[whiteknightrises]

Question to the older cats on here:

Just curious, what was PUA/game like before the advent of smartphones? (Or even cellphones for that matter)

I would imagine girls since they didn't have 50-100+ new texts from dudes at all times weren't as entitled or something along those lines?

Just curious as to how you think the dating game has changed thanks to cellular/smartphone technology

[Suits]

[Oz.]

Caveman game is where it's at, just knock the bitch out and take her to your cave while murdering all the betas that opposed

[Onto]

[Pride male]

Letter writing.

[Lizard King]

Before the smartphone era, well, before the Internet era to be precise, it wasn't unusual for men to cold approach women. The likes of Neil Strauss and Mystery didn't invent it, they just codified something that came naturally to the boldest and well-practiced men. Whatever era you live in, fortune will always favour the brave, and night clubs were made for men to approach women. I can remember cold approaching and not knowing what game was. I got a few phone numbers but didn't have the skills or practice to know how to get past the first date! I suppose most bangs would have come from social circle and night game. There were sill players with game before someone called them players with game.

[redbeard]

The biggest change is the actual phone game. Even being on the younger spectrum of this forum, I have experienced changes. Back in middle school, hell I had to call girls house, from my own house phone. It was traumatizing, having to ask their mom if she was home. "Who are you? Why are you calling?"

Then once you got her on the phone you had to run phone game. How's school, your mom seems funny, etc. All of this was in front of my family because the landline was in the living room.

Now all the kids do is text a girl "netflix & chill?" and hope she says yes.

The biggest thing I miss is being able to go off the grid. I have vivid memories of my first girlfriend and subsequent first kiss. I was 13. We used to lie through our teeth to our parents...disappear for entire days, taking city transit, going on walking adventures, all under the guise of "hey mom I'm at a friends house. I'll be back at xx o'clock" It was electrifying. I had never felt so close to someone in my life. It was just me and her, doing our thing, enjoying each other's company.

With so many distractions it is rare to capture that same feeling these days. Even subtracting the "suitors" on their phone, there are millions of apps that require their attention. (Maybe this is why I like hippy/earthy chicks so much.)

High school was where cell phones became big. Then things slowly became like they are now.

[Barbarian_Brad]

My dearest Ingrid... I need a female opinion on something...

[Onto]

(10-25-2015 12:55 PM)Pride male Wrote:  

Letter writing.

Shit, I forgot about this. I even made cards out of construction paper, like you did when you were a kid. Very beta, I know.

[Dusty]

[The Wire]

(10-25-2015 09:17 AM)whiteknightrises Wrote:  

Question to the older cats on here:

Just curious, what was PUA/game like before the advent of smartphones? (Or even cellphones for that matter)

To pretty much echo what others said. You picked up girls in clubs, bars, house parties and called them. The biggest change by far was when the cellphone was established as the common method of contact. This was a game changer as far as independence. No more calling house lines. I can still remember maybe going back to around 2004 I ended up getting the number from this Brazilian girl at a club in the US. She didn't have a cell phone and was a student living with a guest family. Girls like that didn't just give out their number to any guy. I remember calling her house and a little kid answering the phone

Little kid "Hello, Smith Residence!"
Me: "Is HB 8 Brazilian there?"
Little kid: "yes, who is calling?!"
Me: "Horny guy from club"
Little kid: "Ok hold on" *Kid puts down phone and screams up stairs* "HB 8....THERES A CALL FOR YOUUUUU!!!!!"


Shit like that was taking place not that long ago. I try to remind myself at times when I don't feel like calling girls that I had to go through shit like that.

Quote:

I would imagine girls since they didn't have 50-100+ new texts from dudes at all times weren't as entitled or something along those lines?

Yes but at the end of the day you now have the ability to get pick up girls sitting on your couch. You have the ability to juggle way more girls via text. So it's a trade off. I hear people say this all the time "Oh the good old days...." Heres the thing, you still had to physically go out, deal with the club. Get the number, call her fucking house. Call her back to setup a date with an exact meetup time because no one has a phone. Then sit there if she's 30 mins late. If something delays her you have no clue where she is..etc.

[The Wire]

(10-25-2015 01:07 PM)redbeard Wrote:  

The biggest thing I miss is being able to go off the grid. I have vivid memories of my first girlfriend and subsequent first kiss. I was 13. We used to lie through our teeth to our parents...disappear for entire days, taking city transit, going on walking adventures, all under the guise of "hey mom I'm at a friends house. I'll be back at xx o'clock" It was electrifying. I had never felt so close to someone in my life. It was just me and her, doing our thing, enjoying each other's company.

