When Did You Know?

Off Topic
1

There comes a time in every man’s life, when he finds something which he wants to dedicate his life to. It could be a sport. It could be his country. It could be the search for a cancer cure. Every man will find his noble pursuit one day. This is the story of my “man day”, as one could call.

When I was fourteen, I was playing Halo 2 online with a friend. The map was Lockout. The enemy had the sniper, a battle rifle, the sword, and the shotgun. We had battle rifles. It was a high-stakes game, the enemy was of a much lower rank than us, so that if we had lost, our ranks would have been dramatically affected.

We were pretty well-matched, but they had the lead. We’d kill them, only to have the power weapons go flying off the side of the level, or pick up the power weapons when they were out of ammo. Then they’d kill us.

Eventually, we had 21 kills, against their 22, with a goal of 25 needed to win the game. We all died together in a small room because we weren’t careful enough with where we threw our grenades. The score became 23-24.

We respawned, and it was a race for the power weapons again. This time, I found the sniper rifle. They had the sword and the shotgun and we chasing my partner. They only needed to kill him. That’s when I jumped under the bridge to help him, with no idea what they were armed with. Talk about shocking!

Even more surprising was that I killed them both with one shot for each, unzoomed, with the sniper rifle. It was awesome because the sensitivity was high and sticky aim was disabled for the sniper weapon when it wasn’t zoomed. I killed the sword guy in midair as he was lunging toward me. Luck? Maybe. I like to think that it was God sending me a sign.

This was the defining moment in my life. When I realized that I want to be a professional video game player.

What made you know what you wanted to do and allowed you to call yourself a man?

2

Halo 2 can do that to you. So can Gears of War, Splinter Cell, Call of Duty 2…those old James Bond games…

It can also make you believe (with a little alcohol) that you can do pretty much any idiotic thing and will just be able to respawn anything you hurt afterwards.

Also can make you believe that you can be IN the video game if you bodyslam the tv when youre playing the game.

Im not a man but I can tell you Ive met enough assholes to want to be above them in assholeness and find reasons to put them all in jail when I get older. Just kidding.

Well

3

well, mine isn’t anything prolific like a video game :wink: but i’d say it’s when my daughters were born.

I had a regular-type life, kinda knew what i wanted, but not really on the road to anywhere. I was finishing my last year of my undergrad and my girlfried(now wife) and i had twins. TWINS! needless to say i was a little surprised!

anyway, my kids are my life now…

4

Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF!

5

[quote]grew7 wrote:
What made you know what you wanted to do and allowed you to call yourself a man?[/quote]

Your post are hilarious. You really do have a talent for timing and irony. I hope you’re doing something with your writing talent.

6

Grew is chumming and the fish are already biting hard. Grew, over your limit and you’ll be poaching.

D

7

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
grew7 wrote:
What made you know what you wanted to do and allowed you to call yourself a man?

Your post are hilarious. You really do have a talent for timing and irony. I hope you’re doing something with your writing talent.[/quote]

This isn’t a real post? I’ve been punked? If that’s the case, good one, you had me going.

8

anyway…it’s a cool idea for thread.

9

[quote]Thai_Bxr wrote:
CaliforniaLaw wrote:
grew7 wrote:
What made you know what you wanted to do and allowed you to call yourself a man?

Your post are hilarious. You really do have a talent for timing and irony. I hope you’re doing something with your writing talent.

This isn’t a real post? I’ve been punked? If that’s the case, good one, you had me going.

[/quote]

It’s not a real post. The kid is fucking amazing, isn’t he? (This is the third thread like this he’s started.)

Now, in light of your now knowing the truth, re-read the post. In light of the body of the post, isn’t that last line just fucking brilliant?

10

the day i seen rocky 4, that training changed my life.

11

[quote]Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF![/quote]

Competing in video games is just like competing at a chess tournament, a football game, a weightlifting meet, a soccer game, whatever it is that you like to compete at- and a lot of professions don’t “produce” anything. Pro football, soccer, tennis, hockey, actors, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers… the list goes on.

Believe it or not, some people do follow national video game tournaments. I don’t, but some people do. Just because you use your mind to compete doesn’t mean you are a lazy person- video games have just had that stigma with the whole “lazy geek” connotation. It actually takes a lot of mental aptitude to understand and excel at some games.

12

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
It’s not a real post. The kid is fucking amazing, isn’t he? (This is the third thread like this he’s started.)

Now, in light of your now knowing the truth, re-read the post. In light of the body of the post, isn’t that last line just fucking brilliant?[/quote]

I assumed that when I first read it. I played Halo 2 a year or so ago enough that I knew that the online matchmaking system was crap, and most all the serious players play custom games by MLG rules.

:stuck_out_tongue:

13

[quote]Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF![/quote]

Hey, if he gets paid doing it, it’s because someone gets paid even more by ‘exploiting’ his talents. Doesn’t matter what the job is. If someone’s willing to pay for it, it’s got market value. Idealistic or not, that’s real life.

