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A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

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Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> usually picked on the basis of the highest compensation because that's what pays the bills, not out of which is most fun. I think you should reconsider some of your life choices then. You're spending a large part of your life working. Why wouldn't you choose a job that's fun? > job and tasks at work also happen to be an activity that's fun to you but that's super rare, and it's best not to spend your life searching…

> You're spending a large part of your life working. Why wouldn't you choose a job that's fun? I've picked two jobs that I thought could be fun but both of them ended up being the same tedium as the non-fun jobs. How do you pick a fun job?

Had an opportunity to turn something I enjoyed a lot in my spare time into a full time job and it was one of the least happy times in my life. There's a certain convenience in spending your working hours on stuff you identify with enough (even if only barely) to enjoy the successes, but not enough to get overly disappointed by failures.

How to pick a fun job: my vote would be pick something that isn't excruciating and then stop wondering wether grass might be greener elsewhere.

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#72
post #16

> commute has decreased by 2 hours daily. That's 10 hours a week saved. Basically, an extra weekend. The benefits for one's mental health and family or social life are enormous. Not to mention increased productivity and extra disposable income.

So you're saying that people should be working an extra 10 hours a day? Otherwise they are just stealing time and money form their owner^W employer

employees aren't paid for those 10 hours of commute so mayeb it would be more accurate to say "they are just stealing time and money form their employee"

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#73

A video game is like a very simplified world. Life is a really complicated and usually slow paced game. One thing I find really interesting is how much better some are at games compared to real life. I guess that's because games are fast paced, so you are rewarded much sooner. Just planning and sticking to that plan can get people very far in reality too, but it's so much harder because it takes so long.

I think one key thing is, games are designed to be winnable. Despite what we tell children, in the real world, often clever ideas and hard work come to nothing.

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#74
post #40
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a business opportunity.

And so a fifth quest journal was born and provided to every employee.

don't forget the "there's an XKCD for that"!

https://xkcd.com/927/

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#75

>A Video Game that Pays Errr..no. I only played video games because they were fun, not because I made any money from them. While the job or workplace, for the vast majority of people on this earth, including those in SW development, is mostly an activity done out of necessity of not being homeless and not starving, usually picked on the basis of the highest compensation because that's what pays the bills, not out of…

The article does explain the comparison, and it doesn't mean that it's fun. These are the actual comparisons: > You interact with people from all corners of the world. > You complete tasks on different online platforms (Slack, GitHub, VS Code, Google Docs, etc.). > You have a list of your main quests to complete (you can find them in your journ… Kanban board!) > There are also side-quests to take care of (“Hey Damian…

These are all things that we were doing in person as well...is in person work not a video game that pays then?

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#76
post #73

A video game is like a very simplified world. Life is a really complicated and usually slow paced game. One thing I find really interesting is how much better some are at games compared to real life. I guess that's because games are fast paced, so you are rewarded much sooner. Just planning and sticking to that plan can get people very far in reality too, but it's so much harder because it takes so long.

I think one key thing is, games are designed to be winnable. Despite what we tell children, in the real world, often clever ideas and hard work come to nothing.

Games can be designed to be winnable, but many games are not.

Working hard is not the same as working smart. That's kinda what I was hinting at. Many people are able to make much better decisions in games compared to real life.

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#77

>A Video Game that Pays Errr..no. I only played video games because they were fun, not because I made any money from them. While the job or workplace, for the vast majority of people on this earth, including those in SW development, is mostly an activity done out of necessity of not being homeless and not starving, usually picked on the basis of the highest compensation because that's what pays the bills, not out of…

> Errr..no. I only played video games because they were fun What is a game? I would say that a game is an abstract system used to understand our reality (or experiences in life), via a series of interactive actions that alter the system. Generally there is a set of goals (usually just to "win"). I develop software because it's a game. I do watch a lot of progress bars. Aside from that, it's one of my favorite games (…

This seems like an extremely over complicated way of defining a game. If I play chess, or a video game, or tennis, I am not doing those things to 'understand my reality'. I am doing them because it is usually fun and gives me some kind of dopamine(ymmv), you might even say I play games to get away from reality. Some people use games to learn, some use them to accomplish an otherwise mundane task. Some people split games into 'finite and infinite' but typically they are a form of play, governed by a set of rules, that lead to some outcome. Games can be zero sum, or not.

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#78

Games are fun though, work is tedious and 99% of people would quit immediately if they won the lottery (...but I bet they'd still play games even with millions in the bank)

People often describe me as unhappy, yet I'm one of the only people I know whose life would barely change if they won the lottery. In other words, I'd still be doing the exact same work I'm doing now, albeit probably with greater freedoms/less stress than I do now. I guess that means I'm "content" or whatever.

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#79

>A Video Game that Pays Errr..no. I only played video games because they were fun, not because I made any money from them. While the job or workplace, for the vast majority of people on this earth, including those in SW development, is mostly an activity done out of necessity of not being homeless and not starving, usually picked on the basis of the highest compensation because that's what pays the bills, not out of…

> usually picked on the basis of the highest compensation because that's what pays the bills, not out of which is most fun. I think you should reconsider some of your life choices then. You're spending a large part of your life working. Why wouldn't you choose a job that's fun? > job and tasks at work also happen to be an activity that's fun to you but that's super rare, and it's best not to spend your life searching…

> Why wouldn't you choose a job that's fun?

Unfortunately, nothing is fun (for me) when done 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for months or years.

Not to say there aren't better or worse jobs, of course. But there isn't anything (including any of my favourite hobbies) I would spend that much time doing, if I didn't need to earn money.

Re: A Video Game That Pays: Lessons Learned from Working Remotely

#80

>A Video Game that Pays Errr..no. I only played video games because they were fun, not because I made any money from them. While the job or workplace, for the vast majority of people on this earth, including those in SW development, is mostly an activity done out of necessity of not being homeless and not starving, usually picked on the basis of the highest compensation because that's what pays the bills, not out of…

> Errr..no. I only played video games because they were fun What is a game? I would say that a game is an abstract system used to understand our reality (or experiences in life), via a series of interactive actions that alter the system. Generally there is a set of goals (usually just to "win"). I develop software because it's a game. I do watch a lot of progress bars. Aside from that, it's one of my favorite games (…

yes, technically well kinda, but not the most common definition of it.

when defining something it's also pertinent to ask yourself what isn't included in that set.

what isn't a game in this case ? almost any dynamical system would kinda fit your definition. including turing machines.

to go the absurd length. If I identify as a vegetarian but mostly eat meat then what is that word even supposed to mean ?

words value in communication come from their discriminatory nature helping the listener filter the state of possible valid answers to smaller subset that what they started with. the more a word is stretched to includes the closer it comes to becoming a filler expression.

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