Sociable people - How can you also be video game players?

I know this sounds like some kind of ass-backwards generalization/stereotype topic, but hear me out.

I'm somewhat of a sociable person, on a scale from 1-10 I'm about 5, sometimes (very rarely) I reach a 7, and usually I'm between 5 and 3. Now the thing that for the life of me I cannot achieve even when I reach a blaring 9 (extremely rarely), is to put my hobby of video games, and my friends OR acquaintances OR relatives OR college mates, in one place.

That is, being sociable is all about having the traits and behavior and general perception that antagonizes sitting somewhere with a controller and blowing shit up (or) making the story happen instead of reading/watching it (or) solving a puzzle instead of watching a documentary about puzzle solving.

See, it's hard as it is to bring any form of emotional or thoughtful depth to sociable conversations. The most I've gotten out of people in terms of depth is discussing an inhumane war, or appreciating the movie Up because it made people tear up (geddit) etc... Any form of emotional or mental investment beyond that same old blabber is considered awkward and creepy. No one goes there.

Whereas video games take that depth to a whole new level.

• If it's a horror game, you don't just watch it while pretending to be scared with your friends, you are MOVING the 'hero' and obligated to do shit all the time
• If it's a story game, you don't just lay back and smoke a joint while either pretending or really being into the story, you have to make the choices and start thinking and feeling too much
• If it's an action or sports game, aside from the few action/sports titles that require no effort of any depth whatsoever (Call of Duty and FIFA), odds are it'll require learning mechanics and knowing how to use gadgets and how to survive, which after the first death turns people off.

I mean, hell, being sociable is so damn superficial that the momentary silences of loading screens, or being "forced to watch" cutscenes causes people to try to skip or make small talk, totally ruining the atmosphere. Even in movies when there's no action or dialogue people start making those small uncomfortable actions.. Awkwardness has become a mandatory component nowadays.

So I'm really, truly incapable of understanding how, while WATCHING A MOVIE with your "buddies" has become a bit of a hassle nowadays because we just refuse to think and feel as long as we don't have to, there are sociable people out there who play DEAD SPACE and THE WITCHER and FINAL FANTASY with their friends or brothers.

Games require mental and emotional investment, dedication, persistence and many more things that the regular - and, more importantly, the sociable - Joe find exhausting. How do you sociable people who play games with others, do it? Do you practice some form of black magic that makes those depth-o-phobic superficial acquaintances somehow turn into deep and willing gamers?

Uh. What. I don't understand the question. I just look for friends with interests in games? Playing through a singleplayer game together isn't too far off from watching a movie together. While I think it can dilute the emotional impact and atmosphere of a game, it also more often than not makes it more fun. Same goes for movies.

Umm...... I'm not really sure what you're trying to say.

Are you asking how to hang out with other people while playing games? I read your whole post and don't really get what you are asking...

I don't really understand, if you can't have deep conversations with your friends about any and all topics you're probably talking to the wrong people.

Uhh... play multiplayer games instead of single player games when they are around?

Oh you are asking about playing games with nongaming friends? That seems like a terrible idea. Don't do that. Get friends who like games if you want to share those experiences, don't force your fun on other people. Do you seriously think we are duping friends into playing games?

Remember when the biggest problem we had in games was "How do I beat the level without dying?" I really miss those days...

Life is all about balance, my son.

@rahulricky said:

I don't really understand, if you can't have deep conversations with your friends about any and all topics you're probably talking to the wrong people.

Well what I said applies to everyone I know from family to friends to work colleagues to college mates. They like a good conversation and shit but, they just mostly want to hang out in party mode and just talk and laugh.

@TobbRobb: @RainbowCarnage: @Kerned: I'm basically saying that being sociable and smiling and hanging out talking about random stuff and popping beer bottles open, or going to the movies or to a party, they're all "being sociable 101," and sitting down holding a controller being Lee where you have to walk around talking to artificial intelligence, or learning how to kill spider monsters as Geralt, or running around talking to people on the Citadel, etc..... are all things that turn off/confuse/creep out those sociable people.

So I'm asking what approach do you choose to making those immersive games that require dedication and effort and skill and full attention, appealing to those who want to hang out and talk about chicks or politics? Which seems to be everybody who goes outdoors..

@OfficeGamer said:

Games require mental and emotional investment, dedication, persistence and many more things that the regular - and, more importantly, the sociable - Joe find exhausting.

Well I don't think being a sociable person necessarily contradicts being able to get into a game's story. Couldn't you argue part of being sociable is being empathetic which would also make someone more invested in characters and plot?

