Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Good Ideas For Creative Gaming With Girlfriend?
First time accepted submitter TimBur1e6 writes "Suppose you had just moved 1000 miles away from your significant other, but you wanted to continue to create shared life experiences. You could text, or talk by voice, or even video chat. And those would all be good things to do. However, there's a difference between telling someone about your day, and actually spending time together. What are some fun and constructive ways of spending time together on the net? In particular, what are good things to do with a significant other who is less into combat, and more into collaboration, exploration, creativity, and storytelling?"
Minecraft? Portal 2 Team Mode? Draw Something?
Fufme http://www.easylife.org/fufme/
Minecraft, but in 2D. This actually makes it better, in my opinion. It's easier to build things. Also, it looks nicer.
Anyone can do it. Snuggles not included
Let's make like a bird... and get the flock outta here.
Start or join an opensource project and work on it together.
Nothing like some real achievements, which actually help people who use the software for real. Some game achievements don't quite compare.
Surprised this game hasn't been suggested yet.
"... collaboration, exploration, creativity, and storytelling?"
Suggest a 3-way?
Some may scoff at this, but this is exactly the sort of thing SL for.
Look around in there, you'll probably find something to your liking.
Yeah, having a girlfriend is turning your back on the geek brotherhood man. Bros before hos right?
Actually the demographic of Slashdot seems to be a little older. By this stage women have worked out that they are better off with us than the jocks.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Since most of the suggestions above me weren't actually serious, I'll add play Neverwinter. It's free to play and the people are easy going and not psycho competitive and mean like LoL or Starcraft 2. The game itself is pretty fun and some content is pretty tongue in cheek. It's really easy to hop on and just do whatever together like a raid of dungeon or pvp and there's plenty of comical pvp groups like all 5 wizards who lose horribly or something. So yeah, definitely fun, free, modern, and it's really easy to give each other free stuff in game as a present :-)
While not strickly a game many people find it a great way to interact with others far away., I met my partner there. She lived across the country for the first year of our relationship. Sounds strange but many of the things that can be done in real life can be done in Second Life. There are live DJ's and live musicians if you like to go dancing. There are video stores where you can purchase a video for viewing and watch it stream together from the comfort of your virtual home. There are some theaters. There is a ton to do in SL. From G rated on up. Its what you make it and its a great way to date while far away from your loved one.
http://www.second-life.com/
--- Always remember. 99.36% of all statistics are inaccurate.
Leave skype on all evening... Watch movies "together" and talk to each other while watching. Make the same dinners "together." Storytelling? Open up a google doc and write your own story collaboratively. If you both like games, then play whatever you like together using teamspeak. My girl and I have played Ultima Online, Everyquest, starwars and Diablo when we were working across the country. What's important is that you communicate and spend "time" together. But something important that no one will mention is this: Trust each other and give each other time alone. Good luck.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
-- The Doctor, "Doctor
If this were last year, I'd have recommended City of Heroes for you. Creativity and flexibility out the ying-yang.
Unfortunately, those mental defectives at NCSoft put the kibosh on that.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Collaboration: Create an online dating profile. Have your old girlfriend write a recommendation on why you're worth dating.
Exploration: Ask her to rate potential new girlfriends.
Creativity: Date new girlfriend.
Storytelling: Tell the old one about the new one.
Combat: You did say she's not into combat, right? But, just in case, hide your batleth.
This depends to some degree on your age and how long you have been together, but unless you've been married or similarly commited for a significant length of time, or you expect them to join you in a definite period of time, it's not worth trying to hold together. There are other fish in the sea.
I get the impression, given the time of year, that you may have just gone to college, in which case, generally speaking, it's already over. The only real question is how long it takes you two to realize it.
Dating advice from slashdot. Really?
Long Distance Relationships work. I was in one for over a year, and am now happily married. They are hard, but the poster isn't asking for our advice on the relationship.
All I can say is that my wife and I played lots of online games together, from Battleship to Gin. We kept it varied, and played mostly casual games, though we did rock the Diablo II for a while.
The best person to talk to about this, really, is your girlfriend.
Best of luck.
Have to second the recommendation. I play minecraft with my kid when I am out of town. We either meet on public servers, or have family time on our own world.
I know it's been out a long time, but FFXI can be a very enjoyable environment for two (or more) people to hang out together when they're miles apart. It's got a lot of places to explore and goals to achieve that have nothing to do with battle. (i.e. Crafting, Fishing, Exploration Quests, etc.). Just a suggestion. :)
Duh.
You never know. A few years back, I moved to Minneapolis for a couple of years while my now-fiancee stayed in Denver. We kept things going with lots and lots of phone calls and e-mails and the occasional visit until I came back. Obviously that worked out okay.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
This.
