|
June 2004
Mercy me, here we are winding down the first half of 2004. Where does the time go? As a regular contributor to CT, I often ask myself that during the last week of the month when it's time to get my column written and submitted, and I wonder how I've managed to procrastinate so badly. Of course, I can crow about how I'm not procrastinating on getting my fiction contribution here written each month. " Cardan's Pod" is now a completed story, and it's a simple matter of submitting each part as the next month rolls around. Yep, I may be the first and only writer in the history of Collector Times to have submissions written and ready for nearly two years ahead (and yet still need a reminder each month to get my regular column in!). Granted, I did have the additional motivation of threats to get "Cardan" done. Marta threatened to slap me silly if I didn't get the story finished, and didn't seem too impressed when I told her that it wouldn't take much slapping.
This month, I'd like to contrast two concepts that oppose each other in our pursuits; "stasis" and "flux". Stasis is the condition of being "static", or unchanging. "Static electricity" is a charge that is held on an item or surface, unable to flow. A "static fixture" is one that cannot be easily removed or changed. "Flux" is the condition of being in a process of changing. It differs from a state of upheaval in that flux can be regular and controlled, while upheaval tends to imply more of an unexpected or chaotic state of change. The ocean tides are an example of "flux", while a tsunami is more of an example of upheaval. An upheaval can be flux, but flux doesn't have to be upheaval.
Thank you for the vocabulary lesson, Rick, but just where the heck are you going with this? I mean, really, I hurried through AJ's column to get over to read this.
I'm glad you asked that. You see, people have this really strange quirk when it comes to stasis and flux. We want both, even though the two concepts tend to contradict each other in any situation. If something is static, it's not in flux. If something is in flux, it's not in stasis. You see, though, if you think about it, we find great comfort in stasis. We like the security and familiarity of things staying the same. At the same time, we find stimulation and excitement in flux. We find things boring if they don't change.
This is true in our gaming as well. We like the security and comfort of knowing what's ahead because it's always been up ahead, every time we've played this scenario. When I visit this dungeon, I get a certain advantage to knowing what's up around the next corner, and how to deal with it. It's unsettling to have everything change each time I visit. On the other hand, because I know where everything is and how to deal with it, the dungeon lacks excitement for me. No surprises wait to "keep me on my toes", or, more importantly, to stimulate my thinking. Before long, I lose interest in visiting at all, and if I do visit this dungeon, it's only because I need something that I know precisely where to get down here. I can almost sleep-walk my way through a "static" dungeon.
On the other hand, too much change is unsettling. I never know what to prepare for, or how to approach a given situation. From the moment I enter the dungeon to the moment I leave, my mind is under a constant "stress", trying to figure out what's next. Sure, I won't be bored, but I may spend so much effort trying to familiarize myself with what's around me that I can't relax enough to enjoy myself, either. It becomes a delicate balancing act to tread the fine line between stasis and flux.
Recently, in the internet game we play, the "world" was changed from one type of server to another. This required every non-static item in the game to be placed by the staff of the game. Every dungeon, every quest, and every hunting area changed. Some were recreated similar to what had been on the old server, but many were completely "overhauled" in the process. Our familiar, comfortable "stasis" vanished. Some of us players applauded the change, lauding the fact that the changes had restored much of the fun that we'd lost from the game. Others of us complained, citing all the things we'd lost that had made the game familiar and comfortable. We couldn't transfer our characters completely over. Instead, we were given a system that allowed us to recreate our characters far better than "newbies", but not nearly as powerful as they had been. Where we'd not had to deal with a "skill cap" before, we now had one. The gold and items we'd accumulated on the old server were completely lost. We had to start, for the most part, all over in a system that wasn't precisely the same as what we'd left behind. Monsters that we easily handled with our characters on the old server were now cleaning our clocks on the new server.
I'd like to point out one other contrast between stasis and flux. "Flux" is a condition of life. Anything living is in a state of flux. Even the Giant Redwoods, which barely seem to change in the lifespan of a human being, are in a constant state of flux. We may not see the changes, but they're happening each and every moment as the plant processes carbon dioxide and produces oxygen. Stasis is a condition of an inanimate object. It doesn't move, it doesn't live, and it doesn't do anything until another force acts upon it. If we want our gaming to "live" we cannot try and hold it in a static state. It has to change and grow. Change may be unsettling, but it breathes life into what we're doing.
Keep some points of familiarity, but don't be afraid to spend some time researching and digging to find something new and unfamiliar to breathe life into your life, both at the gaming table, and in the "real world".
|