What do your friends think about your Amiga interest?

[Jope]

Most of my friends like the fact that I have them, then again, many of my friends are guys who have been around computers for most their life and the demoscene has also made me lots of friends..

So, it's just business as usual. They do joke about the size of my collection, but I haven't had any negative feedback. :-)

Even when I have normal people around, the c-64 sitting in front of the living room TV has a strange draw..

[Photon]

My response to that is,

"Thank FSM I'm not your friend!"

[Dastardly]

There's a girl just started where I work who's 25 and not only has she heard of (and loves) Gods and all retro games, but she also listens to chip tunes!

I am going to marry this woman

[Graham Humphrey]

Some people really do get all the luck... any jobs going?

[Dastardly]

If you're better looking than me (probably), then no.

[Hungry Horace]

i thought i replied to this thread already. weird.

myself and one of my friends regularly discuss coding etc (including my amiga stuff) at the pub every week. We still play amiga games on eUAE and WinUAE, depending on who is visiting who.

My old university friends will still play some Amiga games when they visit.

Everyone else just accepts it as part of me. Some are quite astounded by the fact i've started making games etc. Others (who dont really use any/many emulators) are just glad to play more bloodwych levels.

[Photon]

Originally Posted by Dastardly

If you're better looking than me (probably), then no.

Nah, he's all blocky and wears garishly colored footie trousers to work. No competition.

[Photon]

Hah!

"Can't say the same about you... you look too horny..."




Girls must love it here, 1000 guys fighting over 3 (?) girls. Oh well, kisses to the sheilas.

[rkauer]

I'm keeping priesting to the atheists. I have a few friends who have Amigas or other retro computers (mostly MSX units).

Most of my friends mocks me about that obsolete computer(!!!) I insist to use.

Some involved with music or DJ-ing be interested, from time to time.

@Cammy & ASM1: be different is not a bad thing, ever. I love to meet to you guys (and gal) in real life.

I'm an alcohol consumer (not an addict) and over-to-average cooker, ex-musician (Carpal tunnel got me), ex a-lot-of-things (but transvestite! Lost the hope, pervs! I'm straight). Be on Amiga since 1989 but with a "blackout" of nine years at the Commodore's~?AT's demise (1997).

Oh, I grab myself a second-used Amiga girlfriend (a real life friend of mine use to be Paula's boyfriend!). Funny how life is.

[Jonathan Drain]

Originally Posted by plankton

I don't have any friends, I used them all as spare parts for my organic A1200 tower.

I'm imagining something like the ending of Beneath a Steel Sky.

[BrooksterMax]

I replied earlier about this but although not a "friend" my mum and dad visited this weekend. She bought me the A500+ when I were a lad.

Anyway I showed her the Amiga 1200 in the spare room that my parents stayed in - which she noticed straight away. She was well impressed with the Compact Flash card as a Hard drive and how quick it booted.

She said "I remember you wanted one of those", yeah cos in 1992/3 it was the best thing eva. Why did I have to wait until 2009 to get one!!!

[seuden]

Originally Posted by BrooksterMax

Why did I have to wait until 2009 to get one!!!

Haha, same here

[andreas]

Well, reading all this stuff makes me think this whole crowd is composed from lots of lone wolves and hermits (or recluses, if you wish)

Well, as psychologists would put it, the Internet has become a sort of "second world" for these people, since it preserves both their anonymity and their "weirdness". Many artists (painters in particular, as well as composers) are of the same kind - lots of extremely weird people amongst them.
As I found out, the Internet has also become a sort of 'catch basin' for ADD/ADHD/Asperger people. (If you don't know what that is, don't bother.) Some even admit it on their MySpace pages, often between the lines. Also chat addicts are very likely to have ADD, because they see the chat as their own community they can express themselves the way they want to. (And make contact to other recluses; often, these turn out to have the same disease, and are, sometimes, social outsiders, too.) Oh gosh, how were these people lost before the Internet existed! Some even almost lost their rhetorical abilities since besides occasional shopping days, they didn't talk to anyone. NOT ANYONE.
In the Net, they can at least *WRITE* to someone.; at least an improvement, but it is never going to replace real-life talk. EVER.
Even though they are mostly living in a sort of isolation, Asperger people can be GENIUSES too: such as Bram Cohen, inventor of BitTorrent.

Oh yes, psychology is a great subject. And it's crazy that some time before, the correlation between Internet addiction and the said diseases was just one of my weird assumptions! Now scientists from far Korea have confirmed just that in their studies.

But ok, I'll cut it ... back to me now:

I would not be likely to fear a sort of sneer with friends when I talk about amiga, as I'm rather an Amiga worker than a player. I've been on here since 2001: you may check out my posting history: you will only find a handful of games I actually played. I'm rather a play-tester than a player, that's not always the same! Play-tester means I get a statefile from a user and I check something out.
I'm a true lover of challenges!
After a bunch of people have failed with a level, why shouldn't I make it by checking for e. g. some secret invisible mid-air steps (as in Rick Dangerous, for instance)?
I'd fight my way to get through that obstacle and ... DROP the game again!
(I wouldn't play it 'til the end, unless there's another obstacle causing problems for people)

And I also like to restaurate disks by piecing blocks together with a disk editor. This knowledge can be a life-saver, especially for rare stuff.
Another reason might be I'm in my 30s so I'm feeling a bit beyond the age of playing shoot-em-ups or jump'n runs. It's rather something that 13-year-olds do here in public malls, sitting at their Nintendos and hammering into their game pads like mad. (Often it's kids whose parents work all day, so they have to spend their time somehow)
And I have to note that said kids tend to be quite AGGRESSIVE after 2 hours of non-stop beat'em up playing. Some of them really should exchange this spot for a football field instead.

