely a gaggle of friends wandering about. - Owl
America's Army
I really don't see how gaming would help. The idea is communication and gaming would just cloud that with alterior motives. Not only that but you would also both have to choose "avatars" in the gaming world presenting more complications.
How about writing letters, sending nice postcards, and an occasional phone call. Or even if you must go the technological route a communal blog?
.... how you suggest that one. Or your character may lose all his nookie points. What!?!? So talking to me is so hard...... You may not wanna go there.
Free Mac Mini Yeah, it's
How about Tetrinet? I remember socializing a lot with that. No headset though. Or just play a game with them and be on the phone with them at the same time... I rememember back in 1996, being on the phone for hours with a buddy while were playing Quake. - Philosophistry
Philosophistry
Unless she likes games too, this doesn't stand a chance in hell of working out well for you. You are trying to use logic -- guy logic -- to deal with women. The sooner you learn how futile this is, the better it is for you.
I'm a typical guy and hate being on the phone longer than 3 minutes, but I try. So I was thinking - I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two?
Not knowing the full situation I have to ask: Have you asked her if she'd like to be in an online game for longer than 3 minutes? If she's like many (most?) women she would want to have your full attention during a conversation (the 4 other
It sounds like you want to have your cake and eat it too; make sure this is what she wants before you send her all sorts of geek gear. She may just twist your intentions into thinking you're pushing her away.
Trolling is a art,
I know of a bunch of girls who like CounterStrike and Counterstrike only. In fact, it seems to be about the most popular game for girls to play online with head support. Of course many of the MMORPG's get lots of women too. However, you might have to run something in the background to handle the voice communication while playing those.
Reserved Word.
My girlfriend and I were in a similar situation. We played Civ:CTP (via email). This had several advantages:
1) Being that it was via email, we could do it "asynchronously" as needed.
2) While we were chatting online (which we both prefer to the phone), we could still play, and it was easy enough to do since it was still email based.
3) It was a fun game!
4) We could "show off" to each other based on our Civilisation building skills. (Hers were always better.)
5) I played it on Linux, and she played on Windows, and there were no problems!
All in all, it was a good experience, and allowed us to game together while far apart.
libertarianswag.com
"So I was thinking - I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two?"
The question is does *she* like games. I'm not going to try to give relationship advice here, but you'd probably be better off asking *her* what game she'd like to play (if any) rather than asking Slashdot.
Hey man,
... hope this helps man, and good luck!
The only problem is the games she'll enjoy probably won't have voice comm right out of the box. But if you used Teamspeak or Roger Wilco you'd have your voice channel open no matter what games your playing! I'd reccommend Gunbound as my gf spends more time playing it than I do!! It's essentially a free, online only, Worms/Scorched Earth clone but when you win a match you get gold which can be spent on new gear for your avatar! Wait till she sees some of the dresses she can buy! Anywho
Kleedrac
Sure we wang, can.
It aint free, but it is a non-violent community type atmosphere you could meet and chat in. As a game i didnt find it very interesting but it would serve your purpose well.
-- Hail Eris
since we both have doom1 and 2, and since I'm on dialup. probably any of the id games (up to quake 2, haven't tried quake three; my machine can't cope with it) would probably work for that.
...you're asking for couples' advice on /. ? ;-)
Somehow I suspect the answers in this story aren't going to be work-safe...
A friend of mine plays Star Wars galaxies online with his wife. They have a club setup where she can dance for visitors and he usually listens to the band playing. They have full conversations/arguments online in front of other people visiting their club.
It's the most interaction between people I have seen in an online game before.
Although you have to pay the monthly gaming fee which I think is in the range of $15/month.
Those who trade in their freedom for security, deserve neither.
your girlfried would appreciate you talking to her while playing? Most girls I know require the full attention of the male CPU....
It's my experience that you don't get to talk much while playing a game.
I guess it depends on which game you are playing, but still. Odds are you'll be too busy focusing on the events of the game to be typing in sentence after sentence.
Whenever I decide to play Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory with friends, unless the whole server is full of friends I really don't do much talking to my friend. Once in a while there's the occasional haha killed you again or damn you suck but generally speaking, I'm more concentrated on the game.
Another issue...does she even like games? I mean, making her play a game just to get to talk to you seems a little bit...inconsiderate? If she's a gamer, then there's no problem, but if she isn't, expect her to be less than thrilled at the prospect.
Now, I realize you were asking about headsets, so you wouldn't have so much of a problem with the typing. Still, almost the same rule applies - you will not want to engage in conversations of reasonable complexity because it will impedete your performance in game.
I guess it could work, but I suggest you learn to stay on the phone a little longer, for the sake of your girlfriend.
Her: Honey, where shall I put this end table?
You: Oooh, right there, put it right there, tha's right...
For pc games, use Teamspeak. You can play whatever game you want online and talk through a sepparate client.
Disco Stu was talkin' to you.
1)it uses flash O_O
2)it's too US-centric
3)we're french canadian
http://www.teamspeak.org/
:-P
Team speak can be used for any game, but you can use it just by yourself to have voice chats over your own running server/client. Quality is great and it's free.
Oh and you have a girlfriend who's into GAMES?! You're not fooling anyone, bub!
----------
Check out my blackbox styles
Pick a game that you two could enjoy. Fire up your favourite voice chat proggie (Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, Roger Wilco, etc.) and frag away.
The game doesn't necessarily need headset support or anything like that. So long as you have a third party proggie to handle the mess.
- shazow
DDR Ultramix; online gaming for couples... ...sounds like Ultra Dominatrix
*does* work for some couples...
my blog
I know several couples that play MMORPGS together, and even a few that met and married because of them. I played everquest but my wife never got into it. Now that I've started playing Star Wars Galaxies, she plays more than I do. The only problem is getting two fast computers and two accounts for the game so we can play at the same time. If your wanting some quality time together, I'd suggest playing an MMORPG and use something like Team-speak or Ventrilo...
Her: "I sometimes wonder whether we were really meant for each other"
You: "Ok, get ready, the troll king is going to pop up any moment. Blast him with your fire bolt!"
Her: "I worry that we don't communicate enough"
You: "Huh? I don't think...look! There's the troll king! Attack!"
Nice try, but from my experience, she'll probably want you to focus on the conversation, not on getting a high score.
If you use teamspeak.org you can play anything you want and talk to each other
mg
Randomly distributing Karma whenever possible.
You can go out on virtual dates and have virtual kids! Or maybe a dog.
My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
My wife and I played ToonTown for some time. It's a MMORPG aimed at the 5-12 year old set, but lots of fun for anyone working in a major corporation or can understand the inside jokes. AFAICT there were more people my age on than kids :)
http://toontown.com/
Also make note of the fansite http://toontowncentral.com. There you can get tips, learn more about it, and trade secrets. You need a secret code exchanged outside the game to enable full keyboard chat, to help protect the kiddies.
I don't think you'll find much help about girlfriends from the usual slashdot crowd...
I have been playing Dark Age Of Camelot for some time now and the best players I know are a married couple. When they are on a defence I am really scared to attack!! they are really really good!!. I know is not the king of game girls like ... but if she does you can kiss some butts.
I used ot play everquest and was in a guild where 2 of the players were a husband and wife duo they were both the same race and stuff too, it was sort of cute I guess.
Games like Everquest, SWG, and the up and coming Worlds of Warcraft are good places to spend time with someone online because they are very much geared to the social aspect, but also allow you to accomplish something rather than just being in eachothers (virtual) presence. You get to progress together. The Sims online might be another idea.
I do security
My last gf and I talked on their daily before, during (when I wasn't at her place) and after our relationship.
Other IM's would probably work even better given voice, cam and other features.
1. You like gaming.
2. She likes talking.
3. She's going to a university nowhere near you.
4. She's a woman.
I wouldn't go through so much effort. Even if you stay together, she'll have cheated on you by the end of this weekend.
Just get a headset for your phone and talk to her while you're taking a dump.
Multitasking...it's all about multitasking!
I can just see it now. ``Hey, honey! We need to talk about our relationship.''
click, blast, explosion!
``Sorry, sweetheart, I just accidentally killed your character. Please, reset and connect up again. ... losing your connection ... we'll talk tomorrow.''
I hate sigs (especially yours which is a waste of my bandwidth)
Me and my girlfriend play games on the yahoo site every once in a while, its pretty fun
Paint.NET, a Free Image Editor, with Source Code Available!
This thread might need people to disclose "IANCABF":
I Am Not Currently A BoyFriend
(Any humor is pointed at myself as well, as IANCABF either)
- Neil Wehneman
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
The question posed by the author is irrelevant. The mere fact that he's contemplating DDR or CS as viable communication options has already doomed the relationship.
There is nothing more we can do for him,
http://ichatnaked.com/
Try Microsoft Hearts ... it comes with Windows plus it is the only game I've seen a female play for more than 5 minutes.
I would suggest an RPG you both like and
http://www.ventrilo.com for communication.
Gunbound (PC) is a grat little game, alot like Worms.
Ragnarok Online (PC) and PSO (GCN or XBox) are both pretty cool too.
Truth be told besides FFXI and PSO there are pretty much no Online games on Consoles games that I see as good games for Couples. Unless shes in to FPS.
Also do you both have Cable or Higher? Because One of the HUGE downfalls for Xbox Live is that its Cable+ only which really sucks for any one who is still stuck with a crappy phoneline connection.
-------- -Cap
~Bommers, Why did it have to be Bommers!?!
as a girl geek, i would say first check and see if she likes gaming. if so, my long distance boyfriend and i play worms armageddon. just one rule of gaming with a girlfriend - never keep score and don't get too competitive.
increase the peace
The only way that this scenario could be any sadder is if the guy had met his girlfriend playing Star Wars Galaxies, and he asked her to marry him "in game," and she turned out to be a 40-year-old man.
Damn, I used to have a link to a Star Wars message board that described exactly that. It was so pathetic it gave me the chills!
Anyway, in general I think "games" and "girlfriends" are not compatible concepts.
I've been beta testing an MMOG called There for several months and it is a much more sociable experience than almost any other MMOG out there. All the "leveling up" is performed by talking, organizing events, and riding vehicles. No killing, no NPCs. Really it's just glorified IRC but with one fewer degree of separation because you and your friends have a lifelike customizeable avatar. Sexist stereotyping is beneath us all so I'll just say that the game has paintball guns, a variety of wheeled, flying, and riding vehicles, and lots and lots of shopping and outfits for whomever might enjoy such activities.
