[quote name='n8rockerasu']Look at the last page of posts and tell me there's not plenty of blame on both sides. It seemed early in the week, mdam0re was sitting on PSN waiting for you to show up, and even got stood up on the one time you both agreed on (which you admitted to). The past few days, sure, it seems like his effort has been less. But I can't ignore the fact that if you had shown up at the time you two agreed on, trying to find time to play the game the past couple days wouldn't have been necessary.
Matt, I like you. We're friends. But SERIOUSLY, please recognize that you're one of the busiest people on CAG. You're in basically every sports league, you go out a lot, you have people drop by your place unexpectedly, you get random phone calls that can be lengthy, etc. You're just a very social guy. I know you make a big effort to post your availability for people, and that's awesome of you. But because of the schedule you keep, you also have stuff "come up" more often than most people. And those are usually the times you run into problems with people (you know as well as I do that mdam0re isn't the first person you've had this argument with).
I hope saying this doesn't piss you off. But really, I'm only taking the time to explain it because I actually care whether I piss you off or not. If I didn't, I'd say "This is how it's going to be. Tough shit." and not worry about it. If you really feel it's unfair, you don't have to put up with it. This league is barely surviving as it is, and I'd never try to force somebody to continue with something that they're not enjoying. The ironic part about that last sentence is I'm typing it as I'm the one having to mediate people arguing over whether or not an actual time to play was ever agreed upon. As I said, it shouldn't be that difficult.[/QUOTE]
This will be long, but that shouldn't surprise you since it's me writing it, heh.
When I checked, he wasn't online. I had no desire to play any other PS3 games at that point, so I didn't stay on. The lone time I saw him on was Wednesday night, technically Thursday since it was after midnight. He had said he couldn't play that late, and I was very tired and also was going to watch a Blu-ray with friends. I fell asleep 45 minutes into Clash of the Titans.
As far as getting stood up, I accept blame, but I couldn't do anything about it. My Madden opponent agreed to an exact time for the game, and I said I'd play mdam0re between the end of that game and the start of UFC 118. Since my opponent has connection issues- though not as bad as mdam0re's- we had to restart twice, and there was no time for the MLB game. Had we set up a specific time for that day or any other day, which I tried to do, it wouldn't have been an issue. I offered to play MLB earlier, before Madden, but mdam0re said, "Nah, hit me up after your Madden game finishes."
I wouldn't say I'm one of the busiest people on CAG, but I get what you're saying. It wasn't that way till the last couple months, though. Before that, I was busy on weekends (mostly hockey games) but home during a lot of the week. And, due to not sleeping, I was home a lot in general till July. It's just been a combination of general outdoor summer activities/parties (which are a totally different experience when you don't drink, and everyone else is getting pretty buzzed!) and the fact that my good friend from Minnesota was in California for a month, and we were hanging out and going to wrestling shows, concerts, etc. and just hitting the town in L.A. I see him maybe every 6 months. All that, combined with the feeling that I was wasting my remaining youth staying home a lot (no energy/sick feeling due to insomnia that you know about) made it so that I forced myself to go out and do more things.
As for the phone calls and people dropping by- that's one reason scheduling a time to play is ideal. If I have a game scheduled and I get a visitor or a call, I will tell the friend I'll call him/her back, or ask that person if they don't mind watching me play my game (or entertaining themselves with the other TV, the computer, or whatever) since I have a commitment to my opponent. I don't have a time scheduled and those things happen, I probably won't get on. Obvious exceptions are visits or calls that require my immediate attention/friends needing help, but otherwise, I am usually good about keeping appointments. I will admit, however, that when the insomnia extended past the 24 hour mark, I'd often lose track of things, and I kept weird hours since I never knew when I'd be asleep or awake. I'm mostly on track now, and I've slept 16 days in a row, whereas I hadn't slept more than 4 days in 1 week in over a year.
You're not pissing me off at all. I think we know each other well enough that we can have disagreements, even heated ones (not that this one is at all) and then move on and not harbor any ill will toward each other. I like that about you. I wish more people were like that, honestly, and I appreciate the fact that you treat myself and others respectfully during disagreements/arguments, unless they give you reason not to.