But if you're just trying to say it's a bit awkward trying to play a single player game while someone else is watching I kinda agree. But then again there's the whole genre of Let's Play videos and of course the Endurance Runs that are just that.

But yeah your point is not completely clear I'm afraid.

no offense but that just read as drivel

i just sometimes go out and socailise with friends down the local pub and sometimes i stay in and play games sometimes i watch TV and sometime i have sex (sometimes by myself and sometimes with my GF).

@FlarePhoenix said:

Remember when the biggest problem we had in games was "How do I beat the level without dying?" I really miss those days...

Yeah and now we have all these casual gamers with their dam social lives and personal issues.

@Bell_End said:

i just sometimes go out and socailise with friends down the local pub and sometimes i stay in and play games sometimes i watch TV and sometime i have sex (sometimes by myself and sometimes with my GF).

But you never manage to get your friends interested in those games?

@OfficeGamer: We uh, don't use any approach. I'm not going to make someone "get" my hobbies. Chances are, if all my interactions with someone is talking about chicks and politics, I probably won't interact with them a lot.

But to give a more proper answer. My sister is not a gamer, but she is open minded. I told her about stuff like Amnesia, or Catherine or other fairly unique games. And she had fun just living into the atomsphere, even without being the one at the controls. I didn't try to make her enjoy it, she just heard about it and thought it sounded like fun.

Tastes will just vary from person to person. If you've spent any significant time with these "aquaintances" just pick out a cool game that corrolates with their taste in movies or books and chances are they will get something out of sitting it out with you.

Sounds like you have terrible friends or at least people that don't like video games. So terrible friends. The best counter point I can make for your argument is something that happened when I was younger and 3 friends and I all played Final Fantasy X on my PS2 one night while staying over at one of their houses. We stayed up all night playing it because we got a few hours in before realizing that we had no memory card because I had left mine at home and that if we had stopped we would have lost all our progress. Playing that game with no save file and with each decision and fight being a debate about what we are going to do because it meant perma death made that the most intense/emotional and fun time I ever had with a game. We became invested and very emotional as the story went on. More so then any dam movie or tv show we could have been watching as we literally all had an equal investment in what happened in that game. As we literally scrapped by boss battles with 1 guy left standing in our party with a sliver of HP left.

I've been a serious gamer my whole life, and I've had friends ranging from those that I could personally connect with and those that are just not that type of people. I've had friends that I hung out with on a regular basis, and we could talk about anything ranging from personal issues to stupid shit. If you're finding that you can't connect with them on a personal/serious level, then they're just not interested in that/have other people for that/are the wrong people for that.

As far as trying to get my friends into gaming goes, I've never really tried. Most of the people I know play games casually, and I really have no intentions of trying to get them to play video games as regularly as I do. It's their life, why should I give a shit what hobbies they choose to spend time doing?

I guess I have a good balance on the time I spend immersed in video games, and the time I spend with friends just shooting shit.

@OfficeGamer said:

@Bell_End said:

i just sometimes go out and socailise with friends down the local pub and sometimes i stay in and play games sometimes i watch TV and sometime i have sex (sometimes by myself and sometimes with my GF).

But you never manage to get your friends interested in those games?

no, i never even speak about games with my non-gaming friends. it's just something that never comes up.

@OfficeGamer said:

@rahulricky said:

I don't really understand, if you can't have deep conversations with your friends about any and all topics you're probably talking to the wrong people.

Well what I said applies to everyone I know from family to friends to work colleagues to college mates. They like a good conversation and shit but, they just mostly want to hang out in party mode and just talk and laugh.

@TobbRobb: @RainbowCarnage: @Kerned: I'm basically saying that being sociable and smiling and hanging out talking about random stuff and popping beer bottles open, or going to the movies or to a party, they're all "being sociable 101," and sitting down holding a controller being Lee where you have to walk around talking to artificial intelligence, or learning how to kill spider monsters as Geralt, or running around talking to people on the Citadel, etc..... are all things that turn off/confuse/creep out those sociable people.

So I'm asking what approach do you choose to making those immersive games that require dedication and effort and skill and full attention, appealing to those who want to hang out and talk about chicks or politics? Which seems to be everybody who goes outdoors..

You can't drink beer with someone who doesn't like to drink beer. And you can't talk politics to someone who isn't into politics. And you can't play video games with someone who isn't into video games. You just got to find the right people to hang out with.