Its cheaper faster and SOOOO much more fun than Online Gaming. Like here
Unless the GF is of a similar skill level and has the same interest in games, I doubt it'll work.
My GF loves to play Mario Party on my gamecube, but that's about the extent of her interest in gaming. She'll watch me play a little half-life or UT now and then, but usually once I get into it the torrent of swear words puts her off.
I can just imagine getting fragged and accusing her of being a wallhack fag and having that be the end of the relationship...
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Try Yahoo Games. Seriously. Yahoo Pool is widely popular and is a great way to mindlessly have fun and chat with people.
If your gf isn't the dork you are, it might be the only thing that works.
Go with Ultramix.
Not only will you get some decent exersise, girls have a tendency to be better than guys at dancing.
Have you looked at online text games? A small site which I have developed over the years focuses on these types of games. I met my wife on one of these games in fact. =) http://www.mudmagic.com
Online Text Games allows for couples to play a game with basic telnet usage, or they can use a mud client. There are no graphics involved, therefore you needn't have a high speed video card or sound card to play. You don't need to download any special software, or create website only accounts, or even pay for the connection. The only thing you need is an interenet connection. All major OS' come with telnet as a standard feature.
You can telnet into a game and create you an online character. You can even choose your own theme to play. Everything from Harry Potter focused to DBZ, to standard D&D. Online text games have advanced in leaps and bounds over the years, and to this day continue to be a meeting ground for me and my wife when I am deployed.
Check them out. You may just become addicted to them. =) You can try any MUD in our database out by pulling down the PLAY A GAME NOW at the top right of the site and using our java connection client.
My Thoughts, Kyndig
Webcams might be a good idea. Plus, I'm sure you'd find that they can be useful for...well...Use your imagination.
when you rather FRAG then SHAG your girlfriend.
SwordWielder frags DixieChick
"work sucked..."
SwordWielder frags DixieChick...Muhmuhmuhmuhmonster kiiiiiiilllllll..
"hey honey you used to be a lot better at this...and you know you don't have to moan when you get hit...it's not like real life..."
NewManOnTheScene enters game
NewManOnTheScene frags SwordWielder
DixieChick rides NewManOnTheScene's rocket
"Emmm...honey?"
GAME OVER!!!
Check out my signature. Text-based sex, man. Try it.
As a gammer and a married man, I certainly understand your position. However, I HIGHLY recommend that you think this through before you mention it to your girlfriend. You might get yourself a slap...
Now with that said, if you are brave enough to go through with this idea I would go with some sort of RPG. It has the action as well as the social aspect. I'm a big NWN fan, though I'm not sure if you can use a headset/mic.
You don't like to TALK to your girlfriend? Why are you going out with her then? You're honestly going to tell her that you prefer videogames to talking to her? Are you insane??
If you think my reaction is a poor one, wait until you hear hers.
Its been my experience that women can stomach simple games like tic-tac-toe and checkers (yeah, stereotype, cause sometimes they work). Windows Messenger has these games built in plus a few more and does audio/video chat too. Haven't cheked to see if you can download more (rather play CS myself) but you probably can.
Hi Samuria,
Have you ever thought about adopting a homeless dog? Your local animal shelter has lots of dogs that are looking for a good loving home. Instead of playing computer games, you could take your dog for a walk. Your dog will always love you. The worst they ever do is steal one of your socks, which they do because they love your smell, not because they want to hurt you.
Just a thought.
I play in Firiona Vie server and its more rule than the exception that people there have relatives or sibblings play the game. And with teamspeak or rogerwilco, you can have live chat too..
yush
I don't like talking on the phone either. In fact, I don't like talking.
Three minutes is long.
Every time you sit down to a game your attention ison the game...
Try talking on the phone while watching a movie...
That way it'll be like you're both watching the movie...Like a little LD date...That way you guys will be in sync on both ends and have something in common to chat about...
Phone conversations are hard for guys because we don't have the sensory stimulus of the woman being there (Married 5 years) and you need that: the smell, look, all that stuff...
Try a movie..
It'll work better...
Pick movies the two of you have already seen so you won't be too distracted by the movie...
Game + Conversation = no sex!
"Helping to keep you two steps ahead of the Thought Police!"
All I can say is maybe he should play games while she talks.
That would work, right?
You're a self-centered, immature boy. Wait a few years, you'll grow up enough to love a woman.
Here's the thing, if the goal here is to have a conversation, then, no, this probably isn't a good solution. If the goal, on the other hand, is to create a sense of being together, then this would work well.
I mean, when you are in a relationship long enough, you tend to have less conversations, and it's more time just spent being around the other person. Doing things together, or sometimes just being in the same place but doing your own things.
If you have a long distance relationship, it's easy to stay in communication these days. The trick is creating that sense of physical proximity, that the other person is somehow there. This may be possible, to a degree, through a gaming environment.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
try fu-fme.
Gyrate Dot Org - "Where high-tech meets low-life"
When my wife and I are away from each other we sometimes play pool on Yahoo! games. They have some other multiplayer games that are really simple to learn and pretty fun.
there.com
you can hang out, listen to the same music (within the game), "see" each other (3d representation of your avatar), chat, play various games (like dune buggy races), etc.
La via sola al paradiso incommincia nel inferno
> I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two?
This one is simple!
Get her on the phone, ask her how her childhood affects your current relationship, put on a headset, fire up your favorite FPS and start blasting away!
You may finish several levels, if not the entire game!
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
The solution is There. Not only do you get socialization but good gaming fun. They have social interaction with highly customizable avatars and emotes for them.
You can also compete in dune buggy races, paintball matches, hoverboarding, hoverbiking, exploring, etc. It's a very rich virtual world environment. The only draw back is it's open from like 12pm eastern to about 3am eastern.
As for graphics, it reminds me of a Disney movie cartoon only with 3D model characters/avatars.
Price is like introductory of around $50/year if that offer is still going. Otherwise it's around $100 for a year's subscription. Thing is you get the first two weeks free w/out having to give any financial information so it's just register, login, and go for 2 weeks with no credit card entry or anything.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
Girlfriend: Hi, how was your day, honey?
Him: OMG DAT B1TCH IS TEH AWP C4MP3R!!11! FUCKIN N00B OMG!!1!
I have the ultimate "gaming" peripheral for ya...
My
Limekiller
Assuming your girlfriend even likes games, let alone role playing games, I would suggest the game Everquest.
Normally I wouldn't wish that form of crack on anybody, having just broke the habit myself. But it has been said that all EQ is is just a chat client with graphics. To a large extent, that is true. The chat interface in EQ is probably the best of any modern MMORPG out today. It has had over 3 years to be fine tuned. The latest patch coming out will require DX9 and a fairly beefy machine to run effectively.
Look into it if you and your's like that type of genre.
Larry's rising again, as you can see if you take a look here:
http://www.1up.com/article2/0,4364,1365042,00.asp
Still, this would work better as an MMORPG, dontchathink? Howzaboutit? Anyone game to spearhead a MMORPG Open Source development project?
I have a great girlfriend, shes into gaming and has the a lot of the same interests I do, and we are in a similar situation, but if she found out I have to play games to be able to stand talking to her for more then 3 minutes there would be hell to pay
well, if you don't mind her making out with men/women, or you don't she would be working in a brothel, then I think SimsOnline might work. get married and make babies?
How about something text based and simple without too much flashing colors dragging attention away?
Mud might be answer for you since it's not too much of a guy thing.
<sponsored subliminal message>telnet bat.org 23</sponsored subliminal message>
A few months ago, I tried playing with my long-distance girlfriend online games that she likes, mostly dominoes but also other board-type games transferred online. It was all fine until she started winning, after which I became a whiny bitch.
So we stopped playing games and went back to long-distance phone calls.
YMMV. But if either of you are sore losers, you might want to think of another strategy to keep the magic alive.
I can see your girlfriend not being into the typical games such as Counterstrike or Quake3. Most women don't like the killing. However, why not try an MMORPG such as Everquest, Horizons or the like. They give women the social aspect that they're looking for and add some excitement into the mix. I know many couples that play Everquest as a couple and in fact am currently using it, combined with the phone, to chat with that lady who is on the other side of the country. It gives you something to talk about on the phone as well.
Just make sure that you're carefull with it. Give her the option of trying it and make it low key, or else she might feel put off by this new communication medium.
check it out, the system requirements are steep, but its so cool
http://www.there.com/
enjoy!
What could be more romantic than to meet your loved one on de_dust under the tunnel with knives only...only to be betrayed by someone pulling a deagle.
If that's not love...then...um...it's something unlike love.
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
Final Fantasy XI. Plenty of girls playing (really!) and it allows you two to not only have fun exploring the game, but to socially interact.
Someone mentioned that playing a mmorpg game as a long distance couple might be a detriment to communication. I strongly disagree. We played through several major mmorpgs and beta tests of other games together. During "down time" in a game we carried on "normal" conversation. During the exciting parts of the game we got caught up into solving problems together. We even developed mutual friends whom we visited in the real world.
As far as someone worrying that "girls" might not like to play games for hours at a time: I and many of my friends are evidence to the contrary.
Lastly, though I think the MMORPGs are best suited for couple gaming, don't discount the FPS games either. I enjoyed Action Quake and beta tested Planetside. I just think they aren't as good for a couple because they (I'm talking public server play, not clan gaming) tend to be all action all the time rather than a mix of action, socialization/political skill, and strategy.
~Fricka
OffLineTshirts.com
I'm wondering why exactly you don't want to be on the phone for more than 3 minutes. You just don't like phones? Or don't like talking? Have nothing to say? Aren't interested in what she has to say?
If you're just looking for an alternative to the phone (for whatever reason) there are plenty of things out there. You could write letters, send email, use a webcam, create a shared blog, use IRC or IM eachother... There's plenty of ways to communicate beyond using a phone.
When my wife and I were first getting to know eachother, we lived several states apart. Phonecalls were prohibitively expensive, so most of our communication was done through IRC and email...with occasional cards and snailmail letters.
