How Mobile Gaming Changed My Life - Part 2
You may be asking yourself – okay, I get it – you like this game… but how did it “change your life”. It’s a pretty bold and dramatic statement to make. After battling a tiresome and mentally draining divorce while simultaneously experiencing significant health issues, I suffered financial hardship while living in the 9th most expensive city in America (according to CBS News).
I have always been a highly social person and enjoyed going out with my friends. But it felt difficult to maintain such expensive ‘living habits’ that seemed to be the social standard. And even after I picked up multiple jobs, I found myself going out less and less. The cognitive dissonance and sheer need to stay afloat from the sea of bills that seemed to flood me also forced me to change my attitude. I decided that if I was going to thrive, I would need to drop my expensive hobbies and transform them into more affordable options.
I began fervently writing again and cook my meals at home. Alas! I began to save some of my hard-earned money…but still, I craved that social connection and engaging conversation I was used to having. I recalled how much passion I had playing Xbox Live when I was younger – so naturally, I revisited my old-time past time of gaming. I decided to explore the bottomless pit of available mobile gaming apps since (my dog had peed on my Xbox and) I was looking for something more convenient for my busy schedule.
The unique thing about a mobile gaming is that you can play it anywhere, any time.
And there are many options that give you flexibility. When I found Nova Empire which is described on their site as being an “epic strategy game of space domination where you command a Space Station”, I fell in love with the game. I realized several things when I began leading my international team in this virtual world and 3 stuck out to me as some of the most significant.
I Developed Strong Multi-Cultural Communication Skills
I spent a year building a large international alliance which forced me to really study culture and consider communication barriers. When I had started playing in my first server, I was a large target. And while many alliances focused on recruiting one nationality because of the time zone, I decided to recruit all nationalities which I believed would ultimately make our team stronger.
Often times our "real-time" translations in the game wouldn't work and it would be hard to understand one another. I also found that the translations would be overly aggressive. I worked tirelessly to learn how to type in Cyrillic script to create a relationship with a predominately Russian team named CVR (which evolved to GFN) who became my strongest ally. Our die-hard fans and team members used applications like discord, WeChat, and Whatsapp to help ease the strain of communication. I even had to consider context and make sure I was clear and effective in my communication because having an international team meant that I needed to delegate rules and orders in a much different fashion. I had to sharpen my leadership skills which leads me to the next significant skill I learned while playing a mobile game.
2. I Enhanced My Leadership and Management Skills
In the game, I proudly lead over 70 -100 men and women from various cultural backgrounds. This required some dedication to understanding who my team was and what it stood for. It also required me to learn how to become comfortable with delegation. It was important to establish a protocol in a virtual universe where you can lose a year of progress in seconds from an enemy. I worked closely with the officers who helped me retain new members and nurture existing ones. Our unique team not only gave me the social contact I had craved, but I also began to experience unbelievable confidence.
3. I Gained Confidence in a Cutthroat Environment,
Experiencing both wins and losses helped me to gain confidence and build my mental endurance. Our team fought ruthless 24-hour battles against players across the globe who had higher development and other significant advantages. Thoughtful strategy, clear communication and creativity helped our team endure betrayal, scarce resources and crazy unannounced updates from the developers. But something else started to happen outside of the game.
I noticed my "can do/ fighter" attitude began to transcend into my daily life.
My negative temperament had changed into a positive discovery for learning more strategies to combat day to day problems. I had rationalized that if I could lead an army of international champions, that I could do anything I set my mind to. I began to parallel my successes and felt that if I could lead this international team of space warlords, I could find a team IRL (in real life) that would compliment my strengths.
Mobile gaming and gaming in general harbors many unknown benefits. From my own personal experiences, I believe that gaming itself can strengthen communication, enhance management skillsets and increase self-confidence. Games provide unique sandbox environments where the players can test their personal mental strength.