Anticipation

I wrote another blog post about Patience (an important talent for every gamer, and most people in general), but today I'm going to talk about something very similar: anticipation.

Anticipation is the feeling that people get when they are expecting something good to happen in the future. The feeling is most powerful when the person is most sure of what will happen and when. This feeling can have, seemingly, time-space altering effects.

When someone is eagerly awaiting something, it is very common for them to experience time more slowly. Of course, physically, time isn't moving slower. The perception of time is what has changed.

The wait can make every second seem to stretch; minutes will begin to feel like hours. In our day to day lives, this skill would probably be pretty cool. But while we're so close to experiencing something great, this extra time does nothing but annoy.

In video games, the same emotion is present. The first time playing through a difficult level, it's not uncommon for Players to progress through the level with ease. Without feeling pressure or anxiety over the level, it's easy for gamers to trounce a challenge.

However, this is where the harsh reality of video games will come into play. The particularly challenging levels will often have a trick that the first-timer won't be able to discern without falling for it beforehand. This leads to a somewhat cheap failure, but one that's easy to rectify on another playthrough.

But as the gamer plays, they might notice themselves failing at spots that seemed trivial just moments before. This is caused by their anticipation.

Players will have a clear goal (Getting to the trick that caused their original failure) which makes the interlude between the beginning of a level and their goal seem like a chore. When they are excited to play just one part, they will play through the intervening parts without utilizing their full range of skill, focusing too much on their goal.

It's very difficult to break out of this cycle; the Player will have all of the skill necessary to vanquish the challenges in front of them, but their desire to get past them quickly clouds their judgement and brings forth simple mistakes. These simple mistakes lead to frustration and, in turn, even greater mistakes.

The best way to rid yourself of this dangerous chain of events is to be patient. Your goal is just a short ways away, all you have to do is take everything in turn. Whereas normally, you might put yourself on auto-pilot for things you've already done, it's important to think clearly and concisely for each every challenge.

When you figure out how to curb your desire to speed through the game, it becomes much easier to do so.