Lets examine and help each other in this area - Successful dating without playing games.

Hmm...i could use some help with that.

I may be a cynic but I think it is human nature to play games. I hated it when I was dating. People think that the more they can control somebody the bigger they are in they own mind.

to be honest ive never had that much expirience with dating,like minded guys are sparse round my neck of the woods.

the best advice i can give is know what you want from your date before hand.

once i didnt know what i wanted from a guy and i ended up mucking him about, not deliberately, its just i couldnt make up my mind about him.

i try to be completely honest upfront in dating - but most times - even that doesn't work - lol - not as if it's a game to me - but i don't really care for dating much - maybe i'm too picky - then again - i don't really date....

but the best advice i could give is to just be yourself.... you shouldn't have to change who you are in order to impress someone

If you do change yourself for that reason than they arn't dating you. They are dating a persona that will eventually collapse. It is best to be honest and up front. A lot of nice guys find that sexy in and of itself.

I don't date; I hate it. People on their best behaviour, far too socially awkward, not acting natural and themsleves. I really hate the formality of it all. If you can't be yourself you are no good to anyone including yourself. Dating for me should be casual, open, with no expectations. Expectations can put far too much stress on what can already be a nerve wracking experience for some.

i agree - just be yourself - and open doors for me
LOL

Guys
The only way I find that dating works is just to be yourself and not jump into sex until you truly know the person. Unfortunately it appears that very few guys want to know more than a guys dick size. Maybe the right guy is out there and we are looking period the end. Just to let whatever happen happen and to put ourselves in as many places in the gay community as possible

The best date was the one I met my ex-lover, a long-lived relationship:
He was sitting naked in a VW Van, at "The Piers" in 1988. I walked over to his bus, and said, yes, I would like to sit down, but only if you put your shorts on first.
Which he did. He was 23 years older than me, and I was 24.
He had a cassette tape of Zoltan Kodaly's Misse Brevis on the dashboard, stuffed down with some junk half-hiding it.

By the way, I just got back from walking a guy home, whom I had given a bj to, in the salt-sheds, a pier in itself. My ex- sat there and waited for me, sure I would return to The Piers parking lot, which I did.

So we both liked classical music, and I liked him. He was Australian, first I ever met. Cool beard: big guy, not fat. He asked if I would like to see his home in Queens.
I lived in a hotel, not as nice as this one, and I said, "sure." I had no money, and my entertainment was meeting new people - even if it was just a one-time thing.
Anyway, we had a bit of sex, and I liked his 2-family house, and he asked me to move in 6 days later. Hard sell.

That was a nifty date. It cost him nothing, we already knew we could stand each other (it was a bit of a drive to Queens), and the sex was okay (he was a bit vanilla, but so what?), and we had an adventure that last at least 15 years. Our friendship endures, tightly, to this day.

Dating is such an artifice, but some guys need it. I prefer trying to do something not in a restaurant, and not with flowers, and not dressed up.
Outdoor cruising was so great, because you never knew when HE would show up. That seems to be gone, and gay men lost one of their unique ways of meeting one another, in this hostile world.

I can't get anyone's attention for more than 10 seconds, anymore. I'm older, and understand, but in a bar all the songs are fast, and loud, and the atmosphere is very body-centered.
Leather bars now have go-go dancers. I took my ex- into Rawhide a month ago, and I tripped on the damned podium - I didn't see it.
They want you to drink and feed the meter. I want to talk to men, and find out who they are.

Peace.
Sylvester

I've never dated. (Extra tid-bit: still a virgin too.)

And I wouldn't have the first clue really. *chuckle*