April Strategy

 So I have been reflecting a bit on my video gaming strategy and on what type of gamer I am. Basically it seems like in January I had a pretty good amount of fun and I played significantly more than either before or after. Since then I have kind of adopted a strategy of trying to focus on just two games at a time: a morning coffee puzzle game and a bigger game for the rest of the time. But this has resulted in me feeling more stress and playing less. So I think for April I am wanting to go back to a much looser strategy of just playing what I want.

I just feel like in some ways there is something really attractive about the whole idea of "FINISHING" games. Somehow there seems to be something kind of satisfying about that and part of me really wants to have a long list of games that I have played through entirely to the credits. I have been watching a bunch of videos from this guy Mortismal gaming on youtube and his deal is that he reviews rpgs mostly after he %100s them. What this means is pretty much doing everything there is to do. This includes the usual definition of getting all the achievements but also includes other stuff. I saw some comments where people suggested giving up this approach but his main answer is that this is just how he enjoys playing video games. And there is something really attractive about that from a "waste not, want not" kind of perspective. Like basically it seems like a sin to waste content. Somehow that just seems really intuitive. There is also some idea in my mind that this is how you "get good". You just cope with every challenge that comes your way in a straight beeline through everything and you will build up your skills.

But the reality that seems to come up in a variety of places is just that I just don't work like that. It is the same thing with chess. I constantly had the idea of like setting some plan or like schedule or like one book at a time, kind of thing. But the reality is that it just never worked.

So it just seems like in general I am just a person that likes to jump from thing to thing. That said, there have been times when I have gone pretty straight through something whether that is a chess book or a video game. I think I shouldn't make any hard and fast rules. So for example, I don't know that I really want to set up a challenge like I did for January where I am "supposed" to play something different every day. But we will just have to see how the month evolves.

I think the main issue here is just the "get good" problem. There is some part of me that really is attached to the idea of trying to "get good". I think there are various reasons for this. But part of me really feels there is some kind of connection between finishing things and getting good. So I think that to some extent I may have to give up that idea. I think I would like to focus more on having fun. But I feel like it is easier said than done. I am sure the idea that I need to be super skilled will pop up again later.

So I think I am kind of making a decision to relax some and basically not stress out. I am pretty much a novice in the world of video games, so I kind of just want to maybe chill out a bit and see where things take me. I do feel like the whole thing of sticking with a puzzle game and trying to work through the puzzles that stump me even if it takes a few days is generally more pleasurable than the other deal. So I might continue with that.

Hopefully one side effect will just be that I will have more to talk about on this blog.