Addictiveness: the SOLUTIONS thread - Page 2

Hail Caesar! · October 17, 2002, 19:33

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Athitis

6) Don't forget: the ultimate combination of wits and guts (and talent): woman+condom(s)=less civ than ever!

Actually woman minus condom = even less civ than woman + condom

Changmai Beagle · October 17, 2002, 20:05

I go with the sex thing. I just let my wife know that anytime she wants sex I will be more than happy to give up playing Civ that evening.

I'm sure it's going to work.

Gee. I've been playing a lot of civ lately.

Honey, are you still awake....? I could leave this game any time, you know.....

Hello?

Hail Caesar! · October 17, 2002, 20:27

Quote:

Originally posted by Changmai Beagle
I go with the sex thing. I just let my wife know that anytime she wants sex I will be more than happy to give up playing Civ that evening.

I'm sure it's going to work.

Gee. I've been playing a lot of civ lately.

Honey, are you still awake....? I could leave this game any time, you know.....

Hello?

Explorer579 · October 18, 2002, 00:57

How come the original thread "Civ3, Addiction, Disclaimer, and Informed Consent" does not appear under the General forum category? Is it blocked or is it my computer? Or maybe censorship?!

bongo · October 18, 2002, 02:33

It's censorship, 'they' are doing it to us because 'they' don't want us to know that full and happy 'lifes' exists beyond civ.

Oops, guess 'they' will be coming for me any time now

Athitis · October 18, 2002, 07:35

[QUOTE] Originally posted by Hail Caesar!

Quote:

Originally posted by Athitis

6) Don't forget: the ultimate combination of wits and guts (and talent): woman+condom(s)=less civ than ever!

Actually woman minus condom = even less civ than woman + condom

Yes but this way you don't just stop playing civ, you stop doing all the good stuff! Plus, imagine having a child born addicted to civ.......Its first words will be "Pe.....pe.....pe.......persia!" or something like that!

Hail Caesar! · October 18, 2002, 10:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Athitis

Yes but this way you don't just stop playing civ, you stop doing all the good stuff! Plus, imagine having a child born addicted to civ.......Its first words will be "Pe.....pe.....pe.......persia!" or something like that!

If it's first words were persia my wife would have some serious explaining to do!!!!!

Athitis · October 18, 2002, 16:38

We all know Xerxes is a real pain in the @$$ and an infamous backstabber, so I wouldn't be suprised much! Besides no woman can resist to his beautiful.........uhhh..... beard!

And this is nothing compared to what is to come. Imagine your son posting bald Joan posters on his room!

Changmai Beagle · October 18, 2002, 21:10

Don't laugh. My youngest son didn't read all that early, but then he started wanting to play Civilization (I) by himself. Some of the first words he was reading were G-G-RRR A T E P- P- P y r a m i d.
(My words are backed by nucwear weapons?)

dworkin · October 19, 2002, 14:57

"(My words are backed by nucwear weapons?)"

This will definitly go down like a lead balloon at kindergarten.

Athitis · October 19, 2002, 16:42

-Miss, can......can I go to the toilet?

-Say "please" first!

-WHAT? PLEASE!!!??? My WORDS ARE BACKED UP BY NUCLEAR WEAPONS! TAKE ME TO THE WC OR I WILL HAVE HALF MY GLORIOUS ARMY TAKE OVER THIS PETTY CLASS!

Chemical Ollie · October 19, 2002, 19:56

Quote:

Originally posted by dworkin
"(My words are backed by nucwear weapons?)"

This will definitly go down like a lead balloon at kindergarten.

That sandbox expression is almost as good as this:

- My dad is the strongest man in the world!
- I can buy your daddy!

Hail Caesar! · October 19, 2002, 20:31

This thread is getting weird

bongo · October 21, 2002, 04:52

Quote:

Originally posted by Hail Caesar!
This thread is getting weird

Just a thought, maybe there are a lot of weird people frequenting this forum? Or maybe otherwise normal people are exposing their weirdness here?

BTW I'm happy to report that I have had an almost civ-free weekend(had a hangover yesterday and played civ a couple of hours til my brain crawled back to 'normalcy')

Hail Caesar! · October 21, 2002, 13:24

Quote:

Originally posted by bongo

Just a thought, maybe there are a lot of weird people frequenting this forum? Or maybe otherwise normal people are exposing their weirdness here?

BTW I'm happy to report that I have had an almost civ-free weekend(had a hangover yesterday and played civ a couple of hours til my brain crawled back to 'normalcy')

I've been Civ-free for almost 5 days

Ummmm

but

I've wasted plenty of time at the apolyton.net message boards

ManicStarSeed · October 21, 2002, 15:24

When my computer crashes, I know it is time to go to bed.

Serioisly though, a timed session utility would either work reall well or piss me off by letting me know that time flies by.

Mss

bongo · October 22, 2002, 03:03

Quote:

Originally posted by ManicStarSeed
Serioisly though, a timed session utility would either work reall well or piss me off by letting me know that time flies by.

Mss

Unless properly done an utility like that would have an enormous potential for pissing people off.

*bleep* You have now wasted 234 hours 45 minutes and 23 seconds on civ3, may I suggest a bath? *bleep*

If anyone have heard of such an utility feel free to inform the rest of us.

metalhead · October 22, 2002, 16:10

I'd say, find something more addictive, like sex or heroin. You'll forget about Civ in no time!

