Buy only useful equipment

Approach life like a game to make growth more engaging and strategic.

November 14th, 2025 3 min read

In games

In games, rare equipment isn’t always better.

Some rare gear just looks fancy but has terrible stats. Glowing effects, cool appearance, limited edition skins—none of these increase your attack power.

Experienced players know that leveling efficiency matters most. Don’t care about how pretty or rare the equipment is—focus on its stats and attribute bonuses. More stats = higher grinding efficiency.

The right approach? Sell rare but useless equipment to players who chase vanity, and trade for things that actually boost your power, like useful gear or skills. Wait until you’re high level before caring about cosmetics.

Focus on grinding efficiency first, looks later.

In reality

In reality, most of the “legendary equipment” we buy only has vanity value with no actual function.

Designer bags don’t hold more stuff than regular backpacks. Limited edition sneakers won’t make you run faster. Branded logo tees don’t last longer than plain ones. Diamonds are just decorative items.

These things won’t make you richer—they make you poorer. Worse is the opportunity cost—money that could have been invested in yourself becomes useless equipment. In a sense, these items bring negative attributes: “Money -30,000,” “Investment opportunities -100,” “Skill growth -50,” “Financial freedom -150 days.”

A brand is just: the company that spends the most on advertising.

They hire celebrities to tell you that buying this will make you as successful as them. But celebrities use these products because they’re paid to endorse them, not because they’re actually good.

Brands are leveling up off you. Celebrities are leveling up off you.

And you? You’re the mob they’re grinding and the experience points they’re gaining.

Actually, with today’s technology, we’re already quite equal. The smartphone you use is the same model as the one billionaires use. The software you use is the same as what celebrities use. At the tool level, we’re already as “successful” as them.

Don’t let equipment define you. When buying a Rolex costs less than 0.1% of your wealth, then consider it. Until then, invest your money in things that actually help you level up.

Vanity stats won’t help you level up.

Buy only useful equipment.

Player notes

My dad loved collecting luxury watches. Rolex, Patek Philippe, and the like. He said they’d be family heirlooms for me someday.

Seeing too many ads and echoing others, I once thought mechanical watches were cool too. All that talk about “craftsmanship,” “artisanal art,” “a man’s romance.”

But I later realized: mechanical watches are the ultimate vanity stat equipment. Inaccurate timekeeping, high maintenance costs, and heavy. Purely for showing off.

Rolex produces over a million watches per year. That’s not rare, that’s mass production.

Later my dad went into debt and couldn’t even pay for living expenses. I helped him sell all the luxury watches to watch shops. As expected, all at a loss. The so-called “value retention” is a lie. If he had invested that money in index funds back then, he could buy dozens of the same watches now.

I wear a Garmin now. Heart rate monitoring, step counting, vibration alarm, multiple time zones, meditation timer. The price is a fraction of the Rolex I once wanted. Great value for money.

I’ll never touch mechanical watches again.

Similarly, when I see convenience store clerks wearing sneakers that cost more than their monthly salary, I feel sorry for them. That shoe money could have gone toward learning new skills, taking useful courses, or building an emergency fund. But now it’s just for temporary bragging rights.

Real family heirlooms don’t have to be objects—they can be skills, knowledge, experience, and the right money mindset.