"It's all just a big game to you, isn't it?" You bet it is, and it will be AMAZING.

[Sarah Barr]

You know what?

 

I find it hard to play games, do work, stick to things without a goal more tangible than "you did it!" It's why, despite loving it dearly, I've never got past Venice in Tomb Raider 2 (especially since my brother SPOILED THE ENDING FOR ME). And it's why if I don't see immediate silly results, I do badly whenever I try to get fit - including the last time I tried a nerd fitness challenge.

 

The one exception seems to be Guild Wars.

 

I can and have played that solidly for days without getting bored, even if it's just monster bashing, because I get shiny things.

 

So, mostly inspired by the RPG IRL post, I am making a game of my own. 

 

I have to translate the monsters and missions in the game into Things That I Can Do That Don't Actually Involve Killing Animals. For example, in order to get a shiny present from a generous NPC called Nicholas, I have to give him five skale fins (Skale are man-sized, blue, web-fingered water monsters). In order to get five skale fins, I have to kill a number of skale (I roll a dice to see how many I have to kill per fin). To defeat each skale, I have to walk a mile. Therefore, in order to get my shiny present, I have to walk anything between five and thirty miles. 

I want proper Quest Rewards in the form of SHINY THINGS. So every time I get through a day sticking to a healthy eating and exercise plan, I put a gold star on a chart, and whatever money I can spare (even if it's just a few pennies) in a jar.
(Gold stars make me very happy indeed; I think I might be part dragon a way back.)
 

When I get enough skale fins or gargoyle skulls or whatever it is to give to Nicholas, I can take the money from the jar and buy A Quest Reward, or bank it to save up for a better quest reward. I have a list of them, and they're the equivalent of better armour or weapons or fun sparkly things: a sports bra that actually works, a pull-up bar, 15kg dumbbells and a nerd fitness T-shirt are on there at the moment. Some of them have restrictions: I can't buy this particular pull-up bar until I'm under 90kg, so it involves meeting specific targets.

I have nowhere near worked it all out yet, but when I do it will be awesome, and I'm only being a little bit fluffy and naive about that.

I need to use my imagination more and come up with my own adventure storyline and creatures and NPCs, which I reckon I can make a pretty good job of with enough time! I have the good fortune to live in Edinburgh, which is made of hills glued together with staircases, and has some very pretty pieces of countryside around it; so lots of my monster-killing tactics are area-specific - I have to touch the Royal Observatory to kill a bone dragon, and the observatory is up a hill which made me want to puke last time I climbed it - but I'm sure it'd be possible to fit the idea to any place, and WHEN I get it to work, and WHEN I get user-friendly, I'd love to make it a free resource.

So this week, I am writing up lists of monsters and how to beat them, drawing cut-out icons so you can actually have a little stack of skulls or hides or helmets blu-tacked to a big shiny chart, which I will also make. And, until I get the game up and running, I'm earning my gold stars and banking my gold coins, and we'll see how it goes!

 

 

My diet is currently:

Breakfast: Porridge oats with milk and nutmeg and not with a truckload of sugar.

Lunch - Hemp protein powder mixed with a fruit smoothie, plus some actual food.

Dinner - 50% vegetables, at least 25% protein, and no more than 25% complex carbohydrates.

...coming to a total of something between 1500 - 1800 kcal. No gold stars if I undereat or overeat. We're going for an Apollo-13-the-earth-is-in-the-tiny-window-controlled-burn thing here.

(I tried paleo, but as a vegetarian I found it way more difficult than I would if I could just grill some fish, so I'm saving that battle for another day and just cutting the junk food out for now.)

 

Here's my weekly exercise plan:

Mon: Walk the 3 miles home from work (and I only take bus fare for one way so there's no way of getting out of it!)

Tue: Beginner Bodyweight Workout
Wed: Beginner Bodyweight Workout
Thu: Walk to Sci-Fi Society meet-up, do not buy delicious nachos in pub by not bringing money.

Fri: Beginner Bodyweight Workout
Sat: Rest; do some cooking
Sun: Go walking round the park with my friend, who said she wanted to do a buddy system and may well be regretting it now I'm nagging her to do stuff...

 

And here are some other things for general disinterest:

I am 5 foot 3. 

I am 16 stone 4 (somewhere around 105 kilos).

One day I will be really flaming strong, and will be able to carry things up mountains to do SCIENCE to those mountains.
I will be a serious capital-R Ranger, as in an RPG ranger type and also an actual ranger. In a park and stuff. With trees.

(I like ecology a lot. I like field ecology even more despite all the midges.)
I would like to fit into clothes I can afford (I hate paying £30 for a dress because I can't find a £10 dress in a size 24).

And I will not have to dangle shiny things in front of my face to make me do stuff.

I'm vegetarian and like cooking so expect the occasional recipe.

 

 

 

Please reply with suggestions for ways to battle monsters, and as soon as I get stuff together I'll try and upload it!

 

Oh, and if anyone wants to buddy up, let's go monster-bashing! 

 

 

 

(Oooooh, that was a lot of text. They won't all be like this.)

 

[hawgsquatch]

Hiya Sara,

 

Your attitude is excellent. I looked over your diet and it looks like you have it nailed down too. I think that before you know it you will be climbing those mountains and caring for the natural world the way you want to. Welcome to the rebellion and I wish you well on this adventure.You do live in a wonderful place.

[MadMiya]

So adorable! <3 Good luck with your newest game!

Also, I think someone should get on creating an app that catalogues and hotkeys all of our favorite gamer sounds like Everquest's "Ding!" for lvl up and maybe the witch sounds from MTG. Imagine walking past a chocolatier and hearing "Ding!" Fantastic! Someone do this?

[Siernan]

This whole plan is pretty awesome.  Also, I have to agree with you about there being something particularly addictive about Guild Wars(or, at least, Guild Wars 2).  I never could play an MMO for more than about a month, but now all of a sudden I have several max level characters and ascended equipment I'm saving gold to buy epic Exotic weapon skins.

[telepathboy]

Haha, this sounds awesome. A great way to convince yourself to get in shape, and control spending. I like it!

[YayForMorgan]

Oh wow, your game is genius! I want to play too  

[Sarah Barr]

Yay, I'm glad people like the idea! 
Siernan, I am so excited for GW2 - it's on my quest rewards list!

MadMiya, the "ding" would be amazing! I want the Final Fantasy 12 boss battle music to happen whenever I enter a gym!

The quests and tactics I come up with will go up on my battle log ( http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/40450-getting-fit-by-building-a-game-battle-log/ ) and if I get time this week there should be some (probably pretty scruffy) printables by the weekend if you want to have a go, YayForMorgan. No promises as to playability yet though!

Thanks guys!