I've had it both ways. It was great to go off the grid but it wasn't uncommon to basically have your night get screwed over because you couldn't contact someone. I remember a specific time in high school my one friend knew of the giant house party from another school. House parties were basically a huge deal in the social life of a 16 year old because you can't just go to a bar or club. Your nights weren't guaranteed back then so when you got word of mouth of one you jumped on them.

So my friend and I went to buy beer to assure we had some(we had someone who lived 20 mins that could buy us some). So our plans were to meet my in front of my one friends house at say 9pm. Somehow we ended up getting delayed and we showed up at 9:30pm and they were gone. So now its my friend and I with a couple cases of beer and no where to go. I think we ended up getting drunk with a couple of other guys that we could find. Nice and lame.

[Onto]

Almost forgot about the mix tape.

[EL CHAPO]

Back in the day, people would just write down a number on a piece of paper.

I'm still with the firm believe that Black pimps and players were the inventors and creators of game. White guys like mystery pretty much copied what the Black pimps were doing and claimed "I'm the first to invent PUA tactics."

Blacks have been running game since the 60s.

[ColSpanker]

In the seventies I was a cold approach MF. It was the only way to do it.

[The Wire]

Also what did 30 year old playboys have back before cell phones? A little black book. If he's looking for a 'booty call' then he has got to go through the book, call up the girls place which a decent chance she's not even home. And he continues that until he gets a girl to answer and agree to come out.

A little black book isn't even a part of the modern human lexicon. The last time I remember seeing that was on the Jersey Shore tv show. They didn't have cell phones on the show so say on a thursday night you see the situation calling up number after number until he got a girl to come out.

[262]

(10-25-2015 02:49 PM)EL CHAPO Wrote:  

I'm still with the firm believe that Black pimps and players were the inventors and creators of game. White guys like mystery pretty much copied what the Black pimps were doing and claimed "I'm the first to invent PUA tactics."

Blacks have been running game since the 60s.

Not arguing with your point, but man, you sure bring up the topic of race a lot.

[Lizard King]

(10-25-2015 02:54 PM)The Wire Wrote:  

Also what did 30 year old playboys have back before cell phones?

Social proof and pre-selection.

[OGNorCal707]

(10-25-2015 02:54 PM)The Wire Wrote:  

Also what did 30 year old playboys have back before cell phones? A little black book. If he's looking for a 'booty call' then he has got to go through the book, call up the girls place which a decent chance she's not even home. And he continues that until he gets a girl to answer and agree to come out.

A little black book isn't even a part of the modern human lexicon. The last time I remember seeing that was on the Jersey Shore tv show. They didn't have cell phones on the show so say on a thursday night you see the situation calling up number after number until he got a girl to come out.

The "little black book" and "rolodex" are two terms that are pretty much extinct at this point, I kind of feel old that I even know them, but I definitely have a lot of nostalgia for the 80's and 90's.

I think in some ways things have gotten easier for the younger cats who've grown up with smart phones, social media, etc., but in other ways it's made the entire scene worse.

For me I've always been reluctant to participate in social media, but in a way I feel it maybe hinders me, because I see my friends who have a strong presence on Facebook and instagram and use that to their advantage when it comes to meeting chicks and getting laid.

Another guy on another thread basically said it, that liking photos on instagram is almost the modern way of flirting and it's true, I got a buddy who fits the tall, buff, handsome, rich, cool archetype and he bangs chicks that he meets largely through instagram that like his photos, so he makes it work for him.

A lot of guys would say adapt or die, but I just can't really get into instagram and other social media, hell I seriously didn't even know what snap chat was until a couple months ago, and I'm still not sure why it exists.

It's been beaten to death but all the smart phones and social media ruin shit because not only does it feed women's narcissism and feelings of self importance, but it gives them an infinite array of dudes to choose from, which only creates a game arms race for men, stiffing competition, and making women all the more flaky and entitled.

Back in the day there may have been more headaches in other way, having to call on a landline phone, leave a message, run phone game, etc., but at least it was a more even playing field, when guys like Style in my opinion had better chances running strictly cold approach game. Now a short bald dude not only has to compete in the club, but he's got tall handsome dudes to compete with on tinder, okcupid, etc. Before all he had to do was project confidence and be a smooth talker, and be an outlier by approaching, now the same girls he'd approach, would have a dozen more attractive guys messaging them on tinder.

[poutsara]

Back then, if you said someone had "Game" it meant they were good at basketball.

[Mercenary]

I think the main difference between now and the time before emails and mobile phones was this:

You had more time to game a girl.

....because the competition was much less.

(But also the number of girls you could game simultaneously was much, much less.)


