life-lessons
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Yes, there are real life lessons to be found in World of Warcraft
If you read Lifehacker, you probably read it for information on getting stuff done in the real world -- which is why it's surprising to see an article about World of Warcraft headlining. But the article makes a good point: there are real life lessons you can learn in virtual life. We've written before about how WoW can be a teaching tool in schools (on more than one occasion), but it can help teach you, too. No, you won't learn calculus by slaying virtual dragons and playing WoW instead of washing the dishes won't get your chores done, but paying attention to the game can teach you some useful life lessons. So just what lessons can you learn? We won't recount the whole post, but definitely appreciate this point: even things you like can be a grind. We may enjoy WoW, but dailies are only fun for so long before they become tedious -- and the same can hold true for real life, too. The things that we love, when turned into do-every-day job-like tedium can be just as un-fun as things we don't even like. But because we like getting paychecks (or gold or valor or reputation), we persevere. For more, read the post on Lifehacker.
Hard block life: What we learned from Tetris
Sci-Fi blog io9 has posted an absolutely fantastic, thinking-outside-the-box article -- exactly the sort of thing we love to share with you -- titled "I Was Programmed by Tetris to be a Better Person." The piece matches familiar Tetris scenarios with words of wisdom, like "Whatever you do, do it with dignity," and "The nail that sticks out should be hammered down."Having spent over half of our existence playing the Russian puzzler, we've also picked up a few lessons and words to live by from the falling, multi-colored blocks. Here they are, plucked from the sage minds of DS Fanboy's staff (My wife contributed, too, since Alisha is off birthing her own baby block): Dave: Immediate gratification just isn't worth sacrificing the long-term goal JC: Don't buy the Tetris board game Eric: Having a second player makes everything ten times more fun Candace, channeling Project Runway's Tim Gunn: "Make it work" Chris: If you pause for too long, you might find life passes you by (or that level 20 Tetris is REALLY FREAKING HARD to play from the off) Alexis: Even weird blocks, the ones that don't look like they fit in anywhere, have a place So, what has Tetris taught you?
Breakfast Topic: The life lessons of WoW
Today's /silly comic deals with one of those concepts in real life that translates beautifully into online gaming: learning from one's mistakes. There are times in the game where you simply say, man that was dumb. But at the end of the day you learned something, and are a better player for it. Some call these life lessons, and file them under the "you have to learn things the hard way" chapter in their gaming careers.I fondly recall one lovely experience a couple years ago where I hit autorun in Zul'Farrak and hilarity ensued. Twice. We laughed, we cried, we ran until the mob of raging trolls tore us limb from limb. Good times. Have you ever had an experience like mine, learned an in-game life lesson that you would like to share with the class?
