The first step is admitting you have a problem.

[Jayecifer]

So there I was, hardly a day into the game, when I realized that all these planets are servers. 'Then along comes Boggy.' Finally someone actually talks to me! After I sling my newbish questions at him, which he helpfully answered, Boggy purposed I join his pirate faction. I accepted under the terms that I get a planet. At this point I had previously downloaded the unregistered world install, but had not installed taken the chance to install it as I was excited to give this game a test run. This is the point where it all starts; My little problem. Truth is... ...I'm addicted. Shortly after installing the world server, working on my world replaced even the mighty Myspace in my daily digital routine. I talk about it at work. On the phone. My girlfriend starving for attention sits behind me on my bed watching T.V. to alleviate her boredom. All things considered here I go...

Hi, my name is Jaye and I'm addicted to The Universal.

There, I said it. It's out in the open. Now the healing can begin.

[Fooli]

Heh :)

If the world building process was a bit more user-friendly, you could knock up a continent or two and still have time to talk to the gf later. Unfortunately it does tend to take up a great deal of time. Maybe, I dunno, build a forest in the shape of her initials or something. It's never worked for anyone else but you might be the first to get away with it :p
f

/ps: while I have no interest in myspace, it is kinda relevant here. One of the original intentions of the game was to allow people to build worlds in a myspacey kind of way. It's quite different in many ways. But it's also quite similar, in that building your own world is a sort of expression of whatever you want to do personally. For most people, that expression is in the form of a game of some kind: it lets them design and run (admittedly quite limited) games even if they know nothing about coding, in the same way myspace lets you create a website and host music and videos etc, even if you know nothing about web design. But there's no reason why you couldn't build a world simply to host pictures you like, or your own radio station, or just as something to do and somewhere to sit about chatting to people. Who look like monkeys. Anyway, I think it's a valid thing to do :)

[zaroba]

or....
name the world after her
use a heightmap that is a picture of her
use ideas of her on it
tell her all you possibly can about the game so she becomes addicted too

[flametard]

yes i was just thinking about this! I have the same problem. after i started understanding the world editor i stayed up for 2 days straght and barely ate and i hardly even felt it.

and yes! this game is alot like myspace, i was just thinking that the other day.

like, i had this other video game creation software last year when i first discovered you could be a regular person and make a video game. but it sucked cause no one wanted to go to eachothers game, where could you even find them?

webpages have the same problem, and myspace kinda dominated the landscape because not only did it give the average person a way to make a webpage, it gave them advertising by linking the pages together by being eahothers 'friend' addictive as hell, cause you want attention.

this game does the same thing, not only do you give people the means to make their own video game (something everyone wants to do), you give their game ADVERTISING by LINKING the games together by being in eachothers SPACE! you want attention to your ideas and want people to play in your game so you go out into space and drum up attention!

and theres alot of talk about making this game cost money, i say why even bother!? myspace is free and thats why everyone uses it. and tom still sold it for millions upon millions. so who cares if you fly past a few billboards for coke in space. i think it would be fun!

but what if space got filled up with a bunch of p*rn bots, you ask?
more targets.

[DvdGStwrt]

All things in moderation.

Seriously when it comes to world creation moderation is key. Take time, take a walk, let it sit half or partially done. It is the moments away from the world that ideas flow in.

As for the SO (Significant Other, using that because others may read this)

Include your SO in the Universal creation process. S/he may have a wealth of ideas and even develop or have the skills needed to pull off certain things. I include my SO in the process, and have a couple, few items already on my world which are not my creation nor my idea.

Use the Universal as a hobby and a connection point. People who play together, stay together.