I think everyone has grown up wishing at some point to live inside a video game. Whether it be Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, or World of Warcraft. Why is this? These games provide a feeling of growth, progress, and exploration of the unknown. Unfortunately, reality was designed in a way where survival and reproduction are at the center of our existence, not fun. It’s the reason why some people spend 30+ years working a 9-5 they hate. It’s been this way for most of human history, but something called the internet changed everything.
The Great Online Game was first coined by Packy McCormick.
We’re all playing a Great Online Game. How well we play determines the rewards we get, online and offline.
The Great Online Game is played concurrently by billions of people, online, as themselves, with real-world consequences.
The Great Online Game is free to play, and it starts simply: by realizing that you’re playing a game.
I remember reading this paragraph and having a Matrix moment. It’s something I feel like I understood at a subconscious level, but it took reading physical words for it to really click. Everything we do on the internet, what we learn, create, post, trade, and sell is all connected to a huge multiplayer game. People who simply understand the fact that they’re playing this game have a huge unfair advantage because everything they now do has intention. Even with all the shit tech/social media is getting in the press, it is truly a revolutionary tool when used in the right way by the right people. Give a hammer to a random person, and most will look like a fool, give it to a nordic God, and they’ll be able to chop Thanos in half.
What is a Game?
A game is a problem-solving activity that has four components.
It must first be voluntary. (Technically, people in Squid Game did volunteer)
It needs to contain some sort of goal
Rules the player must follow.
A feedback system so players can gauge whether or not they're reaching their goals.
Variable Outcomes
A video game, according to the Oxford Dictionary “A game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen.”
If we add other factors such as the internet, and the exponential growth rate of technology, explaining The Great Online Game becomes a lot more complex. Playing it, however, is extremely simple.
What's the Goal? / Variable Outcomes
Due to the fact that the internet is the arena/setting for this game, the incentive/reward structure is infinite. This is a game that can be played as long as the internet continues to exist. Your goal can be to get Kanye West to follow you, become the first trillionaire, or make the next Minecraft, it doesn't matter.
With 7 billion players, rapidly evolving technology and instant communication time, there are limitless possibilities, with the reward-to-risk ratio being asymmetrical. The only downside is you have to invest your time. But here's the thing to remember: it's a game. The same way you didn't think twice about playing Pokemon growing up, we should approach The Great Online Game with that same level of playfulness and openness to learn and fail.
What are the rules?
Rules are something that must be followed in order to continue to play the game. They're the imaginary or digital boundaries players must stay within.
That being said, the only rules that seem to exist are the ones defined by the laws of nature. If you wanted to have 10 billion followers on Instagram, that wouldn't be possible.
The only rules that exist are ones that exist in meta-games or games within The Great Online Game. For example, you must follow Tik Tok's guidelines in order to produce content on the service or you may have to follow a Discord server's rules in order to communicate with others.
The Feedback System and Gatekeepers
You might also call the algorithms of these platforms: gatekeepers. What goes viral and what doesn't is dictated almost entirely by this software, and most of the time it isn't fair. Here's the thing you can cry about it, play a different game, or keep trying.
If you die the first time you play Mario, do you turn the console off? Studies have demonstrated that dying in the game Monkey Ball actually released high levels of dopamine. This is due to the fact that dying gave subjects key information about what not to do. It was immediate feedback that they could apply on their next try. The ones who win in The Great Online Game consistently learn and apply. They're no different from you and me; they simply applied this mindset and kept at it.
Success consists of going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm - Winston Churchill
This is why I'm so passionate about the great game. When you view it through the lens of a game, everything becomes so much more fun and rewarding. The moment you see it as a job or something you have to do versus something you get to do it becomes 10x harder to stick with grinding it out.
Different Classes/Roles/Players
I definitely can't list them all here, but here are some of the most fun/lucrative classes to play as.
Content Creator
Writer
Entrepreneur
Coder
Streamer/Competitive Gamer
Artist (Visual/Musical)
Digital Marketer
Stock/Crypto Trader
I plan to write a dedicated article on each of these in the future, but the important thing to note here is that you can technically play as all of these characters at the same time. Some attributes and traits definitely synergize/mesh better than others, but there's no stopping you from playing as all 9 at the same time.
The coolest thing to me is that you can learn to be any of these. We have access to more knowledge than the greatest kings/presidents/scholars/philosophers had pre-digital revolution.
Society/School/Family has beaten this mentality of a 9-5 safe job into us. We forgot the cool things we once wanted to be as a child.
You can be anyone or anything you can possibly dream of in The Great Online Game. The rewards you obtain aren't "fake" either. That's the most awesome part. You can make a living, have relationships, and learn a bunch of cool stuff all at the same time while having fun.
There Are Levels to This Shit
Considering how complex this game is, there are definitely levels to this. Depending on what meta-game you are playing it varies heavily. Someone like Elon Musk orJeff Bezos is pretty much maxed out in the Entrepreneurship category. Elon is also at a very high level in the Content Creator category given the number of followers he has amassed.
Content creation is a skill that can be learned, just like painting or making music. Using views, followers, and shares are relatively good metrics to gauge someone’s skill level, but it definitely isn't perfect. Factors such as community, loyalty, and love for the creator are all impossible to really measure. Money is an easy (but non-precise) metric that can be used across all players because at the end of the day, net worth most of the time is a reflection of how much value you are providing.
It's extremely hard to quantify knowledge and skill level for anyone who is playing the game. If you ever watched any of Mr.Beast's interviews, you'll understand just how obsessed he is with Youtube. The way an artist sees his/her craft is the same way Mr.Beast approaches making videos. He's dedicated 10,000+ hours to it. If he were to start another account from scratch, he would no doubt get it to a million within months.
Here's a cool example of this:
I'm still trying to develop some sort of system to quantify levels better, as visual progress is an extremely underrated way to stay motivated. Please message me on Twitter if you've come up with something!
Always Evolving (New Updates)
The most exciting thing about this game is that it's constantly changing. Every day new updates are being added, new players are joining, and possibilities continue to exceed the imagination. If you told someone ten years ago that recording videos on my phone, playing games, and trading digital coins would become some of the lucrative and influential professions in modern society they would probably suspect I was smoking crack. It's hard to imagine but the next 20 years will make the past 20 look insignificant.
The accretion of tiny marvels can numb us to the arrival of the stupendous. - Kevin Kelly
The first people who took advantage of Tik Tok have reaped insane benefits. Look at Lil Nas X, who before Tik Tok was recording music off of a $30 setup. Now he's a Grammy award-winning artist. I literally can't make this stuff up.
AR/VR, The Blockchain, AI, and cloud computing are all industries to watch out for in the next decade. But even now there are millions of ways to get started and start playing.
Cryptocurrency
Crypto will play a huge role as the in-game currency for The Great Online Game. Although we are currently in a bear market, there is no doubt in my mind that it will be pivotal in not only the growth of the game but crucial elements such as barter, payment, and authentication. There have been many rumors that Grand Theft Auto may reward players with crypto when it is released, making it pay to earn instead of a pay-to-win game.
I hope reading this article got you ignited excitement in you to grow, explore and earn on the internet. Don’t wait for someone’s permission to start playing, life is a game and we’re playing right now.
Until next time, logging out.