July 2021 - Spencer Heckathorn's Blog

It might be time for gamers to admit they are lazy. Or is it? The thing is, gamers are interesting in this sense. They have the ability to do amazing things spend hours on tasks, learn new things quickly, improve physical and mental function, schedule their days, and so much more. But often, gamers can be the people that society and parents call lazy. But gamers spend hours learning new skills, doing repetitive tasks to gain money, power, gear, or other assets in the games they play. Are they doing it for the score? Some people have thought that as they try to gamify business apps and productivity apps such as Zurmo, a CRM, you can earn points and unlock things as you progress. So the real question is not are gamers lazy because that is not the case. The question that should be asked and answered is why some things are not appealing enough to motivate someone to do them? Something interesting about a game is you get to play it your way. You can "figure out" your style and approach and then test it. In the real world, you can actually do the same, but the consequences can be problematic. This is easiest illustrated because you can try again in a game if you die. In life, when you screw enough things, people around you might die, and then game over really means game over. Want to see if you can blow up a wall of a bank and steal the money inside. Some games will let you try. You will die in most of them, but you for sure 100% will have some major issues in real life if you tried a stunt like that. It is safe to extrapolate this kind of thinking. Even if I had a game where I did the same work I do at my job, I might choose the game in many cases. For instance, I found last week. Many professions have simulator games. Did you know you can play Machanic Simulator? What about the PC Builder Simulator? Home Flipper Simulator? I'm not even kidding. You can buy all of these games and several others that let you simulate real things. Interestingly enough, though, I say they have some real-world value. For instance, I don't have the money to buy and flip a house, but if I wanted to do a dry run, why not play a game that could let me build a mental list and get a little better at guessing all the things? Involved. Games have been throughout history a great way to teach lessons and help people progress. It makes sense that these games would exist and be popular: On the Top Sellers list today I can see Power Wash Simulator and Flight Simulator. 8,000 reviews and 25,000 reviews respectively. And wow, I have not even played Flight Simulator in about 15 years, but this new version looks amazing. I'm not saying we need to turn workplaces into games. But it is interesting to see that the people who enjoy their jobs the most approach it with wonderment, experimentation, and, most importantly, play. It is always the ones that take everything so seriously and stress about the details that seem to die early. I want to add to this also those that give up. Which I think relates directly to play.