I'd hesitate to use a game for communication though...because of the added distractions. Its hard to focus on the conversation when you're trying to get a high score, or stay alive, or whatever. When we were chatting on IRC, we used to play around in #vampcafe for fun. But that was play, not conversation. We had our characters that we played, and we interacted with the other patrons, but it wasn't real communication between the two of us. When it came time to tell her about my day, or find out what was going on in her life, we dropped the characters and left #vampcafe.
What you need is a clean, uncluttered medium for communication. There are plenty of those out there...but I don't think online games qualify.
yrs,
Ephemeriis
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
A side benefit: She was a casual gamer at most when we met (I used to rib her for playing solitaire). But now look at her! My only complaint is that now she hogs all my bandwidth.
My GF and I are the most hardcore of hardcore gamers. :P Okay, obviously not very hardcore if we're playing games like Final Fantasy XI and Ragnarok Online (*giggle*) but it works.
.hack :D) and something where you can go and feel like you're 'doing' something together (even if it's hunting little rats in the forest). When we just wanna goof off for a while it's fun.
We both travel around a lot so we've had to keep in contact on the phone and over the Internet. Our best choice for a game is a friendly, community-based RPG. Something where you can walk around and talk and feel a bit more 'there' with each other (you have no idea how much the graphics and emotes do for things, dunno if anyone's watched
Obviously this requires that you have a good imagination, lots of time to waste, and you both like that sorta shit. But IMHO find something that is MODERATELY active (ahem, not quake) but not something that *only* focuses on talking. Cause that would be maddening eventually, even if you're in love beyond all imagination.
Other suggestions would be similarly 'beer & pretzel' games, maybe you both have an addiction to Civ or some cardgame or something. I'd really REALLY push for a virtual world, though, because it inspires the imagination and won't get old so fast.
Again, not sure if this would work with you, but I've done it successfully for quite a while now. Two or three times a week I'd just tell all my friends to go suck it and play with her that night. Course, straight chicks just suck, so it might not work, but at any rate TALK IT OUT WITH HER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ASKING HERE! Tsk tsk tsk.
My gf calls me while I'm gaming and a I talk and play. Some games work better than others for this, but you have to make sacrifices for a relationship to work.
Why not just buy 2 Webcams. Tben you can talk to her face to face. And I am sure you can come up with any number of games to play using it.
Otherwise most women only like Yahoo Games or maybe the Sims.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
To be honest, if you can't find more to talk about with an absent girlfriend for more than three minutes, your relationship has far worse problems than what kind of game to play. If you don't have enough interest in really talking with her about things that matter, lack of an idea about an online game is going to be the least of your concerns. She's going to be gone before long if your question is really indicative of your communication with her.
Maybe you should make a deal with your girlfriend--you'll talk for x amount of minutes for y amount of minutes of sex talk. Yeah, yeah, stop being prude. You're seperated by a vast difference. You've got drives. She's got drives.
I haven't been in this situation but it's the first thing that popped to mind that might make your phone conversations a little more exciting (and thus last more than 3 minutes).
well, i dont think that she is banging a guy at the moment, but i think that the future looks bleak. ive been in a long distance relationship, i mean LONG 8000 miles long. and even though i happen to be a strong person, and my gf is also, here are my observations about what tends to happen in long distance relationships.
first the problem is communication, since we are a social species its the most important thing in a relationship, because most problems in a relationship are derived from communication. and when two people seperate, the communication breaks down, i can count plenty of great friends that i never talk to because they moved away. and the writer of the column said that he can hardly stay on the phone for more than three minutes. moreover the only way that he can stay interested in her is to be playing online games, something about video games (and pron) activates some sort of chemicals in the male brain that seems to keep us happy, but most (not all) women tend to hate video games. so if he is having problems keeping intrest. how does he expect her to keep intrest.
also men in long distance relationships are vunerable because thier sex drives, but that can be appeased by pron. but on the other hand women are vunerable because the fact that they need an emotional connection (unlike some guys). a guy who is truely dedicated can last for ages without even talking to his GF and feel that he loves her. on the other hand it seems to me that if a woman doesnt talk to a man for a long time, she starts to feel tortured inside.
i think that what MAY happen is that she might end up finding someone else who can meet her emotional needs, and who is a bit more mature than this guy. and its probably all for the better.
just get a webcam for the both of you, and use messenger or yahoo for full audio/video communications. plus you get the bonus of seeing her tits every now and then.
8)
penny arcade made a comic about this.
How about Sexual Pursuit 10 or 4 Play 5.0. You could run these under Wine on a Linux server and share the window session using VNC. You win and lose sexual favors. It might be hard to cash on your winnings (or losses) considering the distance, but it would be something to look forward to next time your together.
Personal experience: I wanted to talk to my girlfriend and found that she was playing a game online. (Puzzle Pirates, which is cute and silly unlike most other MMO games.) In fact, she's been playing said game ever since she got broadband a few days ago. Well, I like Puzzle Pirates, she plays it all the time, why not talk to her in the game world?
So I logged into the game and sent her a private message. She finished what she was doing and came to where I was and we started "talking". Let's call me A and her B.
A: Hey! I haven't talked to you in a while. *hug*
B: *hug* Wanna fight?
A: Did you get my letter?
(B challenges A to a duel.)
B: Fight me!!!
A: Um, okay...
(A and B fight. A wins.)
B: =( Not fair! You have a better sword! (I've been playing on and off for longer than she has.)
A: Aww... *hug*
B: I'm off to earn more money and buy a better sword now. =P
(B leaves the island on a pirate ship to plunder some loot.)
A: But but I wanted to talk about our relationship...
Really, talking and communicating are two different things. Even when you're not busy killing rabbits for EXP or shooting each other and manage to have meaningful conversations about non-game stuff they wouldn't be anything more signifigant than "I had tuna for dinner". When you're in a game--especially when you're a serious gamer--you're going to keep your focus on your party member's positions and their abilities and cool combos you can perform with them, limiting your chat only to "heal me I'm dying!!!" or the occasional "wow you suck I ownzed you" (don't say that with your SO unless she/he says it to you too =). Meaningful, deep conversations about your relationship (which I assume is what the original poster's girlfriend wanted) don't really happen in games, with the exception of something like a tabletop role-playing game--but by definition everything that goes on in the game is restricted to inside the game and whatever romance you develop is for your characters only, not you. (I can't really imagine how many girl gamers smacked a guy whose character has a relationship with hers so he thought they would be involved in real life too.)
And besides, when you're trying to communicate, do it as yourself and not "GoblinSlayer256" or some other fictional character. If she really wanted to date a half-orc barbarian or a Navy SEAL she probably wouldn't even have looked at you in the first place. (Unless you're actually a half-orc Navy SEAL, in which case I apologize.)
read the bunni comic
GunBound (www.gunbound.net) is a great game and appeals to most people. It doesn't require the hand-eye coordination that first person shooters do, no difficult strategies to work out, and no complex resource management. Its just a fun game. If you want to get your girlfriend playing video games, this a great starter game (later you can perhaps move into the heavier/harder games like Warcraft 3, Call of Duty, or even EverQuest). It is freely available, although most of the site and user manual is in Engrish. Combine GunBound with Roger Wilco or TeamSpeak and I think you've got a winner.
Play XBox while talking on the phone with her. That way she gets to talk, you get to game....
While my suggestion virtually ensures a breakup, I think it'll still last longer than the original idea.
A great game that guys and gals can all enjoy is an XBox exclusive, Top Spin. This is probably one of the best tennis games ever. Graphics are excellent, its an XBox live title, so there is plenty of room for chatter, and its not violent or bloody.
I would suggest YoHoHO Puzzle Pirates.
Its an online game, where you go around as pirates, its all puzzle based. Many girls I know enjoy puzzle based games I (male) also enjoy it.
http://www.puzzlepirates.com/
paul reinheimer
"Special" controllers sold seperately, natch.
Get some boom/headset mics for you and your SO and fire up one of the free voice engines, like TeamSpeak or Roger Wilco for voice chat (in or out of games). I've used TeamSpeak with excellent results while playing Unreal Tournament and other games, as well as just for conversing with distant family members on a semi-regular basis. (Free is good!)
For gaming, you have a chuckwagon full of choices. Unreal Tournament, Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy and Need for Speed: Underground top my recent list of multi-player games for raw fun and enjoyment with minimal commitment level (and I sense a commitment issue from the OP anyway!). Then of course, there's the obligatory mentions of The Sims, Everquest, Age of Mythology and Civilization III (find your own URLs for those), if you're into that kind of gaming (these require a higher commitment level).
If you two are more cerebral in your gaming, go hunt down a board game called Settlers of Catan and its offspring (Seafarers of Catan, et. al.) and play that with some friends next time you two are together. Once you get hooked on the board game -- and you will -- start playing it online. There's a nefarious, somewhat-underground (not after /. gets wind of it!) online client called
Sea3D that works pretty darn well
(Win32 only, sorry -- but if this is a problem, use the
Java client instead), and is terribly enjoyable for raw strategy and board game
fun, although it can sometimes be difficult to get players to join hosted games
(there doesn't seem to be a LARGE community of Sea3D users yet). If you
host your own games and have people you know join in, this is a non-issue.
If you're side-stepping the guy-girl conversation thing, your best bet is probably one of the action games, like Unreal and its similar-engine spawn (anything based off the Quake2 or Quake3 engines). There's usually so much going on in a DeathMatch or Team DeathMatch, there isn't much time for deep chit-chat, but you can both probably come out feeling like you had a onversation.
[Note to Guys: this probably isn't going to lead to a long-term, deep relationship, mind you, but will suffice for temporary distance relationships. Chicks don't generally like games, and especially don't like the KINDS of games we guys like, so YMMV. Board games and strategy type stuff, though, are generally universally enjoyable, which is why I mentioned Catan (this is the original German site).]
Good luck!!
As others have said, there are tools such as TeakSpeak and Roger Wilco that will deal with the voice chat side of things.
But what game to play? I'd suggest A Tale In The Desert. It's nice because it has a very laid-back feel to it - there's no combat, and the emphasis is on long-term co-operation with your friends to further the development of your avatar (the web site, as well as the excellent fansites and wiki explain all this much better than I can).
It runs on Windows and Linux, and doesn't have to run full-screen, so it's great for leaving running in the background so that you can get some work done while your avatar is busy feeding the camels or waiting for papyrus to grow. The chat system is also pretty good, for those of is who don't want to inflict their irritating nasally voices on the rest of the world. :-)
A baseball game, which would also be pretty slow-paced and lend itself to long pauses in play to talk might work, too.
