Gaming Inspirations I: Personal Party Composition

Pick an entry in the series to read your favorite character’s essay:

Another great FFIX Fanart – this one’s by Do0dlebugdebz on Deviantart (http://do0dlebugdebz.deviantart.com/).

In games, and RPGs in particular, balance is important. It can certainly be fun to have a party of four raging barbarians in D&D, smashing everything in your path, but if you run into a caster who flies out of your smashing-reach and starts pelting you with fireballs, you’re gonna have a bad time. It’s all about diminishing returns – each barbarian you add to the party after the first is going to have less of an effect than the last, because they’re not bringing anything new to the party. The more diversified a party is, the less likely it is that they’ll run into a situation in which they are at a disadvantage.

In Final Fantasy IX, the first four permanent party members constitute the classic RPG party: a thief (Zidane), a warrior (Steiner), a wizard (Vivi), and a healer (Garnet). All have their own strengths, allowing the party to flourish in nearly every situation.

It’s this diversity that I’m trying to bring into my own life. Committing to being very good at one thing, while an improvement, is not optimal. It’s more constructive to invest energy in multiple disciplines, to become a well-rounded individual, so you’re ready for whatever life throws at you.

The next eight posts in the Gaming Inspirations series will be profiles for each of the main characters in Final Fantasy IX, what qualities they bring to the party, and how you can use the lessons that they provide to improve the quality of your life.

See ya Thursday!

Here’s a link to our first Gaming Inspirations Profile: IT’S ABOUT STEINER

What I’m reading: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. It’s SO good. A must-read for any Princess Bride fan! Click the image below to go to the Amazon page: