Why do we do it?

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Analognovelist

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This isn't meant to be a joke thread, I was thinking about this the other day, So this is me trying to throw together an actually thought out thread.

Why do we do this? Why do we check these boards every day, searching for some snippit of precious information. What would drive a person to do such a thing. Hell, I don't even post, I just come on here and read stuff, pretty much everyday.

Like.. Me, I go to the University of Colorado(We were rated the number one party school last year) I have an awesome group of friends that I could party with pretty much whenver I want. I just met this super sexy tall blonde, who seems to be way into me. AND i'm currently trying out for the CU basketball team as a swingman, and yet, with all this stuff going on, I come back to these boards all the time. I spend hours just going through these threads, and I have no idea why. I could be doing WAY more fun things, but I don't.

What is the appeal of all of this. I don't think its about Half life 2. Yes, half life 2 is going to be the bomb diggity, but is it really about some game coming out, Or is more about the act of waiting, the act of waiting for that excitment to build, and being in a community of like minded equally excited people? Do we think of ourselves as explorers on the cusp of something great? Are we trying to get in on the groundfloor of something that will change everything? Or maybe we're just creatures of habit. We come here because we came here before and it feels safe and common. I just don't fully understand, and I think its like... A big part of this internet generation. Theres some force pulling us together, that makes us spend so much time with something that amounts to nothing more than a collection of words on a computer screen. For a long time I would have thought it would be loneliness, or a lack of a life, or some kind of inneptitude on the people taking part in such a thing. But I'm happy with my life, I have tons of fun, and I don't really fit into the whole nerdy guy at a computer stereotype(well.. maybe thats not true) and yet I'm totally captivated by this whole experience. I can't be the only person to ever wonder about this. I'd love to hear other people's perspective on this phenomenon. Feel free to flame or stay stupid crap that no doubt a bunch of people will say, But I would still be interested to hear what intelligent people have to say about this
 
A: Boredom :D I just like chattin up my fellow HL fans.
 
But.. Why is your answer to the boredom.. To come here.. Something has to draw you.. I mean, there's a million things you can do when you're bored
 
Why though? Why do you come? Why were you born for it? What part of your mind is serviced by coming here?
 
glad you have a good life man ... have fun in boulder ...

i dont know why i come here ... hmmm ... i should think about that ... i will tonight as i listen to ambient music in my bed .... :afro:
 
It wasn't meant to be like.. Bragging or whatever... You can believe what you will, I was just trying to dispute this claim that people make that the only reason people troll the internet is because they're losers
 
By golly you've made a point, i'm never visiting these forums again, who really cares what other people think about the game i want.
 
Excellent post BTW. Sums up what I have thought for a long time quite well. Seriously Though, what draws me to this forum spawns back from when I bought cs 1.0 in the beginning of 2001, and the anticipation that I might get that same feeling that I did when I first started playing cs, will come with HL2. Its not so much the game now though, it's just the accumilation of time spent waiting for it, I want to know every bit of news about it until it comes out.
 
Boredom

And you like playing video games

And there's a really cool videogame your looking forward to playing and want to talk to other people about this other cool video game

there ya go... and the nerd stereotype is just that... a stereotype... it was probably worse in the 80s with the *actual* nerds but now computers have become so mainstream your not really a big "nerd" unless you brag to all your friends aobut your level 98 sorceror on D&D and never go out and really skinny and stuff. If your just a normal person and not really "nerdy" around people then ur not a nerd

Even hot girls (mostly asian i've noticed... i don't understand either, or maybe that's a overgeneralization (counterstrike anybody?) ) play pc games now... my g/f is really looking forward to seeing hl2... even her friend has a mod chip x-box with all the games that she plays all the time

I think people tend to think that spending time at the computer is a "waste of your life", well it really just depends on how you look at it. Personally i think people who go to college and try to do everything better and faster than everybody else is a waste of your life. But that's just me

And for me at least there isn't much i can do when i'm bored

Either

a) watch tv (I got cable internet instead cuz i don't watch enough cable to justify paying $55 a mo and i get internet for $40.....) outside of family guy and cartoons and stuff

b) masturbate - doesn't eat up enough time

c) girlfriend stuff - 10 seconds

d) work... well its work... i mean c'mon

so there ya go, lots of time to fill
 
Analognovelist said:
It wasn't meant to be like.. Bragging or whatever... You can believe what you will, I was just trying to dispute this claim that people make that the only reason people troll the internet is because they're losers
Click to expand...

right i understand ... i really dont know why i come back here all the damn time ... maybe it's a social activity when you're not always kickin it with your chicks and your bros ... i dont know
 
good point... well.. most of the people here are good people with inciteful views, and we have some good discussions.
I guess I am just obsessed with HL2.. and I guess this is my nexus for everything HL2.

maybe it just slipped into routine around last sept (checking back constantly for news on hl2's imminent, well "supposed" imminent release last year)
*shrugs*
good people here though.
 
