Building the Ultimate Character in the Game of Life
 

This post is based on Steve's blog entry "Life - The Ultimate Game".

The question I'm putting forward is how we'd go about creating the ultimate character in the game called Life. I've been an avid RPG (role-playing game) fan in the past, so the notion is all too familiar to me.

Starting from scratch (with a character that is somewhere around levels 1-5), what would be the most important skills and attributes that we would work on for this character, and in which order?

From my personal playing experience, which I have to say hasn't taken me any farther than level 10 yet (I'm 22), I would have to start with:

1. Achieve a good level of control over your inner reality (thoughts and emotions).

My own path went through "Feeling Good" by David Burns (cognitive therapy), "The Secret", subjective reality, "Ask and it is Given" by Abraham/Esther Hicks, and currently "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle (Zen-like).

I haven't yet achieved mastery in this respect, but I'd say that the last two have been working very well for me, and I'm becoming progressively more joyous, peaceful, and energetic as I continue to release my resistances.

To be honest, that first step is the only one I can agree with myself on. I guess it reflects my limited life experience thus far.

Great post.

I haven't had time to sit down and think about this yet, but I will. Anyway, I thought your thread deserved a bump so I'm giving you one.

"how we'd go about creating the ultimate character in the game called Life"

It all depends on what you think your goal is.... money, power, "development", love, freinds, enlightenment? If the last, then you don't really need anything, you're already enlightened but just don't realize it because of the "game" of life itself. If anything it's a game of SUBTRACTION not addition....

Stephen
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I believe being the ultimate character is being true to yourself, your tru identity, the one connected with your higher self or whatever you wish to call it, your spirit, subconscious, doens't matter. That is how to become the ultimate character in the game of life.

I liked the way the old game Ultima IV approached character development. You had to elevate your character in 8 different virtues: honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, humility, and spirituality. There was no villain to defeat or princess to rescue. You won the game by achieving an inner victory for your character.

I sometimes think in similar terms about real life, although there are virtually limitless character qualities to develop beyond those 8 virtues.

This looks like a good website on the Virtues: Ultima Virtues

Can we make this a points-based RPG (GURPS, Champions, FUDGE etc.) rather than a level-based one? Levels are an unrealistic mental constraint, IMO and a points-based system is much more empowering.

A very interesting and valid point, but I suspect largely academic. There is no practical difference to subtracting ego (or whatever) points to reach enlightenment, than there is adding "ego-reduction points" until you reach enlightenment.

Wow, this post really tapped into my inner geek... :D

That's why I'm trying to stay out of it. I've been involved in a number of debates on the subject and I really don't want to start throwing links around. :p

I've never been a fan of role-playing games but the article was inspiring. Thinking of life as a game allows both for seriousness and play, which I like. The question is how to become a better player? I suppose the path you take depends on who you are.

I'm also into the Secret and Ask and It is Given. They've both helped me to realize some limiting beliefs. My understanding of the game gets better and better each time I reflect upon those ideas.

Sorry if this is off topic, but I wonder if kids who grow up playing these games will be more inclined to do personal development, more aware of the process of building a balanced character.

Children learn more about financial managment from videogames than in schools these days, for example. So it may be interesting to see how they translate these skills into real world situations -- a generation that has learned the basics of wealth building before they reach puberty. Similar to what Steven Johnson talks about in Everything Bad is Good for You

I think Control is the number skill to develop in any game. If you cant control your avatar (faulty joystick/too complex) there's no point of developing other skills...

I have a feeling that we're all really afraid of our strenght and light not our weakness. For years i couldnt understand the words behind the poet (?) that starts with "your greatest fear..."

I think i understand it now, we're afraid of losing control. It's hard to explain in words but I "know" it to be true.

I now honestly believe that i am powerful beyond reason but finding it hard to unleash my power because deep deep inside i'm afraid of losing control.

Think of it this way...would you drive 180 mph with a sharp corner just in front of you ? Until you're confident of arriving safetly you'd porbably push the brake to slow down.

Control. How do i get it? I don't want to drive with my brakes on anymore.

I am also interested in this topic.
 

Hello. I am also interested in this topic. I have recently posted on this topic elsewhere, and have strongly considered moving this beyond a metaphor. I played roleplaying games when I was younger and wrote fiction and invested a lot of time in developing fictional characters, thinking about their life trajectories and how they accumulate skills etc. I have also, of course, invested time in developing my own skill & career &c. However, in my own life I have not approached it as holistically as I have for my 'characters.' It has been more piecemeal: I should work out more or I should learn to meditate or I should go to gradschool or I should learn to play the guitar. Perhaps there is something to be gained by treating myself as one of these characters: explicitly construct a character sheet, skills to accumulate, a 'character class' or whatever. Perhaps this is a way to more effectively transform my life into an exciting and interesting game with explicit direction.

Have anyone here considered explicitly constructing a character sheet/character class/etc, to develop a holistic approach to this life-as-role-playing-game notion?

I am going to post more on this topic as I develop my own character sheet. Please reply if you think this is interesting.

Hi duus, I've been thinking about this a bit lately too. I think it would help to take a step back from your own life and see yourself as a character with endless possibilities for skill improvement and acquisition. You get to write this character's story and decide which skillsets are important to gain experience in.

Have you made any progress in developing a "character sheet"? I'd like to hear about it if you have, and to help in some way if possible. Thanks!

hi CHill...glad to hear there's someone else...
 

Hello CHill. so i've started thinking about it, and what occured to me as a natural place for me to start was to think about "character classes" that seemed to fit me, and what I would need to do to go from "first level" to "second level." I started here:

duus's the modern life as roleplaying game: beyond metaphor

at the bottom of the page I posted two character class descriptions I started.

What do you think?

I'd be *very* interested in any thoughts and i'd be very interested in thinking about developing a 'character sheet' or smth....

You tag it "beyond metaphor", but you're sticking very, very close to the standard fantasy-inspired RPG metaphor. I'd recommend taking a look at stuff like Character Strengths and Virtues (Book - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or MBTI types for inspiration.

Like it, keep it up.

Develop the monk some more. Its a fairly general explanation. perhaps deepen it more? Got no experience with this, so rock on. :p

Also can't open the wizard link, goes to the same page as the monk.

What i meant by 'beyond metaphor' was the roleplaying part of it. One can say "Oh, living life is like playing a game," and draw inspiration from that metaphor. But what's "beyond metaphor" about it is the idea of literally living life as if it were a roleplaying game: developing the character as one would in a roleplaying game, maintain a character sheet, have ideas about what it takes to achieve 'levels.' That's what I mean by "beyond metaphor."

thanks! i'll take a look.

thanks!
 

Hey, thanks for taking a look! I'll continue to work on it.

Thanks. Link fixed. the 'wizard' is more developed than the 'monk.'

Please expand on this idea... "Enlightenment" seems to be my #1 concern, I certainly haven't made any really outstanding income beyond simply what I've needed, and am starting to realize that I just honestly don't care. Discovering a reason for "being" is much more imporant to me than any sort of worldly success, because without such a reason I have no foundation for anything else in the first place.

updated character classes
 

updated character classes at:

duus's the modern life as roleplaying game: beyond metaphor

thoughts?