An even better (and cheaper) option might be to get some VOIP software and talk while you both play Bejewelled independently.
I've had a lot of good times with 2 of my ex-gf's on EverQuest. I'm fortunate enough that my current girlfriend already knew EQ before we ever met. YMMV.
si vis pacem, para bellum..."if you wish peace, prepare for war"
It's called There.
My girlfriend and I have to live about 500 miles apart because of work. But, we both enjoy MUSHing, and have kept our relationship going with it, visits when we can, and regular talks on the phone. And MUSHes are, for the most part, free, and tend to encourage social gaming. I'd also suggest A Tale In The Desert, too.
www.fufme.com
When you buy Disney's Toontown, you're buying the Bono Act.
Get TeamSpeak so that you can play any game you want and if she isn't the gaming type you can play any game you want online or off.
That seems to work for me when I travel. Leave the wife & kids at home, play DAOC or Star Wars Galaxies on the laptop and yak away with the kids & wife instead of them having to play something like Counterstrike or another violent game (the kids are 2 and >1, so no) yet still talk to me.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
Get another girlfriend. You'll both be much happier this way.
Dude, women (and many of us men) like to talk for more reasons than just to give our jaws exercise! It's how we humans bond, by learning more about each other. Despite what you may think, you don't learn very much about another person by how they play a game.
I always equivocate. Well, almost always.
URU is a realtime 3d broadband game from the makers of Myst and Riven. Its not a game in which you can die, but it's more about exploration and puzzle solving - which might appeal more to your girlfriend. I remember reading that it supports voice over IP so you could talk with each other. The graphics are supposed to be high quality, but you'll want to check the system requirements (especially the graphics card) before going for it.
I think URU's official site (http://www.urulive.com/) might be down right now, but this site (http://www.drcsite.org/) pertaining to it is open.
A new addition to the Bemani range.
TALK TALK REVOLUTION
My wife used to nag about "all that damn time you spend on the computer" until recently. I heard from a friend about a new game called URU that is like a sequel to Myst and Riven. I don't normally play games and my wife definitely does not...but we bought this and we're actually pretty impressed. It's not a shoot em up, and you pretty much just figure out puzzles and stuff but the graphics are great and the online version is just about ready.
You can play the online game for free right now while they are working out the bugs but the features that may interest you are voice chat (not yet implemented, so currently it's text chatting) and the fact that you can explore with whomever you want. You can create avatars that actually look like you and overall the game seems to have a lot of potential...if you like that kind of game.
2 things to warn you about. You need to play this game on a pretty decent computer with a good video card, and if your girlfriend ends up like my wife...you won't get as much work done anymore! Instead of her constant nagging about just plain being on the computer too much, now it's nagging that I spend too much time working when we should be playing the game together :)
-Pat
I'd have to agree with some of the otheers: Goo'ol knife fight in the gutter beneath cs_masion
These two are free, and socially interactive.
Gunbound: kinda like worms, but, online. There are some lamers, but, overall, it can be fun.
You can find info for gunbound at:
http://www.gunbound.net/
Then, there is fairyland. This is where her and I currently reside. Its a nice free MMORPG.
http://www.fairyland.com.my/
Enjoy.
Supernaut
My longtime girlfriend recently had to move to complete her studies at a University, which is nowhere near where I live.
Okay, so she moved away, far away from you.
Talking on the phone is quickly becoming old, as I'm a typical guy and hate being on the phone longer than 3 minutes, but I try.
She already knew this about you before she moved far,far away.
So I was thinking - I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two?
I know what game she likes -- "The Break-up Game"
So Mr.TypicalGuy, this University that she is attending, is she making new "friends". You wouldn't know because you can only talk for a few minutes and it never comes up. Do you really think she's lonely, if so, what is she going to do about that? Play video games? What are you doing now, pulling on your joystick while she's out discovering her new life,a new life that your not a part of (except for a few minutes on the phone)? Face it, it's over. A video game can't fix what your relationship is lacking (hint - togetherness).She deserves better, let her go.
It's not easy to maintain a relationship like that. It took me years to get the woman I married interested in email. Moving to a different state was tough. All she would do is mail, even though she was a draftsman and her dad maintained a computer with email on it and gave her an account with her ISP. It was very frustrating to read week old letters when we had much faster mailing set up. I put up with it and simply snail mailed her back or phoned if anything was urgent. She did not like that her dad could read her mail and considered my email nagging a drag and a put off. Don't go there with games.
If she was interested in a particular game, that could be a common interest and great. Of course, if that were the case, he would be asking her not Slashdot.
My wife now likes email and IM. She's root on her own machine in her own house and that works for her. We keep up a lively conversation when I go to work. One day, I'm going to find a game that we might like to play together.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Well, as others have said, do make sure she's into this idea. But of course, she may be more interested if you've got some suggestions handy, so...
:)
:)
I find cooperative games are usually the best for couples gaming. Among my friends, RPGs are probably the most popular among the couples (including me and my boyfriend). Neverwinter nights, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Dungeon Siege and plenty of others fit the bill nicely. They're especially good if the two are you aren't evenly matched, since any disparity is less noticeable and less frustrating.
I imagine warcraft would be fun, but it's a steep learning curve. I had a blast playing tower defense and stuff with friends, but I know as a casual player, i can't keep up with them in games that involve more and differing units 'cause I simply don't remember what they all do. Again, co-op is probably best -- certainly fosters more talking than trash talking.
I'll admit it, I've even played a good old text-based MUD with my current boyfriend, and I know a few people who've played those with their significant others. Maybe it's because it's all text, but it seems to foster more conversation than I had playing warcraft. Mind you, it's slow, text-based conversation, but it's still conversation!
Games that pause so you can chat are good. Turn-based games like civ are also good, so you've got time to think, play and talk.
Puzzle games go over well with my female friends, so it might be fun to explore that end of the spectrum. I don't know if you can have networked frozen bubble, but there's got to be some things along those lines.
DDR is a great idea, and as a bonus, works as an aerobic exercise program.
But finally, don't think of this as a way to avoid phone calls, more as a supplement so you can spend more time together. It'll probably just work out better that way.
I beta-tested there.com as well. I think it would probably be a good way for a couple to get together when seperated by real distance. I personally found there.com to be a bit limited in things to do (since I really didn't care for the singles-oriented socializing). It was fun to explore for a while, but there was little for a solo-oriented player to do. Plus, I was rather put off by some of the aspects that looked like a singles bar. However, I suspect it is better when played with a good friend, particularily if you can't get together easily.
ChrisL
Xbox Live Tetris has a mode that's specifically built for this. You can chat with people while a leisurely game goes by. It's not the end-all be-all, but it is pretty fun & relaxed.
Not to mention the VOIP quality is good enough that using it for xbox -> xbox chat instead of a telephone is a viable option. Save on long distance.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
I think the reason he is asking for a GAMe is because he likes to do stuff with her, not just talk. Also, games where you cooperate and/or compete with your prospective wife are a good avenue to learn more about the person and to learn how to better work with that person.
I will presume three criteria in my answer you your questions:
So the answer? System-wise, given the above priorities, go with Xbox and Xbox live. No hassles at all. I got my brother one for Christmas last year so we could compete together. Game-wise, there are some fantasy-world roleplaying games coming for XBL (True Fantasy Live). She might liked more thoughtful and fun games than the usual shoot-em-ups, so some alternatives that are out now are Links 2004 (golf), Magic: The gathering - battlegrounds, Amped 2, or DDR Ultramix. Of course, women *can* come to enjoy Halo 2 or Ghost Recon.
I spend a lot of hours video gaming w/ my girlie. Fortunately for me, being raised with a geeky brother was a good influence on her. :)
While it would be inappropriate to make sweeping genrealizations about girl vs boy gaming, my girlie at least prefers cooperative vs competitive gaming. She doesn't really like military-themed stuff as much (although I did eventually get her roped into Halo).
Her favorite games are ones like Gauntlet, Baldur's Gate, Dungeons and Dragons Heros or puzzle games (I just forgot the name -- but the one where you shoot rows of bubbles)...
I know this doesn't address the communication aspect (we sit next to each other when we play).. but perhaps you should give more thought to the subject material/theme of the game...
Evolution: love it or leave it
I haven't read the whole thread so, I don't know if anyone has suggested this, yet.
:O ) is probably one of the best chick games out there...maybe because 60% of the players are women!!
SIMS or (Sims?
It's a very "social" game...you get to live out in fantasy world and create yourself as you like and where you like.
If you think YOU'll be able to handle it then go for it, I am pretty sure she'll like it.
If you love someone, set them free... If she comes back in four years, then you should be able to take up again where you left off. Otherwise you're just torturing eachother.
Most of my female friends if you suggested they play tennis or golf games, they'd just as rather whack you over the head with a racket or club. Girls can be just as bloodthirsty in gaming as guys, and it really does boil down to personal preference. Tetris is great from time to time, but it gets old. MMORPGs can be good (I'm eagerly awaiting the release of World of Warcraft so my bf and I can play, and yes we signed up for the beta). I'm not as rabid a gamer as he, I'd rather just spend my computer time sometimes working on my personal programming/networking projects. But I adore the exploratory aspects of MMORPGs and games such as Morrowind (wide expansive landscapes), some killing or even a lot (I have a few female friends who are rapid GTAers, me, I do "GTA: Morrowind" at times to alleviate stress, working on my goal of strategically eradicating the 3k+ named NPCs in the game), and some people prefer to focus on the RP aspects of MMORPGs. Everyone looks for different things in a game, both guys and girls, and I think the guy who originally asked the question should probably get to know his girl better and her preferences and maybe suggest games she could play to occupy some of the time he won't be around. Not try to get her to play just to say they are doing something "together" and "communicating." Girls are people too, k?
It's too late, I am sure she will just find someone else to sleep with since you can't be bothered to talk more than 180 seconds on the phone with her.
She will be getting laid so I don't think she will be wanting to play a game with you...
I Cannot Find A Date To Save My Life!
