Cutting Your Losses

Another key lesson learned from games is cutting your losses.

There are times in a game when your chosen strategy just isn’t working. Maybe another player is farther along the path you’ve chosen, an unforeseen event has popped-up, etc. In these situations, you need to re-evaluate and change course or you are going to lose. Giving up on a partial plan is painful, but you must do it, or you will lose, which is even more painful.

This applies to real life choices like the Tiger Woods situation as well.

I think the marriage is over in all but name. The wife has been humiliated in front of the world, and I’ve got to believe she is out to cause maximum pain and grab as much of his money as she can get her hands on. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

So, while it might be painful for Tiger to change course today, it is the best thing for him to do in the long run.

It seems like Tiger really likes to play golf and meet women (plural). So, his best course of action is to file for divorce, pay out the hundreds of millions, and get back to the golf and ladies. He will re-earn the money in a few years, and he won’t have the stress of keeping multiple relationships secret.

Risk/Reward

Some advice for the rich and famous guys of the world.

When you design games, you need to understand human nature. The core of which is risk/reward. Which is to say, how much risk is someone willing to take for a given level of reward. Risk/reward is the core of games, and life.

Every time a player makes a purchasing decision, expends a resource, or commits forces to a battle, it is an exercise in risk/reward. The player is weighing the risks in expending resource points, action points, movement points, etc. against the reward of moving closer to winning.

Which brings me to rich guys and extramarital affairs - another example of risk/reward.

The reward is kinda obvious, you get to have sex with many beautiful women. The reward is just as obvious. Your life gets ripped apart.

Fact, guys like to have sex with beautiful women. Notice that women is a plural word, as opposed to woman, which is a singular word.

Here’s the thing. If you’re a rich, good looking, famous guy who travels the world meeting women, you gotta realize that must stop when the ring slides on your finger. Think of it like Sauron’s ring, except you don’t get a volcano escape clause.

It don’t come off.

So here’s the advice. If you’re a rich, good looking, famous guy who travels the world meeting women… Do. Not. Get. Married.

Here’s the second piece of advice. If you’ve just gotta, gotta, gotta, marry a woman (singular), date her for a couple years. During that time, do not sleep with any other women. After two or three years, see if you still gotta, gotta, gotta marry her. If you do, great! But, if in those couple years, you’re still having fun on the side, then maybe marriage isn’t for you.

As for Tiger. Lots of bad stuff is being said about him, but there are some bright spots. Here’s a guy who’s married, earns millions of dollars each year playing golf, has 9(!) mistresses spread around the planet, and kept it secret for years. Talk about organized! If the US government were half as profitable and covert, it would be the envy of every other country on the planet.

Annabelle

Annabelle is the newest addition to the DVG household!

She is a 9 week old Beagle puppy. She might have a bit of Basset also based on those ears!

Kira took this photo. No Photoshop involved. Annabelle really is this cute.   :)

Down Time at DVG

I saw the news story about the White House gatecrashers. Before long, I started thinking about national security, so I called a guy I know at the White House. I explained my concerns and asked to access past security footage of the President.

He replied that it is classified and not available to the public.

I reminded him that I’m a game designer.

An hour later, a black SUV rolled up to our front door. Two stern-faced guys in the black suits and sunglasses handed over an external hard disk. One hulk muttered. “You got 24 hours,” while the other checked his watch.

So, I finished Frontline, sent the game files to the printer, then plugged in the hard drive to have a look.

I found a couple interesting images. I think I managed to bring out the details with my limited photoshop skills. At the 23-hour mark, I called my friend with the news.

Of course, the White House wanted first access, but I cut a deal. Before I handed over the images, I got to post them here first…(click to enlarge)...

Why Holly gets nervous when I have free time. :)