How a video game addiction taught valuable skills for later in life.

My family always said I played too many video games.

They were right. I remember one time when I was about 12, I was still going at around 5am playing the video game Diablo II online. Mum came in and yanked the power cord out of the wall, telling me to go to bed. At this stage of my life, I definitely hadn’t learnt how to respond, and not react yet. I hit the roof.

It was probably a good thing though.

At times I was addicted to gaming - playing for up to 10 hours a day sometimes. I wagged school, and missing weekends to play video games. I’ve always looked back on the time with mixed emotions. Did I waste my high school years? Hmm..I still think I might have.

But what I’ve realised now that I’ve matured and moved into real life, so to speak, is that all those hours in the online gaming world weren’t totally lost. 

Many of the foundation skills I have and enact most days – I can trace back to first learning all that time ago when I was playing in the virtual world. Back then, I learnt slowly, and for the first time. Now I use these skills almost unconsciously as if the habits were formed a long time ago.

They were. Here’s a few.

Master your craft, each and every day.

My favourite game was a role-player called Diablo II. The objective of the game was to ‘level up’. A better level equaled better weapons, better pay, better skill and recognition. Not too unlike a workplace? Minus the weapons.

This ‘level up’ process meant you played the same mission over, and over, and over. The exact same mission. But the process of it - improving your weapon, improving your skill, each time trying to get better made it totally addictive. It was an endless pursuit of mastery, and probably why it hooked me in for countless hours.

Today, I still see myself doing a similar thing in the workplace, almost like I'm still playing a game. Constantly trying to level up. Whether it is always looking to be in growth mindset, doing the extras, reading, learning, more reading - again, a constant pursuit.

The two worlds might have been more in common than I ever realised.

Think critically to win

Diablo II was big on making you think. Each time you entered the mission, it was with a different set of variables and probabilities every time. Calculating your movements across the battlefield was similar to a game of chess. You learnt how to trade-off, how to break down situations ahead of time and ultimately, how to win.

It's no secret that in a lot of roles - you need a level of critical thinking. In advertising, it's probably even more important - because you have to get in the mind of others, as well as your own. The ability to decide what to do, and more importantly, what not to do happens every day now. Now that I think about it - it also happened every day back when I was playing on the online battlefield too.

Create demand for your product

One of my favorite components of Diablo II was the ability to create supply and demand - even though I was unaware of what that actually was or meant at the time. The name of the game was to get better loot, or weaponry to sell to other people online. Looking back, it was almost like doing a mini course - because it was there in the virtual world that I would learn many tactics I now use today. How to look at pricing, how to create demand, and communicate in a way that added value to what I was selling.

There was great insight into how people think in the virtual world - and what people do when they want something. The end result was a young Luke being able to make a couple of grand off selling online swords and weaponry. Real Australian dollars too. Not small change for a twelve year old.

Fast-forward to working in advertising and communications, and this is a very easy skill I've transferred. Building demand in product through communications is what we do each and every day - so it turns out I've been in this caper for longer than I first thought.

Final word

So that's it. I'm certain I played way too many video games as a kid. But I'd hate to think what I'd be like in a world of greater technology like we live in today.

My final takeout is to think retrospectively more. Look back and find answers for the present. Why are we the way we are, and what have we learnt along the way. All things have value - it might just take awhile to actually realize it.

What lessons did you learn as a kid?

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Hi I’m Luke Maher, a passionate advertising guy working in Melbourne, Australia. Currently my role at Initiative is to evolve the communications of some of the leading businesses in the country.

I like to write about all things advertising and technology, and have been fortunate to be recognized as one of the Australia's top LinkedIn Newcomer Influencers for 2017. See below a few of my favorite pieces.

• Humanise or ostracise: A thought piece around new technologies challenging real human connection
• Filter bubbles everywhere: A thought piece on a new platform that would do the exact opposite
• The $#@!$ mobile experience: A view on how we can fix the mobile experience for customers

If you have any questions or would like to reach out – please contact me at [email protected]