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Speaking as a computer geek, and a geek who has had girlfriends, I find it strange that a guy wouldn't want to talk to his girlfriend on the phone for more than 3 minutes. Sure, after working helpdesk a bit, you might learn to hate the phone, but surely they want to share news with her? The writer does have things to talk about other than his Ultrakill in UT, or conquest in Diablo II?
Perhaps he need to look at my new Dating Guide I wrote yesterday. I think it might become an eBay best seller [for me anyway].
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
www.there.com
it is the perfect solution,
its part game, part chat,
check it out, i think it is exactly what
you are looking for
I like games, she likes to talk, why not combine the two?
Whenever my gf calls to talk, I load up counter strike and turn off the volume. It's a great combination that gets me through the whole conversation.
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
Here in my dorm there is a girl who does diablo2 every week with her dad over the internet since she can't go home to visit. Headset an all, its appears to be a nice way to bond.
~Eric
Unfortunatly the problem with most games and voice chat programs (like listed in parent) is their quality - they're generally designed to have a minimal impact on your network... but that means audio quality suffers. Assuming you aren't playing something network or lag sensitive (like a shooter), one program you might want to check out is the old Battlecom system. Its defunct now, unfortunatly (Micro$oft bought out ShadowFactor and turned Battlecom into GameVoice or whatever their crap is called), but you can still get the latest version for free from the above link. The great thing about BattleCom though, is that it supports multiple compression algorithms, some of which are VERY good quality. Almost like using the phone. Of course, they're harder on your connection (broadband is probably a good idea), but they're a lot better quality than your typical CS-mumble. Which, by the way, BattleCom supports too (Alpha compression is horrible, but its kind of funny to talk like robots with it). Just as a little disclaimer, i'd like to note that some people have had issues with BattleCom in the past. Personally, it's always worked flawlessly for me, but just so you know, YMMV. Oh, and no Linux support that I know of either. But if you're into gaming, chances are you have a Win32 partition somewhere anyways.
:)
Anywho, it might be worth checking out for a voice chat system. Your girlfriend probably wants to hear your voice - not some poorly compressed imitation. Just a potential solution to keep her happy.
me: "check this out - not that it'll work"
her: "yeah.. 'she calls me and I get to shoot her'"
I've been together with my girlfriend for 3 years, all the time a long-distance relationship... For the past two years we've been keeping the relationship interesting by playing RO and having something else to do besides chatting and such.
The game's relaxing and really much fun when you're together - it's also easy going and a lot of chicks love it. You meet people and so-forth. Highly recommended.
Nothing says love like deagling your wife's dome from across the map. Women dig 1337 5k1llz.
That said, if she is successfully pwning you, be a friggin good sport about it and don't whine... and for the love of God, don't hack; be man enough to eschew the aimbots and wallhacks, and take your lumps.
Besides, can you imagine the hell you're in for if she catches you using any of those hacks?
*/me shivers at the thought*
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
1. its a rare female that will hang around long distance for very long.
;-)
2. Stay away from the game idea, and drive your butt over to her often, before she gets bored.
3. Remember - females like for men to listen, understand, and laugh when appropriate. If you follow this principle, #2 can be rewarding
Is the juice worth the sqeeze?
Invest in webcams.
My girlfriend lives a bit under 2 hours from me. We see each other on weekends and sometimes during the week, but not as often as we'd like.
I was always getting in trouble by misinterpreting things said on IM, so I got us two webcams for Christmas. The visual interaction beats anything you'll get in an online game.
Now, if I can just figure out how to best conform to Valentine's day....
paintball
A year ago I introduced my girlfriend to Command and Conquer Generals. Since then it's been the only game she plays (yes, besides Tetris). Occasionally she brings her computer over and we LAN. We have yet to try playing together online, but it's on our to-do list. She's not at all interested in First-person Shooters, but she likes Generals because you have to think and it's like a big puzzle. Additionally, if you do want a good multiplayer Tetris, I suggest Tetrinet. It is very customizable, fun, and easy to use.
Nike. Just jew it.
Actually, although I'm really impressed with how well TeamSpeak works (still a beta, after all!), I can see where it creates as many hassles as extra fun/enjoyment.
My wife is a big Shadowbane addict, and the "clan" she's in insists on everyone using Teamspeak at all times - because it's their "secret weapon" to defeat the enemies. (It's much faster to call out targets and warn people someone is sneaking up on them, than to try to type all of that to each other while playing.)
Problem is, it creates lots of extra stress. Instead of just enjoying the game, you've constantly got people barking out orders at you over your PC's speakers (or headset), and multiple people are demanding things faster than you can respond. (Summon me, now!! Hey, can I get a summon here!? Guys, I tried to tell you - I'll do it as soon as my spell becomes available again! Huh, what was that? Someone else was talking over you... can you hurry up and summon me!!)
Bleah... no thanks.
In addition to other modes of communication, playing a game together would really help create that shared experience, but do not think that you can REPLACE the phone conversations. I would suggest that if she is not a gamer, you should find a long list of different types of games to suggest. There are sites for board games to be played online too if she's not keen on FPS or RPG styles.
I hope you're not pretending to be evil while secretly being good. That would be dishonest.
Final Fantasy 11 is a GREAT game to play with your GF. It's got it all. Fun, simple game play, that can become quite complex if you want it to be. Very interactive with other real people who play. You can also have fun interacting with the NPCs (non-player characters) to do various quests. It has plenty of trade-skills (making your own armor, food, weapons, etc). And it looks GREAT. Some of the monsters you fight are actually pretty cute, and women love it.
Best thing about the game is that you can play together or seperately. Your characters can assume multiple "jobs", some of which you can work on together, and others seperately.
Concentrate on your relationship. I had a long time GF and had to go to school, it destroyed our relationship. We lasted about a year before it was just too much to deal with. The last thing you should be thinking about is video games.
Good luck and forget games!
More importantly if she leaves you, does she get 1/2 of your online house and your pet wolf?
Popcap's http://popcap.com Psychobabble is fun and has a built in chat.
Try There. It's a 3D world you can explore, play games, and especially chat. It even has voice chat.
www.there.com
Use ventrilo. www.ventrilo.com
it's free, small, fast and easy to set up.
[Girlfriend] ...^so, this guy was totally over her, so i went to...
[Geek] Shut tha' fucka'.. i'm trying to frag this bastards!
Girlfriend is now offline.
Actually... I once had a girlfriend that used to get on games that I played online so she could talk to me.
Needless to say that relationship didn't last very long
different area codes mean it doesn't count...
I started my wife on CS a few weeks ago by taking her to a LAN party. She is hooked ! She now plays at least four evenings a week and it is me who can't keep up with her and suggests that maybe there are better things to be done. Good thing that our nine months old daughter cries from time to time to remind her that she is hungry/dirty and makes sure that she does not play all the time...
CS is the only multiplayer game I successfuly got her interested in. She likes adventure games, I hate them; I love operational art but she does not want ot concentrate on learning military hardware and tactics. So a RTS is a good middle ground, and the short rounds make it much less frustrating for a beginner. She had never played a RTS before, and CS team play made her learn incredibly fast. The social side of LAN parties was a big win too, and no doubt that with a wife and our baby at the party we were an attraction.
But the best thing about playing CS is that whenever a conjugal argument gets too boring we can square it off weapons in hand and defuse the situation !Our family plays Ultima Online. Only Mom doesn't play. She will hardly touch the computer. She does watch us occasionally.
Ages and genders: 60M, 22M, 19F, 30M, 28F, 34M...
There's more but you get the idea. We all started shortly after UO beta'ed. You can play while on the phone if you have one of those unlimited weekend kind of packages. We have played with headsets but it didn't persist. Maybe with the newer packages it would. I was on just this morning redoing a house with my son. He's 500 miles from me but we cooperated online like we were sitting side by side.
Here are some advantages of this game. It is a persistent world in which you can build or buy a presence. You can have a house, do house furnishing and related artsy, fartsy stuff that the more creative and less aggressive find fun. You can be a crafter and eschew violence and combat or you can chew on your competitors and do combat and participate in all out wars if you like. You can treasure hunt. Go team or go solo for your adventures. You can set up a store and sell if you feel there's an unrequited commercial side to your personality.
Drawbacks are that you have to ante up between $10 and $15 a month per account. People that want to be online together must have their own account. Our accounts have varied from a low of 2 when we started years ago to a high of 7. We are back at 7 accounts. You have to be ok with a game view in which you looking down on the landscape from a viewpoint above. If you are interested in player vs. player combat, you better have a pretty fast machine or you won't stand a chance. A fast connection is a definite plus but not as important as a fast computer.
You can buy UO at Best Buy or whatever and build your accounts from scratch or you can buy them on eBay and forgo the building. You do have to get the client software somewhere. There are player run shards (UO worlds) that are free but I don't know much about them.
We really have a lot of laughs when we are all on together.
Me and my wife have recentley started playing Puzzle Pirates And have been loving every minute of it. If you give it a try send me a /tell in the game and say hi, my username is fabel.
what a dork
if your longtime girlfriend "had to move away" from you, chances are she isn't really interested in pursuing a relationship with your loser cant talk on the phone for more than three minutes ass
.. maybe her and her new boyfriend can play it when they're done screwing
yeah, buy her a x-box
fool
Umm, why are you selling a document and charging shipping? If you really want to charge for it (and for something you did in 20 minutes, you shouldn't) you should at least email it to the "winner". Auction? For something that has infinite quantity? That doesn't make sense to me.
Just post the bugger on your website. Selling 20 minutes worth of writing is a joke.
My other car is first.
BAH! Get a geographically convienient girlfriend.
j/k
I think this is actually a creative way to deal with the long distance relationship thing.
"Politicians find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the people."
If you have an xbox and xbox live, you should check out project gotham 2. It is non violent and casual to play. Its a nice game to chat in.
Wireless headset telephone allows you to talk while you do other things. You just have to get over the idea that you're not showing a lack of respect when you're on the phone and folding laundry at the same time. On the contrary, it's exactly the sort of thing you'd do in person.
If you opt to play online games, look for games which are cooperative in nature rather than competitive. My wife and I would play Warcraft and see how many computer players the two of us our team could kill.
Best of wishes. This sort of thing tends to either make or break a relationship. Do go out of your way to see each other in person as often as possible.
for a classic game, Tetris worlds for Xbox fits the bill. It's a Live! game and "girls" play tetris all the time. It's one of the few times I can get my wife to play games too. The the other is Monopoly, but it's not Live! enabled AFAIK.
