superbetter, a real life mmorpg...

i saw a news report on this the other day and started checking it out today...

SuperBetter

it's a "game" where you have levels and gain experiences doing positive things. it was made by a girl who had a bad concussion and needed to recover, but it's principles can be and are applied to all sorts of things that have to do with improving yourself and your life. it also does a good job of explaining the "why" when it asks you to do things. i thought i'd share it here in case anyone else was kind of looking around for a new motivational tool as i have been.

 

cool, im glad you guys are checking it out... it's good for me because i tend to get overwhelmed by all the options when it comes to improving myself... so much so that i don't do anything at all. i like these quests etc. so far because it tells me specifically what to do and i can lock in on that.

i'm trying to keep the cynic in me out of it and not start thinking of it as cheesy or fluffy. it helps that there is behavioral science in it and they explain their concepts on resilience.

 

I think this is pretty nifty given the intent but, at the same time, I find myself thinking:

First World Problems
When "Real Life" and "MMORPG" are used in the same sentence.​

 

I was looking at something like this a while ago, since I'm a big mmorpg player. It was something to the extent of Real Life Achievements (styled after WoW achievement point system.) This is well laid out, and I think I might give it a try. Thanks for the link.

 

Am I the only one here that is a getting a creepy Pavlov vibe?

...

We also know that the behaviorist principles behind MMOs are responsible for obesity, failed marriages, the loss of jobs and neglected children.

Don't want to be a party pooper, but it just seems pathetic that we have to make everyday tasks a reward-driven game to get people to do them.

Ya know, as if life itself isn't reward enough. I'm racking up imaginary points going to the gym instead of just enjoying the gym for what it is.

It just seems like a product of the Static Age... our attention spans are so shot and our "boredom" levels so high that we have to WoW our very lives.

I wonder how this thing relates to the other recent thread where Baraka_Guru is talking about brain clusters and technology/information overload.

Don't get me wrong, I realize that we've made a game of so many different parts of our lives that this instance is hardly new and amazing.

Something about the social media aspect and the video game genre makes me uncomfortable. Video games are bad juju in a lot of ways.

/Devil's advocate

 

@plan9- i'd have to say that the obesity, failed marriages etc. you're talking about is already happening without mmo's or motivational games so why not try something to shake that up? i tend to think that if it wasn't a video game that was responsible for someones failings like that, it would have been something else.

i agree that in essence willpower and self control are muscles that have atrophied and we are definitely struggling as a society in a lot of ways in terms of adapting to all the new technology we've been glossed with the last 25 years... but that said, we are only just starting out in that way and i think that anything that makes you more aware or engaged as a person is something to look into and see if you can get it to help you grow. i don't think it matters if it's a band aid or a true cure, it's still better.

and i really like where the chick who designed this is coming from. as a gamer myself i like her message that gamers are focused on becoming more than themselves when they play a game... even a hero...and it is possible to turn that intent into a positive force in the real world around us. she also points out that succeeding in most games takes a lot of focus and determination to see ourselves through the failures leading up to a success and that can build resiliency in someone that they didn't have before if harnessed correctly.

 

You're totally right, brother. I can't really relate to this type of thing given my background and current lifestyle.

Any tool that helps individuals empower themselves by organizing their lives in a new way is probably good.

 

idk if its the same thing, but I tried this game once called Second Life. This kid I knew recommended, spent 3 hours downloading it, making my character... then I'm in the game and I cant figure out how to attack and kill enemies... turns out the whole game is you walk about and do nothing. I played for an hour and managed to force one man off the top of a cliff, but it was too boring for me.
--- merged: Apr 26, 2012 at 2:40 PM ---
watched the video. I am a hero of great strength, I will find allies and I will conquer people and their souls... then some blond woman came on but couldnt hear her over the violent battle rap I was playing. Assume she's the prize?

(no, I suppose I am not taking this serious. I dont think this is for me. If I am serious, yeah I have some issues with getting depressed and controlling my emotions sometimes... but all this look in the mirror and say how you love yourself stuff isnt for me. if it works for others then good luck to them)

 

....aaannnddd StrangeFamous will be the first person to commit homicide via SuperBetter.​