On Avoiding Detachment From Games

Original Lecture.

I took a stab at combating apathy two years ago, but while that article may be of some help (particularly the bit about changing strategies), I thought I'd take a stab at some extra tips, more specifically aimed at keeping involvement with the game.

• Embrace your status. You have nothing (or almost nothing) in the game. Own up to it, admit it, and then use this to your advantage. The very thing that is your problem can become your salvation. In short, because you are detached, you have a clean slate of sorts. Don't try to hold onto things. Use this fresh mind to form new opinions, and be unafraid of whatever you said prior to your detachment.

• That being said, you'll want to have something to produce. I will frequently give out "hipgun" reads when detached, where I will point out things that make me lean one way or another, but nothing too big, nothing formal, nothing I have an attachment to. The first thing you have to do to get rid of your detachment is to realize this is acceptable. It's okay to not have much direction. It's okay to be clueless. As long as you have something you feel is productive to add, even if it is a one-liner about a single person with a single post.

• It never hurts to do a readslist. For detachment, I generally don't do tiers, that being, town null scum, but I'll put a list in order that gives my approximate feelings on things. This helps others see what you're seeing, sure, but it's also a HUGE benefit for yourself, since it allows you to have a better grasp on your own holdings on the game. Yeah, you'll have a lot of names you don't know where to put, with their order hugely flexible, but again, simply vocalizing this can be of help.

• Sometimes, too much is too much. Very often, in games, I will give up on having read the whole game, instead reading only as much as I can tolerate. This may be "only new stuff as of this point". It may be "ten pages prior to this point". It may be only-isos. It may be scattershot, pages 1-10, 40-50, 78-93, etc. Some people can read entire games, and good for them if they can, but most can't...and even of those who can, most can't process the information in a productive manner. There is a certain point where there's simply too much information for us to handle, and we all reach it at a point, so know that you'll have one, and if you reach it...change approach to something you can better handle.

• When in doubt, skim. It's horrible to do, I know, but if you can't handle the influx of information, cheat. Everyone does it a little bit whether they admit it or not, so don't try to read everything. Pick up only the important parts.

• Relatedly, choose your battles. If you can pick up a few important parts, focus on those. If you can't find any important parts to focus on, then it's alright to go into a little bit of a blind flail and comment on a lot of random things. Anything that can help keep you focused, you should be doing.

• Recognize that you won't always have something to say, so whenever you try it might be forced...but don't be discouraged by it. I often can get away with not posting when I have nothing to say, but sometimes I can't and if you're the type who almost always can't, then this is something you'll need to do.

• Overall, one of the best tips is to remains as active and involved as possible, even if you've grown detached. Apathy is a horrendous monster, eating away at your soul, but if you keep up your activity, posting as frequently as you can, then generally you can do an okay job of keeping it at bay.

Unfortunately, that's all I've got. I myself struggle with this, so I'm still discovering and inventing ways to try and fight it off. Take what you can from it, but this is not the end-all, be-all guide for it.