Post: Sigged, for your pleasure.
And your situation is anomalous, if not patently false. Females are not as bloodthirsty as males in online or elsewhere; this isn't a sexist observation, it's a physiological one. (Unless your bloodthirstiness as unrelated to physical response, in which case I would urge you to submit yourself to law enforcement authorities as you are most likely a serial killer.)
Girls are people too, but they aren't guys.
What ever you do, DON'T send her an XBox! That will just attract guys to her dorm! It would get you off the "talking-hook", but it will eventually rob you of all other "benefits" of having a girlfriend. ;-)
This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
You fucking loser. Learn some social interaction...
works with pretty much any game.
Anyway, the point is, things were great until we had to actually spend time together. We were fine in cyberspace, or just virtually for that matter. But once we spent time together for more than a week at a time the dynamics changed, and we found we had less going for us than we expected.
So, my second point is, don't substitute a virtual relationship for a real one. It makes a huge difference dating a person in town where geography allows for more frequent visits.
My final point is, don't take things too seriously until you spend a significant time together. Cyber/LDR relationships can give a fals sense of well-being.
Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform
Yeah it's old, but where I've played, theres about as much chatting as there is playing. Girls seem to like it since they can be an Engineer or Medic and not be a mainly fighting class. And it has headset support.
My blog can kick your blog's ass
Planetside is the massively multiplayer 1st person shooter from Sony. I've stopped playing it now, but I played for about 6 months when it first came out. There are a number of people who play with their significant others - and it's ideal to do so because of the cooperative team based nature of the game.
There are many 2+ person vehicles - bombers and tanks in particular always benefit from having a pair that works closely together. Covering each other's backs on the battlefield is also really fun, and if you progress through the ranks together that should make for a great gaming experience since you don't have to worry about relying on other players.
It works with TeamSpeak, etc, but also has a built in voice comms (create a squad and you can talk to each other). The drawbacks are steep hardware requirements, a monthly fee - that it's a complex game to get into - and that the server population will probably implode when Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 come out.
Can I use FuckU-FuckMe for anal or oral sex?
Certainly! But be sure to set the preferences to oral/anal for best results. Ensure first that these acts are legal in your state. We cannot be held responsible for the legal consequences of extracoital use.
www.ragnarokonline.com
there are a lot of couples who play this game.
its a mmorpg and is a ton of fun.
-green is the color of the rainbow
When you can't use "you're" and "your" correctly.
iSketch... it's like online Pictionary. It's fun, easy to learn, and doesn't involve direct competition (which can be a plus sometimes).
Back off dude. If we stick together they'll never know the difference.
You can't deliver most items on eBay, over electronic means, and stay within the rules. Selling self written material, which is mailed, is well within the rules though.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
I thought you had to be single to play online games.
In my opinion, if you and your girlfriend are not "dating" on a regular basis, then, you are not girlfriend/boyfriend anymore, you are just emotional black-mailers.
Grow up and move on.
3 minutes is probably exaggeration.
Some girls want to talk for something like 3 hours, and 95% about themselves and things that interest them. And get upset if you ever say that you have something else to do; even worse if you say that you feel it is enough for the day.
There are probably guys like this, too, but out of the people I know, all of the hypertalkative ones are girls.
The big question is - how much should you be willing to compromise in order to not be alone?
I believe online games (like EQ) breakup most marriages. If you want the relationship, I would steer clear of online games. It won't be the answer.
I think the Digital Space Traveler Community will solve your problems.
First go here and download Traveler 2.03
http://www.digitalspace.com/traveler/
Then install.
Then go here http://www.faaast-eddie.com/
Click on one of the server links in let window.
Then click on a room link.
Traveler is a 3D Virtual Reality Chat Client Where you float around rooms as an animated avatar that lip syncs to your voice. It has full realtime spatial audio and once there you will never want to leave.
While it's not a game in itself many Travelers play games while in Traveler Worlds.
The software is older VRML 1.0 yet there hasn't been a better program since Traveler came on the scene.
I have been Traveling since 1997 and still love it. Hope to see you there.
P.S. I hang out on the server named "Ozgate"
- A Frog in a pond utters an azure cry. -
I would suggest using a VoIP software such as Ventrilo (www.ventrilo.com) or similar. The software can be used with a headset or speaker/mike combo or whatever, in or out of any game you like. That way you can communicate while playing the same game or speak to eachother out of game over IP just like in a phone conversation.
The really nifty thing about this is that she can talk to you while you are playing your favourite game! That's what you REALLY wanted, wasn't it ("I like games, she likes to talk")? You can keep a "conversation" with her ("Uhuh. Yes dear. Uhuh. Yes dear.") while fragging like a mad man.
I set up a Ventrilo server myself at home to be able to talk to my GF while playing games (I play Counter-Strike, she plays Civ3). But since we're sitting 5 feet from eachother we tend not to use the thing.
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
Well generally anyway. While I could never imagine my wife playing a game like Everquest she did play The Sims for a few months. However, even while dating she loved Mario Kart. The nice thing about Mario Kart is you can play with 4 people and even hook up multiple GCs to play up to 16 across multiple televisions. This is great at parties and the game becomes a tool for conversation and to get people talking and having a good time. My wife may be an exception in that she beat the latest Zelda faster than me, but I would not suggest playing an online game with my wife. Isn't the whole idea of having a signifigant other to get off the PC/Couch and have a life? However, when/if you get married the Tivo will save your relastionship, but being married is a much different problem.
(n/t)
My friends and I play CounterStrike pretty regularly; using headsets we've been known to carry on lengthy discussions as we go around killing each other. I'll have to agree that giving your girlfriend a copy of CounterStrike, and a headset, might not be the most romantic thing, though. (Although my friend got his girlfriend a copy, and she's gotten pretty good.)
Anyway, we eventually got sick of the poor sound quality in game, as well as the fact that you can only talk to your own team, and only while you're alive. We ended up using Ventrilo, a nifty little voice chat program. (Although you'll need to find a server capable of running the server.) Ventrilo will let you bind a key to the 'transmit' feature; it's great for in-game talk, but it's also a great all-around chat program. I've spent hours sitting at my computer working, and chatting (voice) with friends. I hate talking on telephones even more -- you could even say I have a paranoia of them -- but I love Ventrilo. And unlike the phone, you're not paying by the minute, so you have no motivation to want to talk unceasingly and hang up the second you don't have anything to say.
Not quite a game, though. Although I think Yahoo has a ton of web-based games, don't they?
________________________________________________
suwain_2
Of course you have to ask her how she feels about the whole idea. But, assuming she's interested in trying it, I wouldn't rule out any games. FPS's aren't my cup of tea ONLY because I haven't taken the time to learn how to play them and play well. I enjoy too many other games (from MUD's to multiplayer games to board/card games) already and don't have time to devote to those. I don't need another addiction! Seriously, I would love it if my bf played online games but, alas, he doesn't have the foggiest idea about them, much less any interest (and he's been a programmer since the first TRS's came out!). As far as what type of game, any of them can be fun--you don't know until you try. If she's unsure, probably something pretty tame like card or board games would be a good place to start--especially if she has to learn all the how-to's on her own. If she's interested in something more complex, I highly recommend some in-person assistance in learning the ropes to start. Otherwise it's pretty overwhelming for anybody who's never gamed. Chances for the relationship? As long as this is just another dimension of your long-distance relationship, I'd say it's got as good or better chance of making it as any other LDR.
Haven't read the rest of the responses yet, so this may be a bit redundant, but if you want to play and chat with your girlfriend when she's far away, get into an MMOG. Doesn't really matter which one, as long as you both like it... EQ, SWG, DAOC, heck, even AO isn't so bad these days. Then you can use Roger Wilco or something similar to talk together. You may want to have two separate characters, one that you play on your own when you're not both on and one that you play only alongside hers.
But, seriously, if you're thinking about getting into a game as a socialization thing, make sure it's a game that is built for socialization. My husband and I have had all sorts of happy hours playing EQ, SWG, even E&B together (before EA's ridiculous policy of expiring your subscription two days early left me with no desire to ever give them money again).
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
I don't get the metrosexual stuff either. A lot of the stuff that they are co-opting (being well groomed, well-dressed, etc) is what gentlemen are supposed to be anyway.
Simple really.
Some guys find it boring to be straight white anglo males. Lets face it, you might be sitting on the apex of the social advantage pyramid, but culturally you're group is the probably the dullest ethnicity the species has ever produced. People at the bottom of the social respect pile have to work harder. Culturally speaking, they're overacheivers. Think about it: no blacks would mean no jazz, no rap, no blues (and therefore no rock). When the general population notices what's going on in the group culturally, it raises the status of the group, at least among the smarter people. Think about the white guys you may have known who affected black music and styles of speaking and dressing. Same thing really. Usually its some of the brighter kids who take this path of reinventing themselves.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
i recently moved back to scotland leaving my new wife in california, i got her an xbox live account to save on international calls, works great, in large part because you don't actually need a game to use the live! chat function, you can do it right from the dashboard. now if someone could bring out something like the eyetoy for the ps2 on the xbox and integrate it and give me a damn videophone that would be a useful peripheral.
My finacee and I play Star Wars Galaxies http://www.lucasarts.com/products/galaxies/ together. Your girlfriend may like it since there are a lot of things girls may like to do...like be a tailor, dancer, musician, creature handler etc. It's very social. It does not have headset support, however our guild uses teamspeak www.teamspeak.org with headsets along with the game. Good luck!
CS rules, and i've been known to get multiple headshots per game. games don't replace conversation, but they are/can be a definite fun time, and if this couple is looking to connect, there're various ways of connecting that don't have to focus on heart-to-heart (which i agree wouldn't work out in an FPS).
My wife likes Whacked! and it's XBL enabled.
Tetris is also one she likes to play.
Ok, I can see where you are comming from this one, but you also need to ask yourself - does she like to play games. /at/ all?
However, have you given any thought to MMORPGs like
Ultima Online, EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, Anarchy Online, Final Fantasy?
all these games are great 'social' games (more so then counterstrike), where your able to talk with other people and spend time with them building up characters and a bond.
Pick two complemntary classess, ie, in EQ a Shaman and a Beastlord, or a Warrior and a Cleric, or in DAoC, a healer and a tank, and you two can play together and not need much outside assistance.
