Amen, this right here (Destiny)

by General Vagueness , The Vault of Sass, Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 16:02 (3680 days ago) @ Earendil

As a married guy without kids yet, a hundred times this. I think the problem many of us still face is that gaming is not seen by others as a social activity with the same social consequences for canceling.

Take these two conversations:

Other people - "Hey, want to grab lunch with us?"
Earendil - "I'd love to, but I'm grabbing a drink with my brother"

Other people - "Hey, want to grab lunch with us?"
Earendil - "I'd love to, but I'm playing video games with my brother"

Perhaps you and I can see those as equal social responsibilities, but many people do not. They don't understand why you can't just not play video games and accept their invitation. They may respect the fact that you game, the same way they respect that you watch TV. But like TV, it's not (often) seen as a social activity that is a valid excuse for not hanging out. To my Wife's credit, she is slowly coming around to the idea. She still has a hard time responding to other couples when they ask us to do something, and her response has to be "We can't, my husband is busy gaming tonight".

That's why you don't specify, you just say you have plans, or "a prior obligation" if the pressure is on.