14th September 2011 Life as an RPG

Life as an RPG

A few weeks ago, I saw a t-shirt with the slogan "Achievement Unlocked: Left the House". Around the same time, I started to read posts by +Aristotle Bancale about life as an rpg. I love rpg, whether pen and paper adventures or computer games. I met my husband through a text based rpg, a MUD. Doing quests and levelling up in games is fun. I get it. I can do it. Dealing with real life - no, really not my thing. Was there something in the idea of making life into an rpg that could help me to deal with the anxiety of real life and dealing with new situations?

The Aim

I'd heard about meetings of skeptics in America, and wondered if there was anything similar in my area over here in the UK. I googled and found a local group. I thought that I'd like to go and meet some intelligent, thoughtful people in real life instead of just online. I wasn't particularly interested in the topic, but that didn't seem so important. I wanted to go to this meeting, but I was scared.

Quests and Achievements

So, how was I going to overcome the fear and panic and manage to do this? It started as just joking around about quests. Oh, do I get the 'Leave the house achievement for going to the doctors?' Yay! "How about the touring Europe quest since I've visited seven different countries?" "Let's make it level 2 for seven, with five countries for level 1."

The First Quest

Two weeks ago, a friend was visiting, and we went into Birmingham. Was I going to manage any quests? Could I find my way anywhere? I have no sense of direction at all, but with a lot of standing and looking around and thinking, I managed the "find my way to the bus stop from the market" quest. In the process of working out where I was, I drew a rough map to a shop I wanted to be able to find again. When I was doing this, with the thought of rpgs on my mind, I suddenly realised that I can't find my way in games either but I've developed a way of dealing with that. Why on earth was I not applying this to real life too? DOH!

Mapping the Route

A week later, it was time to try again, but this time going to the location of the meeting. The day before, I looked at google street view and travelled the route as I mapped it out in the same way as I map for games. Was this going to work?

The Second Quest

Saturday arrived, and my husband and I caught the bus into Birmingham. I started off, remembering the map but then I had to check it. One quick glance and I knew where I was going. I found the pub where the meeting would be held quite easily. It felt good! Going back to the bus stop? No problem. Finding the chocolate shop (with amazing 100% dark chocolate)? Easy peasy! The market? It's that way (pointing) but we'll go this way instead. That's four quests right there!

The Main Quest

So, tonight arrived. I was panicking. I wanted to go but I didn't want to go. I wasn't sure whether to just call it off but after dragging my husband into Birmingham on Saturday, it didn't seem fair not to try. I caught the bus to Birmingham. There was a girl and her friend sitting behind me on the bus and she wasn't feeling well. The poor lass was sick which took my mind completely off the meeting. I had some wet wipes and a plastic bag in my bag so was able to help out. I got off the bus with plenty of time to spare and wandered in the direction of the pub. I don't know what I was doing as I just turned right at a random place and walked on. After a minute or two, I thought, "Where on earth am I going?", turned around, went back the way I'd come and continued the right way.

Side Quest

Going home, I was going to need to catch the train. I hadn't practised this. The route to the pub passed the station so I thought I'd buy a ticket home so that if the talk finished late, I wouldn't have to mess around but could go straight to the train. What a silly station Birmingham New Street is. You go in the entrance, can get straight to the platform but there is nowhere to buy a ticket! Fortunately, I found someone to ask and was told I had to go down to the platform to get to the main part of the station. It certainly wasn't obvious where I was supposed to get a ticket but I found it and then went back the way I'd come. Now I knew how I was going to get home. Phew!

The Main Quest Continued

I was about half an hour early when I arrived at the pub. I find pubs rather daunting places so I didn't really want to go in. There were a couple of people outside so even though I really wanted to walk around the block and come back later, I thought I'd just look weird so I plunged in hoping to find the stairs down to where the meeting was. There were no stairs down. Utoh! I did a quick circuit of the room and dived into the ladies!

Now what should I do? I'm definitely in the right place, but which of these people are here for the meeting? No idea. I know, I'll buy a drink. That must be a quest. I know going to a pub was. I'm sure we talked about that one before. At least I'll have done some quests even if I don't stay for the meeting. When I got my drink, I asked where the meeting was. "Upstairs." I'm sure the notice said downstairs, but no matter.

I went upstairs to a room which was filling up rather quickly. I found a spot in the corner to perch and settled in. I was there. I'd done it! Achievement unlocked. Quest completed!

Conclusion

So did thinking of life as an rpg help? Most certainly. It gave me another perspective on how to do things. It enabled me to break down a problem into steps which were worth achieving on their own. It showed me how I could apply skills from gaming in everyday life. It felt empowering and I feel successful. I feel much more confident and able to do the next quest now, whatever that quest may be.