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Perhaps this is a problem with meditation in game form - as soon as something has a "score" it inevitably creates the feeling of winning and losing, and people (especially those who play games) don't want to lose!
I imagine that there are a good many Playne "sessions" where the user isn't even present, as the obvious way to avoid missing a day is to simply start the session and then walk away, or possibly push that window to the back and do something else (I'm not actually sure if that works!). Of course this can't be monitored because not everyone clicks to mark thoughts....
Meditation is beneficial only to the individual, and as in most things the benefits gained reflect the effort put in. Sadly many people don't understand this, and in all aspects of their lives they expect an easy way to advance without effort. When you read game reviews and see complaints about "grinding", 10% of the time it is genuinely a fault with game design, 90% of the time it is because the user doesn't want to put in the effort to get the reward. If the author of this game put in micro-transactions whereby people could buy (with real money) birds, fireflies, horses, dogs, enhanced armour (!) etc., they would probably make far more money and there would be meditation "masters" who bought the game this morning.......
I just wanted to remind myself and everybody else who was attracted to this game because he or she was looking for a way to reduce mental stress that "keeping up the streak by all means necessary" can become a source of distress itself.
I am not that fond of computers as I used to be and if I can get away from technology for a couple of days: good for me! The fact that PLAYNE wont track my sessions when I am offline should not bother me at all...
I think this sums it up right there.
I am playing this game to genuinely try to learn a useful life skill. I did not practice meditation at all before this. Playne has introduced me to its benefits in a very easy to pick up way and I'm very happy for that.
But...
It is a game. It has achievements to earn and most gamers like to attempt to earn them. That just goes with the territory here. I kind of suspect that not having achievements for streaks may have been a better way to go if promoting stress-relief was the main priority, because people on Steam can and do stress themselves over getting those last few cheeves - let alone people with OCD tendencies.
Should we relax and just enjoy the game? Sure. I agree with you my friend.
But that's against gamer nature.
Wonderful to hear this Traveler. I also like the screenshots you share of Playne :)
I try to refrain from sharing too much opinion because, well, its an opinion and opinions don't have much value, especially circa 2019.
Playne is just an attempt at giving people a tool that removes a lot of these judgements so that we can openly reconnect with what we've forgotten.
Been following that line of thinking myself but came to the conclusion that this can not be the way. Silence is golden they say but who wants to live in a world where all the good people keep their mouths shut while the loudmouths are taking over the platforms and the streets? Certainly not me.
Sharing opinion and letting likeminded people know that they are not alone has a lot of value.
Just my opinion and totally off-topic tho :)
I think it's how we share our opinions, coming from a place of reflection/clarity/mindfulness/what-have-you... or not. :D
We've all got opinions, how we dialog to one another on them is key to real change (well, from my opinion, heh).
And that, right there, is the reason I'm glad we have at least some achievements in game. It gives me reason to not just put the practice in the drawer until I need it again. I more or less taught myself meditation at the same time I taught myself self-hypnosis, the latter from a book at my grandparents' house when I was spending a month out there at age 9. I went further in some areas, but still using it as a tool, rather than a practice. And it still is astoundingly good as a tool, but, because I'm neurodiverse, and am often fighting with ADHD which causes me to put things out of my thoughts easily, the achievements serve a purpose. They give me a goal to work toward, which has a reasonable likelihood of making the practice a habit. I never had the habit before for the same reason I never really got into taking notes for classes. I never needed them. I have a near eidetic memory, which allows me to recall things, including skills, very easily, and in enormous detail. So, to get a habit, I need to find some reason to do something persistently. Which is where the streaks and achievements come in. because it's too easy to walk away from something, knowing I can just call upon those skills again, rather than practice and increase my self-understanding more than I currently have.
Please, while I understand why some people don't like achievements, or don't feel they are necessary, they are a 'placemarker' that works wonders for people easily distracted, especially ones who have natural talent at something, but get easily bored. For some of us, the boredom exists primarily when we don't feel that our effort is making any progress. This gives a progress meter, as such. Just another way of looking at it, if you will.