14

[quote]Xyo_II wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF!

Competing in video games is just like competing at a chess tournament, a football game, a weightlifting meet, a soccer game, whatever it is that you like to compete at- and a lot of professions don’t “produce” anything. Pro football, soccer, tennis, hockey, actors, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers… the list goes on.

Believe it or not, some people do follow national video game tournaments. I don’t, but some people do. Just because you use your mind to compete doesn’t mean you are a lazy person- video games have just had that stigma with the whole “lazy geek” connotation. It actually takes a lot of mental aptitude to understand and excel at some games. [/quote]

I’ll admit it does take mental aptitude to play some video games. I will also agree that Professional sports also don’t produce anything (that is another rant though). Playing video games is a useless, mind numbing activity. It isn’t reality. It also should not be something that a grown Man should persue. Knowing that the original post is fictional does make the last line truely funny, but the fact remains Men should not play video games as a profession. If you are over the age of 18 and are playing video games on a Saturday night, you should take a look at your life and see where you failed.

15

[quote]Thai_Bxr wrote:
Xyo_II wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF!

Competing in video games is just like competing at a chess tournament, a football game, a weightlifting meet, a soccer game, whatever it is that you like to compete at- and a lot of professions don’t “produce” anything. Pro football, soccer, tennis, hockey, actors, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers… the list goes on.

Believe it or not, some people do follow national video game tournaments. I don’t, but some people do. Just because you use your mind to compete doesn’t mean you are a lazy person- video games have just had that stigma with the whole “lazy geek” connotation. It actually takes a lot of mental aptitude to understand and excel at some games.

I’ll admit it does take mental aptitude to play some video games. I will also agree that Professional sports also don’t produce anything (that is another rant though). Playing video games is a useless, mind numbing activity. It isn’t reality. It also should not be something that a grown Man should persue. Knowing that the original post is fictional does make the last line truely funny, but the fact remains Men should not play video games as a profession. If you are over the age of 18 and are playing video games on a Saturday night, you should take a look at your life and see where you failed.
[/quote]

Sitting at home on a Saturday night is not the same as being a professional gamer. A top level gamer can make a few hundred grand a year, doing something he enjoys. What exactly is wrong with making more in one year than the average person does in ten, enjoying yourself as you do? I guess it all depends on one’s definition of failure. I’m probably biased, though, because my profession contributes absolutely nothing to society: no product, no service. I’m not a gamer, but I may as well be. I guess I should reevaluate my life and career and change them to meet your standards.

16

[quote]MightyBlaze wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Xyo_II wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF!

Competing in video games is just like competing at a chess tournament, a football game, a weightlifting meet, a soccer game, whatever it is that you like to compete at- and a lot of professions don’t “produce” anything. Pro football, soccer, tennis, hockey, actors, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers… the list goes on.

Believe it or not, some people do follow national video game tournaments. I don’t, but some people do. Just because you use your mind to compete doesn’t mean you are a lazy person- video games have just had that stigma with the whole “lazy geek” connotation. It actually takes a lot of mental aptitude to understand and excel at some games.

I’ll admit it does take mental aptitude to play some video games. I will also agree that Professional sports also don’t produce anything (that is another rant though). Playing video games is a useless, mind numbing activity. It isn’t reality. It also should not be something that a grown Man should persue. Knowing that the original post is fictional does make the last line truely funny, but the fact remains Men should not play video games as a profession. If you are over the age of 18 and are playing video games on a Saturday night, you should take a look at your life and see where you failed.

Sitting at home on a Saturday night is not the same as being a professional gamer. A top level gamer can make a few hundred grand a year, doing something he enjoys. What exactly is wrong with making more in one year than the average person does in ten, enjoying yourself as you do? I guess it all depends on one’s definition of failure. I’m probably biased, though, because my profession contributes absolutely nothing to society: no product, no service. I’m not a gamer, but I may as well be. I guess I should reevaluate my life and career and change them to meet your standards. [/quote]

Hey, you don’t have to meet my standards of anything. I am just a very happy, but lowly peon who does contribute to society every day and who does work for a company with a charitable organization associated with it. I do good every day. I produce something real and useable. I give of my time and resources, and I sleep very well at night.
Just because you can make a great deal of money at something doesn’t make it a worthwhile endeavor.

Making a great deal of money doesn’t mean you will achieve happiness. Making a few hundred thousand a year playing Halo 2 does not make you a man. To be honest, it doesn’t make you much of anything at all. If that is your vocation, use your “influence” in the gamming world to do something for your fellow human being.

17

[quote]MightyBlaze wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Xyo_II wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF!

Competing in video games is just like competing at a chess tournament, a football game, a weightlifting meet, a soccer game, whatever it is that you like to compete at- and a lot of professions don’t “produce” anything. Pro football, soccer, tennis, hockey, actors, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers… the list goes on.

