Bay 12 Games Forum

Hi everybody! Haven't been here in a while, but I have a good excuse(s)... namely new job, a move, and new daughter. (for picture proof of daughter, who happens to be adorable: http://cloudcathedral.com/gallery/August-2013/IMG_20130808_145131 )

As I've been coming out of the baby haze over here, I've had something on my mind I wanted to share. Short version is, no matter what is going on in your life, try to take time for your friends. Otherwise, you will lose them.

A couple years ago, I was living with some friends. And these were good friends. Kindred spirits. The kind you stay up until 2am discussing the political system of the fantasy world you are collaborating on, because it's fun and awesome. The kind who are encouraging of whatever it is you're interested in at the time, and hop right in with you.

So, friend-wise things were very good. I wasn't much of a dating guy, tended to focus on work more. Then I met my future wife. It was game over for me from the start, she is amazing. All good things there.

The problem is, when I met her and we started dating, I really dropped my friendships. I went from spending time with them / talking for hrs a day to maybe once or twice a week. I was always out with my then GF, or at her house. Things moved fast, we got married just over a year after we met, and things are still going wonderful with us. However, with all the change, with the marriage, then job change, then move, then baby #1, then another move, then baby #2 and another move and job change, I stand here realizing what this void I've been feeling for the last 6+ months is.

My friendships are pretty much gone. Tried to reconnect, but it's just weird now. They all have moved on (totally normal), have their friend slots all full. Also, there is some resentment there from me disappearing for years; again totally understandable.

That leaves me with my wife and two children. Which makes me a very lucky person, I know. I have a great family. But I do miss the friendships. My wife is geeky, but our geek interests intersect in only a couple points. I miss writing collaborative fantasy/scifi/whatever fiction, designing worlds with people, chatting up the newest games we've tried, etc.

I realize this rambles somewhat, but I hope it helps others. If I had actually set aside time for my friends, even a little, during the busy times, it would have shown I cared. It is something I regret.

That said... anyone enjoy writing fiction? I'd love to start on a random writing project, and maybe forge some new friendships.

Take care everyone!

This topic has been moved to General Discussion. Because it doesn't fit with Creative Projects.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=106619.0

As someone who uses their smartphone to browse the forums frequently, I was wondering about the interest in having the ability to have a mobile theme for SMF 2.0..

Thoughts?

This is really to open a discussion here, based off this:

The major thing I've heard is that a corporation as an entity is granted all the rights of a regular person, but cannot be held accountable for crimes the same way a person is due to actual blame being distributed between shareholders and executives who are very rarely directly and solely responsible for any wrongdoing.  So they enjoy all the legal benefits of personhood, but none of the downsides.  Plus, corporations have more resources at their disposal than individual people, which makes for an incredibly unfair imbalance whenever there are legal disputes between the two.

This is one of the issues that the Occupy group feels is important. My question is, how would corporations be dealt with legally instead? If they aren't granted the rights of a person, where are lawsuits pointed to? Are the top executives responsible, in a criminal sense, for wrongdoing that the company does? (IE, if a company inadvertently does something / makes a product that kills someone, the top exec's are charged with manslaughter?)

Do we restrict companies to not go over a certain size, from an employee and asset point of view?

I look forward to hearing what people think!

I was wondering, is there some sort of lighted crystal or something that can be made for a light source? Or torches? All of my fortress is "Dark" and that is depressing.

Thanks!

I used to be close with several people (9+ years), to the point that were were working together (web development, design) and were roommates. We'd do several day long gaming marathons. Eventually I had to look for a more stable job than what we were doing, with me getting married and starting a family, etc. Over the months, I steadily began getting left out of things, not invited to events, my invites to others were turned down.

Up to this point, it was normal and standard "people just drifting apart" syndrome. But, then enter the wonders of technology. 

I noticed after a while that people weren't replying to tweets / dents like they normally would. Then I'd look at my list and found they stopped following me. I sent an email to the quasi leader of this group, really attempting to 'catch up'. What I got back was, "I don't want to take the time to answer your questions about me, because I don't feel we are particularly close". From hanging out every day working together, to that in about four months. I'm a grown man, and yet it 'hurt' a surprising amount. That email catalyst was six months ago.

It is really strange to be in a position where, on one hand, I am totally up to date on these people's doings, thanks to twitter, blogs, etc. I feel like we are still close. Yet, I know that we aren't. I've done the obvious, of unfollowing these people, and removing their blog feeds from my RSS reader. I still see their mentions on other peoples feeds I follow though, so it keeps bringing this to the forefront of my mind. It is hard to move on from this, because I care about these people. Intellectually, I know it is stupid, and I should stop.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any tips on making it easier to move on in this technological world we live in?