[Insert Type]-Aggro. This is something we all run into from time to time. Well maybe not all of us, but at least those who are striving to break the stereotype of a uber-geek gamer living in his/her parent’s basement living a digital existence while the world passes us by. I’m not talking about Healer-aggro, or the type you get from DPS generating threat beyond your group tank’s ability to hold. I’m talking about Wife/Husband/Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Child/Parent/Rabid Hamster/Take Your Pick-Aggro. Most of us deal with it on an occasional bases at the least, Gamasutra did a study some time back showing the average age of an MMO Player being 26.6 years old, and 36% are married. This means at some point at least 36% of us are going to piss our respective other off due to our gaming habits. I’ve done it, and you may have done it.
Is [X]-Aggro justified? Probably, I know I don’t like being ignored, and games have a tendency to suck us in causing us to filter out annoying details beyond sucking down Mt. Dew and Cheetos. This selective focus on the alternate reality presented to us in game is literally what games are intended to do, and it is a natural thing. Games are intended to draw us in and cause us to extend our reality into that of the game world, this is what those in the industry call being, “Immersive”. This can come into conflict with our personal lives, I probably draw Girl-Friend Aggro at least twice a week, if not a night. It might be from not hearing a question asked, or getting so involved I lose track of time and forget to do something I committed myself too.
There are ways to deal with these situations, but the best solution is prevention. Getting down on our knees to beg forgiveness will only work so many times, ignoring the situation isn’t a real option, and neither is being too defensive of our gaming. So here are my tips to helping deal with those situations.
- Apologize….then apologize again.
- Set a timer. Some games have popup notifications in them, use them. If your game doesn’t set an alarm on your cell phone or use an egg timer.
- Invite the person delivering the Aggro to join the game, this isn’t easy with a pet, but if the other human factor is equally spaced then it’s difficult for them to get mad, and the game becomes a bonding experience.
- Did I mention apologize?
- Keep track of what time it is. I always play games in windowed mode, it lets me see the clock on my desktop’s taskbar, and I check it frequently.
These aren’t the only ways to help deal with [X]-Aggro, but they will help you prevent it. Another solution might be to log off once in a while and go spend some time with the other person. I’ve heard it works……