cojo965 said:
Real life is not like a majority of games that only have one path or even the branching games, the amount of ways a conversation can unfold in the real world is truly limitless. I'll show you what I mean... actually I can't come up with anything right now, but the point is that just because you skipped a conversation, doesn't mean that the outcome was entirely favorable.
You'll notice I said "the same three or four interminable, unwinnable conversations." I *know* the outcome isn't necessarily going to be entirely favorable, hence my use of the word "unwinnable."
Even the ones I don't know exactly, I can chart with pretty good accuracy. I choose to say nothing to the pretty lady obstructing the coffee machine in the bagel shop because A) I have a couple minutes, she'll move on her own, B) pretty ladies get hit on all the time, she wants nothing to do with a schlub like me, what she wants is to be left alone, C) I am socially retarded, so my chances of being charming enough to warrant a real conversation are analogous to my odds of hitting the lottery, D) it is HIGHLY doubtful she'd be engaged by a topic of interest to me, for example the willfully ignorant, sensationalist misrepresentation of the theory of evolution by creationists and the media, E) and so on and so forth. Get the brush-off with optional put-down, screw up on my own, fail to pique her interest -- I'm aware of at least a dozen possible paths of conversation and none of them go to a place either she or I want to be. In this case I skip the conversation by never starting it. Most times I don't have the option.
And yes, as a matter of fact I *do* know exactly how most conversations are going to play out:
- Unhappy customer is going to vent until he's satisfied he's taken sufficient advantage of someone who gets paid not to tell him where to stick his attitude, then he's going to take his credit and go away.
- Friendly customer is going to make the same remark about the weather or the local sports team, neither of which I care the least bit about and both of which I've already heard fifty times today.
- Relentless horn-dog on the crew is going to talk the same line of macho bullshit, almost verbatim, about at least a dozen women we see throughout the day, like he has every day since he started. Then he'll say the government are all corrupt maggots.
- Crew's resident Mr Sunshine will talk the same line of nihilistic crap he talks pretty much every day. Then he'll rave about Grand Theft Auto for about an hour and a half. After that, he'll tell me how crazy all his past girlfriends have been, and how much happier he is now that he's alone. Not true (the being happy part; he definitely dates psychos), but he'll say it anyway.
- Resident complainer will talk about how resident doofus didn't do his work, why is he still here when he sucks so bad?
Sure, I can call the horn-dog on his transparent lies, but it won't teach him anything. He does NOT take criticism well, or at all. He'll just get mad, say I'm jealous of his sexual prowess, and before the day is out he'll be back to routine.
Mr Sunshine is not about to have his mind changed by me or anyone, nor can he be dissuaded from teaching me all about a game I've never played and have no intention of playing.
I can tell the unhappy customer to stick it, but I won't have a job for very long.
So all these conversations are going to play out, again, and again, and again. Real life conversation often *is* like a cutscene: no matter how many times you play it, it's identical.
The whole idea is I'll take the outcome, whatever it might be, I just don't have to have my time wasted. I'd like to have
better conversations but we were told to wish for something silly and inconsequential.
