Up until now, I've focused mostly on skills, and there are quite a few other skills that I want to get into before I launch into this project full time. But there's one element that I think I've left out, and that's exercise.
I would define exercise as an activity that develops an attribute without contributing to a particular skill. For example, jogging is exercise. It doesn't make sense to have a jogging skill, since that's kind of an unskilled attribute. But jogging would certainly contribute to strength and constitution, and probably to dexterity as well.
Physical exercise isn't the only type. Doing a crossword puzzle or a logic problem would constitute mental exercise. Stretching is exercise in dexterity. For that matter, eating a healthy meal could be exercise in constitution, if of a very minor sort. Reading a book could be considered exercise in intelligence or wisdom, depending on the nature of the book. Giving a speech or presentation is an exercise in charisma. In essence, any activity which specifically develops one or more attributes without contributing towards a skill would be considered exercise.
As a result, I'm going to create pages specifically for exercise. Each exercise will have a major attribute, and possibly a minor attribute as well. So I'm going to create a page for exercises of each time of major attribute. These will follow the same pattern of Activity/Mission/Bonus that I've created for the skills. For example, achieving a weight of 200 lbs. would be a mission in Constitution exercises, and a strength bonus might be awarded for a week in which I jog daily.
The entire point of this website is to offer a concrete, quantitative motivation for developing myself. Although I prefer to do it through skills, sometimes there's no real skill involved, only an attribute, and I think exercises are the way to capture this.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Skill: Crochet
Major Attribute: Dexterity
Minor Attribute: Intelligence, Charisma
Activities:
Crochet Session:
+10 XP
(+10 DEX)
+20 XP
(+15 DEX, +5 INT)
+20 XP
(+20 DEX)
+25 XP
(+10 DEX, +5 INT, +10 CHA)
Submit to Magazine:
+250 XP
(+200 DEX, +50 CHA)
Complete Project (Small)
+100 XP
(+80 DEX, +20 CHA)
+500 XP
(+350 DEX, +150 CHA)
+1000 XP
(+600 DEX, +400 CHA)
Minor Attribute: Intelligence, Charisma
Activities:
Crochet Session:
+10 XP
(+10 DEX)
- A session of approximately 1 hour spent crocheting
+20 XP
(+15 DEX, +5 INT)
- A session of approximately 1 hour of classroom instruction in crochet
- This activity does not stack with Crochet Session.
+20 XP
(+20 DEX)
- A session of approximately 1 hour spent crocheting with my left hand.
- At the point that my skill with left handed crochet equals the skill with my right, this activity will no longer be valid.
+25 XP
(+10 DEX, +5 INT, +10 CHA)
- A session of crochet instruction of approximately 1 hour, taught by me.
- This activity does not stack with Crochet Session.
Submit to Magazine:
+250 XP
(+200 DEX, +50 CHA)
- Write a pattern and instructions and crochet a sample, then submit the completed pattern to a magazine.
Complete Project (Small)
+100 XP
(+80 DEX, +20 CHA)
- Complete a project that takes less than 10 hours.
- This bonus stacks with all activities and missions unless otherwise noted.
+500 XP
(+350 DEX, +150 CHA)
- Complete a project that takes between 10 and 100 hours to complete.
- This bonus stacks with all activities and missions unless otherwise noted.
+1000 XP
(+600 DEX, +400 CHA)
- Complete a project that takes more than 100 hours to complete.
- This bonus stacks with all activities and missions unless otherwise noted.
Skill Discussion: Crochet
Now let's go in a completely different direction--crochet.
I started learning how to crochet back in 2001 or so (I forget the exact year), and since then, I've gotten pretty good at it. My first project, one that I call "The Amazing Disappearing Scarf," didn't turn out so well. Every time I turned a row, I dropped a stitch. As a result, the longer the scarf got, the narrower it became. I thought I was just getting the hang of it, and that's why it was going faster.
My next project was an afghan, because I'm a glutton for punishment. The thing was huge, a giant green monstrosity. It was excellent practice, though, and after that the general motions were so ingrained that I was able to move onto more difficult projects.
Since then, I've made all kinds of things--another afghan, hats, a glasses case, two pairs of shoes crocheted from twine, shawls, baby blankets, a bouquet of roses, and innumerable scarves. I've also done a couple of stuffed animals in amigurumi style.
My favorite project has to be the sweater I made for myself. Although the general size and shape of the sweater came from a pattern, I made up my own stitch pattern to make ribbing and adapted the cuffs and neck to suit me. It's big and extremely heavy, but it looks like a real garment, and is the most visually impressive thing I've made.
In 2006, I won a fastest crocheter contest, despite the fact that the judge cheated in favor of my opponent by not counting my base row and counting hers. I still beat her by sixteen stitches.
Based on this, I feel pretty confident in giving myself a starting level of 10 in crochet. It's a skill I've been developing for years, one in which I have a great deal of confidence, and one that I've continued to develop on a regular basis. It should be very time consuming for me to increase the level of this skill, and I think needing 1000 XP in it before I can level it up should pretty much accomplish that.
That's not to say I have nothing else to learn. One new project of mine is to learn to crochet left handed. I have the sense that I could manage some really unique stitches if I had the ability to switch my handedness at will. It's frustrating, because in a way it feels like starting over, but achieving the skill would also make it easier for me to teach lefties. Not to mention, Ambidextrous Crochet would make a really interesting article in a crochet magazine.
I started learning how to crochet back in 2001 or so (I forget the exact year), and since then, I've gotten pretty good at it. My first project, one that I call "The Amazing Disappearing Scarf," didn't turn out so well. Every time I turned a row, I dropped a stitch. As a result, the longer the scarf got, the narrower it became. I thought I was just getting the hang of it, and that's why it was going faster.
My next project was an afghan, because I'm a glutton for punishment. The thing was huge, a giant green monstrosity. It was excellent practice, though, and after that the general motions were so ingrained that I was able to move onto more difficult projects.
Since then, I've made all kinds of things--another afghan, hats, a glasses case, two pairs of shoes crocheted from twine, shawls, baby blankets, a bouquet of roses, and innumerable scarves. I've also done a couple of stuffed animals in amigurumi style.
