Can't explain Oolite to the wife

[Ganelon]

I've been married for *almost* 30 yrs now, and we've had at least one computer (with games) in the house for most of those years. I'm still alive, so I guess I'll tell what I've learned over the years on this topic.

It helps if the wife and/or significant other also games. Even better if they watch video on the net and you don't so much, as has already been mentioned.

Upgrade their video card or ram before you upgrade yours. If they have their own computer and their own game or social things to attend to on it, you're much less likely to run into trouble. Shared computers = trouble.

If they play a game like "Bejeweled" or something similar, act interested for a moment and then say "Gems? Cool! How many grams of gems do you have in your safe in that game?".. then act mildly disappointed. (Works best if you actually have a few hundred grams of gems in your Oolite ship's safe. Even better if you have some actual gems around in real life and have a good record of making sure she gets some any time you add to that collection.)

Always take care of family stuff before settling in for a session of gameplay. If possible wait till everybody else is asleep. If not possible, get up and walk around every station or two. Do it often enough and they'll be glad to see you get back to your game so they can get back to their own game or forum.

To sum it up in simple steps..

1.) Bribery. Make sure they have their own computer if possible and that in not-too-distant history you have worked on it or upgraded it or given pretty things or favourite foods/beverages.

2.) Try to equate your gaming to gaming or other activities they do without you. But keep it cordial. "Oh yeah, what about all the time you spend watching crap on Hulu?" will most likely *not* win you any points. "It's not much different from a movie, really, I just like it because it's more interactive and I have to think a bit to do well.." may work better.

3.) Try to be considerate and not forget about family stuff when you dive into your game for a while.

Now, for marathon sessions.. Well.. Ok, you can still get some crap for those. If you're "Lost in Space" for a couple entire nights in a row, expect trouble. If you *don't* get trouble, see step #1. If you do get trouble, as expected, see step #1 a lot.

[Yah-Ta-Hey]

OK, I have read this with some laughter and eye wiping..
My wife has her own laptop that she uses while watching her favorite Tv programs, playing solitare and holding 2 of our cats in her lap all at the same time. She never complains about my gaming as she is a solitare junkie and she knows I can come back real quick on her addiction to the game.
When she goes to bed she lets me know that the cats are free.... this means the following> in 10 minutes or lessa I will have a cat laying over my forearms while I am trying to play the game. Then, my Golden retriever decides that it is time to spend quality time with her by playing tug of war with your rope toy. If I ignore her, I will get a warm breath/cold nose against my wait until I have to pause the game and "frolic" to her hearts content. This lasts about 15 minutes. In the meantime, The cat has decided to lay on the keyboard and play with the keys and the mouse. sometimes, she connects with the right keystrokes and plays the game for me. So it is not my wife who is the problem but my animal companions who just want to share their time with me. although it may not be the right time.

Yah-Ta-Hey

[Smivs]

Trying as I am to type this with a cat half on the keyboard and another walking back and forth in front of the monitor I can only sympathise

[Steve]

The cats are banned from this room. No exceptions

[Star Gazer]

Wow! I'm impressed! You have a perfected anti-cat force field erected around the room? I have never succeeded in keeping a cat out of a room it wanted to get into!

[Steve]

You have a perfected anti-cat force field erected around the room?

I have a door. Seems to work quite well

[Yah-Ta-Hey]

don't let your cats around mine: They open doors, drawers, sliding closet doors, pull down drawers. They are so good at it.. I have put in those child proof door latches to keep them out of the areas that have the cleaning materials. One of the cats can pull the chain to my desk lamp and can get rather frustrating to having a blinking 3-way light (go dark, low,med and high) while you are concentrating on the screen while in a furball of a fight. Another knows how to manipulate the rocker arm to the power filters that I use for my computers.

[Cody]

Damn smart, those felines!

[CheeseRedux]

It sounds like some of you could need some Paw Sense.
(Win only, I'm 'fraid. For Mac users there's CatNip, and I'm sure that somewhere out there a Linux wizard has done something similar.)

[Star Gazer]

I have a door. Seems to work quite well

Goodness you are fortunate, one of mine came from the same genetic stream as Yah-Ta-Hey's and learned to open doors at a very early age. Fortunately she never learned to pull down anyone's drawers...

[Yah-Ta-Hey]

no,no,no...wrong kind of drawers The drawers I am writing about are the ones that hold the knives under the sink... That is a favorite as it snaps open and shut, they like the sound. I am getting worried about one of them.. it has learned to steal the paring knife.... Like Hesperus.. it has a liking for weapons. wonder if he left a few litters around that he hasn't admitted to yet.

[Star Gazer]

...yes, I did really think that was the kind you meant!

That sounds like a very dangerous game with the knife drawer ... and stealing a knife...!! ... eeeeeekkkkk...

I did have one cat who decided I had spent MUCH too much time on building a new super power HiFi amp and not on him, so he waited until I had finished and installed it, and then urinated in it... ... he ran and hid up the chimney until I had calmed down...

[Eldon]

As I read about your cats, I cannot help but think of this advert. And be just a little worried.

[Star Gazer]

...no, no, no, no, no.... that is a much too scary idea!

[Smivs]

Mine have at least been easier to move around since I bought my new cat carrier.