You mentioned your college mates earlier. Why don't you go see if your college has a video game club ( most colleges do ). Then try and socialize with the people in that club.

@OfficeGamer said:

on a scale from 1-10 I'm about 5, sometimes (very rarely) I reach a 7, and usually I'm between 5 and 3. Now the thing that for the life of me I cannot achieve even when I reach a blaring 9 (extremely rarely)

You're very odd.

I actually see what you are getting at and I also thought about this some time ago. Since I hardly play any Multiplayer games any more (local or online), gaming has become a form of very personal entertainment for me. Something that is not easily shared with others who aren’t invested in the same way. Most of my friends nowadays don’t even want to touch video games and while hanging out with them, I see myself playing less and less. But occasionally, I find games like Dark Souls etc that seriously hook me, making me barely (want to) leave the house anymore. Especially in these times its great to also have friends you can share your expereinces with (for me a few old friends from highschool, via skype). I also experienced what you have pointed out, that an in-depth conversation about the emotional investment of any kind of media seems hardly possible with the “sociable Joe” (or whatever you might want to call that stereotype) and I hardly try it nowadays. Of course, a healthy social life also has its benefits and I wouldn’t want to lose that either. Ideally, you would have friends who are into games AND sociable people but from my personal experience that’s pretty rare.

BTW, first post. :)

To me, my friends don't have to correlate to my tastes 100% of the time. It's actually more fun, in my opinion, to be at odds with a specific thing or two because I like a good little debate now and then.

I never, ever, ever say "PLAY THIS GAME" or anything like that unless a friend has an express interest in games. I dunno, maybe I have too many hobbies (I do) but I can converse with more than "gamers" and still have a great circle of friends. Hell, I've chilled with the bro-iest of frat bros and had a good time. Not because we got into an in depth discussion of game design, and that's a-okay to me. Sometimes I just don't want to give a fuck about games, school, or [insert whatever hobby]. I don't see the problem with that.

What did I just read?

@TobbRobb said:

But to give a more proper answer. My sister is not a gamer, but she is open minded. I told her about stuff like Amnesia, or Catherine or other fairly unique games. And she had fun just living into the atomsphere, even without being the one at the controls. I didn't try to make her enjoy it, she just heard about it and thought it sounded like fun.

When I showed my sister Assassin's Creed she smiled and left the room. When I got her to play LittleBigPlanet she got into it for about 10 minutes then something in her DNA made her feel that she's wasting her time or disconnecting from the real world and she smiled and left.

@crusader8463 said:

Sounds like you have terrible friends or at least people that don't like video games. So terrible friends. The best counter point I can make for your argument is something that happened when I was younger and 3 friends and I all played Final Fantasy X on my PS2 one night while staying over at one of their houses. We stayed up all night playing it because we got a few hours in before realizing that we had no memory card because I had left mine at home and that if we had stopped we would have lost all our progress. Playing that game with no save file and with each decision and fight being a debate about what we are going to do because it meant perma death made that the most intense/emotional and fun time I ever had with a game. We became invested and very emotional as the story went on. More so then any dam movie or tv show we could have been watching as we literally all had an equal investment in what happened in that game. As we literally scrapped by boss battles with 1 guy left standing in our party with a sliver of HP left.

That sounds really beautiful. You couldn't get any 3 young men around here to actually have such a beautiful gaming experience in a million years. They don't want anything more than a gaming memory that goes "We played FIFA on the playstation until the sun came up. I kicked your ass! was a fun game." Final Fantasy X? Too deep and mentally/emotionally demanding to go there. People where I come from just don't go that far into entertainment.

They're not even the typical dudebros or anything, you can find all kinds of people here, but one thing that seems to be universal to all of them is that investing in games is just wrong and unappealing.

@Bell_End said:

@OfficeGamer said:

@Bell_End said:

i just sometimes go out and socailise with friends down the local pub and sometimes i stay in and play games sometimes i watch TV and sometime i have sex (sometimes by myself and sometimes with my GF).

But you never manage to get your friends interested in those games?

no, i never even speak about games with my non-gaming friends. it's just something that never comes up.

It's one of your biggest hobbies (if I may assume) and you never bring it up? It makes you sad that you don't feel comfortable trying to share that entertainment with those you call friends, doesn't it? It's ok we're all friends here bud.

@RainbowCarnage said:

You mentioned your college mates earlier. Why don't you go see if your college has a video game club ( most colleges do ). Then try and socialize with the people in that club.

No such thing..