My favorite project has to be the sweater I made for myself. Although the general size and shape of the sweater came from a pattern, I made up my own stitch pattern to make ribbing and adapted the cuffs and neck to suit me. It's big and extremely heavy, but it looks like a real garment, and is the most visually impressive thing I've made.
In 2006, I won a fastest crocheter contest, despite the fact that the judge cheated in favor of my opponent by not counting my base row and counting hers. I still beat her by sixteen stitches.
Based on this, I feel pretty confident in giving myself a starting level of 10 in crochet. It's a skill I've been developing for years, one in which I have a great deal of confidence, and one that I've continued to develop on a regular basis. It should be very time consuming for me to increase the level of this skill, and I think needing 1000 XP in it before I can level it up should pretty much accomplish that.
That's not to say I have nothing else to learn. One new project of mine is to learn to crochet left handed. I have the sense that I could manage some really unique stitches if I had the ability to switch my handedness at will. It's frustrating, because in a way it feels like starting over, but achieving the skill would also make it easier for me to teach lefties. Not to mention, Ambidextrous Crochet would make a really interesting article in a crochet magazine.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Skill: Language
Major attribute: Intelligence
Minor attribute: Charisma
Activities:
Watch a TV Show (subtitles)
+5XP
(+5 INT)
+10XP
(+10 INT)
+10XP
(+10 INT)
+10XP
(+10 INT)
Flashcards (Kanji)
+15XP
(+15 INT)
+20 XP
(+15 INT, +5 CHA)
+20 XP
(+20 INT)
+20XP
(+20 INT)
+25XP
(+20 INT, +5 CHA)
+30XP
(+20 INT, +10 CHA)
+30XP
(+30 INT)
+50XP
(+35 INT, +15 CHA)
Memorize a poem
+100 XP
(+65 INT, +35 CHA)
+300 XP
(+300 INT)
Successful conversation
+50 XP
(+25 INT, +25 CHA)
Minor attribute: Charisma
Activities:
Watch a TV Show (subtitles)
+5XP
(+5 INT)
- Watch 1/2 hour of foreign language television, with subtitles
- Does not stack with laboratory or classroom activities.
- Depending on comprehension level, may receive a content bonus.
+10XP
(+10 INT)
- One session of approximately 1/2 hour creating or studying vocabulary flashcards
+10XP
(+10 INT)
- One session of approximately 1/2 hour reading and studying language grammar
+10XP
(+10 INT)
- Watch a film of at least 90 minutes in a foreign language, with subtitles
- Does not stack with laboratory or classroom activities
- Depending on comprehension, may receive a content bonus
Flashcards (Kanji)
+15XP
(+15 INT)
- One session of approximately 1/2 hour creating or studying katakana, hiragana, or kanji flashcards
- Japanese only
+20 XP
(+15 INT, +5 CHA)
- One session of approximately 1 hour practicing listening and/or speaking comprehension, including any relevant exercises.
- Self study only; does not stack with classroom work
+20 XP
(+20 INT)
- One session of approximately 1 hour practicing writing and/or reading comprehension, including any relevant exercises
- Self study only; does not stack with classroom work
+20XP
(+20 INT)
- Watch 1/2 hour of foreign language television, without subtitles
- Does not stack with laboratory or classroom activities.
- Depending on comprehension level, may receive a content bonus.
+25XP
(+20 INT, +5 CHA)
- One session in a classroom language lab
- Does not stack with self-study activities
+30XP
(+20 INT, +10 CHA)
- One classroom session of language instruction from a native speaker or qualified non-native speaker instructor
- Does not stack with self-study activities.
+30XP
(+30 INT)
- Watch a film of at least 90 minutes in a foreign language, without subtitles
- Does not stack with laboratory or classroom activities
- Depending on comprehension, may receive a content bonus
+50XP
(+35 INT, +15 CHA)
- One private lesson with a native speaker or qualified non-native speaker instructor.
- Does not stack with self-study activities.
Memorize a poem
+100 XP
(+65 INT, +35 CHA)
- Read and comprehend a poem in the foreign language
- Memorize it so that it can be copied from memory or performed aloud
- Can be stacked with other language activities. XP is awarded upon successful repetition and transcription of the poem from memory without error.
+300 XP
(+300 INT)
- Read and comprehend an entire book in the foreign language
- Comprehension need not be 100%, but upon completion, it should be possible to review and describe the book, as in a book report.
- Can be stacked with other language activities. XP is awarded upon completion of the book.
Successful conversation
+50 XP
(+25 INT, +25 CHA)
- Carry on a conversation in the foreign language with a native speaker of at least five minutes duration.
- A successful conversation denotes one in which meaning is negotiated, even if there is error and misunderstanding throughout the course of the conversation.
- This bonus does not stack with classroom or private instruction, although it can be awarded for conversations with instructors outside of the classroom or tutoring environment.
Skill Discussion: Languages
As anyone who knows me will affirm, I have always loved languages. I remember being taught to count to five in Spanish back in Kindergarten, and then discovering that my mom could count all the way to ten. Later that week, I went back to school and saw the numbers up to ten one a teacher's door, except one of them was misspelled. I pointed it out to her. Because that's how I rolled in Kindergarten.
Since then, I've spent a significant amount of time studying languages. For the purposes of this blog, I'm going to treat each language as a separate skill, which it is. But the types of activities, missions, and bonuses that apply to languages are going to be the same, so I'm grouping them together. First, I need to set my initial level at each language.
Spanish:
This is the language at which I have the greatest skill level. I started learning it back in 1993, unless you count the six weeks I did in 1991, or the numbers I learned in 1983. I took three years in high school, majored in it in college, and even did a summer program in Costa Rica in 1998. In graduate school, I was part of the Spanish and Portuguese department, and taught several beginning level Spanish classes. Much of my coursework was in Spanish. Since leaving graduate school, I've frequently attended trade shows in Miami where about 70% of my communication is in Spanish, and I deal with Spanish speaking customers on a regular basis.
That being said, I know where this skill needs work. I don't read a lot in Spanish, and I don't listen to a lot of Spanish language television, so my reading and listening comprehension aren't as high as they could be. I speak it fairly well, and my accent is good, but I'm not awfully familiar with the colloquial expressions that make language natural.
