Photo by Sammis Co

We have an XBox 360 gaming system. My husband does the majority of the playing on it, but I like to play occasionally. I’ll play a lot for a week or so, and then I get tired and leave it alone for a while.

My favorite game is Elder Scrolls IV Oblivian—a role-playing game that is so complicated I’ve been playing it for over a year and I’m probably not even half-way done.

A while ago, I noticed that when my character interacted with other game characters, often they would be rude or belligerant or refuse to tell me things I needed to learn to complete a task. I was getting very frustrated and was about to toss it aside for a while when one of those little “game tips” popped up.

It said: “People don’t like it when you talk to them with your weapon drawn.”

I realized that I had been walking around with my sword in my hand, and that’s why characters in the game were reacting so negatively. I put the sword away and tried again.

Everyone I talked to was much nicer; I got the information I needed to complete my task easily and moved up a rank in the process.

It occurred to me that the game had given me some good advice for my non-gaming life, also.

If I approach people with an expectation that they will be rude, or unhelpful, or even just unconcerned (i.e., with my weapon drawn), that’s probably the reaction I’m going to get. But if I approach them with a smile and an expectation of cooperation and helpfulness, I usually get what I need without a lot of discussion or arguing. Everyone comes away feeling like a winner.

What a nice thought!