Fighting Anti-Social Gamer Syndrome

Do you or someone you know suffer from AGS? Long hours in a dark room, with only your controller. Does your mom have more of a social life than you do, or even worse does your dog? When you call your friends up, do they respond with “I thought you were dead, man”? When you go outside, does the sun feel like its burning holes into your retinas? Never fear, we’ve got some tips and tricks that could help.

Have a video games and BBQ session: Everyone loves food and video games right? What better way to create a great time than to combine them. Open up the option of your guests bringing food. You won’t want to require anyone to do anything for a casual hang out though. To feed a lot of people, you can buy in bulk for cheap at places like Costco or similar. If you have any friends that work in a deli talk to them and see if they can get anything for free. The nice thing about BBQ is you can constantly have food cooking, and it doesn’t take much effort or time to make something tasty. This also frees people up who want to play games. People will rotate between eating, cooking, and gaming, which frees up the genre that can be played more than if everyone has to be playing the same thing all night.

Gaming night: We’ve all heard of the old dudes who go out for their weekend poker, but this is 2010 baby, we’ve got our consoles. Have your friends bring their own consoles and maybe a small TV, make sure you’ve got some power strips too. Get people to system link up for COD, Halo, L4D, whatever people feel like (Alternatively you can do this with computers). Being in the same room playing the same games is much more fun than talking to your friends over a mic online. Maybe switch up who is hosting it sometimes, that way you can share the power bill.

Host a game tournament: Figure out a game you and your friends want to play, then have everyone bring a small amount of money, like $2-5. Host your own tournament and whoever wins it, gets the entry money. Be sure to switch up the game styles sometimes if needed so everyone can have a chance to shine with what they’re good at. Alternatively you can find other things to play for if money isn’t a hit idea.

Be rock stars: By now, rhythm games have been out for a while. Most likely between you and your friends, you might have enough instruments to play 4 player rock band. It’s surprisingly fun to play it as a group. I mean that’s why they let you have 4 different ones right? Just make sure you rotate who does what, or your hands will start to hurt, and whoever is singing is going to lose their voice.

Turning the console off for the day: Get your friends together for some real life gaming. Bonus points for doing any of these things in the woods. If you have the money, get your paint ball gear and go for a day of paint balling. You’ll feel like you’re playing real life COD. If you can’t do that, then try for a game of capture the flag. Get all dressed up to do it too, green and black clothing, hats, maybe some shades, just enjoy yourself! Your friends will appreciate your enthusiasm. I’m sure you guys can come up with your own games and rules as well. Also…bring a little med kit, being a couch potato for so long might have made a few people a little less coordinated than before. It might even be good to start at a park or in a field first.

However, if you’ve gone past the point of no return and realized you didn’t have any friends anymore after emerging from your room after 5 months of WoW, here are some tips for you.

First step: Finding gamers- Gamers can be a rare species to come across, as most of it involves being indoors. Try going to the arcade, ask someone playing a 2 player game by themselves if you can play against them. Strike up a conversation with them. If you feel awkward and don’t know what to say, just keep asking questions, ask questions about their answers. Be sure to talk a little about yourself but not too much. The key to this is just keep the conversation flowing, awkward silences aren’t going to help you. If you beat them at the game, pay for their next one when you leave so they can keep playing as you were the one who challenged them. It’ll probably score big points with girls as well.

If that’s still too intimidating, get into a game with social aspects. L4D2 or TF2 are good examples of this, as you can play on mic with people and there is game strategy involved. Hardcore players will have their own clans and make very close friends, I’m sure a few of you remember how that works from the days of Counter-Strike. It’ll be much harder to find friends here, because most people you meet wont live near you, gravitate toward the ones who do.

Another approach, is to attend a video game convention like PAX. It’s a good place to meet people because you know there will be people from all over, including local to you if you live near where the event is held. Not to mention everyone is cracked out happy because they’re at a convention. If you see someone who seems to be alone, or if you’re waiting in a line, strike up a conversation. Most likely they will feel just as shy as you, so if you can be the outgoing one it’s going to help them out just as much as it will you. Maybe ask if that person would like to meet up to go to a panel at some point later. Whatever you do though, don’t follow someone or take up too much of their time, they have their own agenda as well.

Taking it to the next level: Once you’ve made some casual contacts, it’s time to start meeting up and making plans. Stay away from things like inviting people over to your house the first few times. Going to see movies, or getting lunch is a great way to start. You’ll want activities that will bring people together but doesn’t require them to be somewhere for a long time. If your new friends seem to be enjoying themselves and want to hang out more then roll with it.

In closing… Just remember, all friendships require maintenance. It’s common for people to assume things with a lack of communication, so even just dropping a line on messenger can help keep things together. Always enjoy yourself, and don’t get too serious! If you readers have your own ideas and opinions I’d love to hear them. I know you’re out there lurkers!