I'm assigning my Spanish a skill level of 8. I considered giving it a 9, but I think setting it lower will give me a bit of motivation to improve it, without making it that easy to reach that next level.
French:
On my recent trip abroad, I had a 12 hour layover in Paris. I was surprised at how quickly French came back to me, which I had not studied since 2000. I wouldn't call myself fluent by any stretch, but I could mostly understand what people wanted from me, and I could ask for directions, request maps, order food, and do all the other things that a person with a 12 hour layover in Paris would want to do. I even served as translator between a group of Spanish tourists and a French shopkeeper. The shop girl thought I was German, based on my looks and my accent. I guess she just couldn't imagine an American that knew three languages.
French was my minor language specialization in college, but after graduation in 2000, it fell completely by the wayside. I have not read anything in French for some time, but I still have a very good grasp on the grammar. With the vocabulary, I can cheat because of the similarities to Spanish, which makes it easy to read. That same similarity gets in the way when I try to speak, because any word I don't know comes out in Spanish, not French.
I'm assigning a 4 to this skill. I believe that a review of my old textbooks, listening to the French dubbed tracks on some DVDs, and flipping through some of the books I have in French would help me gain some quick skill.
Portuguese:
Portuguese, especially Brazilian Portuguese, would be of great use to my job. I've never studied it formally, but I do have a textbook of Portuguese for Spanish speakers. I've flipped through it and done some desultory studies in it.
For those who don't know, Portuguese is very, very similar to Spanish, in both vocabulary and grammar. Pronunciation is quite different, but once the rules are learned, it doesn't take long to start picking it up. Already, I can understand about 30% of what I hear in Portuguese, and can read closer to 75%. Nevertheless, I can't speak a word of it, nor can I really write it. These production abilities are the more difficult ones to acquire in any language.
I'm giving myself a 3 in Portuguese. I'm better off than a raw beginner, but I still have considerable distance to go.
Japanese:
After all the Romance languages above, I needed something different. Japanese is about as different as it gets. I have never had any formal training, but I bought a bunch of textbooks, workbooks, and tapes, and started studying it on my own.
I got through the katakana and hiragana, but got stalled when it came to the kanji. Other things came up, and I simply didn't invest the time into learning the new vocabulary. I have studied the grammar pretty extensively, though, and I understand the structure of the language pretty well.
So I'm giving myself a 2. I know significantly more than a complete novice, but not nearly enough to claim any sort of proficiency with the language, spoken or written.
Irish:
Here's another language that I've started learning on my own. It's not a Romance language, so it's different from French, Spanish, and Portuguese, but it's Indo-European, so it's much closer to English than Japanese is. Plus it's half of my heritage (Irish/German), so I feel a connection to the culture.
I've got the textbooks and tapes, and I spent about six weeks going through the first few chapters of one of the textbooks. As usual, life got in the way, and I fell out of it. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I know quite a bit of the grammar, but I don't have the vocabulary to back it up. I would not claim any level of listening or reading comprehension, but I know a few things to look for, and could probably translate a text given a dictionary and sufficient time.
Irish earns a 2 for being better than nothing, but not enough to write home about.
Latin:
I studied Latin for a year in high school, 1992-1993, and it certainly made my later study of French and Spanish easier. I was pretty good at it when I was taking it, but the intervening sixteen years have degraded the skill a bit. Still, I'm not a complete newbie at it. Latin earns a 2.
German:
This is going to be one of my next language projects. I'm putting it here out of a sense of completeness, not because I know any yet (German gets a big fat 1), but because I want to learn. As I mentioned before, German is half of my heritage, and it would be a great language to know for future, hoped-for European travel.
Since then, I've spent a significant amount of time studying languages. For the purposes of this blog, I'm going to treat each language as a separate skill, which it is. But the types of activities, missions, and bonuses that apply to languages are going to be the same, so I'm grouping them together. First, I need to set my initial level at each language.
Spanish:
This is the language at which I have the greatest skill level. I started learning it back in 1993, unless you count the six weeks I did in 1991, or the numbers I learned in 1983. I took three years in high school, majored in it in college, and even did a summer program in Costa Rica in 1998. In graduate school, I was part of the Spanish and Portuguese department, and taught several beginning level Spanish classes. Much of my coursework was in Spanish. Since leaving graduate school, I've frequently attended trade shows in Miami where about 70% of my communication is in Spanish, and I deal with Spanish speaking customers on a regular basis.
That being said, I know where this skill needs work. I don't read a lot in Spanish, and I don't listen to a lot of Spanish language television, so my reading and listening comprehension aren't as high as they could be. I speak it fairly well, and my accent is good, but I'm not awfully familiar with the colloquial expressions that make language natural.
I'm assigning my Spanish a skill level of 8. I considered giving it a 9, but I think setting it lower will give me a bit of motivation to improve it, without making it that easy to reach that next level.
French:
On my recent trip abroad, I had a 12 hour layover in Paris. I was surprised at how quickly French came back to me, which I had not studied since 2000. I wouldn't call myself fluent by any stretch, but I could mostly understand what people wanted from me, and I could ask for directions, request maps, order food, and do all the other things that a person with a 12 hour layover in Paris would want to do. I even served as translator between a group of Spanish tourists and a French shopkeeper. The shop girl thought I was German, based on my looks and my accent. I guess she just couldn't imagine an American that knew three languages.
French was my minor language specialization in college, but after graduation in 2000, it fell completely by the wayside. I have not read anything in French for some time, but I still have a very good grasp on the grammar. With the vocabulary, I can cheat because of the similarities to Spanish, which makes it easy to read. That same similarity gets in the way when I try to speak, because any word I don't know comes out in Spanish, not French.
I'm assigning a 4 to this skill. I believe that a review of my old textbooks, listening to the French dubbed tracks on some DVDs, and flipping through some of the books I have in French would help me gain some quick skill.
Portuguese:
Portuguese, especially Brazilian Portuguese, would be of great use to my job. I've never studied it formally, but I do have a textbook of Portuguese for Spanish speakers. I've flipped through it and done some desultory studies in it.
For those who don't know, Portuguese is very, very similar to Spanish, in both vocabulary and grammar. Pronunciation is quite different, but once the rules are learned, it doesn't take long to start picking it up. Already, I can understand about 30% of what I hear in Portuguese, and can read closer to 75%. Nevertheless, I can't speak a word of it, nor can I really write it. These production abilities are the more difficult ones to acquire in any language.