It really makes me sad how many geeks, who spend much of their adolescence and young adult lives complaining (quite justifiably) about our toxic jock-centered culture, still manage to absorb a lot of the lessons of that culture and carry them into adulthood. I understand how it happens--it's much the same reason so many children of abusive parents grow up to be abusers themselves--but that doesn't make it okay. A big part of becoming an adult is learning to move past that, to be a better person than you were conditioned to be.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Suppose you had just moved 1000 miles away from your significant other, but you wanted to continue to create shared life experiences.
I'm sorry. I don't understand this sentence. Is this 'significant other' something that happens when I leave the basement? Can I get my mom to get one for me while she's out?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Teledildonics.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Honestly, unless you're over 50, sustaining a relationship with someone over a prolonged and indefinite period of time from a great distance is probably a terrible idea all around. Obviously, this might not always be true if you're just moving away for part of a year for work or one of you has to move before the other . . . but otherwise, it probably makes more sense to call it and find someone local that you can actually have a relationship with.
Parent reads like a troll, but is spot on. Unless this is a very temporary thing, your relationship will not survive the distance no matter how much "interaction" you get through a computer screen. Save money on games and food and live in a crappy studio apartment so that you can make regular trips home.
Pick a book you'll both enjoy, and take turns reading aloud to each other.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
Start by developing an idea, tone, and theme for a story that you can collaborate on and write. There's a lot of fun details to flesh out to make the world feel alive (especially if the story isn't just set in modern times) like establishing kingdoms or galactic alliances and whatnot. If you one you likes to draw or doodle, you can get some fun map-making in. You can setup short term goals like "this week, we should each try and write up a character profile for someone in the world" and then share the ideas you've come up with when you're together online again.
I know it's not a straight-up game in the way you were asking, but it could easily become one that's shared between just the two of you. Most rewarding is the actual progress you make on something that will last longer than the next WoW patch cycle. And who knows, maybe you guys end up releasing the next big book series as a result, or pioneer a new pen-and-paper RPG setting. As long as you did it together, you've created unique memories with each other, despite the distance.
The only game you're going to enjoy is called "unpleasant few months splitting up with my girlfriend despite good internet access because moving 1000 miles away from her means the relationship is over".
You will learn a great deal in the process, mostly concerning the fact that the most important part of a relationship is lots of time spent together sharing real life experiences and, yes, good 'ol fashoined sex.
Sorry dude, but time will teach you that this just wasn't going to end well, no matter how much in denial you were when you made the decision to make this move : I've made the same mistake myself in the past when bandwidth and communiction possibilities were less advanced than they are now but the bottom line is you put a career opportunity first and this is the price you will almost certainly have to pay.
Baloney. Long distance relationships are, for certain, difficult as hell. But they can work, and things as asked by TimBur1e6 are legit ways to feel together. My fiance and I watched movies together (both of us having downloaded the same file, starting it at the same time) while on Skype, and it really did engender a feeling of closeness.
You are assuming a lot about the OP's relationship, and none of it is warranted or remotely appropriate. The only thing that's been expressed so far is that OP wants to find ways to interact with his girlfriend despite their distance. He didn't say why he was moving, for how long, when he's going to see her again, how long they've been dating, what they've liked to do together in the past, etc. etc. etc. So how about instead of being a presumptuous asshole and deriding OP for no reason, you make yourself useful and recommend some games or mod up good replies.
Game? Hide the salami in her best friend.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
This is simply not true. Long distance relationships can be stressful and straining on the relationship but there is no guarantee it will result in failure. I had the long distance thing going on for over 6 years and there was no fire and brimstone at the end of the tunnel.
No, but what a shitty way to spend 10% or more of your adult life. It isn't like people are so hard to come by that it'll be the end of the world if people part ways amicably due to long distances.
Also, anecdotal exceptions always exist. I'm sure the OP is speaking in generalities because . . . well, that's all you can speak to if you don't know someone very closely.
No, man! You don't understand! Our love is SPECIAL and we are UNIQUE! We'll be together forever and ever and ever and that guy who is always in the background at her house when I call her is totally just her platonic friend!
Advice: Go ask a handful of deployed/formerly-deployed marines about long-distance relationships.
Bingo.
B-6
You sank my Battleship!
Try Second Life...it is a multi-user virtual environment with all the trappings of social media. However, it is an environment created by the users. You can do *anything* there, and I do mean anything, up to and including virtual sex if that is your bent. Extremely rich, immersive and even addictive (of course), virtual marriages have occurred there that led to real life marriages...and divorces.
Maybe you didn't read what you posted then, because the assumptions you've made aren't exactly subtle.
You're living in a fantasy world.
