Civ 4 vs Social Relationships

[wydon]

Hello all,

I go to college in MD and I'm writing a paper in my sociology class. More specifically the effect a video game has on relationships. I have created a poll to ask the question whether us civ fanatics are single, have girlfriends, or are married. My guess is that most will be in some sort of relationship, but I can't just write a paper on assumptions. My apoligize in advance if I have offended anyone.

 

[The Mike]

Does Boudica count?

 

[Ataxerxes]

A lot of the players who post in Civ fanatics are younger than I (50). Your results might get skewed. A lot of the people who respond "single" are probably people who plan on getting married later. I think age has a lot to do with who is single.

 

[Rabid Weasel]

I checked single and lovin' it, mainly because I'm a teenager, the only dating option is fellow teenagers, and A) Teenagers are stupid. You can't argue with me on that point, even when you're right. I've seen WAY too much evidence from my peers.
B) Teen years are difficult. Your body goes through many hormonal changes, society is forcing you to find your place, shoving more responsibilities on you, giving you access to cars, peer pressure finds more ways to complicate things, common sense isn't and we simply don't have enough practice of thinking before acting. This becomes even worse when you mix in the lies, mood swings, insecurities, awkwardness, and more of dating. Life becomes easier when you step back and grow up instead of biting off more than you can chew.

 

[LeHam]

Does Boudica count?

Civfanatics should totally implement some sort of upvoting system like those they have on Digg and Reddit

 

[f35acepilot]

I checked single, because I want to be in a relationship someday, but perhaps I should have checked single by choice. I'm a teenager, so a lot of Rabid Weasel's points apply to me, but I also just don't find any girls in my school attractive.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I checked single and lovin' it, mainly because I'm a teenager, the only dating option is fellow teenagers, and A) Teenagers are stupid. You can't argue with me on that point, even when you're right. I've seen WAY too much evidence from my peers.
B) Teen years are difficult. Your body goes through many hormonal changes, society is forcing you to find your place, shoving more responsibilities on you, giving you access to cars, peer pressure finds more ways to complicate things, common sense isn't and we simply don't have enough practice of thinking before acting. This becomes even worse when you mix in the lies, mood swings, insecurities, awkwardness, and more of dating. Life becomes easier when you step back and grow up instead of biting off more than you can chew.

It's all relative, teenage years don't have to worry about finding jobs (at least not as much) or possibly how to do 15 page papers in one night...multiple times a month .

But, there are lots of reasons to choose to be single, civ aside. Relationships, done correctly, require some sacrifice in terms of time, consideration, compromise, etc that everyone is willing to do at different points.

Job hunting or anticipating moving within a couple months can do a lot to hamper things too, at least if one wants to be rational .

 

[Sisiutil]

A happily-married old-timer. Cool thing about being married: most of the time, you just leave each other alone to do your own thing. She watches Dr. Quinn DVDs, I play Civ. It just works.

 

[Sapa Inca]

I just turned 20 in university and I'm in a 5 month relationship. I also had a 3 year relationship in high school. I've always felt my life more complete with a partner. Civ4 I started last year and have continued playing pretty consistently since.

 

[EdCase]

I'm in my second marriage. Should I have voted twice

 

[wydon]

Thank you all, I should have considered age in the poll, but oh well. This is good information.

 

[HistoryFan]

I'm a teenager, and I picked gf/bf because well I have a gf...

 

[eris]

Married and loving it!

Long time married and long time loving it!

 

[Ataxerxes]

A happily-married old-timer. Cool thing about being married: most of the time, you just leave each other alone to do your own thing. She watches Dr. Quinn DVDs, I play Civ. It just works.

Yeah, that describes me, too. I think most successful marriages work like that.

 

[MazeMouse]

Single by choice. Or at least, FREE after a relationship that didn't quite work out as we had hoped.
First it sucked, now it's just a glorious celebration of freedom! (which includes lots of gigging with my bands, random new people/friends, nice new girls and lot's of gaming in the spare-time I'm not studying or living the rockstar bachelor lifestyle )

So yeah, single by choice because I'm not really in a hurry to get tied down again so quickly after re-aquiring my freedom

EDIT:
I should add I do hope to find ms. right sometime in the future and grow old together but for now she hasn't shown her face yet (or I don't know it yet) so I'm happy being... well... happy

 

[jUmpSt0p]

B) Teen years are difficult. ... society is forcing you to find your place, shoving more responsibilities on you, giving you access to cars, peer pressure finds more ways to complicate things, common sense isn't and we simply don't have enough practice of thinking before acting. This becomes even worse when you mix in the lies, mood swings, insecurities, awkwardness, and more of dating.

lol.

better get used to all of that.

because it sure as hell don't stop after your teens.

 

[Dr.Null]

I asked her if she wanted to be my vassal.

Does that mean I count as "single by choice"?

 

[PaaVi]

I've been in a relationship with my girlfriend 3+ years and fortunately I managed to find a way to play dozens of hours of Civ 4 and still being in a relationship with her.

 

[wydon]

That's when you know she's the one...my gf will actually watch me play over my shoulder (only for a little while though)

 

[CivMcNut]

I'm with Sisiutil. I do my Civ, she sits in the next room and plays her games. It just works. I just got married in July and love married life. I played Civ when I was in the single/bf/gf stages too.

It's a big time consumer, so it makes you prioritize your remaining time and do a lot of things with the significant other when you are not playing.