Real life lessons that video games have taught you.

[PessimistOwl]

Hi there everyone, it's been a very long time since I've posted on this forum, so hello again. I know, on the surface, that this topic is going to seem a little ridiculous, but I've found the longer I play video games, the more it's taught me about decent ways to live my life, or to respond to issues that have been pertaining to my life. For the most part, it has merely taught me different ways to respond to simple conflicts. So, I now pose the question to all of you fine folks here, what ways have video games taught you to live your life, or respond to situations at hand?

For me, one of the bigger things that I've learned to deal with is how to ignore trolls on the internet. While I've always known "don't feed the troll" to be a very important part of surfing the internet, I've found that playing the game "League of Legends (yes I'm one of THOSE people)" has hardened my skin and mentality, and has taught me how to deal with nonconstructive criticism from a raging source.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Gosh, I don't know. I guess for a while playing Sid Meier's Pirates! taught me a lot about real life Pirates.

I've pretty much forgotten most of it though.

 

[krazykidd]

Fighting games taught me that people will always do the same things over and over again. And when their routine is broken, they panic and don't know what to do.

 

[Islandbuffilo]

World of Warcraft has taught me to never ever leave my comfort zone. I spent 2 months at level 7 in Kharanos, and it was actually pretty fun, met all my friends there.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Adventure games, early FPS games and, Survival games have taught me that you have to really look if you want to find something. This was an issue I had as a kid, "Shoggy!" says my parent, "Go get me X out of storage unit Y!" I would agree, go search long enough to not find it and report my findings only for my parent to go into the room I just explored and grab the thing from an easily missed nook. This problem kind of went away, thanks in part to my finding hidden rooms in Duke 3D and Resident Evil etc.

Dragon Age Origins reinforced the notion that sometimes it's alright to be an asshole. In fact, it can even be funny if the person you're an asshole to isn't someone you're going to ever see again.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

Fighting games taught me that people will always do the same things over and over again. And when their routine is broken, they panic and don't know what to do.

Fighting games are probably the ultimate for learning lessons. I learned from the original Street Fighter that it's bad to gamble when you game.

You have to stay flexible, otherwise you certainly will panic instead of adjusting to what you're opponent is doing.

I miss the arcade days because you could see people face-to-face. I made acquaintances over Street Fighter 2 matches.

 

[64bitgamer]

Specialization is the way to go. Everything video games teaches this. In Splinter Cell Black List, I specialized in all silent weaponry. In Fable I specialized in Magic. In Xcom I built whole bases dedicated to manufacturing laser pistols to sell on the black market. Don't be wishy washy. Go all the way.

 

[KennardKId5]

You can very painfully cauterize a bleeding wound with a soldering iron and a pocket knife.

Very painfully.

 

[Schtimpy]

I was playing Minecraft and I had just level 30 enchanted a diamond pick for the first time and got a god pick. I was using it to mine obsidian when a creeper came up behind me and blew the pick, along with all the other stuff I had on me, into the lava. The lesson was that no matter how hard you work on something, one moment of carelessness can take it all away. You just need to take the loss in stride and work to get back to where you were.

See also the time I was filling in a super large map and got killed on the way home, just far enough away that I couldn't find my stuff, or the hours I spent on a nice house just for it to get exploded and never being able to get it exactly the way it was. Minecraft really likes teaching that lesson.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Planning ahead is always a good idea. And have a backup plan in case things don't go as expected.
An extension of the above, that it's usually better to be proactive as opposed to reactive.

Your first gut instinct is often right.

You should often expect to hear 10 things that are bad or wrong to every 1 time you get recognition for a job well done. Also that several good things can be overshadowed by one bad thing.

Overthinking and second guessing can be harmful.

Being cautious doesn't seem to be as rewarding as often as being bold.

Many people have a higher opinion of themselves than they probably should.

WAY more people are followers and not leaders.

Without legal, physical, or emotional consequences the anonymity of the internet makes a lot of people turn into jerks.


...That's what first comes to mind.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Since English is a second language I suppose it's mostly been language lessons, or "history lessons" (or should I say some games have motivated me to research separately the historical period depicted). But I never learned a "life lesson" from a videogame.

 

[Tactical Pause]

A few games have changed my perspective on certain real-world things, but I guess that doesn't really count, so...

I think the big one would be Rift (or RIFT, if you want to be technical about it), which taught me that loyalty on its own is worthless, and won't get you anywhere, no matter how much you display. I kind of wish I had learned that lesson sooner, but hey, at least I got out eventually.

 

[Avalanche91]

Persona 3 and 4 taught me that sometimes all other people need is someone to talk too and what a comfort that can be for them. Though the 'Devil' social link in 3 subverted it by the guy simply being an irredeemable (if hilarious) asshole.

Thomas was alone reinforces the value of interaction between people and adds teamwork to it.

I Wanna Be The Guy taught me the value of perserverance and the fact that life will sometimes just shit on you and drop a moon on your head.

Dragon Age 2 taught me everyone is bisexual

 

[Ikasury]

tactics, always think ahead, plan, lay out what you want to do and DO IT!! question authority, question establishment, question EVERYTHING!! chances are its not real... if you meet some on the road looking to be in trouble, don't walk past them, help them out as they might help you later, if not, keep hold of your trusty pocket knife and be ready to stab that looter/rapist/zombie/nazi if things come down to it... always scope out your surroundings, you never know what you might find... spot them before they spot you... be kind to people as they might give you cool stuff in return, or become your friends, or punch in the face, something will work...

to be a true hero, one doesn't need to be known, they just have to step up and save the world when no else can...

don't be afraid, chances are what's scaring you isn't that bad... or more scared of you...

if you are afraid, keep going anyway, it ends eventually...

space management...

and the most important thing RPGs have ever taught me, TAKE ANYTHING THAT'S NOT NAILED DOWN!! YOU MIGHT NEED IT!! XD

(... people i work with often referred to me a 'toolbox' because i ALWAYS had the tool we needed in my pockets :3)