variousauthors’ Metroidvania — Don’t cry.

[droqen]

https://www.tumblr.com/variousauthors/761897217326022656/metroidvania

[droqen]

I'm thinking about this quote:

My dad pointed out that if the game made me so sad, maybe I shouldn't play it. I don't resent that comment, but to this day it boggles my mind. Once at karate class a girl cried after taking her brown-belt test. She had done well, and passed, but she cried a lot. I commented that I thought it was because she was young, but my sensei (Gilbert Chung, 6th Dan) stopped me and said "When you really care about something, you cry. That she's crying shows me she's care about karate."

[droqen]

There's this saying. "Don't cry over spilled milk." This various author's dad seems to be saying the opposite... If it makes you cry, don't spill it? lol. No, even that isn't right.

But maybe the dad sees his kid spilling milk on purpose and crying about it. Don't do that thing that makes you sad.

Spilling milk would be a stupid thing to do on purpose. No, even that isn't right. But it's kind of... meaningless? If someone told me they found a lot of meaning in spilling milk, I'd have a hard time believing them.

[droqen]

When you really care about something, you cry.

If the game makes you so sad, maybe you shouldn't play it.

Don't cry over spilled milk.

[droqen]

Maybe you shouldn't care about the outcome of the game that much, is what I'm hearing. Spilling milk is an accident, playing video games is on purpose. If you stopped caring about the outcome, perhaps you wouldn't play it. I think a lot of people have trouble differentiating the act of playing to win from the act of playing. And actually there is significant well written and well regarded literature on exactly that topic.

(The Grasshopper, for one.)

[droqen]

What is it that you care about enough to cry over it?

[droqen]

This is the question ringing in my mind. Suppose a game invites us to strive to do something. What should we choose to strive for?