STRATEGY GUIDES AND FAQS

 

Some more “back in my day” video game nerdery for my fans of such things, but allow me to once again express that I grew up in the 90s and had access to some of the most amazing and most revolutionary RPGs of the era to cut my teeth on.  The original Fallouts, Final Fantasy 6 and 7, Chrono Trigger, etc etc: I got to play these games when they came out, rather than as part of a retro release package (which, don’t get me wrong, I buy all of those and play them all over again).  In turn, I remember one of the key features of these games: getting absolutely, totally and hopelessly lost for days (real time), if not WEEKS, having NO idea what you’re supposed to do next.  And during that time, there was very little one could do to resolve that situation.  Sometimes, games had strategy guides (for my younger audience, these were PRINTED guides for the game either written by a team authorized by the game’s publisher or an unauthorized guide written by a third party) that you could consult to get unstuck, but often, as a matter of pride, gamers wouldn’t use these on the first playthrough.  These guides were meant to be used the SECOND time around, so ensure you really got everything that time.  And, if you were SUPER desperate, you could call a helpline, where, for $1 a minute, some teenager would walk you through what you needed to do to beat the game.  These days, these ideas are absurd: just type your question into a google search, and either a youtube video will give you step by step instructions on what to do, or you’ll find an old forum post that explains your exact situation and gives you the exact path to follow.  And THIS is the issue: no one is getting lost anymore!

I still have this.  Bought it from an EB Games, to continue dating myself here.  This was the "SuperTraining" of Final Fantasy 3 (6)

 

Yup, I’m saying it: getting lost was the point.  You were SUPPOSED to not know what to do and try to come up with a bunch of different strategies to see if you could somehow find a way to get unstuck.  You talked to every townsperson, tried new weapons and armor, put in weird passwords, etc etc.  These games were about discovery and problem solving.  Now, new players are incredibly spoiled (god I DO sound old) because the instant they hit a snag, they race to reddit for a solution.  Hell, some don’t even wait that long: before they even START the game, they want to know the best character to build, where to go, and what to do.  Folks: at that point, just watch a “let’s play” and be done with it.

 

Man, halfway through and I haven’t even talked about lifting, but I bet you can already tell where I’m going with this: this phenomenon is not a video game thing at all but a generational thing.  With so much information readily available, new trainees don’t understand the value of “getting stuck” and want to set out on the absolute most correct path possible before they even START training.  And should they run into a snag, they immediately seek outside assistance to tell them exactly what to do to get out of snags.  Hell, I’ve observed trainees ask for the party approved “unsticking procedure” so that they know what to do WHEN they get stuck before it even happens.  “What do I do once I stall?”  Jesus man, I don’t know: how did you GET to the stall in the first place?  That’s going to decide how you get out of it!

I don't get it.  I was just following the program. 

Going back to RPGs, remember what happened when you tried all those other strategies to get unstuck?  You experienced a bunch of random encounters along the way and leveled up a bunch, got a ton of gold, found some new equipment, etc etc.  And now that you finally found what to do, you’re TEARING through the game because you’re so ridiculously overpowered.  Do you not realize that the same thing happens in lifting?  Let’s say your triceps are what are holding you back on the bench, but you just don’t realize that.  So you build up your shoulders, then your pecs, then your lats, then you refined your technique a bunch, improve speed, etc etc.  When you FINALLY fix your triceps, you end up BLASTING through bench PRs because everything else got built up during your period of “being stuck”.  Conditioning is holding you back, but you can’t figure it out?  Well after a bunch of hypertrophy and strength cycles, when you finally come around to conditioning, you’re now jacked, strong and conditioned.  There’s SO much value in beating your head against the wall trying to figure out what’s wrong.

 

And this isn’t to say that there’s anything wrong with seeking outside assistance: coaching is grand.  Get a GOOD coach, rather than crowd sourcing your success though.  If it’s important enough to ask someone for help, it’s important enough to ask someone QUALIFIED for help.  But absent asking that question, there’s a ton of value to be had in taking the time to figure this out on your own.  Time training and eating well is NEVER time wasted, even if it appears that progress is not occurring.  Often, it’s simply that you’re missing the ONE piece that allows you to REALIZE the progress that you’ve been accumulating this whole time, but once you find that piece and put it all together, you’re in for a new rash of gains…up until you hit the next snag and it all starts over again.  That’s just how the game is played, because good games are CHALLENGING, and there is reward in overcoming those challenges through strategy, skill, wit, and just plain old fashioned brute force. 

Maybe even a LOT of brute force

 

If actually playing the game doesn’t suit you, you can always watch a “Let’s Play”.  Watch everyone else get big and strong instead, because this isn’t for everyone.