[TCD]

Wow, one line about the topic in that lengthy post. Also you're reading the posts quite selective, since there are apparently quite a lot members with an intact social life.

[andreas]

Wow, one line about the topic in that lengthy post.

Yes, I'm sorry, but I was just shocked about so many loners on here, giving me some (maybe too much?) insight of what they would they be without web sites like this! And since I'm really deeply interested in psychology (of people, mainly), I just had to summarize some of my observations I made through the years.

And yes, I *DO* read posts quite selective.
What a comparison is that anyway, Mr. World Record EAB Poster!

As we are at these matters, I've always - in all honesty - wondered how you can have a job AND even post so much each freaking day?
As facts are that my boss would frequently ask me something, coming near at my desk - would you imagine I could permanently stay on an Amiga forum whenever he gazes on my screen? Naw.
You seem to be an awfully lucky guy. Or - hang on - be lucky to do all your work from home office.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by andreas

What a comparison is that anyway, Mr. World Record EAB Poster!

I made a comparison? No, I rather pointed out that your 'whole crowd is composed from lots of lone wolves and hermits' is utter rubbish as a result of selective reading. As for my job and my activity on EAB, I think that it's none of your concern in all honesty. Really as a 'hobby psychologist' you're not doing a good job and might refrain from posting generalisations like you did.

[T_hairy_bootson]

TCD has the skills to pay the bills (and post whore all day on EAB and irc)

Myself, none of my friends understand my amiga/retro passion and so I dont bring it up much unless they ask. Sometimes they are curious, sometimes they mock me for it, other times they will ask questions about old games they remember to see if I can help them identify it etc.. Even though a few of them had amigas or c64s back in the day they would much rather come over and mess around on a new PC game I have or one of the next gen consoles than fire up an amiga game. I did get a sweet speedball2 tournament type thing happening a while back with a group of them though. I have explained to them its just a hobby like any other and they understand that at least.

I joined an amiga club last year thanks to Calgor so hopefully we can have some more IRL gaming sessions there.

[Hungry Horace]

Well, reading all this stuff makes me think this whole crowd is composed from lots of lone wolves and hermits (or recluses, if you wish)

that must be gauged on the people who -havent- posted here right? for whom there is no evidence to suggest either way.

[andreas]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

As for my job and my activity on EAB, I think that it's none of your concern in all honesty.

Hehe, I DID expect this reaction, "in all honesty". You don't have to tell me, do you? But one is at least allowed to express one's own impressions, eh!?

Beside that, whatever I post, and at what time; the direct reply is almost always coming from YOU. Maybe it's just that: I'd really wish to have a little more diversity in the thing, instead of having ANY post replied by you just because you're there almost 24/7 (even at 4 o'clock in the morning, according to my observations; yes I AM very beady-eyed).

Wondering whether this could not already be called "abnormal" is just a consequence of common sense (obviously).

[Photon]

Originally Posted by andreas

wondered how you can have a job AND even post so much each freaking day?

Easy. Surfing on the job. I don't do it but I know a lot of friends who do


To analyze further,

1) some people get fascinated by stuff (addictive personality) - it could be cars, sports, or games or collecting stuff or computers. If it's a "popular" special interest, it's normally OK, even though modern pro/semipro gamers also have trouble fitting in, and gaming is popular. And it's not a new phenomenon that car freaks can get served a divorce if they spend all free time in the garage. Or sports-nerds blocking the TV 24/7 (but extra TVs are cheap )

Those who don't seem to have a hard time accepting the special interest at all. A "normal" life without ever "getting into" anything, that's perfectly fine with me if others like that more. But it's sad that the normal life people don't accept other interests and shut people out.

Then again, you can shut yourself out a little, for example, "I was an ectomologist, but now I will only collect a specific kind of butterfly from the Amazon and know all about it and only talk to people that know all about it"

Or, what the hell, code assembler. Nobody else would know wth you were talking about or why you like it.


2) If you're "shut out", you either feel miserable because you need the social bit (weak personality, "seeking confirmation in others"), only a few strong personalities (feels confident in themselves, can occupy themselves, don't mind or even prefer solitude) can take it. And after a long time of shut-out, even the toughest guys lose some self-confidence. So we all have a need to get appreciated, I think.

These 2 points together is the cause of a lot of misery.

Socializing on special interest "forums of any kind" (clubs, internet...) is a good way to remedy it a little. But if only we had teleporters so anyone could actually GO to any "sharer of the phenomenon" in the world!

Hell, I'd love it if a good scener/Amiga friend moved in with me! We'd muck around with stuff we love, talk crap, play multiplayer and end up fistfighting (and before the gay references start: and go to the gym together, and pump each other... (c) Fletch)

OK, maybe move in next door or visit for a long-ish spell... but anyway Both for the Home Computer Days, LAN times and previous neighbors they have been the absolutely best times of my life \o/


But now we're few and far between (each other), and many "tied down" (as they say) by girlfriends/boyfriends/family. (And the same 'normal life' thing again... what would many wives say about 'the weird guy from <country> coming to stay for two weeks'? Nicht Akzeptabel!!!

Skype+bluetooth is a good middle ground also. Then you could have offtopic conversations and do misc stuff without being shackled to a PC. You couldn't go to the gym together and pump each other tho



Do Stuff Together (tm). Best thing evah


Edit: If you like me for some reason, PM me and you can have my Skype addy... I don't mind practicing my English and German, hehe

Next demoparty for me is Kindergarden 2009 in Norway, grab me if you're going