I'm giving myself a 3 in Portuguese. I'm better off than a raw beginner, but I still have considerable distance to go.
Japanese:
After all the Romance languages above, I needed something different. Japanese is about as different as it gets. I have never had any formal training, but I bought a bunch of textbooks, workbooks, and tapes, and started studying it on my own.
I got through the katakana and hiragana, but got stalled when it came to the kanji. Other things came up, and I simply didn't invest the time into learning the new vocabulary. I have studied the grammar pretty extensively, though, and I understand the structure of the language pretty well.
So I'm giving myself a 2. I know significantly more than a complete novice, but not nearly enough to claim any sort of proficiency with the language, spoken or written.
Irish:
Here's another language that I've started learning on my own. It's not a Romance language, so it's different from French, Spanish, and Portuguese, but it's Indo-European, so it's much closer to English than Japanese is. Plus it's half of my heritage (Irish/German), so I feel a connection to the culture.
I've got the textbooks and tapes, and I spent about six weeks going through the first few chapters of one of the textbooks. As usual, life got in the way, and I fell out of it. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I know quite a bit of the grammar, but I don't have the vocabulary to back it up. I would not claim any level of listening or reading comprehension, but I know a few things to look for, and could probably translate a text given a dictionary and sufficient time.
Irish earns a 2 for being better than nothing, but not enough to write home about.
Latin:
I studied Latin for a year in high school, 1992-1993, and it certainly made my later study of French and Spanish easier. I was pretty good at it when I was taking it, but the intervening sixteen years have degraded the skill a bit. Still, I'm not a complete newbie at it. Latin earns a 2.
German:
This is going to be one of my next language projects. I'm putting it here out of a sense of completeness, not because I know any yet (German gets a big fat 1), but because I want to learn. As I mentioned before, German is half of my heritage, and it would be a great language to know for future, hoped-for European travel.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Skill: Writing
Major attributes: Intelligence, wisdom
Minor attributes: Charisma
Activities:
Proofread
+10 XP
(+5 INT, +5 CHA)
+10 XP
(+5 INT, +5 WIS)
+15 XP
(+5 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CHA)
+15XP
(+5 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CHA)
+20XP
(+5 STR, +5 CON, +5 INT, +5 WIS)
+20XP
(+10 INT, +10WIS)
+30 XP
(+10 INT, +10 WIS, +10 CHA)
+30XP
(+10 INT, +10 WIS, +10 CHA)
+30 XP
(+15 INT, +15 WIS)
+50XP
(+50 CHA)
24 Hour Short Story Contest
+120XP
(+40 INT, +40 WIS, +40 CHA)
+500XP
(+100 INT, +100 WIS, +300 CHA)
Complete Short Short Story
+100XP
(+40 INT, +40 WIS, +20 CHA)
+200XP
(+80 INT, +80 WIS, +40 CHA)
+500XP
(+200 INT, +200 WIS, +100 CHA)
+1,000XP
(+400 INT, +400 WIS, +200 CHA)
Minor attributes: Charisma
Activities:
Proofread
+10 XP
(+5 INT, +5 CHA)
- Proofreading someone else's writing, approx. 1/2 hour - 1 hour duration.
+10 XP
(+5 INT, +5 WIS)
- A session of writing approximately 1 hour in duration. This includes composition, revision, plotting/outline, proofreading, etc.
+15 XP
(+5 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CHA)
- Proofread/critique of someone else's writing with written or verbal feedback, 1/2 hour - 1 hour duration.
+15XP
(+5 INT, +5 WIS, +5 CHA)
- Attend a writing workshop in which my own work is not discussed.
- This activity does not stack with any other writing activity; for example, a writing exercise done during a workshop does not count as a separate writing session.
+20XP
(+5 STR, +5 CON, +5 INT, +5 WIS)
- A long walk of about 1 hour duration, in which story ideas are developed.
- This activity does not stack with any other walking-related exercise.
+20XP
(+10 INT, +10WIS)
- Complete the study of a book on writing instruction.
- This activity cannot be completed twice for the same book.
+30 XP
(+10 INT, +10 WIS, +10 CHA)
- Proofread/critique of someone else's writing with written or verbal feedback, 2 - 3 hour duration.
+30XP
(+10 INT, +10 WIS, +10 CHA)
- Attend a writing workshop in which my own work is discussed.
- This activity does not stack with any other writing activity; for example, a writing exercise done during a workshop does not count as a separate writing session.
+30 XP
(+15 INT, +15 WIS)
- A session of writing approximately 3-4 hours in duration. This includes composition, revision, plotting/outline, proofreading, etc.
+50XP
(+50 CHA)
- Submit a story to a magazine or contest, either by email or regular post.
- This activity does not stack with story submission-related missions.
24 Hour Short Story Contest
+120XP
(+40 INT, +40 WIS, +40 CHA)
- Write and submit a story to a 24 Hour Short Story contest
- This mission does not stack with any other writing activity
- This mission can be repeated
+500XP
(+100 INT, +100 WIS, +300 CHA)
- Prepare an anthology of creative writing for publication through Lulu or other similar self-publishing service.
- This mission stacks with proofreading, critique, and editing activities. It does not stack with story submission or any activities related to the preparation and upload of the relevant computer files.
- This mission can be repeated on a yearly basis.
Complete Short Short Story
+100XP
(+40 INT, +40 WIS, +20 CHA)
- Awarded upon completion of the first draft of a short story up to 1,500 words.
- Cannot be applied to the 24 Hour Short Story Contest mission
+200XP
(+80 INT, +80 WIS, +40 CHA)
- Awarded upon completion of the first draft of a short story between 1,500 and 35,000 words
+500XP
(+200 INT, +200 WIS, +100 CHA)
- Awarded upon completion of the first draft of a novella, between 35,000 and 75,000 words
+1,000XP
(+400 INT, +400 WIS, +200 CHA)
- Awarded upon completion of the first draft of a novel, consisting of more than 75,000 words.
