5 Life Hacks Games Taught Me

 

You’ll often hear that playing video games can’t teach you anything. Well, I’m here to prove that saying wrong.

I’ve been playing video games for a large bulk of my teenage life – from online games to MMOs and MOBAs, and each gaming experience taught me a thing or two that I eventually applied in real life situations.

I’m here to share to you five life hacks I got from these games. If you’re a fellow gamer, you’ll probably understand most, if not all, of them.

 

5 Life Hacks Games Taught Me

 

1. Always develop defensive stats early.

Developing defensive stats early is especially important if you want to survive long in the battlefield. If you’ve played lots of online RPGs, you’ll understand that other players, even those on the same level as you, can still outlive you if your defensive stats are badly developed; and in most games, death means loss of experience and level.

You might be wondering “heck, there are no ‘defensive stats’ in real life.” But really, there are: except they’re called “savings”, “investments”, and “contingency”. If you develop these three early on (say, during your freshmen year in college), you could outlive those who did not in the long run.

Jobs are hard to find, especially for fresh Graduates here in the Philippines; and with prices skyrocketing here and there, it’s getting even harder to pursue a career. So, by setting some money aside, or looking into good investment methods, you can gain financial freedom early on and get more time to pursue your dream career.

 

2. Teamwork means teamwork.

If you’ve played lots of Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games, you’ll know that every man in the team counts and that one fluke can ruin an entire battle. Well, the same goes for the real world: teamwork is a must if your job requires you to work with a team; otherwise, you could turn into a walking mess.

In my  job, I work with a team of six members and since I’m the new kid in the group, my more experienced teammates help me get the job done: they know the value of teamwork. So, work things out with one another, stop the blame game, and work as a team.

 

 

3. Skill sets are important. Hone them properly.   

When I was a kid, I thought “ah, what the heck, I’ll just spend my skill points here, here, and there.” But later on, I realized that being a “jack of all trades, master of none” has a major drawback: quality of work can be sub-par compared to someone with a more specified skill set.

Here’s a simpler analogy: a kid who can play five different instruments can’t beat a kid who devoted his time to a single instrument. Why? Because the kid who devoted himself to a single instrument knows the ins and outs of that instrument better than the kid who learned how to play five different ones.

I’m not saying knowing a lot of things is a bad thing. It’s actually good to have a diversified knowledge of things. But having a niche that you can rely on is better than having none at all.

 

 

4. When starting out, hunting small fry is okay.

Many players want to get out of the goblin-hunting stage (or whatever low-level creature there is) as quickly as possible simply because they want to get the good drops that come from higher level monsters.

Some may employ the help of stronger players to kill stronger monsters for a better experience boost, but I think hunting small fry is nothing to be ashamed of if you’re just starting out.

Starting from the bottom helps you build a better understanding of the game system and you enjoy the success of leveling up on your own, too.

In real life, taking a menial job to start isn’t bad at all. Just like in games, many try to skip this stage and use connections to get to higher positions. That won’t work out too well in the long run, though, because of your lack of experience.

Unlike in games, real-life experiences aren’t gained in numerical values. They are gained through constant training and proper decision-making when crucial matters come into play.

 

 

5. Don’t let opportunities slip you by because you were not prepared.

Ever found yourself hunting for good loot and, when you finally found something, a message pops up saying “inventory full”? And then, just before you discard something from your inventory; that rare awesome loot just vanishes right in front of your eyes?

More often than not, such situations do happen in real life, as well.

I encountered a lot of those situation when I was starting out in photograph. Whenever a good opportunity presents itself, I either don’t have the right tools with me to capture the shot, or my camera dies, leaving me empty-handed and with a memorable scene to share with no one else but myself.

Eventually, I grew out of that phase. I learned to keep things close by and my camera fully-charged for a whole day’s worth of shooting. I learned to be prepared for anything.

Opportunities come by very often, but great opportunities are very rare and, sometimes, they only come once. So always be prepared.

 

So, there are my 5 life hacks. Do you have any to share from your gaming experiences?

 

 

5 Life Hacks Games Taught Me