@OfficeGamer said:

@TobbRobb said:

But to give a more proper answer. My sister is not a gamer, but she is open minded. I told her about stuff like Amnesia, or Catherine or other fairly unique games. And she had fun just living into the atomsphere, even without being the one at the controls. I didn't try to make her enjoy it, she just heard about it and thought it sounded like fun.

When I showed my sister Assassin's Creed she smiled and left the room. When I got her to play LittleBigPlanet she got into it for about 10 minutes then something in her DNA made her feel that she's wasting her time or disconnecting from the real world and she smiled and left.

@crusader8463 said:

Sounds like you have terrible friends or at least people that don't like video games. So terrible friends. The best counter point I can make for your argument is something that happened when I was younger and 3 friends and I all played Final Fantasy X on my PS2 one night while staying over at one of their houses. We stayed up all night playing it because we got a few hours in before realizing that we had no memory card because I had left mine at home and that if we had stopped we would have lost all our progress. Playing that game with no save file and with each decision and fight being a debate about what we are going to do because it meant perma death made that the most intense/emotional and fun time I ever had with a game. We became invested and very emotional as the story went on. More so then any dam movie or tv show we could have been watching as we literally all had an equal investment in what happened in that game. As we literally scrapped by boss battles with 1 guy left standing in our party with a sliver of HP left.

That sounds really beautiful. You couldn't get any 3 young men around here to actually have such a beautiful gaming experience in a million years. They don't want anything more than a gaming memory that goes "We played FIFA on the playstation until the sun came up. I kicked your ass! was a fun game." Final Fantasy X? Too deep and mentally/emotionally demanding to go there. People where I come from just don't go that far into entertainment.

They're not even the typical dudebros or anything, you can find all kinds of people here, but one thing that seems to be universal to all of them is that investing in games is just wrong and unappealing.

@Bell_End said:

@OfficeGamer said:

@Bell_End said:

i just sometimes go out and socailise with friends down the local pub and sometimes i stay in and play games sometimes i watch TV and sometime i have sex (sometimes by myself and sometimes with my GF).

But you never manage to get your friends interested in those games?

no, i never even speak about games with my non-gaming friends. it's just something that never comes up.

It's one of your biggest hobbies (if I may assume) and you never bring it up? It makes you sad that you don't feel comfortable trying to share that entertainment with those you call friends, doesn't it? It's ok we're all friends here bud.

@RainbowCarnage said:

You mentioned your college mates earlier. Why don't you go see if your college has a video game club ( most colleges do ). Then try and socialize with the people in that club.

No such thing..

its not that i don't feel comfatable it that they have zero interest. they are not gamers. how far i have got on dark souls means nothing to them. just as i have no interest in what happened on eastenders last night. its my hobby/ pass-time and i don't bore them with it

@OfficeGamer: Basically, what we have been saying all along, and what it all comes down to. If you can't share gaming with your friends, get new/more friends! Don't try to change the existing ones! Oh and saying "no one where you live likes games" is just an excuse. Look harder and look better. Gamers are everywhere, you just need to find them.

Weird.

Whatever point you're trying to make, I don't think it applies.

@TobbRobb said:

@OfficeGamer: Basically, what we have been saying all along, and what it all comes down to. If you can't share gaming with your friends, get new/more friends! Don't try to change the existing ones! Oh and saying "no one where you live likes games" is just an excuse. Look harder and look better. Gamers are everywhere, you just need to find them.

Exactly. If there isn't a gaming group at your college maybe you could look into starting one? Or maybe there's GB users in your town and you could arrange a meet up?

@rahulricky said:

@TobbRobb said:

@OfficeGamer: Basically, what we have been saying all along, and what it all comes down to. If you can't share gaming with your friends, get new/more friends! Don't try to change the existing ones! Oh and saying "no one where you live likes games" is just an excuse. Look harder and look better. Gamers are everywhere, you just need to find them.

Exactly. If there isn't a gaming group at your college maybe you could look into starting one? Or maybe there's GB users in your town and you could arrange a meet up?

And then you could wear their skin...

@NecroMongo: waiiiiiiiiiiit a minute, is it fashionable to wear skins now? WHY AM I ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW.

I'm confused

@rahulricky said:

@NecroMongo: waiiiiiiiiiiit a minute, is it fashionable to wear skins now? WHY AM I ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW.

EWW.... That's so last season.