Skill Discussion: Writing
The first skill under discussion is writing. In this case, I'm specifically referring to creative writing, as opposed to business writing, technical writing, or... well, blogging. It wouldn't be fair to give myself points every time I wrote a blog entry, although it would be a neat trick to pull off.
So first off, what skill level am I at? I've been writing for decades, although I would say I first started really taking it seriously about a year ago. I've got one forthcoming story to be published in a magazine, and I've won honorable mention with a fair bit of frequency in one particular contest.
I'm going to start my writing skill level off high, then, but not absurdly high: 8. I'm doing this to reflect the amount of work I've already put into it, but also the relative difficulty that will be involved in increasing the level. If I want to improve, I'm going to have to work at it.
In general, writing should increase the intelligence and wisdom attributes about equally, since it engages both kinds of knowledge. (Again, this is the case for creative writing. Technical writing would be more weighted to intelligence.) However, certain writing-related activities, like readings and workshops, would also engage charisma. There would also be a charisma component to submitting a story to a magazine, since it relates to self-confidence.
I'm going to put my XP earnable activities and missions into another post, which I will link to from the main page.
So first off, what skill level am I at? I've been writing for decades, although I would say I first started really taking it seriously about a year ago. I've got one forthcoming story to be published in a magazine, and I've won honorable mention with a fair bit of frequency in one particular contest.
I'm going to start my writing skill level off high, then, but not absurdly high: 8. I'm doing this to reflect the amount of work I've already put into it, but also the relative difficulty that will be involved in increasing the level. If I want to improve, I'm going to have to work at it.
In general, writing should increase the intelligence and wisdom attributes about equally, since it engages both kinds of knowledge. (Again, this is the case for creative writing. Technical writing would be more weighted to intelligence.) However, certain writing-related activities, like readings and workshops, would also engage charisma. There would also be a charisma component to submitting a story to a magazine, since it relates to self-confidence.
I'm going to put my XP earnable activities and missions into another post, which I will link to from the main page.
Initial attributes
There are six attributes, and I need to determine my initial level for each of them. To do this, I need to list out the total number of points necessary to achieve various levels. That should give me a pretty good idea about how far along I am.
Okay, so to be fair, this is probably my weakest attribute. That's not to say that I'm weak, just that it's one that I work the least on. I do get exercise, usually in the form of walking or biking, and those contribute to strength and constitution. Other than that, I currently do very little.
In the past, I've done a fair bit of dancing, and before that, Taekwondo and fencing, but I feel that those are too far removed from the present to really count for much. Still, they helped me achieve a certain baseline level of physical fitness.
I'm going to put my current level at 3 for strength. I'm not starting from scratch, but I have a significant way to go.
Dexterity:
I feel like this is one of my stronger attributes, at least on a small-scale sense. It's not that I'm particularly flexible--that's a kind of dexterity that I greatly need to develop. My strength is in manual dexterity. I can type very fast, I can crochet, I can write and do many other things ambidextrously. Plus, the dancing I've done has left me at least somewhat light on my feet. Still, the lack of the overall physical component of dexterity keeps me from claiming a seriously high level. I'm setting this one at level 6.
Constitution:
I consider constitution to have two main components: health and endurance. My health is decent, but not perfect. I need to eat better, and I need to lose some weight. Over the last year, I've brought my weight down from 238 to 216 lbs, and although that's significant, my target is an even 200 lbs, which seems reasonable for my height (6'2"). And although I don't eat badly by any means, I'd like to do more cooking and fall back on frozen lunches less and less.
As for endurance, this is one of my strengths, physically speaking. Most of the exercise I get comes from walking or biking, as I mentioned before, and those tend to increase endurance. But those are relatively low-impact types of exercise, and my endurance is very low when it comes to higher impact activities.
As a result, I'm setting my constitution at 4. Good, but needs improvement.
Intelligence:
At the risk of sounding egotistical, this is probably my most developed attribute. I study languages for fun, read the Smithsonian magazine cover to cover, and get lost in Wikipedia entries about arcane bits of history. I once taught myself statistics for the hell of it. Understand that I'm not trying to say I'm super intelligent, merely that my own natural inclinations lend themselves towards developing this attribute more than others.
In other words, I'm a nerd. It's okay, I'm cool with that.
In setting my intelligence at 8, then , I'm mostly just trying to make it that much harder to reach the next level. And it's nice to have one high attribute, right?
Wisdom:
There are several components to wisdom that I think are relevant here. The first is a spiritual element. I am a Christian, and the pursuit of greater understanding of Christianity is something I feel contributes to wisdom. For that matter, study of any religion, or even atheism, should contribute towards wisdom as well. And that opens up the topic into the broader range of philosophy, a subject that I would really like to study more.
I believe wisdom also has to do with emotional intelligence and the understanding of people and emotions. Here, the line starts to blur a bit with charisma. As far as this blog is concerned, I consider the internal understanding of people to be in the realm of wisdom, and the active use of that knowledge to fall under charisma.
Based on these criteria, I think I'm no slouch, but have some progress to make. I'll give it a 5.
Charisma:
There are three separate aspects to charisma, as I'm going to define it. The first is physical appearance. I'm not talking about looks per se--I've got what I've got, and I'm happy with it. I'm talking more about hygiene, mode of dress, style, stuff like that. Could I use a makeover? Probably. I got off the fashion train back in college. So that's something to think about.
The next element is people skills. How do I deal with other people? Do I treat them well, understand them, get along with them? How well do I work with crowds, small groups, one on one? Unlike most self-admitted nerds, I think I do pretty well in this regard. I have no problem with public speaking, and have a pretty good speaking voice. I may not be stellar here, but I feel like I'm at least above average.
The final element is self-confidence, which is, in a way, the very heart of charisma. I have gone through periods of extremely low self-confidence. I think I reached my nadir in 8th grade. Since then, I've built up certain aspects of my confidence to a very high level, while leaving it low in others. Building up my self-assurance should be a priority. Overall, then, I'm giving myself a 4 in charisma.
So, on my next post, I start figuring out my current skills and skill levels. Won't be long now before I'm done with the character creation stuff and can move right on into leveling up.
- 0XP
- 300XP
- 900XP
- 1,800XP
- 3,000XP
- 4,500XP
- 6,300XP
- 8,400XP
- 10,800XP
- 13,500XP
Okay, so to be fair, this is probably my weakest attribute. That's not to say that I'm weak, just that it's one that I work the least on. I do get exercise, usually in the form of walking or biking, and those contribute to strength and constitution. Other than that, I currently do very little.
