Dating Disasters·
SOLO GAME, QUIET VICTORY
A gamer girl reevaluates her relationship after her boyfriend's escalating toxicity during co-op play, discovering she prefers solo sessions and the peace they bring.
Was that a joke, or a line too far?
Be one of the first to vote.
She heard it in the middle of a game: "honestly hun, its not worth it." After everything that had come before, that was the line that finally made her stop and ask whether she was the problem for preferring to play alone.
The poster and her boyfriend both loved games, and for a long time they had made a habit of scheduling game time together. They used to play in full lobbies with friends, and she says those nights felt easier and less isolating. But a few months ago, she asked if they could do that again. He shut it down, saying, "i hate speed running with a bunch of people."
Soon after, the difference between playing with him and playing alone got a lot louder.
On a newer map, he started yelling at her for getting lost and taking too long to find things. She reminded him that this was exactly why she had wanted to play with other people: she was slow, and she got startled easily. When she suggested they switch games because he was getting agitated, they did, but the mood did not change. He kept slamming his table, his keyboard, and his mouse, while yelling and cursing through the session.
She says his language went past ordinary frustration. He used explicit slurs and made comments that crossed into racism and bigotry, and she told him to stop because she would not tolerate that kind of talk. More recently, when she said new skins and characters were pretty, he mocked them in a transphobic and sexist way. She called him out again and explained why feminism matters.
After that, the poster started noticing something else: when she was only playing alone because of his connectivity and power issues, she actually enjoyed it. There was no shouting. No slamming. No curses. No unwanted opinions landing in the middle of a match.
Then came today's conversation. She said she wanted to spend free in-game credits on skins she liked. He looked at it and said, "honestly hun, its not worth it."
She told him it was not nice and asked why he would say that. She said his comment made her lose interest in her hobby. He replied that he was joking, apologized, and then went to sleep.
Now she's left wondering if she was wrong for liking the quiet of solo play more than the chaos that comes with gaming beside her boyfriend.