Invest in a phone headset - that way you can still play games while "talking" to your girlfriend (i.e. listening, with appropriate ACK and keep-alive signals inserted where necessary. ;-)
this one might suit the purpose...
Or not.
Unless your GF is a real gamer, my guess is that she'll probably play along until she wants some close, social talk. Then the game wont suffice.
Unless its a game that is centered on the social aspects instead of missions. There are a couple that I am aware of that are like that: Sims Online, Secondlife (and your AVs can get really naked too)...
Maybe something like that would be a good compromise and get things going abit
The game "There" made by There, Inc. is catered to teenage girls and families i beleive. this might be good
I have a friend who plats atitd with her 13 yr old and can't get him to understand why she finds them getting married a bit too wierd ....
A very good game/chat would be There (http://www.there.com/). It is a 3D graphical world where you are represented by an avatar. It is mostly chat, but you can play games like paintball, go buggying and hoverboarding, set up your own house, etc. I first tried it and now my wife is hooked on it. I don't go in much, but she is in it all the time. You can talk by typing in text bubbles or use voice. It requires a pretty good graphics card and a fairly current PC. It also requires Win2K or WinXP. All of the servers are running Linux, but the client is only for Windows.
"Care about people's opinions and you will be their prisoner." ~~Tao Te Ching~~
Puzzel Pirates
when you'd rather FRAG then SHAG ... :)
You can turn any online game into an audio game with Roger Wilco, Visio, or any number of online audio chatting softwares.
Read my short stories - You won't regret it.
That's what we have, but with one problem... We haven't been able to find software that will work through her NAT. Right now we just use it for voice to save on the phone bills.
Does anyone know a video chat program that should automatically work with a NAT? And no, I don't have access to her router.
That way you will still feel the misery of having a girlfriend and she will still love you.
The universe will be in balance.
My GF and I love killing demons .. she named her (female) asassain (myname's)slave... :-) I named mine after a stripper we both enjoy visiting... sigh.. good times...
Good luck
I'll bet she likes playing games as much as you like being on the phone. Why not just get a headset for your phone so you can be doing just about anything while you are talking to her, and she doesn't have to try her hand at battling trolls and like just to have a conversation with you?
I saw a few comments about MMORG's but not as many as I expected. When I was still at UNI I was a big everquest player (my girlfreind at the time got me interested) and I was impresed at how many couples[1] played. While it's ok to play by yourself the whole point is to play as a group. That's why the have guilds etc. But playing as a couple means you can have a healer/wizard and a tank. Most MMORG are mainly chatting anyway so they are fairly social.
:-) Most of the time you a sitting down and healing or using the automatic attack features. Every couple of hours you have a big boss and everyone comes in to help kill it and then you run back to town and finish the quest.
;-) )
A standard game in everquest is like the following:
Run to some location fighting on the way then sit and fight monsters at a single location for 2 hours
The other advantage is you don't have to be chatting to each other all the timeas you make other friends all over the world. My Brother new people from about 10 different countries and it was really interesting seeing what limes they logged on (or when they were logged on
Apart from chatting and making new friends you also have made memories together. Eg. Remmember when we spent 3 hours camping the "Red Stripped Gnome" and then when he spawned some one tried to steal the kill but we all backed off and it killed him. By the way did we every finish that quest?
Just realise you may never see her again if she gets really into the game.
Here's a suggestion...
Dump her and get a new girlfriend; long distance relationships never work out.
Seriously, though, do you guys meet a lot or something? I can't see how this would work.
... is an oxymoron.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
I enjoy FPS, but my wife doesn't. However we do play Shadowbane together. It doesn't have native headset support, but you can still run Teamspeak.
Problem with games with native headset/voice support is your talk is going to be shared with EVERYBODY on at least your team.
I am sorry, I don't want to hear you going all lovey-dovey on the mic.
Yarrr!
This is a great online game that is quite addictive. Basically its a bunch of different puzzle games, but you use puzzles to sail ships, fight swordfights, and distill beer. I play a lot of FPS games and online role-playing games and never thought to be addicted to this.
The Puzzle Pirates community is a great bunch of people too. I've met a few new friends out there. Its java based, so you can play it in Windows, Linux, the Mac, and whatever else out there can use java.
http://www.puzzlepirates.com
Take a gander!
Play team games of Starcraft over battle.net. Use Skype for Voice. I've had tons of fun doing this with friends, and there is a lot of waiting for things to build and the like, which provides for time for conversation. It may be old school, but its good. I guess you could subistitue WCIII or any other newer RTS...the nice thing about SC is there are still a lot of people playing it on battle.net and it has very low system requirements.
SPAM
What is the girl's PC specs? I'd try this with my girl, but her PC could probably only handle Doom or Quake. Blah. It's cool though, we talk in person so beat that, Doom!
I play E-Scrabble with friends that I don't live near anymore. I play at e-scrabble.com since it's not "real-time". It has a chat box, and while it works fine for someone you talk to a lot, it's REALLY good for folks who you wouldn't talk to every day anyway. I actually use it to keep in touch with my now-married ex-girlfriend. We used to talk maybe once a month, now we can stay in touch every day, in a "low emotional investment" sort of a way.
I actually used to play UT and Unreal with a girlfriend to keep in touch being that you can find many different maps that give a kind of surreal feeling like you are going together on an adventurer into a huge virtual world one good example of a map we used to run around and chat on was Nyleve Falls in Unreal...anyways that's my two cents... :-)
Several people suggested getting webcams setup. It's thoughtful, and it'll make her feel good, which is what you should be concerned about. If she's not happy, you won't be happy.
Any PC game will work even without voice support. Just get Teamspeak and start a server for just you and her.
I use phrases like "darn good" and "rootin' tootin'", but only when there's a darn good, rootin tootin' reason!
Not entirely kosher perhaps, but you could get zSNES or Nesticle or some emulator that supports Netplay and chat and play such classics as Bomberman and Mario Kart. If she's at all familar with console games, getting a PC control pad or an USB adaptor for a console one would put her right at home.
My gf is not gamer but she plays casually, and she took a crazy shine to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. So much so that she was playing it more than me (not for lack of interest on my part). She probably would have beaten before me, but lost access to her game, while I was able to beat the game during Christmas break.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
I know a lot of married couples that play Everquest together. You can pick classes that complement eachother and hang out by yourself leisurely, and then just use something like teamspeak to talk instead of type.
The good thing about this particular game is that there are so many different character paths available. In my experience it's not so much games that women don't like, as it is combat/violence. It's entirely possible to play a totally trade/crafting based character in UO who doesn't need to engage in any conflict whatsoever. There are also at least three different forms of in game communication, as well as the ability to leave text messages in the form of virtual books for each other.
If teledildonics/cybersex are what you're looking for, then UO might not be the best avenue, but if you want text-based communication with what can be genuinely memorable shared experiences, it's perfect. I've been playing the game for around six months myself now, and consider it to be some of the most enjoyable gaming-related time I've spent...Britannia really is a wonderful place. :)
If you do decide to check out the game, come and have a look sometime for my character, Petrus Laredes, who you can often find hanging around the Haven bank on the Lake Superior server. I'll be more than happy to show you and your girlfriend around.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Women have been finetuned through evolution to notice these kind of things. You just keep "ack"ing "yes," "uh huh," "good idea," and she will throw out (very subtly) "you think i'm a dirty slut, don't you?"
"Uh huh". -- end of relationship
When my wife and I were still dating (but she lived in Houston and I was in Annapolis), we played Dungeon Keeper 2. It was humorous RTS-like game that was just fun, but not overly masculine (r.e. militant). I would stay away from first person shooters . . Pick something that is fun whether you win or lose.
If you can't stand to talk to your girlfriend for more than three minutes, perhaps you should re-think your relationship, no?
Yeah try SecondLife. Lots of females play it, no fighting really, its all social and building/making stuff. A good non war game for both male and females.
Shit! It looks like I just found the missing step!
Charming 2D MMO that doesn't become a time sink so she can also study and move back eventually.It has lots of challenges but is very individual and fits very well with Skype. Not graphics intensive and not a bandwidth hog, lots of roleplay fun.
She's cheating on you.
She moved to a different city.
She's apparently not interested in talking, emailing or chatting which offer near-realtime interaction.
She'd rather write letters which are harder to get "caught out" with through a slip of the tongue (as it were) than actually deal with you.
Try this for giggles:
Get in the car, and turn up to her new place unexpectedly.
Watch her reaction - is it "Cool! My BF is here!" or is it "Oh Shit! What are you doing here?"
I'll bet she hasn't even told her new friends she has a boyfriend.
It's been a "longtime" relationship, and I'd say this is the excuse to leave that she's been looking for.
It's over, man. Let her go.
/still bitter
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
PSO for XBOX (LIVE game)fits your requirement perfectly. It is the only online action/RPG, mainly a co-operative game, and liked by a lot of women.
The action part provides immediate fun for a team of up to 4 at a time.(you don't run for 3 km to find baddies to whack, you instantly go back to town for quick restore and then immediately back to where you left the field)
The RPG part lets you evolve your char and customize it following your likes.
Or you can just wander in the lobbies for a good chat.
PSO is where I met a lot of girls, women, wives, mothers at home. Though it takes a while to discover who is who, as guys tend to be jerks especially online girls don't say anything about their gender before a rather lengthy time has passed playing with you.
Uru Live! http://www.urulive.com/
Few more months time they should have voice chat back up again (had it in the original beta). Live should be going and walla! You have a great game environment that she'll love and you can poke at with your friends.
AND! You can have that wonderful vertical s3x everyone is talking about.
As early as Pong, the gender distribution was about 50-50. And there were always games which attracted a ton of women, culminating with The Sims. (We're talking people who registered an off-line game, not people pretending to be women in an on-line game or IRC/chat-room. Just so noone jumps in with that stupidity again.)
The problem is that, at some point, the guys _making_ or _publishing_ games were happy to catter only to 16 year old males. Or males which remained at the 16 year old mental stage. Offending more than half the market in the process. (I.e., not only women, but also males who are past the "awesome! tits!" point of judging gameplay.)
The circular logic and self-fulfilling prophecy that "chicks don't like games" turned a 50-50 market, into a market filled with games which are actually _supposed_ to offend a lot of female gamers.