In the past, I've done a fair bit of dancing, and before that, Taekwondo and fencing, but I feel that those are too far removed from the present to really count for much. Still, they helped me achieve a certain baseline level of physical fitness.
I'm going to put my current level at 3 for strength. I'm not starting from scratch, but I have a significant way to go.
Dexterity:
I feel like this is one of my stronger attributes, at least on a small-scale sense. It's not that I'm particularly flexible--that's a kind of dexterity that I greatly need to develop. My strength is in manual dexterity. I can type very fast, I can crochet, I can write and do many other things ambidextrously. Plus, the dancing I've done has left me at least somewhat light on my feet. Still, the lack of the overall physical component of dexterity keeps me from claiming a seriously high level. I'm setting this one at level 6.
Constitution:
I consider constitution to have two main components: health and endurance. My health is decent, but not perfect. I need to eat better, and I need to lose some weight. Over the last year, I've brought my weight down from 238 to 216 lbs, and although that's significant, my target is an even 200 lbs, which seems reasonable for my height (6'2"). And although I don't eat badly by any means, I'd like to do more cooking and fall back on frozen lunches less and less.
As for endurance, this is one of my strengths, physically speaking. Most of the exercise I get comes from walking or biking, as I mentioned before, and those tend to increase endurance. But those are relatively low-impact types of exercise, and my endurance is very low when it comes to higher impact activities.
As a result, I'm setting my constitution at 4. Good, but needs improvement.
Intelligence:
At the risk of sounding egotistical, this is probably my most developed attribute. I study languages for fun, read the Smithsonian magazine cover to cover, and get lost in Wikipedia entries about arcane bits of history. I once taught myself statistics for the hell of it. Understand that I'm not trying to say I'm super intelligent, merely that my own natural inclinations lend themselves towards developing this attribute more than others.
In other words, I'm a nerd. It's okay, I'm cool with that.
In setting my intelligence at 8, then , I'm mostly just trying to make it that much harder to reach the next level. And it's nice to have one high attribute, right?
Wisdom:
There are several components to wisdom that I think are relevant here. The first is a spiritual element. I am a Christian, and the pursuit of greater understanding of Christianity is something I feel contributes to wisdom. For that matter, study of any religion, or even atheism, should contribute towards wisdom as well. And that opens up the topic into the broader range of philosophy, a subject that I would really like to study more.
I believe wisdom also has to do with emotional intelligence and the understanding of people and emotions. Here, the line starts to blur a bit with charisma. As far as this blog is concerned, I consider the internal understanding of people to be in the realm of wisdom, and the active use of that knowledge to fall under charisma.
Based on these criteria, I think I'm no slouch, but have some progress to make. I'll give it a 5.
Charisma:
There are three separate aspects to charisma, as I'm going to define it. The first is physical appearance. I'm not talking about looks per se--I've got what I've got, and I'm happy with it. I'm talking more about hygiene, mode of dress, style, stuff like that. Could I use a makeover? Probably. I got off the fashion train back in college. So that's something to think about.
The next element is people skills. How do I deal with other people? Do I treat them well, understand them, get along with them? How well do I work with crowds, small groups, one on one? Unlike most self-admitted nerds, I think I do pretty well in this regard. I have no problem with public speaking, and have a pretty good speaking voice. I may not be stellar here, but I feel like I'm at least above average.
The final element is self-confidence, which is, in a way, the very heart of charisma. I have gone through periods of extremely low self-confidence. I think I reached my nadir in 8th grade. Since then, I've built up certain aspects of my confidence to a very high level, while leaving it low in others. Building up my self-assurance should be a priority. Overall, then, I'm giving myself a 4 in charisma.
So, on my next post, I start figuring out my current skills and skill levels. Won't be long now before I'm done with the character creation stuff and can move right on into leveling up.
The Leveling System
In my last post, I described a leveling system in which skills, attributes, and overall level increase somewhat independently. However, the number of XP gained for a given task is scaled the same. How can I get the behavior I want on this basis?
I think a simple system is going to be best for this. So let's say that for overall level, it takes 1,000XP * current level to reach the next level. For example, if I'm level 12, it will take 12,000 XP to reach level 13. Since I've already decided to start at level 1, that means it will only take 1,000XP to reach level 2, but will take 2,000XP to reach level 3. I think that's fair.
Skills are more focused, so I think it's reasonable for fewer points to be required. So the multiplier is only going to be 100XP. When I start a new skill, I begin at level 1, and it will take 100XP to reach level 2, an additional 200XP to get to level 3, and so on.
That leaves attributes. I have a sense that attributes are somewhere in between overall level and individual skills. The multiplicative mean of 100 and 1,000 is around 316, so let's round that off to 300 and let that be the multiplier. So an attribute requires 300 times the current level to increase. Moving from 1 to 2 will require 300XP; moving from 2 to 3, 600XP, and so on.
Previously, I had mentioned the idea of "rewards" for gaining a new level. I still want to do this, but I think the reward should have something to do with the skill or attribute being gained. For gaining a general level, I should just treat myself--say, to something worth $10 times the level gained. For gaining a skill level, I should invest in something related to that skill.
Once again, attributes prove to be the tricky one. How about something that generally rewards that attribute? For intelligence, a book; for dexterity, a puzzle; for constitution, a new pair of running shoes; for charisma, a night out with friends. These are not things that develop a skill by their use, but make use of the attribute gained.
I've even picked out what my $20 reward will be. I can get two brand new Moxy Früvous CDs for that, and I've lived with pirated MP3's long enough. There, I've got a goal, and it's been added to my Amazon shopping cart and saved for later.
In my next post, I'll determine what my starting attributes are. In subsequent posts, I will determine my current skill level in each skill I currently have, and set goals and tasks for each. Then I'll do the same with the new skills I want to gain. Then, all that's left is leveling up.
I think a simple system is going to be best for this. So let's say that for overall level, it takes 1,000XP * current level to reach the next level. For example, if I'm level 12, it will take 12,000 XP to reach level 13. Since I've already decided to start at level 1, that means it will only take 1,000XP to reach level 2, but will take 2,000XP to reach level 3. I think that's fair.
