Game Mindset: When the game updates, change your strategy

In games

Games get patched.

Your class might suddenly get nerfed. Someone else’s class gets buffed. That skill combo you spent 100 hours perfecting? Useless overnight.

But patches aren’t just nerfs.

New maps open up. New classes appear. New mechanics, new gear, new dungeons, new quests. Some changes disrupt your rhythm, but others open new paths.

Every patch has its meta. But a few months later, the developers push another update, and everything reshuffles.

Forums are always full of people complaining that patches are unfair.

But complaining has never rolled back a patch. Developers don’t revert to old versions just because you’re unhappy.

Veteran players sometimes struggle more than newcomers. They’re too attached to old strategies, can’t let go. Newcomers have no baggage. They just learn the new meta and often pick it up faster.

But they all know one thing: adapt to the patch.

If the old path is blocked, explore the new map. If old skills don’t work, train new ones. Instead of complaining that developers ruined the game, see what new doors this patch opened.

Complaining is easy, but useless. Adapting is painful, but it’s the only way.

In reality

We often assume reality is fixed.

Jobs will always be there. Skills once learned last a lifetime. Relationships won’t change. Bodies won’t age.

But reality, like games, keeps getting patched.

Yesterday’s iron rice bowl becomes a sunset industry. Skills you spent ten years mastering? AI does it in seconds. One algorithm change and your traffic drops to zero. One regulation change and your business model is illegal.

People change too. Friends drift apart, family members leave, partners might break up. Betting all your happiness on the assumption that things “won’t change” is dangerous.

Even your body gets patched. Your stamina at 20 isn’t the same at 40. Pushing yourself the way you did when young just leads to injury.

Some people in reality are always waiting for the world to go back to “how it was.”

Waiting for AI to disappear. For housing prices to crash. For an ex to come back. For a boss to have a change of heart.

But games never roll back, and neither does reality.

The only thing you can control is how you respond.

Your class got nerfed? Learn new skills, or switch paths. Rules changed? Study the new rules, find new angles.

People who cling to old strategies don’t get stronger. They get left behind by the patch.

Instead of complaining about unfair developers, spend that time learning new moves.

Games get patched. Complaining is useless. Adapting is the real skill.

When the game updates, change your strategy.

Player notes

Real life never lacks black swan events.

In 2020, COVID-19 hit. I was in the US at the time, and my entire work rhythm changed overnight. Remote work, shutdowns, no idea when things would return to normal.

In 2022, an unexpected pregnancy. Career plans, side project timelines, all thrown into chaos.

In 2024, I watched AI write code at roughly my level, and my heart sank. Ten years of programming experience suddenly felt less valuable.

Looking back, these were all patches I didn’t see coming.

And there are ones I haven’t experienced but could happen anytime: financial crashes, natural disasters, wars. These major events aren’t things ordinary people can control, but they will happen. We just don’t know when.

People 100 years ago couldn’t imagine horse carriages being replaced by cars.

Me ten years ago couldn’t imagine what the world looks like today. Smartphones became extensions of our bodies. AI writes code, creates art, holds conversations.

Me one year ago never imagined I’d be writing a book now.

Buddhism talks about impermanence. The only constant is that everything changes. Clinging to permanence only leads to suffering.

Stoic philosophy talks about the dichotomy of control. Some things you can control, some you can’t. Spending energy on things you can’t control is just waste.

Game patches are things you can’t control. Developers don’t ask for your opinion.

What I can control is how I respond.

So my strategy now is: plan, but loosely. Keep multiple save files. Stay flexible. And embrace uncertainty, because uncertainty won’t go away, so I might as well learn to live with it.

Leveling tips

□ Spend 10 minutes each week imagining the worst case. What if you lose your job? What if income drops to zero? Not to scare yourself, but to think through backup plans in advance. Once you’ve thought it through, you’re less afraid.
□ Practice distinguishing “can control” from “can’t control.” Patches, the economy, other people’s decisions: can’t control. Your reaction, your next move: can control. Put your energy in the right place.
□ Regularly ask yourself: if this thing disappeared tomorrow, could I survive? Your job, income source, a relationship. Not cursing it to disappear, but confirming you won’t completely collapse from one patch.
□ Practice saying “okay” to bad news. Not resignation, but saving the energy you’d waste complaining. After saying “okay,” immediately ask yourself “now what?”
□ Regularly review if your strategy is still working. If something you’ve been doing for a long time isn’t producing results, maybe it’s not that you’re not trying hard enough. Maybe the patch changed.