x-posted at Blogspot
What better way to celebrate my return to verbal diarrhea than another ‘How Gaming Makes Me a Better Graduate Student’ (HGMMBGS \ hug-mmm-ba-gus \) post. Today we shall speak of Teh Moveset.
What the fuck is a moveset? You may ask. The illustrious Urban Dictionary defines it as such “The group of all attacks which can be used by a particular character or thing in a fighting game.” Examples of well known ‘moves’ in a moveset are Ryu’s Hadouken or Chun-Li’s power kick.
Now it is/was not uncommon to walk into an arcade (are there arcades anymore? I haz the oldz) and see the Street Fighter box with someone playing as Chun-Li, backed into a corner, spamming a powerkick to keep their opponent away. These people usually ignored their ability to jump, punch, parry, or block an incoming opponent. They would just throw their most ‘dangerous’ skill at the wall and hope it lead to a victory. These were also the people who insisted I had to ‘beat them’ to get to play. I spent a lot of time on the Street Fighter boxes when Soul Edge was down for maintenance.
Figure 1: It was also a pita when you were next to the SF players because Ryu said 'Hadouken' every mfing time he played the skill. Gaaah!
There can only be one...Line Break!
Poor use of a moveset not only limits the damage someone can output, but it also makes them predictable. It is somewhat understandable, it gives the person a feeling of safety, they are on the mountain raining down destruction on anyone who dares come closer. But in reality all I had to do was block and then close distance in between attacks, and next thing you know I had them backed into a corner with no way out (and, depending on the game, probably a special attack ready).
A real-life example of this thought process are people who consistently lose Survivor because they try to ‘outplay’ but not ‘outwit’ and are therefore ‘outlasted’*. They are very frustrated because they do not respect that aspect of the game and are angry that it caused their downfall. But that is not how the game works, and it is not how life works, you cannot win by using only 1/3rd or ½ of the moveset available to you. You must use everything at 100% of your ability to clinch victory.
A very famous gaming example of this is Daigo Umehara versus Justin Wong in the 2004 Evolution Championship Series. Daigo was literally at his last pixel of health, while his opponent was sitting pretty with over a quarter health. Did he stand in the corner and spam Hadouken? Of course not, Daigo used his moveset to jump, bob, and weave Justin Wong, ultimately getting into position to parry a 15 hit special move and counterattack for the KO. I am sure I will offend many Starcraft aficionados when I say this is maybe the greatest comeback in competitive gaming ever.
So learn your moveset for real life. Assess the situation and take the smartest approach. And then Hadouken your problem when it’s least expecting it. Now go forth and be epicsauce, little minions!
*The motto of the reality show Survivor (where people voluntarily put themselves on a deserted island to starve and occasionally perform games like lab rats for viewer amusement) is ‘outwit, outgame, outlast’.
You have not presented any evidence that gaming makes you a better graduate student. Everything you have described is consistent with you possessing a character trait that both makes you a good gamer and a good graduate student.
Ha! I am clearly doing something wrong then in the lab ... using the same old trick over and over.
If only the Internet followed these rules.
I remember the mid-late 1990s. There was this great new thing called the "web browser". Suddenly, *everything* moved to the web. Even e-mail... people started using webmail clients. It was bad enough when the SMTP/IMAP client was embedded in the same ap as the browser, but when you go to a web page to read your email, it's just bad.
Discussions moved from NNTP to web message board. Only now, about 14 years later, is the functionality of web forums approaching the functionality of NNTP clients. (And that's largely because of my discovery of the "It's All Text" firefox extension a few years ago!)
In general, people began to mistake web browsers for operating systems. It's still ongoing, despite the fact that we're more than a decade past the death of "WebTV", which was supposed to replace the general purpose computer.
When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Remember you've got screwdrivers and planers and drill presses pliers and all kinds of other fun things in there.
There's also the importance of tailoring your game to your opponent. The ol' sit-in-a-corner-powerkicking strategy was lazy at best, but completely useless if your opponent had fireballs.
I would be on board with this theme, but ever since getting Mortal Kombat on PS3, I'm pretty sure my word ethic and activity has plummeted. Also, I do wish I could wield the power of fireballs during lecture.
CPP: I learned this shit via gaming, ergo gaming made me a better graduate student
Nina: Everyone knows that the lab gremlins engage in Job-like testing of our delicate scientific faiths. Doing things over and over is totes the way to prove your fealty...or something.
Rob: Well yea, the hammer makes everything look like a nail analogy is just as logical, but then I couldn't make a big overwrought post over it that way now could I? XD
theshortearedowl: Oh look another blog post idea *steals and runs away, cackling maniacally*
Dr. C: Bro, stop fulfilling the stereotypes, if you're going to have issues for chrissakes keep that shit in the basement behind teh liquor bottles like a decent person.
I'm pretty sure in the mutant uprising the last people to get powers should be academics or they'd just fucking Trogdor everyone.