Since september 2003, I used to read the forum every morning when drinking my coffe and smoking my cig' :)
It is now a real habit !
 
I come...
#1. to see the news
#2. to see what people think of the news
 
Addiction, we're al ltrying to get that feeling we felt when we first played HL, like a drug addict looking for that first high, and it just becomes a chain and we're all chasing normality(if its even a word) now.
 
hmm addiction.. yea I guess it is an addiction

It's easy and highly entertaining... sounds like a good addiction to me
 
Analognovelist said:
This isn't meant to be a joke thread, I was thinking about this the other day, So this is me trying to throw together an actually thought out thread.

Why do we do this? Why do we check these boards every day, searching for some snippit of precious information. What would drive a person to do such a thing. Hell, I don't even post, I just come on here and read stuff, pretty much everyday.

Like.. Me, I go to the University of Colorado(We were rated the number one party school last year) I have an awesome group of friends that I could party with pretty much whenver I want. I just met this super sexy tall blonde, who seems to be way into me. AND i'm currently trying out for the CU basketball team as a swingman, and yet, with all this stuff going on, I come back to these boards all the time. I spend hours just going through these threads, and I have no idea why. I could be doing WAY more fun things, but I don't.

What is the appeal of all of this. I don't think its about Half life 2. Yes, half life 2 is going to be the bomb diggity, but is it really about some game coming out, Or is more about the act of waiting, the act of waiting for that excitment to build, and being in a community of like minded equally excited people? Do we think of ourselves as explorers on the cusp of something great? Are we trying to get in on the groundfloor of something that will change everything? Or maybe we're just creatures of habit. We come here because we came here before and it feels safe and common. I just don't fully understand, and I think its like... A big part of this internet generation. Theres some force pulling us together, that makes us spend so much time with something that amounts to nothing more than a collection of words on a computer screen. For a long time I would have thought it would be loneliness, or a lack of a life, or some kind of inneptitude on the people taking part in such a thing. But I'm happy with my life, I have tons of fun, and I don't really fit into the whole nerdy guy at a computer stereotype(well.. maybe thats not true) and yet I'm totally captivated by this whole experience. I can't be the only person to ever wonder about this. I'd love to hear other people's perspective on this phenomenon. Feel free to flame or stay stupid crap that no doubt a bunch of people will say, But I would still be interested to hear what intelligent people have to say about this
Click to expand...

Not bad...your quite conscious of your own conscious, i'm most impressed.

Now all you have to is become conscious of all that (conscious of your conscious of your conscious).

(and no all you idiots, going up another level of conscious would be repetitive consciousness)
 
most of us have been here since hl2 was first announced in may 2003, and we have all gone through the bullshit together and we are, as a result, a pretty tightly-knit group of people.
 
I don't post much, i just like reading other people's views... getting a feel for the community.

And news, of course. :D

The info from valve thread got me to this site.
 
I think the reason I initially came, was to find out information about the release date, and hear I am.. still here. I even went so far as to write a fan fiction, and I'm not the fan fiction kind of person.. Who knew?
 
I know exactly how you feel. Its the damned game. I loved the first HL. And now I have never found myself in so much inticipation of a damned computer game in my life. I used to play comp games all the time when I was younger but not so much anymore. I like to get out and hang with friends and do other things now. But I would always look out for a good game that was as immersive as the first HL and I never found one. But ever since I heard HL2 was coming out and got closer to going gold, my life has changed for the past few months. I have been hanging out on these damned boards alot. I fell like an empty shell. But I dont care. Once I am done with HL2,(however long that will be) I think things will go back to normal for me. At least I hope. Fortunately for me I have other goals to keep me distracted. I like reality too. :borg:
 
Yeah to be honest i can't think of a game that has really pulled me in like the original HL

the first time i played it was back in '99 over christmas break from school and i beat it in 3 days playing maybe 6 hours a day... i swear i couldn't put it down... very immersive game

Even far cry didn't do it... doom3 was just horrid in that area... can't think of a lot of games where its been like "I can't put it down till i beat it". Then start over to play it again the next day...

well, maybe evil genius... but THAT'S IT :)
 
It's just interesting to communicate with people who have similar interests. Forums expose you to many different points of view, some ignorant, some insightful, and that often makes them more interesting than, say, television. Not that that's difficult.

People also have an intrinsic desire or need to relate their experiences to other people. Since relatively few people in the "real world" would be interested in our extremely nerdy hopes and desires, we end up here :p
 
-Yo- said:
Since september 2003, I used to read the forum every morning when drinking my coffe and smoking my cig' :)
It is now a real habit !
Click to expand...

Same here. I'm drinking my coffee and having my first cig right now :farmer:

I always have a hl2.net page open when I'm at work. Keeps me entertained.
 
Why am I here?

I am here because I live and breathe HL2, I can't wait 3weeks 4days 1hour 59minutes and 10seconds longer (hehe i like my countdown, thanks to the guy on this fourm who made it)
 
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