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BartonJohanson
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05 May 2014, 3:15 pm

Me: 'Like what?'
Him: 'Like on a console.'
Me: 'Nah, I play on a PC'
Him: 'Oh for the graphix'
Me: 'No, it's just less expensive for me'
Him: 'Oh...'

*convo drops and he starts talking to another guy about COD and Halo*

Okay then.



1401b
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05 May 2014, 6:03 pm

This is the part of the conversation that you're supposed to "cheat" at.
Instead of answering his direct question, you slightly change the subject and mention a very short list of what you DO like about console gaming. (or what you do not hate about it)
Ask him what he has, if he doesn't immediately start rattling off in "conversation mode," you can ask him what games he plays.
You can follow up with asking him what game he likes best.
Find lame excuses (my sister broke it, my cat puked on it) why you don't play whatever game that you might not play that he asks you about, don't tell the truth, "They can't handle the truth." =)
When they make a ret*d and uniformed opinion statement just reply with, "Cool."
(maybe even try -a little bit- to make it sound convincing)

***
This is "small talk." In which people are attempting to find similarities with others, and to be assured that the other person isn't a predator about to eat them.
The hard part is that nobody really cares about the opinions of others they've just met, and it's best for Aspies (who often have profound and passionate opinions about nearly everything) to ignore the literalness of the question (the person isn't likely writing a book about you) and throw the conversational ball back into the other person's court and to use all the will power they can muster to find a way to be agreeable.

"Do you like Halo?"  Think- 'Do I like Halo better than a sharp stick in my eyeball?' "Yeah, it's all right."

Avoid ever saying, "No," or "Actually" (especially in response to statements) because it is a precursor that an Aspie is about to embark on a long and tedious lecture about how the other person is Wrong, which nobody likes to hear, not even bystanders.

Keep ninja punting the ball back into their court, to keep them yakking, is an excellent way for us to not f*ck up the social situation ourselves. They're talking, we're just nodding and smiling and saying, "Huh!" and "Cool."
Try to view this as entertaining and fun, see if you can get away with just shinning them on without them ever knowing.
This sounds disrespectful but sometimes, with idiots, it's best just to ninja dodge the problem like this.
Otherwise is just survival.

Eventually you'll find a person -that after tedious amounts of small talk- you'll be able to have real conversations with and even friendship.


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Misery
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05 May 2014, 6:21 pm

Ugh, that all sounds like so much effort. Never been too fond of "small talk".

Typically this type of conversation for me is very, very short, and usually goes: Other guy: "So, are you into gaming?", me: "Yes, but pretty much PC only. Hate the consoles and most AAA games. They can go jump off a cliff, really." other guy: "ah...." *leaves*

Which at the very least takes less time and effort, so there's that to say for it.



BartonJohanson
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05 May 2014, 8:23 pm

^Yup.

@1401b Should be an interesting thing to try. I'll see if I can remember to try that. Thanks for your input.



SabbraCadabra
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05 May 2014, 8:23 pm

Yeah, I've learned that nobody really wants to hear a story.

So instead of:

"Oh..." *walks away*

I get:

"You don't talk very much."


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BartonJohanson
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05 May 2014, 8:25 pm

I get that a lot, too. Every time I'm in a skype call with a group, someone says that.



triple-adhd
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12 Jun 2014, 1:50 pm

I play WoW :P


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mrrhq
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15 Jun 2014, 1:27 am

1401b wrote:
This is the part of the conversation that you're supposed to "cheat" at.

Nope. He should have just walked away from an idiot that decides to become uninterested in PC games and go "oh" at him like a moron. That's not how anyone continues a convo. Adults just decide when to give up on people anyway. it's part of life.

Quote:
Instead of answering his direct question, you slightly change the subject and mention a very short list of what you DO like about console gaming...

Oh boy, this reminds me of social ed.

>Stabilizing autism.
Hah, get a load of this guy.



rapidroy
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16 Jun 2014, 12:08 am

Oh my I'm so bad it this, As a PC gamer my usual answer was to explain how I dislike being bound to and help at the mercy to console platform and its manufacturer and more recently I just explain how I have no time to play games because I'd rather partake in the real thing, no wonder I am unpopular with the gamers.



mr_bigmouth_502
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16 Jun 2014, 1:30 am

I've run into this problem before. Most of the "gamers" I know are only into the newest AAA console titles. I'm more of a PC/retro gamer. If a typical 15-25 male "bro" tries to strike up a conversation with me about gaming, usually I have nothing to contribute. "No, I haven't played Assassin's Creed XXVIII yet." "No, I've never prestiged on Call of Duty" "No, I have no idea what the big deal is with Skyrim." On the other hand, if I'm talking with a middle aged dude and they start reminiscing about epic Brood War matches, or if I'm talking to a socially-awkward anime fan and they bring up the Zelda timeline, then I can chat up a storm.



michael517
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17 Jun 2014, 12:21 pm

In my opinion 1401b has some great advice there. its just hard to due. Sort of sums up the general Aspie problem.

Man, I need to watch out with that "actually".

Had a co-worker at a previous job, that started out every other sentence with that. God that was annoying. That and he had a fixation on Rachel Barton (Pine) the violinist.



Misery
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17 Jun 2014, 6:57 pm

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
I've run into this problem before. Most of the "gamers" I know are only into the newest AAA console titles. I'm more of a PC/retro gamer. If a typical 15-25 male "bro" tries to strike up a conversation with me about gaming, usually I have nothing to contribute. "No, I haven't played Assassin's Creed XXVIII yet." "No, I've never prestiged on Call of Duty" "No, I have no idea what the big deal is with Skyrim." On the other hand, if I'm talking with a middle aged dude and they start reminiscing about epic Brood War matches, or if I'm talking to a socially-awkward anime fan and they bring up the Zelda timeline, then I can chat up a storm.




Exactly this.

Current consoles, I dont do, but retro, definitely yes. On the off chance someone starts talking about that, sure, I can jump in. Or PC games.

But other than that..... feh, not interested. It's hard to find anyone that's into those though, or at least it seems like it. Even online nobody I know cares about that stuff, sigh.



ValerieFaller
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17 Jun 2014, 9:19 pm

I have a kind of similar issue.
I don't play MMOs of any kind, or major FPS games or shooters in general.
Being in the school I go to, the only way I can have a conversation is by bringing up Animal Crossing, Smash Bros. or Pokemon(or in a few memorable cases Kingdom Hearts, but that's a rarer one and I've never actually played it).
How do you explain you dislike MMOs, anyway?