It's often said that the most intelligent men realise that there is always more to learn. The wisest man thinks himself stupid in the eternal's mind, and the professional constantly strives to better himself in every aspect of his work. The journey is the true reward for any endevour; any man who realises this will never be content at any destination or feat.
This is the exact reason that I tend to be almost allergic to compliments of any kind; in Atlas Shrugged, when Henry Rearden tells Dagny, the protagonist-of-sorts, of her importance in the world and her incredible portfolio of works, she "stands rooted as if being lashed by a series of insults". Though it may sound like a complete take-off, the same thing can be applied to gaming.
Just yesterday, I abused a few tricks you can use to gain a very high number of headshots in Left 4 Dead. One of my teammates actually commented on this after loading was complete, citing it as impressive, and I waved the compliment away in a polite manner, stating that it's just a few methods you can use to raise the number, such as pistol sniping, or taking an Uzi to head-level once a Horde gathers around a pipebomb (or "piebomb", as he called it).
But then it occured to me that there are they that accept such praise and consider themselves better gamers for it. The journey to excellence is a beautiful thing, but is it so bad to stop and smell the roses every now and then? For that matter, would it make us better gamers, thinking that we have done well today? Does it act against us, constantly minimising our successes, and in many cases, maximising our failures?
How much praise should we accept? Should we be blind to the tips of the hat of our peers, in order to make ourselves ninjas? Or would life be better if we were to enjoy each occasion as it comes, as is the wont of pirates? (I'm sorry for that, but it had to be done, it was so appropriate).
Your thoughts?
This is the exact reason that I tend to be almost allergic to compliments of any kind; in Atlas Shrugged, when Henry Rearden tells Dagny, the protagonist-of-sorts, of her importance in the world and her incredible portfolio of works, she "stands rooted as if being lashed by a series of insults". Though it may sound like a complete take-off, the same thing can be applied to gaming.
Just yesterday, I abused a few tricks you can use to gain a very high number of headshots in Left 4 Dead. One of my teammates actually commented on this after loading was complete, citing it as impressive, and I waved the compliment away in a polite manner, stating that it's just a few methods you can use to raise the number, such as pistol sniping, or taking an Uzi to head-level once a Horde gathers around a pipebomb (or "piebomb", as he called it).
But then it occured to me that there are they that accept such praise and consider themselves better gamers for it. The journey to excellence is a beautiful thing, but is it so bad to stop and smell the roses every now and then? For that matter, would it make us better gamers, thinking that we have done well today? Does it act against us, constantly minimising our successes, and in many cases, maximising our failures?
How much praise should we accept? Should we be blind to the tips of the hat of our peers, in order to make ourselves ninjas? Or would life be better if we were to enjoy each occasion as it comes, as is the wont of pirates? (I'm sorry for that, but it had to be done, it was so appropriate).
Your thoughts?
