A commentary on patience

 I play Taonga Island and have watched people drop off of the game for weeks. There are only five to six neighbors left with awake islands. Why do people only want fast-moving games? Let's find out. 

Courtesy of bananatic.com

The patience level of the public is lower than it was before. As the levels of Taonga Island require either money for diamonds (that speeds up tasks) or waiting and coming back, people stop playing the game. Today we look at how much patience the public actually has. 

Our Current Society

Given the instant gratification that we expect from devices, it'd be no surprise that we'd get bored when something isn't instant. Advertisements talk about the speed of the internet. We can pay extra for same-day shipping and faster shipping. We are given stuff now, no delays, and it is taking a toll on our patience levels as a whole society. Even today I grumbled at my work computer for being slow. I see people get anxious after a brief waiting period and get upset or angry. All generations suffer from a lack of patience - particularly in the customer service department. Anyone working for the general public has seen this. We can tell stories about being yelled at for being slow, despite going the fastest that we physically can. Not only do we expect instant gratification from devices, but humans, as well! 

Courtesy of Pinterest

What doesn't help is that devices can give us faster gratification. Younger generations get used to this and don't like waiting for anything. I used to wait for an internet connection and a free phone line to use the internet. Dial-up has become high-speed internet and you can now make a call while surfing the web. Our technology growth is good, but the instant gratification that people get used to doesn't teach us to wait. Attention deficit disorder has gone up and we focus less. Why do you think social media videos are so short?

It is worth noting that some places need fast, like military operations and investigations. At the same time, we also need to learn that waiting for the right time to do something or making slow and steady progress is worth it. Let me point you to the arts that are incredibly detailed and take hours. You can't start that, get bored, and still have the pretty counted cross stitch on your wall. You miss out on the satisfaction of finishing a long journey and process to get the reward at the end. The journey is part of the fun. That cross-stitch is worth far more to you now than something you bought already made.

The arts that require time and patience are worth money. Have you noticed that? We pay someone to make a cabinet or do a craft that takes hours because we don't want to learn it ourselves. This certainly helps crafters (no complaints from my end on that), yet it also demonstrates how we don't want to take the time to make it ourselves. Obviously, not everyone has a wood shop or the space, so that is also part of why. The situation here is that we want a shortcut. Games take this opportunity to sap money from us to get money for a FREE game. Taonga Island is no different. This is one of the few criticisms I have of free mobile games.  

What games do to take advantage

There are two types of games that I'll talk about, but one is free if you have the patience to wait. If you don't, a free game can cost you money with in-game purchases of perks. The benefit of a game that already costs money is that you may not have in-game purchases in it. 

Free games, like Taonga Island, are fun if you have a higher patience level than most. Higher levels require more crafting items and more time to wait for them to finish. There is an energy limit built in so you don't burn out on it. The in-game purchases are usually meant to speed you along and con you out of money. It isn't worth it, since most times you can wait or come back the next day to find your crafting items all done. Those that don't have any attention span get taken advantage of by the mere offer (psychological suggestion) of spending money to speed up a process that doesn't have any urgency (unless you are addicted). 

The other type of game doesn't do this to you (unless you can get extension packs and perks). This is the game you paid money for and can play all day with no energy limit. Maybe you can have some in-game purchases, but they aren't shamelessly flown like a flag in front of you (at least I hope not) because the people already have your money. The key difference is that the makers of the game made you pay to get it, rather than making it free and limiting your playtime unless you pay for extra energy. 

Courtesy of laneros.com

Gamers with more attention span tend to pay for a game and then play it, as opposed to the free games limiting how much they can do. Taonga Island and many other free games are fun, yes, but they can take advantage of those that want instant gratification by taking their money for extra perks and faster play. Those that refuse to put money into a free game can get bored and that is why so many neighbors dropped off my list as time passed. The game could no longer hold the attention of some people. Others are still playing and active (me). 

Technology's Fault or Not?

Our phones are only a part of it. We teach our younger generations how to interact. Society also pushes quick progress, which doesn't help. I mentioned faster shipping, right? Well, yeah, that has something to do with it. Online shopping is an effect of society wanting everything now. It is how we use the technology, not the devices themselves. You can't blame a website for what it was programmed for because humans programmed it. The inanimate object doesn't use itself. 

What it really comes down to is how we use what we have. Inanimate objects don't move themselves (unless you program them to). It is our fault when it comes down to it. Society is moving too fast to cultivate patience. This may also depend on where you come from, so keep that in mind. Smaller towns tend to move slower and living in the middle of nowhere tends to cultivate patience in some ways. Aside from that, our lives move faster than they used to, even then. 

What do we do about it? 

Real life requires waiting in certain seasons. Staying at a job for a longer period of time gets you a promotion more often than job-jumping. Loyalty is rewarded in most places. Patience is required to stay at a job, especially if you want to rise up the ladder. What's more, some situations require social patience and blow over if you wait calmly. Not everything needs an immediate reaction. Not everyone can give an immediate answer. 

I don't truly know what will help this, other than perhaps training our younger generations to wait well. That is all we can do. We have to model this skill, however, so it won't be easy. The real, honest truth is that we need society to slow down. I don't see that happening anytime soon. We also need to get rid of game features that encourage immediate gratification in free games. Seriously, it gets annoying to have ads waved in your face (telling you to buy energy and diamonds to keep playing, no less). 

https://studybreaks.com/culture/instant-gratification/

https://medium.com/the-productivity-inn/why-the-world-is-getting-more-impatient-every-year-8ed0ac526354

https://www.zdnet.com/article/technology-is-making-us-more-impatient-says-study/