Hi all! I'm taking a few days off from blogging so there won't be any new posts for two or three days after this one, at which point the Darklands of Arkania story will continue. Still, this gives me an opportunity to spring this little experiment on you!
All you need is either MS notepad, or a pen and paper (or a really good memory)! Please do try to keep it as serious as possible and at the end I'd like you to please put just the one result I ask for in the comments section below, if it isn't too much trouble. So, let's begin!
(1) You got some bad news and have learned you only have 24 hours to live. Write down what you would do with your last day. Please try be realistic on your timings - doing a world trip or going to the moon would probably take too long. Once done, draw a horizontal line beneath your list (or skip a few lines) and move on to (2).
Highlight the text to make it visible. :)
(2) Good news, your life expectancy has increased to one week! Continue your list of things you would do (don't duplicate things from above unless you really want to revisit them) with your final week to live, underneath the line or blank space (just to keep the list separate). Those overseas relatives might not seem so far now... Once done, again put some marker or leave a space and move on to (3).
(3) Amazing, you will now live for a whole month! Continue your list again now with what you'd like to do in your last month of life, no need to duplicate things you've already listed unless you really want to revisit them. Once done, put a marker or leave a space and move on to (4).
(4) Congratulations - you will now live for six months! Continue your list now (technically you have 5 months to add since your first one is already listed out). Don't worry too much about price and money stuff for this part - it can be your "bucket wishlist". Once done move on to (5).
(5) I imagine you would have a pretty long list now, and I'm sure some people would have longer lists than others. I'd like you to put in the comments below the only entry I'm interested in:
What section did you put "play [my current mmo/game]" (or a variation there of) in? Did it even make it to your list?
Please post your findings in the comments below. :)
At one week, I wanted to poke my head into Minecraft to just enjoy the world/scenery and do some creative building.
ReplyDeleteAt one month, I wanted to try the latest hotness of VR (and corresponding games made for VR)
At 6 months, I was thinking of trying to make inroads to making a game and/or try out every game on my Steam list at least once.
Unfortunately, GW2 being in the current hole it's in, did not merit a specific entry, though I'm sure I would have found some time between 1-6 months to log in once (alongside the 'try all the Steam games' ambition)
I probably -would- have taken a peek at my collated GW2 screenshots for 15-30mins at the 24h to 1 week mark, while doing the "Say my goodbyes on blog/game" entry.
Oh wait, I guess that means I -would- have taken a quick gander into said MMO to notify people of my imminent departure, after all.
Not exactly -play- or do anything grindy or achiever-oriented, by any means, I'll grant you.
The issue with these "going to die" lists versus how one would normally spend one's life is that if you knew for 100% certain you'd be leaving the earth, you'd stop all the accumulation-and-hoarding-for-a-better-tomorrow activities (I'd give notice on my job, fer example, so I'd have more time to lavish on meself, which ain't a sensible long-term thing to do if you think your money needs to last at least a few more decades) in favor of hedonistic spend-it-now-cos-there-IS-no-tomorrow stuff.
Or maybe that's just me.
I think you're right about the hedonistic switch that happens with a "fixed" amount of time. :)
DeleteThanks for your reply Jeromai!
The irony is that I would have plenty of time to play MMOs during that extended time because I'd have burned more than a few bridges in that 24 hours.
ReplyDeleteUm, oops.
Lol! I wasn't expecting an answer like that! Thanks Redbeard! :P
DeleteI guessed what you were aiming at already at the end of point 2, and was sure about it at the end of point 3. (The second guess was that you were aiming at the saying that nobody ever at his deathbed said that he wished he had spent more time at work. But that would've been too easy and too obvious. )
ReplyDeleteThat being said, in some way MMO gaming already was included in my point 2 as "spend time with friends". Some people i consider friends i met in online games. I'm still in touch with people i met in online games almost 20 years ago. Even more, i met my girl in a MMO we now live togehter for a while and just a few months ago bought a flat.