@Daftronaut said:

I actually see what you are getting at and I also thought about this some time ago. Since I hardly play any Multiplayer games any more (local or online), gaming has become a form of very personal entertainment for me. Something that is not easily shared with others who aren’t invested in the same way. Most of my friends nowadays don’t even want to touch video games and while hanging out with them, I see myself playing less and less. But occasionally, I find games like Dark Souls etc that seriously hook me, making me barely (want to) leave the house anymore. Especially in these times its great to also have friends you can share your expereinces with (for me a few old friends from highschool, via skype). I also experienced what you have pointed out, that an in-depth conversation about the emotional investment of any kind of media seems hardly possible with the “sociable Joe” (or whatever you might want to call that stereotype) and I hardly try it nowadays. Of course, a healthy social life also has its benefits and I wouldn’t want to lose that either. Ideally, you would have friends who are into games AND sociable people but from my personal experience that’s pretty rare.

From the first to last word, thank you. This guy comprehensibly said what I tried to say!

@OfficeGamer said:

@TobbRobb said:

But to give a more proper answer. My sister is not a gamer, but she is open minded. I told her about stuff like Amnesia, or Catherine or other fairly unique games. And she had fun just living into the atomsphere, even without being the one at the controls. I didn't try to make her enjoy it, she just heard about it and thought it sounded like fun.

When I showed my sister Assassin's Creed she smiled and left the room. When I got her to play LittleBigPlanet she got into it for about 10 minutes then something in her DNA made her feel that she's wasting her time or disconnecting from the real world and she smiled and left.

@crusader8463 said:

Sounds like you have terrible friends or at least people that don't like video games. So terrible friends. The best counter point I can make for your argument is something that happened when I was younger and 3 friends and I all played Final Fantasy X on my PS2 one night while staying over at one of their houses. We stayed up all night playing it because we got a few hours in before realizing that we had no memory card because I had left mine at home and that if we had stopped we would have lost all our progress. Playing that game with no save file and with each decision and fight being a debate about what we are going to do because it meant perma death made that the most intense/emotional and fun time I ever had with a game. We became invested and very emotional as the story went on. More so then any dam movie or tv show we could have been watching as we literally all had an equal investment in what happened in that game. As we literally scrapped by boss battles with 1 guy left standing in our party with a sliver of HP left.

That sounds really beautiful. You couldn't get any 3 young men around here to actually have such a beautiful gaming experience in a million years. They don't want anything more than a gaming memory that goes "We played FIFA on the playstation until the sun came up. I kicked your ass! was a fun game." Final Fantasy X? Too deep and mentally/emotionally demanding to go there. People where I come from just don't go that far into entertainment.

They're not even the typical dudebros or anything, you can find all kinds of people here, but one thing that seems to be universal to all of them is that investing in games is just wrong and unappealing.

@Bell_End said:

@OfficeGamer said:

@Bell_End said:

i just sometimes go out and socailise with friends down the local pub and sometimes i stay in and play games sometimes i watch TV and sometime i have sex (sometimes by myself and sometimes with my GF).

But you never manage to get your friends interested in those games?

no, i never even speak about games with my non-gaming friends. it's just something that never comes up.

It's one of your biggest hobbies (if I may assume) and you never bring it up? It makes you sad that you don't feel comfortable trying to share that entertainment with those you call friends, doesn't it? It's ok we're all friends here bud.

@RainbowCarnage said:

You mentioned your college mates earlier. Why don't you go see if your college has a video game club ( most colleges do ). Then try and socialize with the people in that club.

No such thing..

So where are you from that there are no people who play video games around? Are you sure you're not pushing people away by constantly trying to steer conversation toward video games? Do you not have other interests you like discussing with people?

@believer258 said:

So where are you from that there are no people who play video games around? Are you sure you're not pushing people away by constantly trying to steer conversation toward video games? Do you not have other interests you like discussing with people?

That's a very good question. While on one hand I, from years ago, stopped obsessing over video games and boring people out trying to interest them (I do it very occasionally today, rarely even, and I'm cool about it) - On the other hand I sadly am apathetic. I try not to be, and I can see the appeal of discussing the 'usual shit' with people and cracking the same old jokes, I try to flow with it, but I'm just bored from all of that standard socializing deep down inside and I can't bring myself to doing it.

I was suspecting that that was the reason. As long as a person is distant from people around him and doesn't really have any bonds with any friends or relatives, he shouldn't expect them to indulge him in more than the same old smiles and small talk. I guess until I learn to bond with bros and actually have friends I shouldn't be expecting any buddies to indulge me. Too bad I don't know how to act cool and play mind games, pull pranks, and fart random opinions and pretend I'm a ladies man.. It seems that fake boasting persona is mandatory for being socially respected and regarded.