This isn't going to work
(and not even really that fun)
Talking about what games you're going to play together online is what children do
your relationship is therefore doomed.
the mere fact that you're moving 1000 miles away from her speaks VOLUMES to her
If you are serious about maintaining this relationship, don't spend your time playing video games with her
his will not only show her you are *serious* about your relationship, but that you're a good provider.
She's looking for a committed man.
What you're showing her right now is an uncommitted child
I'm sure I've missed a few, but practically nothing you've said amount to anything more than needlessly demeaning garbage.
For the record, my last relationship was a 6 year long long-distance relationship. She moved away because she had no choice, and I certainly didn't view that as an act of abandonment. The most important thing that made it last for as long as it did was contact whenever possible. If OP gets a job to take up the time he'd use to interact with her when he already has the means to get to her (or her to him) when he can then that job will only serve to distance them even further. When we did have time we could spend giving each other attention, we'd talk on the phone, stream movies and watch them together (NSA Dave if you read this please don't tell the MPAA), and yes, play video games together. OP is very likely asking "what good online games are out there that focus more on exploration than combat" as opposed to "should I talk to her on my time off" or "should I show her my naughty parts on skype" because if he's above the age of 10 he's a big enough boy to have figured out the answer to those on his own.
You are right about one thing though, actions speak louder than words, and the fact that he's going around asking people for their perspective on a good time shows he's at least trying, so fuck off with your condescension.
what?!!! some girls like to play and FPS, RPG, Scrabble or something else. maybe even try http://isketch.net/ if you don't know what your girlfriend likes... YOU FAIL BY NOT ASKING HER!
We are now happily married and looking forward to L4D3 :)
That's a terrible name to burden a child with. At least pick something pronounceable.
Preferably a real life carbon based life form version.
You have no idea what you are talking about because you don't know his situation. There are few things in life worse than giving up a girl you are deeply in love with, and living with the result 12+ years later. Haunting dreams to remind you.
If they really are spectacular together, I wouldn't suggest them being apart for any reason. The pain is just too much.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
A wife.
Have gnu, will travel.
I can tell quite a few of you pussies have never been in the military.
...or had an s/o travel on business a lot. While I don't do it long-term, I do know folks who work on remote assignment for months at a shot, or spend at least half the year cumulatively away from family, girlfriends, etc.
On occasion, I usually go off for a week or so to some remote big city on business, but the missus and I keep in daily touch by phone, online via chat, and usually even by (*gasp*) facebook just to share some weird shit we stumbled across that day (me while walking about town, her by pointing me to weird shit back home).
The big trick is communication. Talk about everything and anything, at least once a day. Watch a show together while chatting or on the phone. Do something romantic. Oh, for instance? I'd draw a heart on the beach with our initials, take a photo, and email it to her. In San Francisco there's a zillion heart sculptures - snap a photo of a different one each day and send it along with a little poem. Take a photo of yourself watching a sunset, email that, and then call her telling her about stuff on your mind while she opens that photo. The point is to let her know you still think of her, and how much you love her. She'll appreciate that a whole lot more than tchotskes or souvenirs.
Most important of all - If you're gone a long time, and if you can swing it, find a way to get back there on a periodic basis to be with her, or find a way to get her out to you.
Now this go 'round, I saved a few extra pennies and brought her along (it's our anniversary, and she'd never seen this city before) - but that gets pricey after awhile... So we adapt, and enjoy the times when we are together. No end-game involved. Maybe TFA dude is doing something similar. Maybe he expects to be reunited shortly. No business of mine, but I'm happy to help when I can.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
I had a similar situation, except it was just with friends, rather than a significant other. We knew we liked gaming, but gaming together only gets you so far, just as talking only gets you so far. You need to have a shared experience that isn't as distracting as multiplayer gaming can be.
For us, what we did was start recording Let's Play videos and uploading them to YouTube. Basically, set up some video streaming (e.g. we use TeamViewer, but Twitch.tv works for others), chat on Skype, have one of you play a single-player game, and then record everything that happens. You can talk about the game or anything else. For me, it perfectly captures the same feeling I used to have when playing a single-player game with a friend, either as the player or the viewer. We just shoot the breeze, comment on the game, look up stuff related to it, and generally just have a fun time. It facilitates conversation and ensures that you don't have awkward silences, since the game is constantly happening.
For you, uploading the videos to YouTube doesn't make much sense, since we now have 1000 subscribers with really trying, and that sort of thing is the last thing you need when having conversations with your significant other. Even so, the idea may be applicable. Don't constrain yourself to multiplayer games. Single player can work great too.
The statistics show that only about half of long distances work
The statistics show that half of all marriages (allegedly) end in divorce too. So that's about right.
Don't quote me on this.
I can tell quite a few of you pussies have never been in the military.
If you end up in the military you have nobody to blame but yourself.