Pappadukes: I have no problem with people who take drugs. I have a problem with people who become nothing BUT "someone who takes drugs." The two aren't mutually exclusive. If you smoke pot, whatever, I don't care. If you keep TALKING about smoking pot, then fuck you.

That is the difference. Drugs bore me, I don't need to hear about how many you've eaten.

this calls for a social experiment...how about we play a game sober....then play it high...and record our results? Anyone up for it?

You fucking people rule. \m/

LOL in above the influence's face.

Woah, what the hell?! Smoking pot lowers your skills? They actually needed a research team to tell them that? NEWSFLASH! Getting drunk lowers people
s driving skills!

Damn, I HATE people who make generilizations. They're annoying, boring and stupid.

Eveyone has their vice. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

"I agree with rab. I don't care if you play vidjagames, or even do anything else. A number of friends of mine play vidjagames at varying levels. My problem with the majority of gamers is that they've built an annoying culture around what they do. The Jim I refer to in the article is a real person who talked like we were supposed to be impressed that he got "such a high score at geometry wars last night."

Nobody's fucking impressed."

fixed!
:D

Harumph. Here comes my two cents (or pennies, if you'r a Brit like myself).
First of all, yes, I do enjoy pot now and then, but I agree with Mr. Stirling about how most druggies do, very quickly, become boring morons with nothing better to talk about than how high they got - I abandoned many friends who went down that route.
Although I do enjoy a bit of the old wacky baccy, I also think anyone here who claims it's utterly harmless and that there's nothing wrong with it is uneducated, and exactly the sort of boring druggy that I'm talking about. It may sound hypocritical, but although I enjoy pot I'm also very educated about it. Like all intoxicants it can be a lot of fun, but it's important to be aware of the risks - of which there are many.
On a lighter note, if you are going to mix cannabis with your gaming, I highly recommend something gentle and colourful. Wind Waker is a perfect companion.

I had to see the videos. yeah, they're quite lame. Pot isn't as dangerous as Vicodin, Tylenol 3, alcohol, smoking tobacco, oxy cotton, you name it... and these things are all legal to have and take. Pot can't kill you if you take too much of it (it's impossible to overdose). It grows from the ground, and is essentially an herb. Cocaine is dangerous. The dose is not regulated, and it's possible to "snort a line" and it be your final buzz. Heroin is the same way. Easy to off yourself with.

The pot laws are pretty much relics from alcohol prohibition. as soon as they had to drop the alcohol laws, they needed another thing to concentrate this massive "Search and Destroy" force on... Guess which substance they targeted? There was also a bunch of propaganda spread about it in the 40's (reefer madness is just a shred of this propaganda) in order to enrich a huge logging and paper industry. hemp (the male plants, the flowers are what they smoke) makes better things, tougher boards, stronger rope, and can be used to substitute having to wait 10 years to grow a tree. The forest industry contributed to this whole mass of people hell bent on telling each individual what they can or cannot put into their bodies. The laws are obsolete, and it costs taxpayers way too much cash to tell you "you can't smoke a joint while watching a movie at home with your girlfriend". typically when people are so hell bent on you not smoking a joint, they're misinformed, or they've not tried it... or they just may not like it.. people are different.

Jim has a very good point and I know people like this. All they talk about is how messed up they got and how much they did. I also find it as lousy conversation material. yeah, it was cool at 15. but I'm an adult. Please have adult things to talk about when having conversations with me.

The few times that I've gamed while high, I have performed worse, but I was really just trying to enjoy myself. It's not like I was playing Mega Man 9 or something like that.

And I totally agree with Jim. I've got some friends I smoke with (actually, the only time I smoke is with them) who make smoking the focus of the night instead of an enhancer. It's like the whole point is to just get high. I'm thinking, "let's get some games going, watch a trippy movie, blast some music, anything except just talking about how high you are right now! I know, I'm stoned too, stop telling me!"

retronutz gets 10 points for making sense.