@OfficeGamer said:

on a scale from 1-10 I'm about 5, sometimes (very rarely) I reach a 7, and usually I'm between 5 and 3. Now the thing that for the life of me I cannot achieve even when I reach a blaring 9 (extremely rarely)

You're very odd.

@OfficeGamer@Daftronaut: I can relate to your posts very much. The friends I share my gaming experiences with are not really the same friends that I go out with to have a beer. Sometimes it feels like I'm travelling between two different worlds. There are some overlaps though, mainly with guys and girls I know from university.

I don't think this topic is weird at all and you're not odd, OP.

I'm a normal, functional human being and my life doesn't revolve around games, though I play them in my spare time? This is a really fucking weird topic, dude.

Silly question, you could say the same thing about people that watch a lot of TV or read a lot of books, playing video games is way more social than both those activities I play alot of co-op games with friends while in party chat talking to people or on the same couch. Crazy huh?

I go out whenever the opportunity, but luckily a lot of my friends also game, so we will skype and game in the evenings when we don't go out. However the friends that don't game, mostly girls, I just chill and talk to.

The initial post here is certainly strange, and one definitely gets the impression that the OP's issue is symptomatic of his social group and their shared interests. If people are going to talk and distract you during the quiet/slow parts of films, then you shouldn't be watching films with them. Also, why you gotta talk shit about FIFA? Those games are some of the best sports games of the generation, and I say that as someone who isn't a massive footy fan. My favourite sport is NFL football, and I really wish that the Madden games were as well made and fun as the FIFA series.

Anyway, this is a matter in which I can little to no productive input, as my social interaction is extremely limited, with or without video games. I am an extreme introvert - I'm also autistic - and very insular. That doesn't mean I'm a total misanthrope and don't crave any human interaction; it's just that I don't actively seek it out often, for a multitude of reasons. And let me tell you, while it may be sad to always be doing things by yourself, it does make life waaay less complicated. No idiots talking during films, no one asking inane questions while you're playing a game, no pausing while some other asshole goes to the bathroom, no waiting for someone else to get online, no lag, no misunderstandings...

I really hope game developers never forget just how fucking awesome solitary experiences are, and how much fun single player games are.

I'm only saying this out of care, but you should reread your writing before posting, because the only thing that made some sense is the last paragraph. But it sounds like you want someone/ people to have a deep experience with whatever single-player game you are playing (and real bad I might add). Why not talk about your experience with said game with another friend instead? Also, you sound like you lack other interests and hobbies, or that you are a bit lonely and looking for a mate.

What do you mean "no one goes there"? You can't talk about your emotions or yourself with friends? Sounds like a bunch of shallow friendships if you can only goof around and hang out casually.

@BBQBram said:

What do you mean "no one goes there"? You can't talk about your emotions or yourself with friends? Sounds like a bunch of shallow friendships if you can only goof around and hang out casually.

I thought everyone was this way in the 21st century. There are young men and women who are sociable and shit yet discuss thoughts and emotions beyond the usual topics that ultimately end up in jokes making everyone laugh like morons?

There's a world outside this world!

I game at night and socialize during the day. Problem solved.

I have friends that I'm capable of playing single player games with. Just depends on who you socialize with.

I have a very diverse group of friends, some of whom I talk about games with, some music, some politics, drugs, whatever I want to talk about. Being sociable does not exclude you from anything...

I fail to see what point you are trying to make, are you saying that it's difficult to talk to people who don't play video games? If that's the case, find people who do play video games. And if we're talking about socializing with people outside the realm of video games, a skill which I think is vital, then you just have to live with talking about "superficial" things until you get to know them. Talk about recent events that aren't too sombre or niche (i.e, don't talk about technology or videogames) unless they've expressed an interest in the topic. Games as a whole still have a stigma around them, even if it's incredibly mainstream, for better or for worse. If they don't care about games then there is absolutely no point in talking to them about it.

It isn't difficult to separate the part of you that enjoy video games and the part of you that like spending time with other people. I simply choose to not make my life revolve around games. They're fun and all, but make it something you enjoy rather than something that defines you as a person.

@Azteck said:

I simply choose to not make my life revolve around games. They're fun and all, but make it something you enjoy rather than something that defines you as a person.

Hmm, interesting. If I do that I'll just become... this dude who goes to college and sits around smoking a cigarette or doing homework. Nah video games define me as a person :$