Either you had to approach her in person or call her at home. There was no other way. Only betas wrote letters to girls in the same town. Omegas wrote anonymously. But even if you approached in person, you had to call her at home sooner or later to set up dates. There was no other way. Unless you were seeing eachother each day at school or university.

1st, you either had to overcome your anxiety of actually speaking to her on the phone, 2nd, hope you called when she was actually in her house (or hope she called back when you were at home), 3rd, get past her cockblocking family each or nosy roommates every time, 4th, think of something interesting to talk about before asking her out, and 5th hope that she gave you an definitive answer without having to call again and again. The only other guys who were chasing after her had to do the same. So weeks (or sometimes even months) could easily pass by where you were essentially the only guy that had the balls to actively chase her, date her, seduce her and bang her. The choice for her in that time was either you or nobody else.

Yes, there might have been occasions where she met another guy through school/university, her social circle or went out with friends for a night out, or was invited to a party, but these were the exceptions, not the rule, and the guys she met through those situations had to call her at home eventually.

Because email and mobile phones have removed guy's approach anxiety and at the same time given her both the privacy and the means to instantly talk to any guy at any time, she is now overwhelmed with so much attention she can't possibly respond to everyone even if she tried. While in the past, a girl made a decision based on what both her brain and her pussy were telling her.... now with so much choice her pussy does ALL the thinking and makes all the decisions.

The type of girl that existed before emails and mobile phones would tolerate a lot more beta mistakes, and give you longer to make your move cause there just wasn't much competition. Now, you've got a very, very short window of time (usually measured in hours or days) to get that girl. Can you imagine the girls of today writing pages and pages of love letters BY HAND to guys they never met (or only kissed or banged once) who were hundreds of miles away. As late as the year 2002 I had still had girls who did this.

However, it wasn't a golden era in all aspects. For at least 2 reasons I can think of now:

1.
There was no internet with guys like Roosh, Krauser and Roissy/Heartiste and a feedback system like this forum, So all this meant that meant you'd eventually fuck up with your "special girl" in an irreversible way. The sexless dry spells were much longer, the lonely depression awful, the overall notches much fewer and the eventual relationships you did have were more on her terms than yours cause you were always scared of "losing" her. This meant things like constant excuses from her not to have sex (cause you didn't know how to turn her on), and less blowjobs cause you didn't know how to game/dominate her properly.

2.
You usually weren't prepared to put in that much work and time for every girl that was cute. The technological constraints kind of forced you to only chase those girls you had a real beta oneitis crush on, or pedestalized in an unhealthy way. This in turn made you believe in "love" which brought with it all the horrible problems we know.

So pick your poison.

[realologist]

I know I'm in the younger demographic for this forum being in my mid twenties but I was lucky to get the best of both worlds. Cell phones didn't really take off until I got into highschool.

Even then many people still didn't have them or if they did they had limited minutes or the Nextel chirp so many people still used house phones more.

I remember picking up girls for dates you had to go up to the door, actually knock on it and meet their family.

It seemed to all the change when texting took off. I remember it taking off around 2008. Could text a girl you are there and she comes out to the car. Don't even have to get out. I hated texting and missed the personal touch of calling and speaking on the phone.

Then smart phones started to come out later that year and it was game over. Social media and texting took off and changed the dating landscape more in the past 7-8 years than what had happened the past 50.

[poutsara]

(10-25-2015 05:19 PM)realologist Wrote:  

I remember picking up girls for dates you had to go up to the door, actually knock on it and meet their family.

I miss those days.

[RockHard]

(10-25-2015 01:04 PM)Lizard King Wrote:  

There were sill players with game before someone called them players with game.

Good post but I disagree with that line. You knew that some guys had game, we'd even call it "game". But like others said, without the Internet you were dependent on just people you hung out with. The best you could do is try to emulate the guys who were getting laid.

(10-25-2015 05:19 PM)realologist Wrote:  

Then smart phones started to come out later that year and it was game over. Social media and texting took off and changed the dating landscape more in the past 7-8 years than what had happened the past 50.

I'd put it a little later than 2008 - seems like about 2010 just about everybody had a smartphone and the market for apps really took off. Even then, stuff like Tinder didn't take off until 2012 or 13. You see guys on the OKC thread just this year saying how OKC and POF have gone in the shitter.

I graduated high school in 1985, so shit was way different back then. Back then answering machines were pretty new, caller ID didn't exist, you didn't even have call waiting. Anybody remember answering machine game?

Like everybody else said, you either met through social circles, you met chicks at bars or parties, or if you were really brave, you cold approached. I always loved this scene from Catch Me If You Can. Talk about brass balls.

[eatthishomie]

carrier pigeons and smoke signals


This one was my go-to panty dropper.