Skills are more focused, so I think it's reasonable for fewer points to be required. So the multiplier is only going to be 100XP. When I start a new skill, I begin at level 1, and it will take 100XP to reach level 2, an additional 200XP to get to level 3, and so on.
That leaves attributes. I have a sense that attributes are somewhere in between overall level and individual skills. The multiplicative mean of 100 and 1,000 is around 316, so let's round that off to 300 and let that be the multiplier. So an attribute requires 300 times the current level to increase. Moving from 1 to 2 will require 300XP; moving from 2 to 3, 600XP, and so on.
Previously, I had mentioned the idea of "rewards" for gaining a new level. I still want to do this, but I think the reward should have something to do with the skill or attribute being gained. For gaining a general level, I should just treat myself--say, to something worth $10 times the level gained. For gaining a skill level, I should invest in something related to that skill.
Once again, attributes prove to be the tricky one. How about something that generally rewards that attribute? For intelligence, a book; for dexterity, a puzzle; for constitution, a new pair of running shoes; for charisma, a night out with friends. These are not things that develop a skill by their use, but make use of the attribute gained.
I've even picked out what my $20 reward will be. I can get two brand new Moxy Früvous CDs for that, and I've lived with pirated MP3's long enough. There, I've got a goal, and it's been added to my Amazon shopping cart and saved for later.
In my next post, I'll determine what my starting attributes are. In subsequent posts, I will determine my current skill level in each skill I currently have, and set goals and tasks for each. Then I'll do the same with the new skills I want to gain. Then, all that's left is leveling up.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
How to Level Up, Part 2
In our last adventure, I described my love for RPGs, and also the dangers I associate with them. It was this juxtaposition of ideas that led me to this new life project--modeling my life along the lines of an RPG.
Now, I'm not talking about initiating conversations with random strangers or obsessively collecting swords and armor. That would be cool, sure, but it's not the point. The purpose is to develop my skills and abilities, and reward myself for doing so. The more skills and abilities I gain, the greater the reward. And I'm going to keep track of it in terms of my "level."
So... what level am I now? I'm currently thirty years old, so I don't think it's necessarily fair to say I'm at level 1. And not all RPGs demand that a character begin at level 1, either. That holds for both table top campaigns and video games. On the other hand, skipping up to level 10 or something will feel like cheating.
There's another option in-between, and I think it's pretty reasonable. In many games, the first few levels move pretty quickly. It gets the player hooked, because they feel like they're making good progress. So that's what I'm going to do too. I'll start at Level 1, but my goals to get to Level 5 will be pretty easy to achieve. Accordingly, the rewards for reaching those levels will be smaller. From Level 5 on, though, I'm going to begin to challenge myself, and grant bigger rewards as a result. Getting to Level 10 will be a cause for celebration. But why stop there when I can also go to 11. And beyond.
The next question is what form these goals will take. So I'm going to take a step back and examine how this works in most RPGs.
In most video games, leveling up comes with experience points (XP). XP is gained by completing tasks or missions and, of course, by killing monsters. This second method is more difficult to accomplish in the real world, though, and would not really have the effect I'm intending. My method will relate more to the first version, with some major modifications which I'll discuss later.
What happens in a video game when you level up? Several things. First, the characters statistics increase. Different games have different stats, but they're usually variations on the classic six: strength (S), dexterity (D), constitution (C), intelligence (I), wisdom (W), and charisma (Ch). The increase in these stats may be determined by the game or left up to the player.
Another kind of leveling up involves skills. These are secondary stats, in a way--separate classifications of achievement that improve success in a specialized, limited range. Some games grant skill points up on leveling up. Other games model reality closer, and demand that a certain skill be tried repeatedly in the game in order to increase skill level.
This is what I call the "trickle down" version of leveling up. When sufficient experience is gained, statistics and skills automatically increase. As you can imagine, this is not a good model of real life. Instead, my system will be just the opposite. The skills that I develop will have a characteristic attribute or attributes. Tasks completed in that skill will carry an experience value. The more difficult the task, the higher the experience.
For example, let's take a look at crochet, a skill that I have a fair bit of experience in. The key statistic for crochet would naturally be Dexterity. Let's say that for every hour I crochet, I gain 50 XP. That 50XP will count toward three things:
There's one element I have left out up until now, and that is missions. This would be a larger project or milestone to serve as a target. Using the same example as before, finishing a scarf in crochet might earn me an additional 500 XP. Doing a larger project, like a sweater, could earn 3,000 XP.
On my next post, I'm going to chart out my leveling system and rewards. Within that framework, I'm going to assign myself preliminary statistics and skill levels for all my current skills. In the post following that one, I'm going to start laying out some tasks and missions in each of those skills. At that point, the "setup" portion of the blog will be finished. Everything thereafter will be reporting on my progress, as well as creating new tasks and missions.
Now, I'm not talking about initiating conversations with random strangers or obsessively collecting swords and armor. That would be cool, sure, but it's not the point. The purpose is to develop my skills and abilities, and reward myself for doing so. The more skills and abilities I gain, the greater the reward. And I'm going to keep track of it in terms of my "level."
So... what level am I now? I'm currently thirty years old, so I don't think it's necessarily fair to say I'm at level 1. And not all RPGs demand that a character begin at level 1, either. That holds for both table top campaigns and video games. On the other hand, skipping up to level 10 or something will feel like cheating.
There's another option in-between, and I think it's pretty reasonable. In many games, the first few levels move pretty quickly. It gets the player hooked, because they feel like they're making good progress. So that's what I'm going to do too. I'll start at Level 1, but my goals to get to Level 5 will be pretty easy to achieve. Accordingly, the rewards for reaching those levels will be smaller. From Level 5 on, though, I'm going to begin to challenge myself, and grant bigger rewards as a result. Getting to Level 10 will be a cause for celebration. But why stop there when I can also go to 11. And beyond.
The next question is what form these goals will take. So I'm going to take a step back and examine how this works in most RPGs.
In most video games, leveling up comes with experience points (XP). XP is gained by completing tasks or missions and, of course, by killing monsters. This second method is more difficult to accomplish in the real world, though, and would not really have the effect I'm intending. My method will relate more to the first version, with some major modifications which I'll discuss later.
