As I was seating on the sofa at 7:20am this morning, laptop on my lap and TV on with Formula One on, I logged into Stem Friends and started to go through my emails.
To my surprise I was messaged by somebody who was in-game. I’m happy to talk to anybody at any time but I have to admit that when people interrupt me when I am playing it’s a little annoying.
Of course, if it’s really important and they have to leave, then that’s cool. It doesn’t happen to often and I don’t think I have ever interrupted anybody when they are playing, although I do interrupt if they are in an SDK.
Perhaps what is more surprising is when people message me when they are playing. When I’m playing the idea of stopping for a few moments and then continuing kills the immersion and atmosphere for you.
Perhaps it’s because I’m old and just not used to it, what about you?
That’s meeeee!
I do it, even though it is rarely. Usually it’s not when I’m really serious about the game though, more for when I’m just fooling around or waiting for a timer in the game to run down.
I usually sit in the Black Mesa steam group chat, immersive mods will cause me to forget about it, until one of my 240 friends goes “whats that mod?” snd I give them the basic rundown and a link to the moddb page/website (So I suppose it gives mods a fair bit of publicity having that many friends 😛 )
Cheeky but great idea.
I, personally, find this quite a strange practice to chat while in game. It is a sign of the times when people can’t even concentrate on the actual game itself and have to chat with their buddies in order to keep themselves occupied! The culture these days is to be in constant communication with everyone it seems.
I do not mind it at all. Im always happy to respond.
YEPP so annoying theres a philipinian guy on steam whose allways want to talk I hate him when im playing it!!
You can disable Steam Community in View>Settings>In-Game>Enable Steam Community In-game and never be interrupted again while actually playing.
i voted no, cause when I am playing I am playing but. if someone needs something then its ok.
For me it’s the same with MSN. If I am online, I am online for a reason. I don’t mind being messaged while playing, because that is what the steam overlay thing is there for – well Steam Friends in general is there for that!
So I message people and am messaged while playing. Sometimes while waiting to respawn and sometimes to check out fellow players and achievements….
I’m old too, and feel pretty much the same way.
Of course, it’s not an issue for me, as I don’t have a single other “friend” on Steam save yourself. Can’t be bothered with it, really. E-mail is best for thoughtful conversations, and chat is good for tech support, or immediate feedback when you’re both working on something together on your computer.
I sometimes sit in the game menu and chat to friends to see if they are interested in playing any MP or Coop with me but apart from that I don’t really use the chat in-game.
You don’t necessarily have to be playing the game. If you’re in Left 4 Dead, for example, you could just be waiting in the lobby while friends or strangers are gathering. Steam will still say you are “In-Game” regardless.
I’ll pretty much respond to anyone anytime, but I think people tend to respect that you’re playing a game enough to not try to start a full blown conversation.
I know that I talk to people who’re in game, but I always keep my messages short.
Of course! If they chat to me I chat back. I once passed about an hour during a broken mod sequence chatting about it to a friend of mine. Its always a good laugh to see their reactions.
I chat to steam friends sometimes when im in game/mod but most of the time their in the game/mod with me
When I am playing, I just play…no chatting please
I do find it annoying that “friends” will see you playing and will send you a msg. If it is a quick question about something they know I will know, then okay, but when you can feel it is a long convo about to be started, it does my head in. However, I am not one to tell someone to go away, so end up talking to them. The worst people are the ones who see you play an old game, then say something like “Oh, I see you have dusted that old game off?”. Er, obviously, so why ask, and more importantly, as you can see me playing it, why interrupt?.
Tonester has it pretty much right for me as well.
Although, I don’t mind that Friends see what I’m doing.
I’ve only interupted a friend once but it was URGENT – big time.
No one has interrupted me and I’m grateful for that.