It's confession time - who is an Oolite addict

[Bugbear]

I'm not talking about development and testing here - I work with computers in my real life job and I have an understanding of the extent to which software (and OXP) development can be a time sink.

Me? Maybe a couple of hours to blast through the space lanes. Building my cargo haulage reputation is going to take a looooong time...

Is there anyone here who would be comfortable with standing up and saying: "I'm Commander _____, and I'm an Oolite addict."

[Cody]

Is there anyone here who would be comfortable with standing up and saying: "I'm Commander _____, and I'm an Oolite addict."

I'm Commander Cody, and I am an Oolite addict!

[Gimi]

I'm not addicted to the game as such, but more to the concept. I spend a lot of time just tinkering, trying out new stuff, keeping things up to date, balancing my game, adding personal touches and so on. I usually play maybe 2 or 3 times a week for about an hour. Every now and then (mostly when the boss wife is away) I will dive into 6-8 hours of continuous playing.

Summary:
Addicted to all things Oolite: Yes (My wife lets me)
Addicted to the actual game: No

So, I'm Commander Gimi and I am an Oolite addict.

[Geraldine]

Well I am just an "Elite" addict! What the actual game may be that I am playing at a particular time can vary, but it must be either one of the originals or one of the re-makes. And yes, Oolite is most definitely on that list

[Smivs]

Good job you specified 'Playing' and not 'Doing Oolitey things'.
Playing = 6-8 hours/week
Tinkering/OXPing = varies, but up to c.30 hours/week when I have a project on the go

I'm Commander Smivs, and I'm an Oolite addict.

[CommonSenseOTB]

Making oxps can be an excellent way to stimulate the mind and express one's creativity. I'm addicted to making oxps.

Never get to actually play oolite that much these days. All my playing is in the form of playtesting my creations. However, every once in a blue moon I sit down for a "session" where I make a few hundred kills and try out what's new in the land of oolite. Just some nice, relaxing gaming, having fun like all the normal happy people do.

[SandJ]

I am doing Oolitey things at the moment for about 60 hours a week.

I am not an addict. It is merely my current interest. I tend to only have one interest at a time, and whatever it is, takes over until I get distracted onto something else. So I'm not an addict, just a healthy, normal, obsessive-compulsive, geeky, bloke.

And anyone who tells you it is 'abnormal' or a 'disorder' for any human to be obsessive-compulsive is trying to sell you something or on a commission. Or just a feeble-minded idiot with no ability to single-mindedly concentrate. So there.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with:
- doing something because you enjoy that doesn't harm anyone else;
- deciding to get really good at something to achieve a personal goal;
- getting engrossed in an intellectual challenge that ultimately teaches you new skills;
- wanting to contribute, and be seen to contribute, something worthwhile to a community-led development project that benefits others, that takes time to produce;
- being able to be focussed, goal-driven and single-minded. The Ooniverse wasn't built in a day. Nor was getting to Elite.


Edit: alcohol-induced trypos, however, are an entirely different matter.

[maaarcooose]

Not an Oolite addict, but certainly an Elite addict.
I used to play Elite endlessly when I was young on my BBC and I've spent the years in-between chasing that ever elusive thrill from a game again. Be it Freespace, Privateer, Wing commander, Tacheon: The Fringe, X2, Vendetta online or any other number of games of a similar ilk, nothing has ever pushed that itch tat I had to scratch in the same way, and I've played pretty much everything like it.
To be painfully honest, OOlite has yet to push those buttons for me properly yet, but i think it's just a matter of the right OXP's for my taste and the right setup of system. (I miss my old Voltmace joystick).
The thing that makes me like OOlite so much i that I know that the OXP's can actually match my imagination in some way. It makes the whole universe seem even more diverse.

These days, I find writing about it scratches the itch more these days than actually playing it.
By the time I've finished with my first proper bit of fic, I suspect someone will have to make an OXP for my new super weapon concept.
I've not even finished it and I'm already planning my launch session plus an IRC radio show.

Does just thinking about it a lot count as being an addict?
If so, I've been thinking about Elite, the universe of Elite and it's concept for the last 28 years.

I'm Commander Maaarcooose/Assassin #5, and I'm an Elite Addict.

!m!

[Duggan]

I think if you were to describe me as an Oolite Anorak who needs therapy to convince him that there are so many other things a computer can be useful for.
I would have been confronted with one of those unpalatable truths we are sometimes forced to face .. yeah OK ..I'm an addict..

[Steve]

Here's another variation; I'm not an Oolite addict, I'm a Frontier addict

Actually playing the game (FFED3D): probably 2-3 hours per week.

Fiddling around with my website, producing Kindle versions of FEU fiction (my current hobby) and various other nonsense takes up somewhere in the region of 20 hours per week.

So.... yeah...

I'm Commander Steve, and I'm a Frontier addict

[CaptSolo]

I am Commander Lögun Shîn and I am an Oolite addict. My goodie two shoes cousin, Commander Solo, was one as well, but he takes to the spacelanes no more. All the better for me. I spend 1 - 4 RL hours per day doing whatever is required to become the richest and most feared black knave the ooniverse has ever seen. However, I will be content with being second to Commander Cody. It would be the highest honor to meet him in single combat... to the death, of course.

[Cody]

Heh... Commander Cody is currently flying a seriously iron-assed purple Adder known as [classified] under an assumed name!

[Shipbuilder]

I play a little Oolite most days but am finding that I am spending more and more time designing or thinking about new ships to produce as oxps. So I guess you could call me a oxp addict (I've just finished putting a 4 hour shift in on my latest ship oxp).

[Specialist290]

My answer's a lot similar to SandJ's: I don't consider myself an Oolite addict as such, but I tend to get a singleminded fixation on whatever I'm interested in at the moment until I either burn out on it or something else distracts me. Of course, I don't spend as much time playing it as I do thinking about playing it, or even doing a little amateur worldbuilding inside my head. Sometimes, it even makes the jump to the page / word processor (which reminds me -- it's been a while since I've written anything for the Rough Guide, hasn't it?).

[Thargoid]

I play a little Oolite most days but am finding that I am spending more and more time designing or thinking about new ships to produce as oxps. So I guess you could call me a oxp addict (I've just finished putting a 4 hour shift in on my latest ship oxp).

Welcome to the dark side. Have a cookie...