For starters whenever corners had to be cut in a game to meet the budget, it was almost invariably cutting off female avatars, quests which might have been more interesting to females, etc.
E.g., although there's nothing to say that _only_ a male can save the world, about 75% of the RPGs out there don't even offer a choice to play as a female. Or if they do, they have maybe 1 or 2 races which have female models at all.
Then comes the sexist part. Since we all "know" that "chicks don't play games", it was ok for women to star in games only as erotic incentive for the male player.
I'm not only talking about huge breasts, skimpy outfits, and "armours" that only cover the crotch and nipples. Nor even about the fact that female models usually get seductive moans when hit or when jumping.
I'm talking the fundamental role they're given there. Invariably the best female role is the male hero's love interest. Which also means having to be rescued at least once. And being grateful to the Man ever after.
They also typically get severely shafted stats.
And they often get to use some utterly ridiculous weapon, like brooms, laddles and frying pans. (E.g., Leena from Chrono Cross, or Linear from Evolution.) Or to have some insulting animations. (E.g., in Legend of Dragoon, you can see your Wingly party member invariably falling and hitting her head when she does a combination attack.)
So here's a thought for you. Have you played Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast? Well, try it sometime. They have this male character which fights in a BDSM harness, with the leather pants cut behind to reveal his ass. Well, that's as close as it gets to how most games have been dressing women.
Now imagine a world where most games dressed men in that kind of an outfit. And gave you some broom or laddle as a weapon. (Sorry, you're not the right gender to get a sword in this world.) Would _you_ want to play those games?
And maybe in that world _you_ would be the one who prefers a board game, since it mercifully doesn't give you an avatar at all?
Just food for thought.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
If it were me, I would have to go with a GameCube. Even though it has few games with native online support (I think just PSO), there are games with LAN support you can play over the Internet using Warp Pipe. MarioKart, which my girlfriend loves, is one of them. Super Monkey Ball 3, another game series my girlfriend loves, will have LAN support when it comes out. Lately we have been playing Baulder's Gate: Dark Alliance II on the PS2, which does not have LAN support, but since she likes it, maybe she would like PSO. I am not familiar with PS2 or X-Box online gaming, other that knowing that they both have headsets, which may or may not be what you want. Actually, if you liked GoldenEye 007, then TimeSplitters 2 is the next best thing, but it only has LAN support on the PS2 and X-Box. Hopefully TS3 will have LAN support on the GC too.
Hmmm...I thought this was done years ago... Its called adultfriendfinder.com
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
I finished it a while ago, but my wife has played through the first couple of levels with every character. Oddly (at least from my standpoint), she tends to stop there, and she's never actually finished the third act. Shopping in the game is also one of her favorite activities. Not in real life, mind you, just in the game.
The key, at least for her, is to keep the UI very simple. Once you start getting into strafing, she tunes out. In console land, I try to avoid exposing her to stuff with big, nasty combos (direct quote: "square - circle- R2 - screw this")
Lately, we've been playing more PS2 stuff, including ROTK (superb, but getting a little too twitchy for her in the later levels, I think), and Baldur's gate II.
ceci n'est pas un sig.
http://www.teamspeak.org/
This sounded interesting, so I went to go have a look at it.. god damn, but I wouldn't allow anything like that anywhere near my servers.
Read the documentation, they say "for security, create a new user to run the software under" then reccomend that you chown all of the files to the new user...
Boy, there's a great way to ensure that you get backdoors on your system.
Daemon binaries should never be owned by the uid they run as, because if there is a compromise, the attacker gets to overwrite the binary with their own code - so that when the binary is re-run (say at system startup), the attacker's code is run.
Daemons binaries should be owned by root, and run as a separate user.
My Friend ran off 3 hours away to school,
I bought 2 $10 microphones, Set up Roger Wilco (Free Voice Chat) , and then Bought two copies of NeverWinterNights (cheap now $30) We set up a private Online Roleplaying game, and have been working on getting through the pre-packaged adventure together. It's a fun cooperative little experience. Course, above all games she loves C&C Generals.
As I'm fond of saying, anything involving more than 3 people is a MEETING. In the same vein, if you try to talk to more than 2 other people (3 at the outside) while gaming, you end up concentrating on the MEETING part of the conversation, rather than enjoying the gaming experience.
We usually try to keep the voice chatter to 1 or 2 other people, which, as the parent mentions, is really keen for ganging up on someone (in Unreal DeathMatch, for example) without them knowing it. :)
Besides, how many people really enjoy MEETINGS??
"
/. all day.
The big question is - how much should you be willing to compromise in order to not be alone?
"
That is the big question isn't it? Some people it means taking up smoking or other drugs, while others it means going to parties when they are introverts, and yet others it means leaving their house when they'd be happy to read
If a person is conscious of that question I wonder if it helps them, or hurts them? I don't even know what it has done to me.
You could try puzzlepirates. It's a hit with girl gamers. URL is http://www.puzzlepirates.com
I have been playing AOE with my gf over the last couple of weeks , she enjoys it. But be warned I ended up in the doghouse after I destroyed her wonder with my War Elephants. =(
~ All comments automatically moderated -1 since 2004 ~
--To get away from Kilik and Nightmare, move diagonally. ;-) Also works with some of Ivy's long-distance, but straight-ahead attacks.
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== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
Yep, and with those large hands of hers she doesn't even need to upgrade to a Controller S. Oh.. wait a minute..
I wondered if someone was going to suggest URU. Having tried to play the live version I'd say all you can do in it right now is chat. And play a cute little game of Heek - a bit like stone paper scissors. It is too buggy to be fun.
Weirdest thing is that noone in URU live talks to anyone else. No random greetings, nothing, even when playing as a female character. I get the feeling I could say 'Hi, I am 18, blonde, single - wanna play Heek? and get absolutely no response.
Aside from all from that - ask your girlfriend what she wants to do.
If you want something a bit faster paced, try Rise of Nations.
Usually I kill things, she builds things (though I can't say she represents all females), and then after about 45 minutes I convince her to attack something. Mop up the ai (might not be good to play competitively, places strain that you won't want), and play another round.
We've always been in the same room, but with teamspeak or ventrillo or the like, it would probably work out about the same.
... for Starcraft, which my girlfriend and I have been playing a lot of recently. You'll probably want to take the advice of some other people here and get a program to do the voice chat if you're going to be playing PC games. Apparently, voice chat in games that have it built in is godawful. There are lots of stories about pimply-faced 13-year-olds squeaking "OMG F*** U N00B" in the most annoying tone of voice imaginable. Just don't do it.
It allows you the quick text instant messages or you can fire up the voice connection and/or even add video.
I use it with my Grandma in England all the time... and no, not for that.
--D
No real combat, but there are contests for that aspect. It's mostly cooperative gameplay, which chicks dig. And there are moments where you'll find yourself waiting for something to finish crafting or such, which leaves plenty of time to chat via headset.
:)
You will however need the help of other people in the game, so if you don't want to have to interact with anyone but each other, forget it.
The bandwidth requirements aren't terribly high, especially if you both have broadband, so chatting while playing won't affect your kill ratio
You might have a look at Clan Lord. It's a fantasy themed MMORPG by Delta Tao Software (same folks who brought you Eric's Ultimate Solitaire, and Spaceward Ho!), but it's different from most. It has more of an emphasis on role-playing, relatively few snerts (by and large the community is extremely friendly), and some rather unique additions (e.g., a bard's guild for which players must actually compose music and audition to join, and then can play instruments in-game to entertain other players). FWIW, it has a relatively high percentage of female players. My wife makes fun of lots of the games I play, but she likes Clan Lord, and we often play it together. Of course, there's lots of quests, skills to train, etc. Some players like to spend a lot of time chatting, and it's quite a good forum for that I think. It's actually beed described as "Wack-a-mole with chat", though it's quite a bit more interesting than I think that makes it sound.
Some links:
www.clanlord.com (has screenshots, link to free demo, etc.)
humorous advertising flyer
faq list
The ThoomCare Media Network (news in Puddleby).
There's two gotchas: The graphics are somewhat primitive, by today's popular gaming standards (but then, it's cheaper too). Also, it only runs natively on the mac - PC players usually use the Basilisk Mac emulator (see the faq).
HTH,
"Wheatstone"
Wow, I didn't expect to make the front page with my submission of online gaming for couples, but I have used some of the feedback to narrow my selection to an acceptable game down to a "short list".
Here were some of the criteria which my girlfriend and I had discussed previously (She was already open to the idea of trying out an online game).
1) Not about violence. While I like killing aliens, blowing up tanks, hacking other players with a sword, most of those activities don't appeal to her (although she does like Soul Caliber II - Especially when she wins). So I was looking for a Non-violent game that would Appeal to both of us.
2) Cooperation is important. Since the reason for doing this was so we could do activities together in the game, cooperation is important. While some competition is OK, we decided that we would rather play together than against each other.
3) But, we still want some competition or the ability to set up competitive scenarios.
4) Looking for a game that has variable time commitment. We wanted something you can play for 10 minutes, or 10 hours, and still have fun. If you are busy one day (studying for finals for example) you don't need to play, but if you have extra time, then you can still play.
5) No additional equipment. We didn't want there to be a huge investment in new hardware to play this game. She wants to play on her existing laptop or Xbox (she has one already).
6) We wanted to be able to talk to each other, not just IRC.
So the short list so far:
1) The Sims online.
2) A Tale in the Desert
3) There.com
4) Top Spin Tennis
5) SWG
Those without Headset support, we plan on following the suggestion of using Teamspeak. So as we decide which one to play together I'll keep updating my Journal.
She is busy reading evaluating each one and deciding which one most appeals to her. (Personally, I'm most intrigued by A Tale in the Desert). We set a date to decide on Valentines day (as that is the day we will see each other in person again). So we'll let you know how things go soon! And thanks for all helpful suggestions!
Follow these wise words: "Far away love, happy the four"
"May the force be with you" Jorge Ivan Suarez Murillo Medellin, Colombia
My point? There should be some sort of sex toy that can be controlled by girder and therefore via someone on the internet. That would be hot. Kind of. In a sterile, matrixy way. Anyone know of anything like this? Wife's birthday is coming up y'know.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
At least it will help her to learn how to type faster and how to talk less.
Less is more !