Friends List Maintenance

I did some friends list maintenance this morning. I hadn’t heard any word on MS expanding the number of friends allowed with the fall update, so I thought it was time to prune a few names off the list. I do this about once every two months, usually when a new release is due out. I like to keep my list in around 90 friends, so I will have plenty of room to accept incoming invites. The term ‘friends list’ is kind of a misnomer. The people on my list are not the only friends I have nor is someone that I remove from my list no longer my friend. It is more of a list of friends that I want to and can game with. A lot of people that I remove from my list are just not playing the same games I am playing and thus I am unable to actually get into a game with them. There are other reasons for keeping / removing people from list so I thought I would detail what it takes to stay on my friends list.

-People who have gamed recently. If you haven’t touched your Xbox in a few months, I am going to remove you from my friends list.

-People playing the same games as I am. If you are playing a bunch of Chromehounds, then we are both wasting a spot on our friends list because I have no intention of ever playing that game. The game sounds like a blast but it’s just not on my radar. I will add you back to the list when you pick up Halo 3.

-People who have ‘2old2play’, ‘2o2p’, or some other buzzword that keys me in that this gamer is part of our site in the gamer motto section of the gamer card. If I don’t recognize the gamertag and there isn’t something about 2old2play in the gamer motto, I assume this is just some random Joe that I accepted their friend request for whatever reason.

-People I have actually met before. If I have met you at one of the LAN parties, I like keeping you on my list.

-People in the gaming industry such as Mother Goat and Mrs Doublefire. I am hoping one day they might divulge some top secret insider information to me at some point. Yes, I know it’s highly doubtful because of NDA, but a guy can dream, right?

-People who play on the 360. I don’t play Halo2 anymore. I have removed purty near everyone on my list that only plays Halo2. If I want to play Halo2, I can still join games with people on my clan list.

-People in the Recreation gamer zone. Pros can be dicks and those in the Underground are kinda weird. They tend to be counter-culture kind of people and I am very pro-culture. Get a job. Marry someone from the opposite sex. Have a kid or too. Watch Seinfeld. What’s wrong with Seinfeld? It’s a funny show. What kind of person doesn’t think Seinfeld is funny? I’m not saying that I will boot you if you are in one of the other zones, just that it’s a factor.

-Robotron. Anyone that plays Robotron regularly is a friend indeed.

So to summarize, play often, only play good games, put 2old2play in your motto, come to the LANs, get a job in the gaming industry, buy a 360, and Recreation is where it’s at.