Update
1) My assigned oral partner for German class wanted to just stick to a plain script lifted from the textbook. I asked her if she would normally speak with her friends that way. She said yes. It didn't seem natural to me, but when I suggested some changes she didn't feel the new dialogue was natural to her. After some light argumentation I conceded to her, since she's being graded for the module, whereas I am only taking it on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. The consequences for doing poorly would be greater for her than for me.
She told me not to invent stuff during the oral exam. But I couldn't help it. I threw in a few extra lines during the exam, because it felt natural to me. I'm not sure how she eventually fared but I did pretty well. I was commended for being "very interactive", spontaneous, and trying to make the dialogue flow. That doesn't sound like me in real life, so what's going on here? Simple. I like crafting dialogue. More specifically: I think I'm naturally inclined to filling in dialogue, if only for the sake of filling it in. I've got my own internal rhythm, and whenever a dialogue doesn't mesh well with that rhythm, I instinctively try to massage the dialogue to fit my rhythm. Note that this isn't saying much. I think most of us have a certain internal rhythm. Where we might differ, I think, is the extent in which we instinctively try to influence the dialogue to fit our rhythms.
2) I've won arguably the world's strongest Agricola player 4 times now. But he's beaten me at least 12 times. I remember making a note to myself, a year or so back, that I would consider my mission in Agricola accomplished, when I've won that particular player. That's because at that point, I had won the other top players in the game a number of times already. He was the only top player I hadn't won a game against then. That's changed now.
I feel that I've come a long way in Agricola. And I'm wondering if it's time to retire from the game already, where retiring means occasionally playing it for fun, but not taking it too seriously. To be sure, I still have much to improve on. Any of those top players are likely to beat me in any given game; but I think I've reached a point where I can put up a good fight against any of them.
But I think I've reached a point where I'm going to have spend a lot of time and effort to improve further. Even then, I'm not sure if I can indeed improve by much. These top players have an extremely, extremely keen sense of the game. (I glean this from conversing with them sometimes, after each game, asking them why they did what they did, asking them what things I could have done better.) They can take a step back, look at the boards, and instinctively know what is the best move to make. I'm particularly impressed by how well they can still do sometimes, when they are the last to grow their family. (Sort of the equivalent to "developing one's economy", such that you win out your opponents in the long run) When I'm the last to grow, I usually fare pretty badly. I'm not sure how they do it. And I'm not sure if I can ever have the flair to do it.
If I were to continue regularly playing this game, my next goal would be to create my own playing style. The top players all have their own, and that's not an uncommon pheonomenon in sports of any kind. A couple dislike building up their farms too early; a few others disregard building up a credible food engine. Some of them have picked up cards that are seemingly poor, but then gone on to do well with them, such that others players have started picking up on the potential of these cards. I don't have a style identifiable with me now. That would be the next step - to innovate. That'd be exciting, but to innovate well, you've got to be successful in your own style. (It's quite easy to have your own style and do poorly). And to do that, I've got to develop even better mechanics and understanding of the game. But I'm not sure if I'm up for that. We shall see.
3) I dreamt that I was in a large ship some time ago. I was wandering through the dimly lit corridors, and I liked it. I particularly like finding and sitting in an empty room all by myself, but I'm not sure why.
She told me not to invent stuff during the oral exam. But I couldn't help it. I threw in a few extra lines during the exam, because it felt natural to me. I'm not sure how she eventually fared but I did pretty well. I was commended for being "very interactive", spontaneous, and trying to make the dialogue flow. That doesn't sound like me in real life, so what's going on here? Simple. I like crafting dialogue. More specifically: I think I'm naturally inclined to filling in dialogue, if only for the sake of filling it in. I've got my own internal rhythm, and whenever a dialogue doesn't mesh well with that rhythm, I instinctively try to massage the dialogue to fit my rhythm. Note that this isn't saying much. I think most of us have a certain internal rhythm. Where we might differ, I think, is the extent in which we instinctively try to influence the dialogue to fit our rhythms.
2) I've won arguably the world's strongest Agricola player 4 times now. But he's beaten me at least 12 times. I remember making a note to myself, a year or so back, that I would consider my mission in Agricola accomplished, when I've won that particular player. That's because at that point, I had won the other top players in the game a number of times already. He was the only top player I hadn't won a game against then. That's changed now.
I feel that I've come a long way in Agricola. And I'm wondering if it's time to retire from the game already, where retiring means occasionally playing it for fun, but not taking it too seriously. To be sure, I still have much to improve on. Any of those top players are likely to beat me in any given game; but I think I've reached a point where I can put up a good fight against any of them.
But I think I've reached a point where I'm going to have spend a lot of time and effort to improve further. Even then, I'm not sure if I can indeed improve by much. These top players have an extremely, extremely keen sense of the game. (I glean this from conversing with them sometimes, after each game, asking them why they did what they did, asking them what things I could have done better.) They can take a step back, look at the boards, and instinctively know what is the best move to make. I'm particularly impressed by how well they can still do sometimes, when they are the last to grow their family. (Sort of the equivalent to "developing one's economy", such that you win out your opponents in the long run) When I'm the last to grow, I usually fare pretty badly. I'm not sure how they do it. And I'm not sure if I can ever have the flair to do it.
If I were to continue regularly playing this game, my next goal would be to create my own playing style. The top players all have their own, and that's not an uncommon pheonomenon in sports of any kind. A couple dislike building up their farms too early; a few others disregard building up a credible food engine. Some of them have picked up cards that are seemingly poor, but then gone on to do well with them, such that others players have started picking up on the potential of these cards. I don't have a style identifiable with me now. That would be the next step - to innovate. That'd be exciting, but to innovate well, you've got to be successful in your own style. (It's quite easy to have your own style and do poorly). And to do that, I've got to develop even better mechanics and understanding of the game. But I'm not sure if I'm up for that. We shall see.
3) I dreamt that I was in a large ship some time ago. I was wandering through the dimly lit corridors, and I liked it. I particularly like finding and sitting in an empty room all by myself, but I'm not sure why.
3 Comments:
1 - yes, everyone has internal rhytms and would change according to dialogue parties such as to family members, relatives, friends,assessors, etc.
2 - even own style need to be changed innovatively and regularly in order to maintain at the top so that opponents can't counter.
how come your dreams are so nice one!
yt
Not all my dreams are like that.
Post a Comment
<< Home