Time for another dip into the Hard Drive mailbag! If you have a question for Hard Drive, please send it in a DM to our official Xbox Live account with the subject line “HELLO.”

Dear Hard Drive, 

I know the stereotype: girls don’t like games. Well that’s not true! I don’t mind one bit that my boyfriend likes to hang out and play games with his friends while we’re together. I’m working on homework more often than not anyway, so what’s it matter to me if he keeps himself busy while I still get to see him? 

So my problem isn’t the gaming, it’s this — about the half the time he says something out loud, I’m not sure if he’s talking to me, or some of the boys. It’s embarrassing! Sometimes it’s really obvious, like when he says, “Where are we dropping, fellas?” or “Hey babe, would you grab me another soda?” but other things are harder to tell. He’s always saying “check that out!” or “look at that!” or “dear god I’ve been shot!” and I’m not sure if he means me or him.

It might not sound like a big deal, but when I ask him if he means me, he very often blames me for making him lose the game. I get his point, it is probably very distracting. In my defense, however, I really thought he was telling ME that he loved me, not the squad, but I digress. 

Hard Drive, will you help me figure out if my boyfriend is talking to me or the people in his headset? IGN won’t answer me back and Kotaku won’t leave me alone. You’re my only hope. 

—Worried About Lacking Understanding In Gaming Instances

Dear W.A.L.U.I.G.I.,

While normally we like to tackle bigger issues here at the HDMB, it’s actually been a shockingly underperforming aspect of our website, and yours was the only letter we received all month, despite the massive promotional push we made.

While your specific question is an impossible one to answer in a clean and concise manner, we can tell you what to look for when trying to decipher if your significant other is talking to you or his sweet, sweet boys on the other end of the headset. 

Despite the microphone literally being inches away from his esophagus, your gaming lover will likely feel the need to scream his inter-squad messages directly into their eardrums, so that is definitely something you want to consider. If he screams “Aw come on, where the fuck were you?” and you’re just sitting there reading a book, you’re probably in the clear. It’s all about context clues, like whether or not he’s shouting very loudly. 

Also, he’s probably just gonna be talking to the guys most of the time. You have to understand that moving forward into this investigation. 

If he’s requesting something that the dudes couldn’t possibly do, like to turn down the show you’re watching, or to quit turning pages so loudly, that’s another one to keep an eye out for. An eye and an ear, just to be safe. 

If he just proclaims something suddenly and loudly, like “Noooooooooooooo!” then it’s honestly a toss-up. Could be the game, could be something you did. You know better than us on this one.

We hope these pointers help. If all else fails, just break up with him I guess. 

In the meantime, the Official Domino’s Pizza Hard Drive Mailbag is still open, and please please send us your questions, because we’re trying to see if we can just say that like it’s a real thing and if it means they have to give us money if people like it!

— Hard Drive