Quote by Baothezar

Sounds like agoraphobia.

My therapist says it isn't Agorophobia because if I had that I would always be mindful of an escape route. He says I would also not want to drive on the inside lane because there would be no easy/quick escape, same with bridges.

Quote by Angelsilhouette

I went to a Christmas party tonight hosted by a friend and his wife. It was OK, at first, a few people I knew and who were always very friendly and welcoming to me. It seemed nice and cozy and I felt I could be OK.

Then more and more people started showing up and I felt the rising panic inside me. Everyone was talking and I was hiding in a corner gripping a cup of ice water for dear life.

Finally I couldn't take it, any more, picked up my coat and walked outside to escape. Someone followed me out, I thought it was my friend, but it was one of the other guests I didn't know. She gave me a weird look and went to get something out of her car. As soon as she was back inside I was in my car and a couple of minutes later, on my way home.

Back to my hamster ball where it's safe; why did I ever decide to get out of it?

Eep. Sorry to hear that :( *hug squeezes* I get the same feeling of discomfort too whenever I'm at a party with lots of people I don't know. Sometimes, I would just chill outside to breathe in the cool air to help settle down those nerves.

Quote by Vidan@notaredshirt79

I was an introvert when I was younger. Just because I didn't want people to know I was a foster kid/group home boy and because of my voice. I had many nicknames in High School; Raspy and The Godfather were just a couple. I also came out in High School and ended my relationship with my then girlfriend which made life so much better. After High School I moved to Pittsburgh and became a total extrovert. I went out to the bars/clubs at 19 and I got in because I was cute. Not bragging or being egotistical. I was a skinny little Puerto Rican boy with a 29 inch waist. But now I am back to being an introvert. Not sure how it happened, Being severely depressed doesn't help either. My voice hinders me too. I don't like to open my mouth. I can't even ask for help in a store half the time. I either ask Bruce to ask for me or I just leave the store. I used to go out walking everyday. Sometimes I'd walk 11-12 miles and not even realize it till my legs started to turn to rubber. But I felt at peace and with my headphones on, I was in my own little world. I barely go out anymore. And when I do I feel forced. And I am often if not always running late because subconsciously or consciously I don't want to go. I liked coming on STO because I felt like I met people I could connect with and I see that many of you have similar issues. While this does not make me happy, it does make me feel better. But lately even STO has felt like a forced social thing. Winter is the worst time for me too. All the grey and gloom makes me want to sleep all the time. Enough of my babbling. Off to kill some Voth or Borg.

Aww... Tony. *big warm huggles* Yeah, totally get what you mean.

Hi All,

Just a reminder if you have created a Santa looking toon can you post the images here!

(This can be male or female)

If you haven't, get creating as the deadline is December 24th!!!!

The winner will be announced at our Winter Ball on the 12th January! Where you can also show off your costume!

If you are having problems capturing or posting pictures make a post as you can still participate!! :)

Festive fun for all!

Dex

I went to a Christmas party tonight hosted by a friend and his wife. It was OK, at first, a few people I knew and who were always very friendly and welcoming to me. It seemed nice and cozy and I felt I could be OK.

Then more and more people started showing up and I felt the rising panic inside me. Everyone was talking and I was hiding in a corner gripping a cup of ice water for dear life.

Finally I couldn't take it, any more, picked up my coat and walked outside to escape. Someone followed me out, I thought it was my friend, but it was one of the other guests I didn't know. She gave me a weird look and went to get something out of her car. As soon as she was back inside I was in my car and a couple of minutes later, on my way home.

Back to my hamster ball where it's safe; why did I ever decide to get out of it?

yay! I moved here just in time, eh? :)

SANTA FE, N.M. -
The state Supreme Court has ruled same-sex marriage to be legal in New Mexico.

The court deemed the term "civil marriage" to mean the voluntary union of two persons.

It ruled that all rights, protections and responsibilities that result from the marital relationship shall apply equally to both same-gender and opposite-gender married couples.

Under any of the New Mexico statutes, rules, regulations or common law, whenever a reference is made to marriage, husband, wife, spouse, family, immediate family, dependent, next of kin, widow, widower or any other word, which, in context, denotes a marital relationship, the same shall apply to same-gender couples who have chosen to marry.
KOAT

(Click image to enlarge!)

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W I N T E R · T R E K · T R I V I A · E V E N T !
The winter holidays are upon us, and in keeping with the excitement and festivities of the winter season, the Fleet Resources Department is proud to announce another upcoming Trek Trivia event! Those of you who have joined us in the past, know that our trivia events have been a unique and fun event that will put your Trek knowledge to the test, with fantastic prizes had for all!

With each trivia event that we've run, the event has gradually evolved into a more inclusive and fun experience, and this Winter Trivia Event will be no exception! Traditionally, we've hosted these events in in-game chat, allowing us all to gather at a common location and to mingle during the event. This will not change, and questions and answers will continue to be done in our in-game SFEvents chat channel, however, for the first time since the inception of our trivia events, there will be a non-mandatory TeamSpeak component, for those of you who would like to indulge a more in-depth trivia experience! While I won't go into details or spoil the surprise, I guarantee to those of you who prefer to participate strictly through in-game chat, that those participants choosing to join us on TeamSpeak for the event, will not receive any competitive advantage. With that said, we strongly encourage everyone to consider joining us on TS! Be sure to visit the Welcome Center for details on how to connect to our TeamSpeak server, if you haven't already! Speaking won't be required!

