A while ago I asked whether you are a do the good thing first or save it for later sort of person, like eat the best part or whatever.
Now I’m curious if it was a zombie apocalypse, would that change your calculation?
So not in daily life, but if you found something good but you know you’ll likely die soon.
Do you consume it all now (not just food, but media or friendship), or do you dole it out to yourself to make it last?
based on my gaming style, i finish the game having never used my rare consumables because the time never seems quite right.
I’m increasingly of the opinion that finite consumables are bad game design.
It’s bad design because it fails to account for that exact psychology you described - we humans are loss-averse creatures, and so we hoard them without any benefit.
Much better systems IMO are those which have consumables that naturally replenish over time like mana, or that you fill between fights like the estus flasks in souls games when you rest at a campfire.
These are better because they still challenge the player with managing limited resources, except it’s only limited for the duration of a fight or area, not across the entire game like finite consumables are. It encourages players to use them because they know they’ll get it back, and indeed if you don’t use your mana pool when it’s right there to use, then you’re underperforming.
So yeah. Finite consumables were a natural addition in the early days of gaming which model how real life works, but these days we’ve got much better and more engaging ways of handling the same problem.
Per-encounter resource used are generally better for me, yes.
It’s one of my big problems with DND. Almost the whole thing is centered around per-day so there’s this constant pressure to avoid actually using anything. Like, you could end the fight with a 3rd level spell, or you could slowly end it without spending any resources. It takes longer to play but is otherwise mechanically superior. Deeply anti-fun for me.
I would call the fight with Everae Altana in FFX one of the exceptions, but a couple Phoenix Downs aren’t exactly rare.
Have you ever arrived at the final boss and notice you still have every single consumable you’ve ever picked up in your inventory? And then you still try to defeat the boss without using any? Yeah…
Every single time.
You cant use them in the final boss because it wont be the final final boss, itll have about 3 health bars. When you kill it it’ll laugh and call you a foolish mortal and ask if you really thought it could be so easily defeated, so obviously im going to save my potions for the end. Credits roll.
Wouldn’t change me. I always like to save something good, gives me comfort knowing i have something up my sleeve i can use if i need to.
But if im dying? Probs use it all at once or give it to someone who isnt dying (unless im all alone)
This is such a lovely answer, thanks.
Yes, I would consume my friends immediately
With drugs? Use it all now. Its how you avoid chemical addictions. Stretching out your drugs so you have a little every day in fear of running out is how a little bit every day turns into a lot everyday witbout noticing. Whereas something like percocets that you get from someone filling a script once a month, you do them all the weekend you get them and dont do any for the next 28 days, and youll be able to stiff arm any chemical dependencies at a distance for far longer.
Imma cannon ball into a lava pit.
This makes me think you’re empathetic enough to not be able to think of a world without other humans. I like that. It’s a good place to be.
It was actually a metaphor for post modern avantgarde multipartner relationships with ai robots.
I hate how my brain will sit there and say “that’s good, you played enough of this game, you’ve read enough of this book, save the rest for later, next time,” when I’m literally doing sweet fuck-all afterward, no plans, nothing to do except continue the thing I was doing, but no. Brain wants me to stop.
There’s your answer.
Save it for later if it’s unopened, but use it up if the seal has been broken.
I aim for largom but sometimes weak, haha
USE IT ALL NOW, RIGHT NOW! IF I DON’T USE IT NOW IT WILL BE FORGOTTEN.
Yeah in like a llife or death situation I’d be more pragmatic but as it stands I can’t just let things sit.
I just wonder if it’s fine to leave something for those who come after you, though …
Thankfully the resources I consume are rarely needed by others in my local vicinity
One of my biggest problems in life is trying to do things / use things up all at once. Probably an aspect of ADHD.
This is definitely the case with media:
- getting too into a game has, multiple times, caused me to put university on the shelf for a bit.
- occasionally get periods of time where I feel the need to grind stardewvalley valley and play no other game. It’s also one of those games where I compulsively start new saves before completely finishing the last one
- when I find a really good series to watch I just watch an episode every day. Sometimes that becomes my main recreation. MadMen was the best example of this because I watched it with zero break days (except a family holiday?) from start to finish
- When Daredevil: Born Again came out, the release time for each episode was like 4AM in Britain and I’d been planning around it releasing at midnight or evening like they usually do. For some reason I HAD to see it before I did anything else. 4 AM wake-up on a wednesday for about 5 weeks. Damaged my sleep schedule significantly and left me not enough energy to even go to university on those days.
If a book doesn’t make me want to read it all now, it won’t get read at all. Because it’s competing with flashy phone screen for my attention.
Not sure how friendship gets “consumed all at once” but I think I’m actually a “save hings for later” in that regard, same wth romantic relationships. Just can’t plan ahead with dopamine-wells such as entertainment and snacks. I can save non-snack food for later, and I actually excel at it.
Bofem
