[jrib]

> see their lives as being two distinct phases

I remember realizing this really early on because of how I played real-time strategy games like Red Alert. Hear me out...

My usual routine was to grind collecting resources and building up the "perfect" army. This part was never really fun for me. It was most of the playtime.

Then I'd take my amassed troops and wipe the map. This part was fun but lasted only a few minutes. It also meant my experience didn't feel very original after a few games.

After that, I tried to be a bit more free with my play-style. Played using riskier strategies, tried different approaches, etc. I can't say every attempt worked out or every time was more fun. But I'd like to think I had a fuller game experience.

I wish I could say I adopted that latter philosophy in life ever since then, but I'd be lying. I do try to stay aware of it and nudge myself in the right direction. But it's also a lot easier to just stay in the comfort zone.

At least for me, it wasn't until I started making self-reflection part of my routine that I started seeing how stagnant I had become and doing something about it. And yes, as I type that, I'm aware that sentence screams "productivity porn." Like most things, I think there's a balance to be struck. Yes, grow, but also live while you grow.

[chii]

The grind and building up of a perfect army (for the majority of the game), then wipe the map with it at the end, is only a strategy that works if you knew perfectly well what forces you'd face.

I reckon if you tried this with a competitive human player, you will almost certainly lose.

And i would imagine life is the same - if you laid out a plan and grind to get rich to enjoy it at the end, you are making the assumption that the world doesn't change under you in the mean time.

For some people, this worked, but i think increasingly, the world is changing faster and faster, and any plan that someone might make is going to crumble in the face of the "enemy".

Being adjustable on the fly, and changing plans and goals, as well as balance, is the key imho.

[the__alchemist]

If you tried this on a human in any RTS:

  - Enemy would scout your greedy boom
  - Enemy would attack while you've committed to your economy instead of military or defenses
  - You lose

[rowanG077]

Interesting it was completely the opposite for me. I loved getting resources and building the perfect army. Wiping the map always felt shallow afterwards.

[m463]

lol, I did the same thing - and with Red Alert.

I think I really just wanted/needed was a pleasant building experience like simcity, but with a little action and a definite end within a finite amount of time. When it got too easy I would add more (computer) opponents.