Believe it or not, some people do follow national video game tournaments. I don’t, but some people do. Just because you use your mind to compete doesn’t mean you are a lazy person- video games have just had that stigma with the whole “lazy geek” connotation. It actually takes a lot of mental aptitude to understand and excel at some games.

I’ll admit it does take mental aptitude to play some video games. I will also agree that Professional sports also don’t produce anything (that is another rant though). Playing video games is a useless, mind numbing activity. It isn’t reality. It also should not be something that a grown Man should persue. Knowing that the original post is fictional does make the last line truely funny, but the fact remains Men should not play video games as a profession. If you are over the age of 18 and are playing video games on a Saturday night, you should take a look at your life and see where you failed.

Sitting at home on a Saturday night is not the same as being a professional gamer. A top level gamer can make a few hundred grand a year, doing something he enjoys. What exactly is wrong with making more in one year than the average person does in ten, enjoying yourself as you do? I guess it all depends on one’s definition of failure. I’m probably biased, though, because my profession contributes absolutely nothing to society: no product, no service. I’m not a gamer, but I may as well be. I guess I should reevaluate my life and career and change them to meet your standards. [/quote]

The real question is- how many average video game players become top-level gamers and even make any money at it at all? If someone wants to have a hobby of playing video games, that’s one thing, but to say they want to make it their profession just seems silly, fake post or not.

And you don’t need to reevaluate your life if your job makes you successful and is based on providing a sound financial life for yourself and your family, regardless of what it produces. I’m also not implying that doing something you love, regardless of the money you make, is cause for reevaluation. It’s just important to note that it isn’t really a profession unless you get paid for it. If you do it for free it’s a hobby.

18

[quote]Thai_Bxr wrote:
MightyBlaze wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Xyo_II wrote:
Thai_Bxr wrote:
Ok, I’ll be the asshole. You are admitting to being a professional video game player on this website? A profession that doesn’t produce anyting. A profession that doesn’t serve or sevice anyting. A profession where you sit on your ass and the only person who cares about the outcome of your game is you and if your lucky your Mom.

Why oh why did you have to start, what could be a very cool thread, with that? That is like like admitting to being a professional television watcher. WTF!

Competing in video games is just like competing at a chess tournament, a football game, a weightlifting meet, a soccer game, whatever it is that you like to compete at- and a lot of professions don’t “produce” anything. Pro football, soccer, tennis, hockey, actors, skateboarders, snowboarders, skiers… the list goes on.

Believe it or not, some people do follow national video game tournaments. I don’t, but some people do. Just because you use your mind to compete doesn’t mean you are a lazy person- video games have just had that stigma with the whole “lazy geek” connotation. It actually takes a lot of mental aptitude to understand and excel at some games.

I’ll admit it does take mental aptitude to play some video games. I will also agree that Professional sports also don’t produce anything (that is another rant though). Playing video games is a useless, mind numbing activity. It isn’t reality. It also should not be something that a grown Man should persue. Knowing that the original post is fictional does make the last line truely funny, but the fact remains Men should not play video games as a profession. If you are over the age of 18 and are playing video games on a Saturday night, you should take a look at your life and see where you failed.

Sitting at home on a Saturday night is not the same as being a professional gamer. A top level gamer can make a few hundred grand a year, doing something he enjoys. What exactly is wrong with making more in one year than the average person does in ten, enjoying yourself as you do? I guess it all depends on one’s definition of failure. I’m probably biased, though, because my profession contributes absolutely nothing to society: no product, no service. I’m not a gamer, but I may as well be. I guess I should reevaluate my life and career and change them to meet your standards.

Hey, you don’t have to meet my standards of anything. I am just a very happy, but lowly peon who does contribute to society every day and who does work for a company with a charitable organization associated with it. I do good every day. I produce something real and useable. I give of my time and resources, and I sleep very well at night.
Just because you can make a great deal of money at something doesn’t make it a worthwhile endeavor.

Making a great deal of money doesn’t mean you will achieve happiness. Making a few hundred thousand a year playing Halo 2 does not make you a man. To be honest, it doesn’t make you much of anything at all. If that is your vocation, use your “influence” in the gamming world to do something for your fellow human being.[/quote]

I’ve always felt I can contribute more after achieving financial success than I ever could without it. Basically, if I really do well, then I really can do good. I think Bill Gates epitomizes this, through his foundation. I know this is highly debateable, but I’ve always felt this way nonetheless. I don’t necessarily think one’s vocation is the deciding factor in whether or not one is a man, though. My job is what I do, but it isn’t necessarily what I am.

19

The chances of anyone on this forum becoming a professional gamer are even less than the chances of anyone on this forum making it to the NFL. (mainly because the NFL doesn’t grade on E-Stats)

20

[quote]MightyBlaze wrote:
My job is what I do, but it isn’t necessarily what I am.[/quote]

I really think that is the case for most people. I know it is for me.