Changmai Beagle · November 14, 2002, 21:11

Quote:

Serioisly though, a timed session utility would either work reall well or piss me off by letting me know that time flies by.

An early game (WWII: War in the Pacific) did have this feature. That meant I generally had to wait until my family was not nearby to turn off the game - otherwise they knew exactly how many minutes had been 'wasted'

Lucarse · November 15, 2002, 08:22

You know you've been playing civ too much when you walk into a store and pick up a candy bar/pack of crisps and say 'i'll give you Incense for 3 bars per turn....no? take this offer or suffer the consequences!!!...'

Trifna · November 15, 2002, 09:33

Quote:

Originally posted by ManicStarSeed
When my computer crashes, I know it is time to go to bed.

Serioisly though, a timed session utility would either work reall well or piss me off by letting me know that time flies by.

Mss

May I propose you Linux or Mac? So you wont sleep for weeks if you're lucky

Lucarse · November 15, 2002, 12:29

Yeah, how many times have you said
'i'll play the next couple of turns till 11pm then go to bed'...
suddenly you realize its 1am!
This happened to me last night i lost two hours man!.. girlfriend woke up and was pissed!.

The Puny Celt · November 15, 2002, 21:31

Seriously, Civ addiction is a major issue that can cause real health problems, breakdowns in relationships, even loss of employment. I've written to Firaxis several times in the past suggesting there were parallels between their product and cigarettes. To avoid costly litigation I proposed that the game should come with an anti-addiction safeguard - a beautiful young woman. And when you played for over 2 hours she would call out in a husky voice, "Why don't you come to bed now, Puny Celt".

So far Firaxis have ignored my suggestion. But perhaps if we got together a petition...

Explorer579 · November 26, 2002, 00:53

Here is a solution. Before you start a game, you have the option of telling the computer how long you want to play and how long you want to rest afterwards. You put the date and time. After you reach said date and time, the computer will not let you play before the amount of rest time has lapsed! This should work for me. It will piss me when time is reached, but I will pissed at myself and not at Fyraxis!

Example:
Set date and time: 11/272002 11 pm
Set rest duration: 8 hours

As I start playing at 8 pm and set it to stop at 11 pm, at 11 pm there is no way i can play more turns before 8 hours lapse (that is 7 am)! The game will stop after the end of the current turn or even suddenly in the middle of a battle!

That would be an agreement with the self. Fyraxis has nothing to do with it.. but providing the tool..

Creating security mechanism so I would not be able to break the addiction sefl-control will be challenging for Fyraxis. Rebooting should not reset it... Not even reloading, reinstalling, or restoring backup!

bongo · November 26, 2002, 07:32

Interesting thought but the only way I can see it work is if you use some kind of online-service to control the time settings. It's just too easy to fool the computer by adjusting the clock.

Trifna · November 26, 2002, 10:37

Quote:

Originally posted by Explorer579
Here is a solution. Before you start a game, you have the option of telling the computer how long you want to play and how long you want to rest afterwards. You put the date and time. After you reach said date and time, the computer will not let you play before the amount of rest time has lapsed! This should work for me. It will piss me when time is reached, but I will pissed at myself and not at Fyraxis!

Example:
Set date and time: 11/272002 11 pm
Set rest duration: 8 hours

As I start playing at 8 pm and set it to stop at 11 pm, at 11 pm there is no way i can play more turns before 8 hours lapse (that is 7 am)! The game will stop after the end of the current turn or even suddenly in the middle of a battle!

That would be an agreement with the self. Fyraxis has nothing to do with it.. but providing the tool..

Creating security mechanism so I would not be able to break the addiction sefl-control will be challenging for Fyraxis. Rebooting should not reset it... Not even reloading, reinstalling, or restoring backup!

Could be

BTW, Fyraxis is written "Firaxis"

bongo: It's not necessarily a need to make it unhackable. Even if it can be hacked, voluntarily limiting is still something good.

PS: Never thought this thread would be revived after going THAT weird.

Explorer579 · November 27, 2002, 00:52

Quote:

Originally posted by bongo
Interesting thought but the only way I can see it work is if you use some kind of online-service to control the time settings. It's just too easy to fool the computer by adjusting the clock.

Actually it can be easily done by using one or a combination of hidden files, time last used file, registry, text encryption. I have done it before.

But again, as the next comment suggests, don't make it very complex. If the user wants to learn how to delete hidden file, decript, edit registry, etc. then this guy is really addicted and it is better to serve him than risking him going crazy!

Explorer579 · November 27, 2002, 00:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Trifna

PS: Never thought this thread would be revived after going THAT weird.

It is a real problem and I have not seen a real solution yet. I just hope somebody at Firaxis read these messages.

bongo · November 27, 2002, 04:47

Unless you have an external timesource one reboot and a clock adjustment is all it takes to make the computer think you have been away for 8 hours.

Trifna · November 27, 2002, 13:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Explorer579

It is a real problem and I have not seen a real solution yet. I just hope somebody at Firaxis read these messages.

Yup, that's why I started this thread...

bongo: Of course I guess you could change your clock, but these things generally have their liability based on the user's will to keep an exterior life. Many solutions cannot be better and therefore are simply better than nothing (like now). About the clock, isn't there a clock in the BIOS?...