What happens in a video game when you level up? Several things. First, the characters statistics increase. Different games have different stats, but they're usually variations on the classic six: strength (S), dexterity (D), constitution (C), intelligence (I), wisdom (W), and charisma (Ch). The increase in these stats may be determined by the game or left up to the player.
Another kind of leveling up involves skills. These are secondary stats, in a way--separate classifications of achievement that improve success in a specialized, limited range. Some games grant skill points up on leveling up. Other games model reality closer, and demand that a certain skill be tried repeatedly in the game in order to increase skill level.
This is what I call the "trickle down" version of leveling up. When sufficient experience is gained, statistics and skills automatically increase. As you can imagine, this is not a good model of real life. Instead, my system will be just the opposite. The skills that I develop will have a characteristic attribute or attributes. Tasks completed in that skill will carry an experience value. The more difficult the task, the higher the experience.
For example, let's take a look at crochet, a skill that I have a fair bit of experience in. The key statistic for crochet would naturally be Dexterity. Let's say that for every hour I crochet, I gain 50 XP. That 50XP will count toward three things:
- My crochet skill
- My dexterity statistic
- My overall level
There's one element I have left out up until now, and that is missions. This would be a larger project or milestone to serve as a target. Using the same example as before, finishing a scarf in crochet might earn me an additional 500 XP. Doing a larger project, like a sweater, could earn 3,000 XP.
On my next post, I'm going to chart out my leveling system and rewards. Within that framework, I'm going to assign myself preliminary statistics and skill levels for all my current skills. In the post following that one, I'm going to start laying out some tasks and missions in each of those skills. At that point, the "setup" portion of the blog will be finished. Everything thereafter will be reporting on my progress, as well as creating new tasks and missions.
Monday, January 19, 2009
How to Level Up, Part 1
One Christmas morning, almost twenty years ago, I received the original NES Dragon Warrior as a present. It was an all new style of game for me. At that point, my Nintendo was still fairly new--I had gotten it for my birthday only a few months before--and I was still enjoying the novelty of side scrolling adventures that had an end, as opposed to endless repetitive rounds that led to inevitable defeat.
It did not take long before I immersed myself in the world of Dragon Warrior. I studied the maps. I calculated how much gold I would need to buy the next item. I made raid after raid on one certain dungeon because the treasure inside would regenerate. But most importantly, I learned the joy of leveling up.
RPGs of this style have been criticized for making leveling up such a large part of the gameplay. After all, say the critics, isn't the point of role playing... well, playing a role? You're the daring warrior who solves the ancient puzzles and saves the princess, right? Not an exterminator whose job is to suffer through countless random encounters.
I will admit, random encounters are very annoying if you're playing the game for the story. But the story of Dragon Warrior was paper-thin. Collect the ancient armor, save the princess, find a way to the bad guy's lair, then kill the bad guy. Nothing more to it than that. Later RPGs have had a much more involved story, both in the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series, and in the better known Final Fantasy series. But early on, the story was just the excuse to get out there and kill some monsters. And level up.
What is the fascination that some people have, myself included, with leveling up? I've thought a lot about this question, and I think there are two major elements to it. First, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from achieving any difficult task. At its core, leveling up is practice, and the player gets the satisfaction of being set a difficult task, working to make it possible, and then achieving it.
But there's more to it than that. The second element is something I like to call the "guarantee." You can see exactly how main experience points you need to achieve the next level, at which point the skills you need are simply granted to you. You have a built in assurance that the work that you are putting in will have the intended effect. How comforting is that? There's no such thing as wasted effort!
Except, in one very real sense, it's all wasted effort. I'm a fan of RPGs, but I also know that they are dangerous, even addictive. About six years ago, over a three month period, I played an unhealthy amount of Everquest. In one respect, that game is an RPG-lovers dream--you can invest an almost infinite amount of time into, and there are still new skills to achieve, still new areas to explore. And therein lies the danger.
Understand that I'm not speaking out against RPGs, as long as they, like anything else, are consumed in moderation. But after spending a considerable amount of time and having nothing tangible to show for it, I decided that I needed to take a different approach to my life.
And in my next post, I'll tell you all about it.
It did not take long before I immersed myself in the world of Dragon Warrior. I studied the maps. I calculated how much gold I would need to buy the next item. I made raid after raid on one certain dungeon because the treasure inside would regenerate. But most importantly, I learned the joy of leveling up.
RPGs of this style have been criticized for making leveling up such a large part of the gameplay. After all, say the critics, isn't the point of role playing... well, playing a role? You're the daring warrior who solves the ancient puzzles and saves the princess, right? Not an exterminator whose job is to suffer through countless random encounters.
I will admit, random encounters are very annoying if you're playing the game for the story. But the story of Dragon Warrior was paper-thin. Collect the ancient armor, save the princess, find a way to the bad guy's lair, then kill the bad guy. Nothing more to it than that. Later RPGs have had a much more involved story, both in the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series, and in the better known Final Fantasy series. But early on, the story was just the excuse to get out there and kill some monsters. And level up.
What is the fascination that some people have, myself included, with leveling up? I've thought a lot about this question, and I think there are two major elements to it. First, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from achieving any difficult task. At its core, leveling up is practice, and the player gets the satisfaction of being set a difficult task, working to make it possible, and then achieving it.
But there's more to it than that. The second element is something I like to call the "guarantee." You can see exactly how main experience points you need to achieve the next level, at which point the skills you need are simply granted to you. You have a built in assurance that the work that you are putting in will have the intended effect. How comforting is that? There's no such thing as wasted effort!
Except, in one very real sense, it's all wasted effort. I'm a fan of RPGs, but I also know that they are dangerous, even addictive. About six years ago, over a three month period, I played an unhealthy amount of Everquest. In one respect, that game is an RPG-lovers dream--you can invest an almost infinite amount of time into, and there are still new skills to achieve, still new areas to explore. And therein lies the danger.
Understand that I'm not speaking out against RPGs, as long as they, like anything else, are consumed in moderation. But after spending a considerable amount of time and having nothing tangible to show for it, I decided that I needed to take a different approach to my life.
And in my next post, I'll tell you all about it.
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