Do you find PC Gaming a solitary / lonely 'hobby' ?

Yes and no. As before, solitary - yes. Lonely - no. I play a lot of team-games and have convinced the majority of my friends over to PC gaming. Three of them built £700+ gaming PCs this year through my coercion and aid in assembly :P.
 
Gaming with people I know IRL is always disappointing for me because frankly, I always win and have to try really hard to keep it fun for them by trying to help them win a bit. no one I know games on pc anyway, so I usually jump on TS or mumble with the various communities I've encountered and have a great laugh with them.
 
Would agree with most statements here. We got a PC when I was 15 in '91 and before the internet gaming on it was definitely solitary & a bit lonely (many hours playing Civilisation & Lemmings). Grew up in a farming town where the only other PC in the village belonged to the Vet :) Then in '95 got a modem & in '96 got Quake :D Still the only gamer in the village ;) but at least being online it was a tad more social.

Mentioning Quad damage axe kills in the local pub with mates just drew blank looks. When the PS1 & 2 came out at least then gaming became a bit more acceptable and I did spend many drunken hours playing split screen with friends but trying to persuade them a PC was a gaming machine never worked.

Fast fwd to 2012 & being married with a kid means I spend far less time gaming, even less time gaming online, so when I get the chance I appreciate the solitary nature of it, door closed, headphones on. Have a PS3 which the wife and I occasionally game on too, but no match for the PC.
 
FartInferno said:
Fast fwd to 2012 & being married with a kid means I spend far less time gaming, even less time gaming online, so when I get the chance I appreciate the solitary nature of it, door closed, headphones on. Have a PS3 which the wife and I occasionally game on too, but no match for the PC.
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I feel you there. I'm only at home (awake) for about 3hrs, and most of that is spent with the other half as she gets lonely working from home. She's down in bristol at the office for 2 days and it's been great to have some time to game uninterrupted without feeling like I'm neglecting anyone. So many great games, so little free time!
 
I have loads of friends and acquaintances who are into Pc gaming but unfortunately they all want to play FPS and RTS games, which I'm not really into at all. Meh
 
I do sort of know what you mean. I have one or two RL friends who game on PC but other than that no-one. They don't seem to be able to make it online much anymore either which makes it worse. :(
 
I don’t know hardly any PC gamers myself. I’m a long time PC gamer and have been since 1994.

My Steam account has loads upon loads of great games (many can be played online), played many of them and enjoyed them all. But I have two friends in my Steam friends list, one of them is my missus brother, the other my own brother.. Wow.

PS3 however, loads of friends listed, most of which I hardly play against as I hardly us my PS3 – quite sad really. I’d love to go and have a race of F1 2012 but I purchased the game on the PC as after F1 2011 on the PS3 where I had to sell it to fund the purchase of the PC version as I couldn’t take the low res textures, screen tear and low fps anymore on the PS3 meant I was fairly on my own with this game.

I don’t know, I enjoy PC gaming. I can’t see me stopping, I’ve since moved away from desktop PC gaming to laptop mobile gaming – still play the same games, just sit on the sofa with the missus watching telly whilst I have my headset on, laptop on my lap, mouse next to me and I enjoy playing PC games, but I do sometimes wonder where everyone is lol

I got Portal 2 and ended up playing the co op mode on PS3 as no one owned a PC or wanted to play the PC version despite the PC version being bundled with the PS3 version of the same game.. I played through the single player on the PC, played co op on the PS3 – least the PS3 version was well programmed by Valve, so didn’t mind as much.

I have my laptop with me at work all the time, I fired up Dishonored in my lunch break and a few work mates were like – ooh looks interesting, I’ll get that for my 360.. Why not get the PC version, its miles better, better visuals, no screen tearing, 1920 x 1080 none of this sub 720 etc etc.. also that game is miles better with mouse and keyboard, but nope.. they either don’t have a PC or just want to play the same game on their consoles..

Oh well, each to their own. PC gaming can be lonely but I still love it, and won’t give it up..
 
Nope, i prefer gaming on my own most of the time but i won't hesitate to play with other people as i enjoy that aspect of gaming too.

Edit: Joining a clan/guild isn't always the answer either.
 
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Both really. Sometimes I just want some quiet time in a game, and to do my own thing. I actually want the "isolation". At other times, I love being in a WoW guild and raiding together, chatting on vent, talking ****.
 
when i was younger i found i enjoyed single player games more and getting really immersed in them.

but as i;ve grown older it;s swapped and i find i prefer online play and the banter with people over mumble...i still enjoy single player games but would much prefer if they had co-op options so you could share the experience have have more fun.
 
'Wes said:
Nope, i prefer gaming on my own most of the time but i won't hesitate to play with other people as i enjoy that aspect of gaming too
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This^

Since quitting WoW and leaving a big group of social players (still talk to some of them every now and then) i quite enjoy playing games alone, i find it quite relaxing, like reading a book almost.
 
Was thinking a while back that I talked more to people online (most of whom I'd never met) than I did to 'real' people. I think it is natural in the sense that you are more likely to find people with similar interests online than those you come across in everyday life.

Playing Quakeworld brought me into contact with a fairly diverse community (over 20 nationalites, age group ranging from typically around 15-40, some playing the same game for over 10 years, some newcomers etc) and then from that I actually learnt quite a bit about the culture in Sweden, Germany, Holland etc that I probably never would have otherwise.

In some ways I think I am bucking the trend now because my focus is much more on singleplayer games now compared to 1998-2006 where I was heavily into multiplayer. I quite like the lack of commitment required and no wasted time waiting for others.
 
neoglow said:
Over the years I have always found PC Gaming quite a 'lonely' hobby / activity. All my friends have consoles, none of them use the PC as their 'main' platform, a couple have mid range PC's and a couple of games, but every new release they buy is always on console.

Ive tried to pursuade them over to the PC with its nice hi res graphics and oppurtunities of modding etc, but its never worked and they stick with the consoles.

Personally I cant play most games I like - 99% FPS games - on console as I prefer the control of a keyboard and mouse. So, whilst I can share my game playing with friends with multi platform games, I cant actually play with them. (that sounds weird, but you get my drift.)

I play online games a lot where you play with/against other people but its not the same as a bit of split screen or LAN gaming with mates.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or is it just me?....sniff.....sob..... ;)
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similar story to me. people in office just xbox and one of my mates who give him credit used steam and his desktop, but he's take up more with mac and steam.
 
My Steam friends list has one friend on it, who hasnt played a PC game since his desktop died two years ago.

Got "friends" from my days in SWG but i've never met them.
 
Nope I've ran a guild for around 15 years, while we fluctuate in size ( TS can go from 6 active users up to 50 + ) I'm always gaming with someone to chat to that I either know in real life, have met or are part of a community.
 
I can't play games on my own any more. I used to all the time, but these days the only game I can play when no one else from TFU is online or are playing games I don't play is Fifa. Other than that I have to be on the same game and the same server as my clanmates otherwise I bore quit within minutes.

I simply cannot play any of the following without my clanmates BF3, CS:GO, Arma2, DayZ, Borderlands2, planetside2, WOT. I'm a social gamer not a solitary gamer.

If it wasn't for my clan/friends I wouldn't game at all I don't think.
 
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