ok this is a rant … thoughts going through my head as i was working on my painting homework all day.
earlier yesterday was spending time on another of those MMORPGs (massive-multiplayer-online role-playing-games)..yes i could rant another whole post just about my take on MMOs.. but yesterday, i happen to be chatting to one of the players (usually target audience for these game developers are teenagers if not younger), who happens to be just 13 years of age.
what really started me thinking is just how much our society now has changed, we are in the age of “the computer”. My parents and your parents didn’t have the privilege of being able to “send mails electronically at the clik of a button”, they never had the opportunity to “google it”. They were, as i quote from my other literature i’ve read regarding Video Games & our modern society, the Baby Boomers, and we’re Generation X!
alright so back to my chat with this kid..this game has an “Upgrade system”, which is pretty much what all MMORPGs thrive on and are designed around. The player has the opportunity, not forced upon, to further enhance his character/avatar of himself, making his/her virtual self stronger, more respected, etc. A “sword+1″ is not as impressive as a “sword+3″. And upgrading it to a “3″ is, a simple feat within the game. You are allowed to enhance your item up to a “10″, which will be the maximum power your character can attain. However, as logic shows it, the further you upgrade, the tougher it will get to achieve that level of power. Getting a “5″ to a “6″ might take you only a few attempts, and going from “6″ to “7″ will more than likely double that number of attempts to achieve.
Majority of the players in the game boast anywhere from a “sword+5″ to a “sword+8″. This kid had a fully upgraded item “sword+10″, he had “beaten” the game system in a sense, achieving the highest goal within the game(well there are plenty other goals to achieve within any given game, this was just one). The game designers dont wish for players to be able to reach the max. They want you to keep “trying”, buying upgrade-recipes over and over again, giving the developers your money & time.
I talked to him, asking how many times he had to try, to upgrade his “sword+10″. He replied “hundreds”. I asked him “why did you decide to spend your money (virtual game currency) buying upgrade-items to attempt that? You could have just spent your money else where, for example buy a new pair of boots for your character..afterall, everyone in the game knows it’s ground breaking hard to achieve a “+10″ item…you would be left with nothing if you did not get the 10, since you’re spending everything you have to get this 10.”
He replied confidently “yes i know, i heard it was a 0.1% chance of success going from 9 to 10 alone…”
“…but there [is] that chance right? so it’s not impossible. it’s not a 0% 
i wanted to take that chance.”
that’s it right there. that’s what sets children these days apart from “us”.
He’s a risk taker. He’s 13, a very young age, and he’s already developed a mindful for taking risks. Yah sure, to him its all just fun and games, but subconsciously, he’s already grasping important life skills that will take him beyond his “friend in the next cubicle”. He did not know how many times he would have to attempt to achieve that “item+10″, he simply went for it, disregarding other temptations or distractions (like a new pair of boots) or that chance that he might come up empty and fail it all.
Now compare that to a real life scenario. A good example will be that movie “Pursuit of Happiness” with Will Smith.
He struggled at the beginning. He failed some times. It was all not easy.
But he had it in him. He was one of the very few at the time to be able to solve a Rubix cube puzzle. Everyone else gave up on the puzzle. Everyone else gave up on life when they ran into troubles. Everyone else gave up on “upgrading that sword further” to get to the top.
But.
He made it. He didnt give up, he promised himself and his son to be successful. The other candidates trying for the job were white men, he was black.
He saw that “small chance”. This 13 yr old kid saw that “0.1%” chance. There is a chance. Now are you bothered enough to pursue it? How far you going to go.. how much you willing to risk..how many times are you willing to fail..? There’s a chance in life that me, Sam, will achieve my personal goals for life. I’m willing to go all out for it. There. is. a. chance.
While the normal-day-average person will settle for a comfortable job, earning in just about good to support his family comfortably, there is that minority that is willing to take risks and push it further. While the average MMORPG player may simply settle for a “sword+8″, there is that minority that will choose to go for the “10″ and risk it all.
Many “Life Lessons” in my terms, can be learnt, from playing video games. You just have to Game Responsibly. When i have kids next time, i already know, i’m not gonna be that parent that says “GET OFF THE XBOX & DO YOUR HOMEWORK”.
There’s a good book i read a couple years ago now, Got Game, a study about this growing Gamer Generation and how it has changed our society significantly. We can’t hide and lie to ourselves anymore. Video games are, part of our lives now just as much as television and radio is. Embrace it. Everybody wants to win..no one wants to lose. If you want to win today, it’s no harm to pick up 1 game quietly and sit down one evening, give yourself a chance to experience the fun.
Good Luck & LOL.
I’m not saying there hasn’t been any new games for the pc, but there’s very very few pc-exclusives lately.. oh well .. looking forward to hear more ’bout the new Blizzard games (you guys know which titles alrady).
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