4/ When I encounter a new system with novel inputs and a reward mechanisms, I’m intrigued. I tend to get bored really easily but only once I feel like I understand the mechanics of the situation. Once a problem is “solved” for me it’s very hard to care about it.
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5/ And I approach most things in life this way. “Oh, a set of new conditions. Interesting. How does this work? Can I optimize it or solve it? How do the pieces of the system fit together and how can I move them around?” Playing with shiny toys.
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6/ But there’s a midpoint between novelty and boredom that feels very much like an intoxicating flow state. Once you start understanding how things work, you want to engage the system (play the game) to see how effectively you can optimize. I tend to do this with everything.
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7/ The point of the activity is no longer the activity itself. It becomes about creating the “best” possible solution for that system that I can. Usually the “best” possible solution is defined in my brain as the one that removes manual actions. Streamlining.
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8/ I’m not sure if this is from a lifetime of playing games where spending time efficiently allows you to “get ahead”, exposure to business and operations thinking, or if it’s just classic nerdy kid “work smarter not harder” ethos. Maybe I’m just wired this way.
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9/ I can give myself convincing arguments for _why_ I do it from all kinds of biological or social angles, but it doesn’t really matter. Our culture is kind of steeped in this type of thinking and we all experience it to varying degrees.
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10/ The same drive that makes me ignore all activities but the optimal financial output crops in Stardew Valley or create a fully automated supply chain in Rimworld is the same drive that makes me chase ever higher salaries in a career I don’t like.
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11/ I’ve had this exact conversation with
@seconds_0 before. He needs to take breaks from games once he realizes that he’s optimizing a system instead of playing a game. It’s worth unpacking that because almost everything in your life can be modeled like this.1 reply 3 retweets 48 likesShow this thread -
12/ I find myself doing this with my publishing business too. “Oh, I could be writing right now. And make print books for all the ones I haven’t yet. And more translations. I can probably jack revenue 30% over three months if I lean into it.” But lately I’ve been asking “Why?”
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13/ I feel like the Sims is a particularly good game to unpack this with because really it’s a game about stories and relationships you create in a sandbox. The whole point of the game is meaningful human interactions and making your Sims have fun and make friends.
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weird connection time! last Sunday went to a games as art exhibition.pic.twitter.com/Zk5Q2Uj0zb
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Replying to @brownian19 @liminal_warmth
One of the exhibits I really liked was a copy of the sims creator's notebook.
pic.twitter.com/2FOcg09T8D
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Replying to @brownian19
I think about this stuff a lot because I wanted to be a game designer once upon a time and read a lot of theory Really gets you thinking about incentives and systems and what fun is anyway I should re-read Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun
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