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Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#31

Post by agent008t »

truth_ wrote: post #24

I feel this question was tailored for me! I grew up to love history. And read mythologies like the Mahabharata and always glorified wars. I was like 13-14. It was written in the newspapers that war was bad, my History teacher taught us so, and my father always told me so. But I never bought those. To my early teenager tiny-brain, war was something glorious where you fought for your country/clan. And killing other peo…

An interesting and insightful thing about CoD1 was also how easy it was to die - if I remember right it only took one or two hits.

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#32

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

nokya wrote: post #12

I played an online MMORPG called "Anarchy Online" (AO) while in my early twenties, probably for a little bit more than a year. At a dinner with friends, I started talking about the game and why I liked it. During that discussion, I came to the realization that even if I did absolutely nothing "productive" in the game, I always had access to food, clothes, health services and shelter. Things were organized in a way th…

Maybe it would be easier to slowly build to UI - kind of like leveling up a character.

- Universal health care would likely have the most impact on a lot of people and companies if there was a system to fund it across the board for basic health coverage (i.e. healthy visits, major events and mental health covered, progressive co-pays for other stuff)

- In the US there already is universal education up to just before university, extend that to 2 years college at first. I know the K-12 system probably needs work, the idea here is to benefit the most people.

- Food and shelter are tough because these will look more like hand-outs from the government. Subsidies already exist for lower income people, maybe it starts there with expanding those programs.

If you start out with UI as the goal its likely going to get push back, much like some biz person wanting a waterfall software project to build a startup with the goal of a fully functioning SaaS at the end of the project. Iterations with benefits getting delivered over time is a better approach.

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#33

Post by rdtwo »

rolandog wrote: post #23
nokya wrote: post #12

I played an online MMORPG called "Anarchy Online" (AO) while in my early twenties, probably for a little bit more than a year. At a dinner with friends, I started talking about the game and why I liked it. During that discussion, I came to the realization that even if I did absolutely nothing "productive" in the game, I always had access to food, clothes, health services and shelter. Things were organized in a way th…

The people who push fearmongering on UI are those who would be affected if we had the benefit of being able to pass on harsh or dangerous conditions if that meant being able to eat plain oatmeal for free; it's preferable for them that there is no other alternative.

A lot of shit employers are worried they would have to treat employees better and the cycle of abuse would stop

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#34

Post by postalrat »

600frogs wrote: post #29
postalrat wrote: post #18

MOBAs taught me that the correct action is always the one your team expects from you.

I'm not sure I agree with this lesson. I've sunk 1000s of hours into DOTA 2, and would agree with you in such a game where emotions run high and considered, reasoned responses aren't possible, but I think it's a poor takeaway from the game. Sometimes it is correct to stand your ground and stand up for what you believe is the correct course of action. I'd instead emphasise the importance of emotional control and the i…

Nearly every time standing your ground splits your team and gives your opponents an advantage.

The best thing you can do is communicate your intentions to your team, but if they don't want to go with along with it it's almost always better to just stick with them. I think being willing to give up your own (obviously superior) plan is a form of emotional control.

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#36

Post by mrfusion »

emidln wrote: post #25

Playing poker and magic (really any strategy game with chance built-in) , sometimes you'll make the play with the highest likelihood to win and still lose. You can have all the advantage, play perfectly, and sometimes the cards don't fall your way. Looking to better your own plays without tilting too hard to bad luck is crucial to succeed at a high level. On the flip-side, identifying where luck was a component of yo…

kobayashi maru?

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#37

Post by gaws »

pitched wrote: post #2

For me, the most important one was Diablo 2 because I spent way too much time in it. I got totally pulled into the addictive/gambling side of farming and trading gear, and, there were definitely some opportunities in life I missed because I was spending way too much energy on this. I know this was the opposite thing you were looking for in your question but what this taught me is how exactly it feels when I get mysel…

> there were definitely some opportunities in life I missed because I was spending way too much energy on this.

Like what?

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#38

Post by emidln »

mrfusion wrote: post #36
emidln wrote: post #25

Playing poker and magic (really any strategy game with chance built-in) , sometimes you'll make the play with the highest likelihood to win and still lose. You can have all the advantage, play perfectly, and sometimes the cards don't fall your way. Looking to better your own plays without tilting too hard to bad luck is crucial to succeed at a high level. On the flip-side, identifying where luck was a component of yo…

kobayashi maru?

I think cadets knew they were playing the Kobayashi scenario in the movies and the books. In games of poker or games of magic, you often don't sit down to a table knowing you're in a no-win scenario. Even uneven stacks in no-limit aren't guaranteed defeat. When encountering a Magic matchup which is heavily in the other person's favor, you might draw well, they might brick a lot or misplay, and you could win a near-unwinnable game. A lesson I've learned from these games is even when I've had all of the advantage, when it looks like I'm ahead on board, there's a possibility of losing to your own misplays and to random chance.

When you're trying to get better at these games, you do your best to isolate chance and make the correct play each time, but simply playing well doesn't guarantee success. No amount of playskill can overcome mulling to an initial starting hand of 2 cards because you never saw a land in your first five hands. A 60 randomized card deck with 19 lands is favored to draw at least one land in its first five 7 card hands, but Fortuna might scowl at any moment.

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#39

Post by mod »

agent008t wrote: post #31
truth_ wrote: post #24

I feel this question was tailored for me! I grew up to love history. And read mythologies like the Mahabharata and always glorified wars. I was like 13-14. It was written in the newspapers that war was bad, my History teacher taught us so, and my father always told me so. But I never bought those. To my early teenager tiny-brain, war was something glorious where you fought for your country/clan. And killing other peo…

An interesting and insightful thing about CoD1 was also how easy it was to die - if I remember right it only took one or two hits.

And just imagine with friendly fire turned on. Even if it was all accidental (no trolls), you can die from any direction at all times.

Re: Ask HN: What are some things you learnt from a game that changed your life?

#40

Post by mod »

dnh44 wrote: post #28

Final Fantasy 1 for the NES (spoiler alert) has a plot twist at the end where you save the world by undoing a time travel paradox created by the villain. This results in no one being aware that you've just saved the world, or that it even needed saving. As an 8 year old I learned that one shouldn't need or seek out praise or recognition from others for doing something that I felt was good.

I love these old jRPGs. I couldn't have told you the plot, but I remember the mechanics of this and FF2 very well.

Modern rpgs are truly fantastic, but I don't enjoy them nearly as much.

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