Someone who has mastered a skill is going to be able to charge a higher price for that skill and is more likely to get quality clients than someone who is just starting out. The reason for this is that a skill master will be more efficient while producing quality work and are in such short supply that people won’t want to lose access to them.
However skill doesn’t completely prevent human error and it definitely doesn’t cover 100% of a situation. It merely allows for us to prepare for and handle situations better.
Today we’re going to be talking about two scenarios. One is a character backstory and the other is a scenario I recently encountered.
We’ll start off with the recent scenario. Now I love using some of the skills I developed to make less than ideal tools work well. This goes across all aspects of my life, but it is especially easy to do in games.
I was playing Rainbow 6 Siege with some friends of mine and I had a weekly challenge to get seven shotgun kills. Now many people think hat shotguns are these super simple tools. Point and shoot, you’ll be fine. However, there is a lot more going into the operation of a shotgun than they think.
The scenario took place in Kafe Dostoyevsky. We were defending the kitchens on the lowest floor. This means we can be assaulted from four different directions. Three are level with our objective and the other is from above.
We had the area pretty much locked down except for the upper floors. The enemy team took advantage of this and began sending explosives through the ceiling of the kitchen. As this was happening, one of their team members was sneaking around the rear of our position.
At this point I decided I couldn’t really stay in the kitchen, so I decided to try and get the to stop using the ceiling to their advantage. So I pushed out of the kitchen and made my way up the the second floor. On my way I encountered one of the enemy team.
He was a rather far for an in game shot gun. In real life I would know the shot pattern of my particular gun, the loading, and would be trying to time the pumping of the shotgun in order to get the next shell chambered. In reality, I would have gotten him in the first two to three shots. But since gamification requires balance, I spent about five shells in order to down him and then eliminate him.
After that I made it up the stairs and took two more of the enemy team out before I also was eliminated. For me this was a great round. Shotguns are hard to use. They have a slow rate of fire, the recoil affects accuracy, and they hold ten or less shells when other weapons have 30 to 100 rounds in them. But the satisfaction of using them, and their effect at extremely close range make them still rather viable in the game.
I wiped out about half a squad with suboptimal equipment. This doesn’t happen all the time. Someone who is really good would be able to do that more often than I do. However, situations can line up better than we expect, result in a much better outcome. If we train hard enough and retain or improve our skills we will make it more likely for us to succeed.
Going off of that we come to the character building. I’m getting ready for a filler game in one of my Dungeons & Dragons groups. This means when the current Dungeon Master needs a break or when the main party is down too many members we can have a game, but not leave them too far behind.
The setting is the Wheel of Time Universe, a genre I’m not too familiar with. But so far my character is a Blademaster. He’s a little older than most of my other characters, being in his mid-30s. This is because in reality, it takes years and years to master sword work.
I am trying to reflect this in how I create him. Since he knows so many forms by this time, it seems logical to me that he has been doing this for a long time. His skill is not something that he just bought off the street. The blades he carries are not a fashion statement.
In fact he carries one blade that marks him specifically as a Blademaster. And the DM tells me that if this blade is seen then the fight becomes a no-holds-barred scenario. From this single indicator, my character shifts from just another guy with a sword to “THE” guy with a sword.
Being highly skilled in something will bring recognition. But it will also bring a lot more trouble, depending on the skill. If you have a skill, hone it until you can compete with the best. Or try to hone it. This will allow you to improve yourself and provide better services in the work world.
Are you going to be one of the best?
Think about it.
Sincerely,
The Irreverent Gentleman
gentlemansuniversityofmanliness 