[quote name='n8rockerasu']
But he did post in the thread saying that he would be on PSN all day...and for you to just get on and message him when you wanted to play. If someone's telling you they'll be on all day, then just take it at face value, and get on when you want to play and see if they are indeed on. If they're not, then it's on them. But if you don't bother to check, how can you complain?[/QUOTE]
I did check then, and he wasn't on when I checked. What I meant was that refusing to set a time and relying on the "Message me if you see me on" approach as a primary or even sole means of getting the game(s) in is pretty preposterous to me when we have the thread, PM's, and even Facebook if people would like to communicate with me through that. PSN's PC integration is terrible compared to Xbox.com. You can see which PSN friends are online, but not what they're playing, nor can you message them from the site. You also can't see when they were last signed on. That makes such an approach more difficult.
Also note that there is the 3 hour time difference. That makes early games for me next to impossible, and the same for late games for East Coasters. Noon in EST? Not early. But that's 9 A.M. here, and that is early for me to be playing video games. Conversely, 9 P.M. here = midnight there, which could be too late for EST people.
Hopefully that made sense. I am pretty tired now since it's 3 A.M., but I read your posts earlier and I wanted to get back on and comment before bed since you deserved a timely response and explanation. Thank you for being so civil and well-mannered about this disagreement/misunderstanding (not sure what to call it, exactly). I can't think of a way to say this without it sounding corny/cheesy/"gay", but I respect you for that, amongst other reasons, and I'm glad I have a friend like you, and that you're running the league.
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About the game and mdam0re: I was disappointed that mdam0re took my comments so personally. I had nothing against him and even defended him. I hope we can move past that and be civil from now on, but I do have to say the following first: That that game was absolute garbage. Last time he and I played, he beaned several of my batters in the head. Wasn't he also the one complaining about people not throwing strikes? The lag was bad then, but not like this.
We couldn't connect for 2-3 tries, and then it said he lost connection the first time we got to the choose uniform screen. The next time, we got in the game, but the bar kept going from yellow to red. The game quality varied between ridiculously choppy and completely unplayable. We even got the "Traffic... Delay... Traffic" message 2-3 times. I had baserunners continue to advance when I didn't push the button again after the first advancement, and even one who rounded first without me pressing anything, resulting in the final out.
Often, one of us would swing through, and it looked like a strike, but the ball would shoot out seconds later. The pitching meter lagged terribly, started its motion without me pressing any buttons (not even selecting a pitch) a few times, and even froze completely a couple times. The complete freeze resulted in a passed ball on strike 3, and that unearned baserunner- instead of being out #3- ended up being 1 of 4 to score- his only runs in the game- when that inning should have been over.
That alone made the game a miserable experience, especially after all the trouble we had getting it played in the first place. But on top of that, mdam0re's play style was just... wow. No beanballs this time around since the lag was too bad for me to be able to hit the ball to go up 5-0 on him like last time, but literally half his offensive plays were "attempt steal while bunting". That was it. He was nearly guaranteed to advance the runner on a SAC bunt every time. I'd get one out from the sacrifice, maybe two consecutively, but one single would drive in one or more runners. It was all bunt/steal/repeat, and that was crap.
So with the way mdam0re got pissed at my initial statements (I started sniping back at him after he irritated me, yes), then the scheduling problems, and then the lag/play style combo, it made the game about as enjoyable as playing Yaris while getting electroshock treatment on my nuts while Amy Winehouse stood before me with her pussy lips spread next to a high powered fan that blew the diseased odor into my face.
I want to stay in here because (A) I have respect for you and said I'd stay no matter what, (B) I know I'm better than mdam0re and have proven it under proper conditions, (C) I just want to play the damn game! I've played maybe 30 games since getting the game on March 30, and that's including RTTS. Between the patch, league issues, and then the aforementioned rise in social activity over the summer months, I haven't really gotten to enjoy what is a pretty awesome game of baseball at it's core. Now I fear that, with Madden out and NHL looming, I won't have anymore chances.
As for week 6, Jetman's gone. Does MLB 10 even let me play a CPU opponent? Almost all my games have been "resolved" rather than played. I'm tempted to start my own league- the smallest possible- with 1 series per team, 1 game per series. That way, we can play the games, hopefully, and the get the trophy for playing 60% of games and completing a league.
ever happened to Josh?
