Justifying paying $15 per month to your significant other

[captmorgan72]

So my lady thinks I am crazy to pay to play a game every month. She shrieks that it is a complete waste of money. I quickly ask her how much our DirecTV bill is every month and how often she watches it? Its a silver bullet I tell you.

[JeyNyce]

Tell her it's just like paying for Netflix or cable.  If that does work tell her that as long as all the other bills are getting paid, this is coming from my personal allowance.

[lugaru]

Wow, I thought you meant paying your significant other $15 a month... I was gonna say that is a deal.

Yeah, just say you are having fun and they give you new content very often, and maintain a world you love.

[captmorgan72]

  Yeah the title does read that way now that I reread it lugaru. I agree, that would be a deal.

[Hero2006]

So my lady thinks I am crazy to pay to play a game every month. She shrieks that it is a complete waste of money. I quickly ask her how much our DirecTV bill is every month and how often she watches it? Its a silver bullet I tell you.

When you think about it you are basically paying .50 cents a day for unlimited entertainment.  You can play as much as you want in a day for just .50 cents.  Granted you are gonna sleep, eat, bathe, spend time with the family or whatever as well.  But compared to other forms of entertainment it's still pretty cheap.

[Tortuga]

I remember the clincher when I got into City of Heroes was that paying $15 per month would prevent me from spending $60+ per month on any other games -- b/c once you start playing an MMO that's pretty much all you play.

[thalaw2]

Does it work to use logic with your wife?

[BlueBard]

Does it work to use logic with your wife?

No.



Now before any ladies start hunting me down, let me qualify that statement by saying that it is not because women are inherently illogical.  It is because women are predominantly emotional.

Logic is fine, but you have to consider the emotional aspects of the situation as well.

Also, if you're attempting to use logic as a kind of "gimmick" to manipulate the situation that may not go over very well.

The argument that a $15/mo game is cheap entertainment will be lost on a woman who isn't interested in playing it and won't be sharing the enjoyment of it. 

If the choice were to come down to a $15 per month game that you can play by yourself and a $60 bill for cable TV that everybody can enjoy, your significant other is just as likely to suggest cancelling both so you can spend quality time together.

My wife does not like the time I spend playing computer games.  We both recognize that I am more than capable of overdoing it.  But she also understands that this is one of the ways I blow off steam, so it's tolerated.  If money were an object, it would be a lot bigger issue in our house.

BTW... with 4 kids we get a lot of use out of Netflix and it's even cheaper than subbing for an MMO.  If it was a choice between my game habit and Netflix, the game would have to go bye-bye.  Fortunately, my favorite games are now freemium games so I'm good as long as the servers don't shut down.

[Deaths Jester]

Just tell her you could be buying porn instead of the games...that will make her be quite...unless she's like the women I hang out with who enjoy porn....

[BlueBard]

Just tell her you could be buying porn instead of the games...

Ah.... no.

I'd like to keep my marriage intact, thanks.

[lugaru]

Just tell her you could be buying porn instead of the games...that will make her be quite...unless she's like the women I hang out with who enjoy porn....

Yeah, I spent some time working overnights and the girl I was dating would mail me video links to keep my spirits up.

[BWPS]

Does it work to use logic with your wife?

No.



Now before any ladies start hunting me down, let me qualify that statement by saying that it is not because women are inherently illogical.  It is because women are predominantly emotional.

Logic is fine, but you have to consider the emotional aspects of the situation as well.

Also, if you're attempting to use logic as a kind of "gimmick" to manipulate the situation that may not go over very well.

The argument that a $15/mo game is cheap entertainment will be lost on a woman who isn't interested in playing it and won't be sharing the enjoyment of it.

Wow. 

Thanks for the insight, Abd Al-Majid Al-Zindani but I think "humans" are likely to be predominately emotional. And a woman's use of logic is no more likely to be inhibited by emotion than a man's.

[BlueBard]

[sarcasm]Yeah, BWPS.  I bow to your superior enlightenment.  13 years of marriage and four kids later apparently taught me nothing.[\sarcasm]


I didn't say women are not rational.  On the whole they are probably more rational than a bunch of male fanboy geeks like us.

I didn't say men are not emotional.  If we weren't, obsessing over comic book characters simply would not happen.

I am saying that women process things differently than a man.  It's scientific fact.  And a woman is far more likely to process a lot of facts and variables that most men would be likely to overlook.  Therefore, her priorities may not match up with his.

I am saying that using "logic" to try to manipulate a woman into seeing things the man's way is not a great idea and I wouldn't count on it working in the man's  favor over the long haul.  There was a relationship issue buried in there that did not get addressed, if I am reading between the lines correctly.

I would bet, with a high degree of confidence, that pointing out a woman's expensive habits to justify a game subscription carries an emotional price that has not yet been paid.  The argument was "won", but if I were Captmorgan I'd be looking for some way to make his lady happy before the bill comes due.

[lugaru]

One piece of advice: dont offer her loot in exchange of allowing you to continue your suscription. "Hey baby, it's all good, now let's see how this mythril chainmail looks on the character I made for you..."

[Tomato]

See, I don't have this problem. I set aside the money early to get the lifetime subs for DCUO and Champions, so I don't have to worry about budgeting them in when money gets tighter.

[Deaths Jester]

One piece of advice: dont offer her loot in exchange of allowing you to continue your suscription. "Hey baby, it's all good, now let's see how this mythril chainmail looks on the character I made for you..."

LOL...now that's hilarious...sounds like someone has had a run in with such before...

Just tell her you could be buying porn instead of the games...

Ah.... no.

I'd like to keep my marriage intact, thanks.

Ohhhh...didn't know that...sorry...was hoping you wanted to destroy your marriage...I'm better at that!

[thalaw2]

I think the real point is that you can't let your significant other see you in the same home having a good time (laughing, cursing, other emotional outbursts...) without her being involved.  So I gather that you have to get her involved in something equally engrossing (ie Farmville or the SIMS).  Then during times away from the game ask her questions about what she did and how it's going.  Keep your stories short.  It's not about money at all....unless it's about money.