The Quest
I was once addicted to a game. It’s a game that soaked up so many years of my adolesance and kept me from participating in after school activities. I do not regret this, as I think it gave me much more enjoyment and value than any silly sport or club could of. So sure there may of been valuable physical and social benefits in those school activities, but when it comes down to it, what is more fun than learning your life skills through an MMORPG!? Seriously, everything you need to know in life you could learn from Everquest! Click below to read on if you have 10 minutes to waste away.
Basic Social Interaction
Making friends, communicating, sharing. Everquest is played exclusively online with other real life human beings, and had a community of over 2,000 people playing at any given time. People who don’t make friends do not get far in the game. To “win” you have to be socially adaptable and learn to speak english properly, and also type properly as an added bonus. To get things done you have to effectively communicate with other players, and the better you do it the better gaming experience you will have. When you are working together in a group or join a large guild, sharing is a huge part in succeeding as a whole. You will not win in the game unless you share the wealth with those who help you and learn to coexist.
Team work and cooperation
Building a team of compatible players and combining their knowledge, experience, and efforts is essentially the objective of the game. The backbone of how the game operates is grouping up with other players to help each-other level up their characters (by fighting dragons and demons). Every grouping experience is different and totally dependent on the individuals contribution and cooperation of the group. The game is a massive community, and if you do not reach out and interact well with others, it will get very difficult and boring.
Economy & Budgeting
I’ve heard statistics comparing the games economy to real life economies, calling it surprisingly dynamic and realistic. Besides the global economy, your individual dealings and investments heavily influence the games experience. Saving money, trading equipment, and negotiating deals is key to making the most of your character. With 4 increments of currency and a wide range of equipment options, you have to do the math and use your own judgement to figure out what is best for your character at that particular point in time. You’re constantly upgrading and negotiating new items for yourself which really teaches you how to bargain.
There are numerous artisan skills as well, each of which are expansive enough to encompass an entire game of their own. If you choose to learn one of these, you can create a lucrative business selling your hand-made products to other players.
Goals & Life planning
This is probably the biggest part of the game. Since success is such a long-term victory, you have to strategize well to get there. You have to use logic on a play by play basis to insure you stay on course by continuing to progress your characters level and build skills in the appropriate areas of expertise. When you create your character on day one, you have to choose what path you will take. From then on, everything you do is geared towards reaching the top of that chosen career. Along the way, you have many goals and aspirations that you strive for, like unlocking a particular skill or saving up enough to buy a certain sword. When you finally achieve one of these goals, it really feels like getting a promotion.
That being said, there is a relatively good amount of life value learned from playing through a few rounds of Everquest. It sounds insane, but I do believe it’s true. Most games today are very linear and are geared towards giving you instant gratification with a relatively low amount of input. In Everquest, that is not the case. There is little to no instant gratification, and that really makes the victories you earn just that much sweeter. It is completely dynamic, meaning there is rarely, if ever, direction given to you. It is entirely up to you to make your character what it is and figure out how to play and succeed. It is in that sense that the game is so true to life. It lets you to live and play with your own purpose, and shows you that having patients and getting through is always worth it.
ANYWAY, I was not planning on that whole tangent when I went to write the first sentence of this post. After the third sentence though, I knew I had to take it there. And no I do not honestly believe that everything you need to know in life you could learn from Everquest, but I do know that it improves the way your brain functions in certain realms. It is the ultimate strategy game.
When I set out to write about Everquest, my original direction was to talk about how I have recently started playing the game again. However I am playing differently than I did back then. It has nothing to do with all that long-term success and epic patients business…actually it’s quite the opposite. I’m playing in a manner that adds the instant-gratification factor into the mix, because i’m trying to limit myself to under five hours a week. At this stage in my life, it would not be beneficial to become addicted and play five hours a day!
But anyway, my original intention for this post will have to be delayed till a further date. So it is what it is.