Check out the links to some examples of our past Trek Trivia events! Some example trivia questions are included in these threads, so you can get a feel for what your Trek skills will be up against!

1. 3rd Trek Trivia Event (January, 2013)
2. 2nd Trek Trivia Event (December, 2012)
3. 1st Trek Trivia Event (November, 2012)

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W H E N · & · W H E R E ?


The event will take place in the lowest populated instance of Q's Wonderland, on Saturday, January 4th, 2013, at 5:00 PM Pacific time (8:00 PM Eastern), on the veranda overlooking the skating rink, so mark your calendars!

Follow this time zone conversion link to see the event time at your location!

As always, you need simply join us in the SFEvents in-game chat channel to participate, and we'll be utilizing the Live Events channel on TeamSpeak.

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P R I Z E S !

TIER I PRIZES
The top three scoring players will receive their choice of the following prizes, with the highest scoring player receiving first choice and so on:

Suliban cell ship:
A flyable in-game ship, much like the Tuffli trade freighter or Ferengi Marauder, which provides it's Captain with access to in-game amenities, including: bank, exchange, mail, crafting, commodity vendor and unique duty officer assignments.

2,500 Zen:
A game-card access code of a $25.00 value, providing you with a total of 2,500 Zen for use in the in-game Zen store. Alternatively, you can convert all or a portion of this Zen to dilithium, through the dilithium exchange. At average market value, this would convert into approximately 325,000 dilithium.

Star Trek TNG Pinball:
A gifted version of the Pinball Arcade Season 1 bundle for PC via the Steam gaming platform, a $30.00 value. Pinball Arcade is the ultimate pinball emulator and this package includes access to 21 of the greatest pinball tables of all time, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, which features the voice talents of Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and John De Lancie, among others! This epic recreation of the original pinball machine is truly a fantastic gaming experience! (Alternatively, the winner of this prize may choose to accept a 2,500 Zen card in lieu of this gift, based on their preference).

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F I N A L · S T A N D I N G S ![attachment=1859]insurrectionhd0371.png[/attachment]Click image to enlarge!

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[attachment=1825]Signature06.png[/attachment]

Well, crap. I was going to post a YouTube recording of the Holiday Special, because I dared to watch it a couple of years ago and it is truly bad, but, because of "copyright violation", it has all changed. I can now get the full video--but without sound OR subtitles. Bah.

Rrrrrrwwwaaarrr *wookiee roar*

And to you, good sir!

May your journeys be snowflake covered and the Force be with you!

I have no idea what that is, but o my lord that is funny. :woohoo:

Wow... I laughed so hard. This was so me the whole time. Remember this Sam? :woohoo:

NSFW due to strong language.

don't forget we also have people from a wide variety of cultures here and what is an offensive term in one might be a term of endearment in another, so if someone says something in fleet chat that offends you it's usually useful to PM them and discuss what they said and why they said it.

As far as transphobic etc language in fleet chat, that is inexcusable. Send the person a polite PM explaining why their language is problematic, and if they persist, then go to a fleet captain or other of our personnel. I would also call up on our fleet captains etc to more closely monitor this type of language. Together we can fight oppression.

I don't know about STO, but the more insidious comments ("so gay" / "ghey" / etc.) do piss me off. The more ummm colorful terms don't much bother me. I guess folks who use such language know it's wrong but they think they can get away with being somewhat less profane as if it's somehow less hateful/offensive. Or is it just me?

As soon as I log on I click on my chat tab that has only Fleet, Stonewall, Tells, Pride and Team in it. If I'm in a 20 man alert or something I'll click back to the tab that has zone chat. Cuts down on the stupidity you hear in general chat.

I play this to have fun and be around others like that and don't feel like dealing with those that have the maturity level of a 2yr old.

I applaud you for reporting/informing those people that it is not acceptable behavior but you will find yourself exhausted if you do it all the time.

no kidding about comments about trans people going unnoticed, even in the fleet chat. a lot of the time im just like, really? "its a trap" and jokes about "ladyboys"? come on. its like you can't even avoid that kind of awfulness even in lgbt spaces.

to be honest, the best thing you can do is just to disable zone chat. if you feel like keeping it up just in case you need to talk to someone near you, you can keep it in a separate tab (mine is labeled "shit talk" for obvious reasons). if you feel strong enough to tell people to stop and possibly face the overwhelm of dumb comments directed at you, or even just to report them, that's a brave thing to do, but there is a lot of people like that and you might get tired after a while.

i dont honestly know how good sto management is about reprimanding people. i figure that if they are busy enough to forget to put a ceiling on the side room of the fleet spire they're probably too busy to hand out mutes or bans to every dudebro who thinks this stuff is the height of comedy.

Yes I do mean See not say :/