Commitment and Consistency teaches us about a game

When you first began math, your teacher showed you a number, and what it symbolically meant. 5 became five apples. If you had two more, you would have six -Seven- apples. This is used to teach you the rules. It also shows us that through consistency, we learn. Committing to this idea then lets us find out the square root of pie divided by the mol of hydrogen.

Commitment and Consistency are the same idea with a different beginning. Commitment is when you make a decision to do something, buy something, or live a certain way. Consistency is if you didn’t really think about something, and continued doing it.

My first car was way better than this. 

The most common description of commitment is that of buying a car. The more money and time you put into this car, the more you feel connected to that car. In fact, this can be detrimental if the car is constantly in need of repairs. Even if you saw a car that worked slightly better, and was cheaper than the next repair, you would keep your old car. Most psychologists are baffled by this strange jump in logic.

There is an explanation though. Feelings of commitment will help you continue doing difficult tasks. The decision to finish the marathon is usually what keeps you running, way after your body has begun screaming at you. A decision of marriage, and to children, keeps you to them even though you may be going through problems at the moment.

Consistency is something you demanded as a child. You wanted dinner to be served at a certain time, your name to be pronounced the same way every time, and bedtime at the same time. TV shows not arriving as scheduled could be devastating. It also works within TV itself. If you meet a character, he needs to be the same person throughout the story. If he decides to stop it all and begin punching sharks, there had better be an explanation.

Even stranger is that once we know a standard plot, we actually like it better. Many very big time actors play the same person over and over again, and it doesn’t bother us. Robert Downey Jr has played Tony Stark in pretty much the same way as he did Sherlock Holmes. No one is bothered by this.

When you shave, you reach for your razor out of reflex. You don’t need to look. If the razor was moved, it would actually feel weird.

The very next moment the balloon pops. No really.

As a form of persuasion, when you suddenly want to deviate off the path people will remind you of your commitment. If you screw up shaving, people point it out to you.

Within videogames consistency helps you learn how to play. The first enemy you meet will be the basis for any enemy after that. Your first weapon will be what all other weapons are based on. In fact, the first few moments of the game will explain how to play the rest of the game. Achievements work the same way, you have a new goal, and were already playing the game.

Let’s go back to Super Mario Bros.

If you died at this spot, you just barely began playing.

The Goomba at the very beginning moves in a single direction. It can be killed by stomping on top of it.

Italian Americans everywhere are so thankful for this game. No reason.

When it touches a pipe, or a fellow enemy, it reverses course. The character is now the standard for any other enemy you encounter. At no point does a Goomba change how it works. When you encounter another enemy, you notice two things. The enemy has the same consistent rules as the Goomba, and looks different.

Nothing Teenage or Mutant about this guy.

The Koopa works the same way as the Goomba, only it can not be killed by jumping on top of it. If you kick the Koopa it moves and kills enemies, but bounces off of solid objects. Yet, even within these differences it maintains a consistency. You learn to recognize the Koopa’s rules based on what you saw from the Gooma. Every time you see a Koopa that looks like this, it will follow its own rules.

Let’s try looking at some other random character.

I had to look it up, this guy is a Spiny.

This spiny looking turtle obviously follows many of the same rules as the Goomba, and Koopa. The spikes must represent that you get hurt if you jump on top of them. This representation shows us the clear rules, and what to do with the Spiny.

Mmmmmm...Muzzleflash

In Doom, the first gun you hold tells you about all of the others.

It shoots straight, has a specific range, and an ammo limit. You see how things moves as you shoot. Every single weapon is based on the same things that this small pistol does. Like the difference between the Goomba, the Kookpa, and the Spiny the guns work the same way. They have the same consistent way to use, with variations on that standard setting.

Every single thing you encounter, whether it be a wall, an enemy, a new weapon, or an exploding barrel will all have rules. You will know these rules very quickly, and as new things show up, you will know how they work based on previous experiences. This consistency teaches you how to play the game.

Within commitment, you have the push to continue forward. You have already begun playing the game, and learned many of the rules to play it. Now you want to reach goals within the game. Even if you die, you still want continue playing.

I can quit this game any time I want! Just not yet.

After beating the game, you then challenge yourself to new tricks within it. You enjoy playing the game, and want to continue.

You may have beaten the game thousands of times, and have figured out the absolute best strategy against the enemies. Still, you want more. So, achievements are introduced.

I uh, had to restart a lot. That's why I haven't finished.

Some of these achievements are next to impossible to gain, which makes you continue playing even though its been months.

131 Hours, and still haven't gotten them all.

You continue to play because you feel the sense of commitment to complete. In the same way that you should have traded that car for a better one, you continue to play the game after the is gone.

As you can see, Commitment and Consistency really help games. They keep you at life, and persuade you to continue doing what you were previously doing. Within Super Mario Bros, the consistent movement of a Goomba becomes the basis for all of the other enemies. With everything you find, you can base it on a previous experience. Commiting to a game brings the idea of achievements. This helps us continue to play the game, and feel like we are working toward something.

Like the education in math, Games, and commitment help us to learn. We grow, and get better by continuing to work at it. If the teacher does it correctly, we constantly feel challenged, and ready to try again. Oh, by the way the answer to the question I gave at the beginning is 5.0426848e-24.