Urgent optimism is the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, combined with the belief that we have a reasonable hope of success.
Jane McgonigalRead
I remember the first year at the Game Developers Conference I wore these big red giant knee-high boots. Nobody cared. You can wear anything you love, because that's what you do in games. You make yourself who you want to be.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the freedom of self-expression and identity through personal choices, especially in gaming.
Jane McGonigal's quote reflects the idea that in gaming, individuals have the liberty to express themselves without fear of judgment. The anecdote of wearing vibrant knee-high boots illustrates that one's true passions and preferences should take precedence over societal norms, encouraging players to embrace their unique identities both in games and in real life.
Themes
Self-ExpressionIdentityGamingIndividualityFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
A talk at a gaming convention about embracing unique identities in game design.
More from Jane Mcgonigal
All quotes →We've been playing games since humanity had civilization - there is something primal about our desire and our ability to play games. It's so deep-seated that it can bypass latter-day cultural norms and biases.
Jane McgonigalRead
When you strip away the genre differences and the technological complexities, all games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation.
Jane McgonigalRead
It seems like what happens when we play games is that we go into a psychological state called eustress, or positive stress. It's basically the same as negative stress in the sense that we get our adrenaline up, you know, our breathing rate quickens, our pulse quickens.
Jane McgonigalRead
A traumatic event doesn't doom us to suffer indefinitely. Instead, we can use it as a springboard to unleash our best qualities and lead happier lives.
Jane McgonigalRead
The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments. Reality doesn’t motivate us as effectively. Reality isn’t engineered to maximize our potential. Reality wasn’t designed from the bottom up to make us happy.
Jane McgonigalRead
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