Speaking from personal experience: pot doesn't make me a worse gamer. It makes me awesome. I begin to feel like I'm actually inside the game world, and that makes it sweet. Screw the anti-drug commission or whatever they're called. It's only a short matter of years before marijuana is legal, anyway.

@Sterling - I totally understand what you are saying; weed is most definitely not my sole identity. Not even close. My sole identity is my wife and daughter. For this reason I feel it's important for me to convey to you (and those that may think the same way you do) that looking at me, or talking to me in person, you would never know I smoked weed (and I'm not just saying that to get you into your pants ;-) ). I don't talk or act like a "burn out" (I am extremely articulate, and my thoughts are more coherent than most), and I never talk to anybody about weed unless I know them and I know they smoke as well. If I don't know you I won't ever talk about drugs, whatever kind they be, because I know how awkward (and annoyed) it can make people feel.

Please, don't hate me, because I certainly don't hate you. To be quite honest, an article written by a one Mr. Sterling back in 2006 was the reason I joined this grand community.

though its true that it influences you, it doesn't mean you're having less fun because of that :-)

PappaDukes:

You don't have to justify it or anything. I don't judge people based on whether or not they enjoy drugs. I judge them based on how much they bore me by telling me how much they enjoy drugs.

HEY, see what RAB did there? That fucking wins this entire discussion. If you are a part of this site, there is absolutely no possible rebuttal.

"No, the difference is when you make drugs your sole identity. Videogames are not my sole identity. They're my job and a hobby. I don't talk at great length about videogames to people who don't understand or like videogames. My problem is with potheads who talk about ONLY pot. "

Okay, so the real problem involves people who take on something as their sole identity and discuss only it. Insert videogames, drugs, alcohol, politics, sports, etc. This still isn't an argument about drugs, and I wish you'd stop acting like it is.

"Destructoid users talking about games to other gamers is not the same as potheads talking nothing about pot to everybody. "

Oh, okay, now I understand. You're talking about this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman. I get it now.

It's ok, we find you boring and stupid too :)

"Okay, so the real problem involves people who take on something as their sole identity and discuss only it. Insert videogames, drugs, alcohol, politics, sports, etc. This still isn't an argument about drugs, and I wish you'd stop acting like it is."

Well, my experience has shown a higher level of potheads talk only about pot. If you've met a lot of gamers who talk only about games and expect people to be impressed and say "man I played so many games last night," then fine. Besides which, I've at least heard interesting conversations about videogames. I'm yet to hear a single interesting conversation about pot. "I was so stoned last night" is not an exciting conversation.

Getting baked only makes gamming better. Now getting TOO baked is another story. Ever wander around The Capitol Wasteland for hours trying to remember where something you saw a hours before was? Eitherway getting high just draws you into the game more and makes it, in my opinion of course, a more enjoyable immersed experience.

Potheads can't do simple math problems or drink water.

btw, it's okay if you smoke pot. You're really coming across like I'm personally attacking you and everything you stand for, which is not the case.

I'm sorry I find pot boring.

"btw, it's okay if you smoke pot. You're really coming across like I'm personally attacking you and everything you stand for, which is not the case.

I'm sorry I find pot boring.
"

Haha, I don't take this personally, nor do I consider this even in the top 5 most important aspects of my identity. However, when faced with outdated stereotypes, I react.

To translate this into video game talk, imagine if someone on a website said: "I don't have any problems with video games. However, everyone I know who plays them are dorky, fat, zit-covered, lonely nerds who don't know anything but video games. I'm not judging, I just think videogamers are complete losers." Sure, this statement isn't completely false. However, it's not completely true either, and it just reinforces all these negative stereotypes that 90% of gamers do not play into and do not appreciate being identified with. In other news, blacks can dance, mexican immigrate frequently, whites are tight-asses, Republicans hate fun, Democrats hate America, and British people have terrible teeth.

Basically, I have problems with stereotyping, especially when the stereotypes are not terribly true. They do the stereotyped group a greater disservice than overtly antagonistic comments because, at the least, the implications of overtly antagonistic comments are obvious.

Stereotypes are funny. Even if they're not all true.