Dave's Place The internet home of David Hinkle, a guy who plays way too many video games

A Funny Thing Happened in 2010…

I'm not an emotional guy. I don't find myself freaking out over a lot of things (only occasionally) and I don't plan my day based on my astrological sign or whatever. But, I gotta say, I love my [JOY] pals.

It's a funny thing that happened in 2010: I made honest friends through a video game. I can't say I expected this. Hell, I didn't want this. As San Francisco's most eligible bachelor (ha!), I never envisioned a life of responsibility, albeit that "responsibility" is to meet up at certain times to play a game. I never thought I'd have to make "appointments" and "clear my schedule," but for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I made those decisions, those compromises -- I made them happily.

I bring this up because Jason (Infrared Chimera) brought up a good point about how 2010 was such a formative year for a group of people who had no business knowing each other. But there we were, on the internet, cracking jokes and blowing shit up. I specifically remember making jokes about eating babies. Oh, and Doug's mom. Poor, poor Mrs. Shmil.

But that was so much of the enjoyment I got out of knowing these guys. We had rested into roles, like people in "real" relationships: Matt became your classic homophobe (seriously, dude, try tolerance), Doug's mom (sadly) became a ripe tree of comedy, for us to liberally shake the joke fruit from (and shake -- forget it), and Skratty's tragically Canadian existence was a comfortable vehicle for us to take many, many trips into the lolersphere. Bobby's inexplicable source of hunger over 2010 would be a combination of mine and Justin McElroy's voice. It's weird. Just go with it.

Granted, not everybody was a stranger in 2010: I got to meet Nick at PAX East, along with the incomparable Thrifty Nerd (his name is Michael and he sends the best candies through the mail!). Still, I think that generalization applies here: for all I know, these guys could be voices in my head. They could all be voices in my head. Wait, am I trapped in that shitty Inception movie?!

Not since Mass Effect 2 have I felt like I've known somebody without ever meeting them... and that's the oddest thing: I've never met (most) of these people. But I feel tied to them, in the way you kind of have to admit you're related to that uncle -- you know, the one with the drinking problem who has sporadic flatulence and makes inappropriate jokes about how tight Aunt Jean's sweater is even though he's totally related to her. It's a bond I can't break even if I wanted to try. Also, I think I just figured out what my role in the group is.

Suffice to say, I hope I get to meet all of these guys at PAX East and can buy them a drink. It's the least I owe them for hearing about all those babies I wish I could eat.

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Related posts:

1. PAX East 2010: The Link Dump