I must have been around 6 or 7 the first time I played a role-playing video game – Dragon Warrior, on my cousin’s Nintendo. It was epic – the music of that game still haunts me. My next encounter was many years later only – it took me a looong time to convince my parents to buy a console – when Alex and I stumbled on Final Fantasy VII and were flabbergasted by the depth of its world and characters – and again, the music.
Of course, spending so much time in a made-up universe developing skills for made-up characters might seem silly. But if I think about it, these games taught me many valuable lessons. Not that I need to justify my time with the PS3 or anything.
Live with purpose
Life is much better when you have clear goals.
Keep a quests journal
Back in the day, one had to take notes (on paper!) of the clues gathered during the numerous quests of the game. These days, there’s always some sort of quest diary in which every new task unlocked is recorded. Be it a to-do list or a full progress report for all your projects, it helps to have things on paper (or on file) – for better planning AND posterity.
Take the time to level up – but don’t over do it
At the beginning of a game, it always pays to do random battles in order to level up your characters. But after a certain level, it take so much experience points to get to the next level that it isn’t worth it anymore. The difference between one level and another isn’t significant enough to justify the amount of time spent getting there. Plus, there’s probably missions and special marks you could do to earn more experience points.
While it’s important to take the time to hone a skill, it’s important to know where to focus your efforts and when to stop. Perfect is pointless, most of the time.
It’s in the little things…
Sure, saving the world is fun… but let’s admit it, there’s just as much fun to be had in the non-epic stuff like browsing the shops, playing the mini-games, collecting stupid items, interacting with other characters, doing silly side quests, amassing tons of money, etc.
Same goes for real life. Sure, it’s great to have a big project to work on, but it’s important to indulge in the small things too.
Ditch the extensive walkthrough
Sometime when I play I get obsessed with the idea of a perfect game: finding every single treasures, unlocking the best items, getting all the trophies. To do so, you almost have no choice but to follow a walkthrough, and boy do that suck the fun out of the game! Instead of playing my way through the game and the story, I end up following a bunch of instructions. Dull.
There’s at least 2 lessons there: first, never forget the true reason you’re doing something (my reason to play is to escape and have fun); second: knowledge is great, but too much of it can be detrimental to progress.
(I still do check out strategy guides – it’s always nice to have an edge – but I don’t follow them step-by-step…)
Gather a good team around you
What’s a hero without his company of fellow adventurers? A great team of characters with diverse skills and specialties is your best assets if you’re trying to save the world. It’s just as important if you’re trying to make it better.
Take a break at the inn
In RPG world, a night at the inn usually means full health recovery. In real life, that can be applied many ways: either literally – book yourself some vacations! – or figuratively – just have a good night sleep! You’ll be all the better for it…
If you’re stuck in your quest, go to the pub/tavern
You never know what people you’ll meet with important information and clues… Or, you know, it might just be fun.
