What kind of gamer are you?
We'll use pinball as an easy example. Partly because I spent about 2 1/2 hours playing it today. In windows pinball you get three balls. You get points by hitting stuff (obviously) and by keeping the ball going as long as possible, but you have to complete missions with the balls to get the real points. I've discovered that average for me is about a million points per ball. My current high score is 5,048,750
This is a screen shot of a game I was just in. As you can see, I played my first ball and died almost instantly. I didn't even start a mission let alone finish one. It's here waiting for me to launch my second ball.
So, what kind of gamer are you? When you're going for a high score and your first ball is this miserable, do you restart and restart until you get a good first turn? (This is what I usually do. I've been known to restart MarioKart like 12 times when I'm trying to set a track record, just because I didn't get the speed boost start.)
Or, do you persevere? Maybe the second ball will be so awesome that the first one doesn't even matter.
How do you look at it? And does this have any life implications? I really think it does. Not that one way is better than the other in terms of how you play pinball. I'm pretty sure it won't be on any kind of "Entrance to Heaven" Checklist. But it might tell you something about yourself.
I play Alpha Centauri sometimes. It's very similar to civilization (it was made by the same people) except that it takes place on an alien planet.
There are 7 factions you can choose to play. (From left to Right. I promise, this all has a point.)
The Morganites - Under CEO Morgan. They're all about the money. Their main strength is a strong economy. If they're going to win, it's probably going to be because they cornered the global market and have a monopoly on everything.
The Hive - Under Chairman Yang. They're socialists. Their main strength is political/social. They usually have about a billion cities, and brainwash all their citizens.
The University - Under Provost Zakharov. They're scientists. They'll out-technology you. While you're still using conventional missiles, they'll be making a planet buster strong enough to literally blow a giant hole in your continent. (Which is actually kind of fun to do).
The Gaians - Under Lady Dierdre. They're tree-huggers. This is an alien planet, after all. Might as well be friendly with it. Their main strength is using the natural forces of the planet (like mind worms), and not getting attacked by them as much as everyone else.
The Spartans - Under Colonel Santiago. It's all military. If they win, it's probably because their gigantic army crushed you under the soles of its boots.
The Believers - Under Sister Miriam. They're religious fanatics. And I really mean fanatics. Totally crazy. (Almost as much as the Hive) But it makes them very socially strong. In other factions, you can send spies in to bribe people, and then you can take over their city without fighting. But the believers are so strict in their morals that bribes don't work. They're totally immune.
The Peacekeepers - Under Brother Lal. They're supposedly the "Peacekeepers". Basically what's left of the U. N. They aren't really so peaceful but they can talk their way in and out of everything. They're really strong with government and order and everything.
(Are you really getting a rather stereotyping/racist vibe from all of these?)
After reading this, I'm fairly confident that there is at least one of those that seemed to be the most reasonable one to you. The rest seem okay, but it just looks like one or two have all the advantages. Which was it for you?
The interesting thing is that all of them have a main advantage and a main disadvantage, which makes them all equally capable of winning the game.
But I've noticed that in games like this, people who play them tend to play the same characters over an over again. Sometimes they branch out and experiment with the others just for fun, but they always come back, because of what I said.
I very legitimately think that this kind of thing is a great way to assess personality. If said person were to actually come in charge of a civilization, you'd know what kind of leader they'd be, and where their focus would lie. Yeah, I know, it's just a game. But even our games can betray personality.
What is mine?
I always play this guy, for two reasons: One, because I really like the picture. Those glasses things are way cool to me for some reason that I can't really explain. But two, and most importantly, because these are the science guys.
Sure it's great to be big and muscley, but it won't help you if I blow your entire city up first. And sure, it might be a great thing to have a strong and wealthy economy, but that doesn't help you defend yourself when I invade with a legion of neutron-armored hovertanks.
And anyway, Academecian Prokhor Zakharov sounds pretty cool.
In real life, I'd totally be like this too. "Your soldiers' martial arts are really awesome. I'm impressed. *pushes button*. Too bad they're all dead now."
Alright, before you think I'm a psycho, we're talking about extreme situations. Our country is being invaded, and the only way to save the lives of our citizens is to destroy the other army. And for some reason I'm in charge. How would I go about it? Pretty much just like that.
So yeah, there are things I'd do in games that I certainly would never do in real life. For example, if you give me enough money in a game (but I don't come cheap) I'll declare war on whoever you want me to. It'll cost you, and you've got to have a really good case. And I'd only do it if it didn't hurt me. But I am completely bribable in games. I sell technology for money. I'll attack someone if you pay me.
Not completely so in real life. I hate betrayal more than almost anything else. So no, I would never, ever turn in a friend just for some money. But if I had absolutely no other motives to consider, well...
Even so, I think there's still a lot that we can tell about me. We can see that I like to carefully weigh options. I like to make profitable trades. I keep the best things for myself. I don't like to just barely win; I like to crush the enemy into the dust. I bide my time, and then spring the trap. I like to manipulate. To get people to do what I want, without them knowing that I got them to do it. I'm not proud of it, but it's true.
There's more, but this post is already WAY too long.
Next time you play a game like that, take a look at the things that you consistently do. It may reveal quite a lot about your personal character.
For anyone who cares, I just now exploded my all time pinball record. I've been playing this game since it came out on windows years ago, and I've never done this well. My first ball was only a couple points away from 4 million all by itself. The funny thing is, though, that my second ball died almost instantly. But I still got a great score. Ironic, anyone?
A random picture. These aren't the actors, just somebody's art. But I like it. The way he's touching her arm as they sit there is very Peeta. :)