That being said, i admit that just "playing" MMOs was not in the list before point 4 and even there was just vaguely mentioned. But i also dare to point out that one other huge aspect of my life was not mentioned in any of these points: go to work.
In the range of one day to one month, i can survive without earning any money and could even afford to do some crazy stuff (e.g. go on vacations). Thus the financial aspect is voidn. As you ruled out the financial aspect, the same is true for the six month case.
Also i am in a good enough position that i would not have to worry that my girl would be in problems when i am gone. Would it be, the risk of a criminal aspect would enter the picture. If death is certain and my family is not to be punished for what i do, there'd be no significant risk for failure, but significant possible gains at success.
To now close the circle: MMOs are very much connected to my "settled" lifestyle. There's only so many vacation days a year. Some i spend in another country, some i spend at rock festivals. This year some i will spend at weddings of two friends who live in foreign countries, too. So the rest of the year i have to be at work every day. Neither can i travel around all of the time, nor can i burn piles of money for expencive hobbies all of the time. This is where computer games really shine: they are a kind of trip to somewhere else. Even more so in MMOs: you meet several of your friends there! (Not all of my friends play MMOs, but most those who i acquired online still do, and the others are in Skype, which goes very well next to MMOs, so that still counts for me. )
Mind you, this is even before the rest of the advantages:
- MMOs are extremely cost efficient. (For my main MMO i have a lifetime account. I play it for three years by now. In those three years i also have spend way more money than that on ammo alone on the paintball field, and i've been there only for four days. )
- MMOs are relationship friendly. (Or like the wife of a friend of mine put it: "Now i know where my boyfriend is on the evening: upstairs and playing. That means he is not out in a bar, getting drunk or doing something with other women." )
- Computer games are family friendly. It's not uncommon among my friends that one of us announces a short break, as his wife needs something or he has to care for his son or whatever. Actually while not having kids myself yet, i have experienced that the time after childbirth was the most gaming heavy time for several of my friends. They had to be awake at strange times anyway, in case the child needed attention. So while they were on "baby-watch" but the baby was sleeping, gaming was their way to spend the time.
Thus i think the difference between your scenario and real life should become quite obvious. In the abstract scenario "money is of no essence, you don't have to go to work, your remaining lifetime is strictly limited and on a known timer, but what you have left you can use absolutely freely", computer games loose any priority. But as long as money and thus worktime remain significant factors in my life, so will computer games, thanks to the advantages mentioned above.
PS: Yes, i am aware that my answer went well beyond what you asked. If it's too much, feel free to dispose of it. :)
All answers are valid Sylow! Thank you for giving one that is so thorough! :D
Delete#1 included "have a good sendoff with all the friends", which meant to me that I would definitely log onto some games and beat some stuff up with people one last time. This stuck around in all of my lists. #3 included trying to finish off as much of my Steam library as possible. #4 included getting my friends from games together at a con so I could see them. I'd also write a blog post with some final words to people, if that also counts, in all situations.
ReplyDeleteNice experiment you've done- It really makes me think about how important gaming and the gaming community are to me.
Hehe, you're welcome and thanks for participating Sonja! ^_^
DeleteI didn't even consider playing games until the 6 months left mark. I was too busy spending time with others and trying to get to know people I know little about. (plus writing down all my ideas and thoughts and recording videos for people so they'll have something to remember me after I'm gone). It is a busy end of life schedule. :)
ReplyDeleteYour result was closer to what I had too... Which leads me to ask myself why I devote so much time to solo grinding? >_<
DeleteI suppose it's because we enjoy a different perspective right now. We don't feel the pressure of death pushing us to get off our butts.
DeleteI know I'm a pretty big procrastinator, and love to goof around so it's hard for me to not devote a lot of time towards playing games.
This TED talk about procrastination may be of interest to you. https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator?language=en
Thanks for the link! That was a funny watch and the life calendar section might just get my butt into gear.... later. :P
Delete