What I Do Instead of Writing on Medium

Maybe We Need Moar Gamification

This morning I read a wonderful article by Tom Mitchell:

Why is it noteworthy? First, it is, like all things Tom Mitchell, thoroughly done. It is a finished piece of writing. In this day when articles on the Newsweek and Vanity Fair web sites have the intellectual maturity of a note passed in algebra class, it is refreshing to read something that is thought out, structured, and clean. You certainly won’t find that here.

The other remarkable thing about that post is that I should have known it existed the minute he published it, but I did not. I “discovered” the post on my iPad in the “Who to Follow” section. There was a category called “Creative Thinkers” or something (I can’t remember exactly what it said and now it is gone). I was surprised to see Tom Mitchell’s name. I thought he had stopped writing on Medium. To my surprise, I wasn’t following him. I’m not sure how that happened. I can’t believe I would have unfollowed him, but, you know, I like to drunk comment on Medium (It’s what I do on Saturday nights!) and I have fat fingers. A lot of bad things come from drunkenly fat fingering keyboards… subscriptions to auto parts magazine… wagers on pig races… tips to naked chicken eaters… so I won’t blame Medium for separating me from the Tom Mitchell feed. I probably unfollowed him somehow. I probably even said, “Fuck that guy” when I did it.

Still, I blame Medium.

The iOS version of Medium is substantially different from the version on my web browser. I’m starting to think it is inferior. My disconnection from Medium over the past year may be a result of using the iPad rather than my desktop computer. Once ALL OF REALITY moved to the iron pig, I developed back trouble from sitting in my office chair. The last thing I want to do at the end of a work day is sit at my computer. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want MOAR SCREENTIME.

Instead of goofing around on Medium I have been playing Hades Star, a spaced-based resource management game.

Hades Star is a variation of and old game that I’ve played before called OGame. It looks like this:

If you are interested, the basics are as follows: You explore a star system, find planets, colonize planets, gather resources, build ships and outposts, and research technology. As you do all of the above you increase in level (I’m level 172, bitches!). In addition to building out your “empire” there are red star, blue star, and white star missions, all of which are mini-games that involve other players. Many are cooperative, where you and other players fight against the games AI, and others are combative wherein you get a chance to compete directly with players from around the world.

Like most MMOs you can join a “clan”, here called a “corporation”, where you ally with other players.

When I looked for a corporation to join, the list looked like this:

So I kept scrolling until I found a corporation called “DiarrheaDiaries”. I joined, as they say, “for the lulz”. You can see in the screen shot below that not only am I a member in DiarrheaDiaries, I am an OFFICER!

Right now, according to the meaningless metric of “influence”, I am ranked #7 in my corporation.

The truth is, I don’t know who the fuck these other guys are, but I talk to most of them frequently. Many of them are in Europe… I think. All of them are very nice. I have no idea how old they are and I don’t want to know. SunnyDefender is in Poland… I think. He is an excellent player. Many of these guys can play at work. I can’t play at work, so for certain kinds of “missions” I am not that helpful. I’m a kind of shitty team member.

Many people who play Hades Star play at a much higher level of commitment than I do. They have accounts on Discord and spend significant amounts of time strategizing, trading artifacts, etc., etc. DiarrheaDiaries is not that kind of corporation, which suits me just fine.

Why Am I Playing This Game?

I play the game because it is both engaging and rewarding. Engaging and rewarding in the lizard-brain, high-tech has hacked your neurons, kind of way. There is nothing redeeming about playing Hades Star. It is a better version of FarmVille. It’s as dumb as doing crosswords or watching Deadliest Catch. I do both.

The truth is, I don’t do dumb things when I have better things to do. For a long long time blogging has been my preferred way to waste time. I don’t think blogging is as dumb as watching bad TV or playing video games, so how did Hades Star supplant writing on Medium?

I have to think that it’s because I am more connected to the PEOPLE on Hades Star than I am to the people on Medium. I told you I don’t know who the guys (I think they are all men) in my corporation are. I don’t really care who they are, and yet we have almost daily interactions about those things we share in common. Hades Star doesn’t even send notifications. You have to log in to see the conversation. I do. Every day.

Ev Williams promised us a “More Relational Medium”:

I have to say; I’m not feeling it, man. I didn’t even know that I had unfollowed Tom Mitchell.

Here Comes the Whine

I want a corporation on Medium. A group. A cabal. Let’s call it a “house” (this may work because the stooges at Medium have a hard-on for traditional publishing). I get to join a “House”. When I do, I see a LIFO feed of house members’ stories somewhere in Medium. I can “chat” with them in messages that are neither stories, nor posts, nor responses, etc., etc. In other words, they can write something like “Did you see my story about the rise of the condiments?” and I can write back “No, I was busy sorting my socks, but I am going to read it during the Celtics game.”

This post is garbage. If you have read this far it is because you are on Medium for more than reading and writing. Part of why you are here is for the community. The social part. It’s OK to admit that we are using Medium not just for writing but also as a social media platform. The claps are lizard brain stuff. I really like claps, man. I got to say. They keep me writing.

There is a remarkable article recently published on Medium by Jennifer Barnett. In it she recounts her horrible treatment inside one of publishing’s manor houses:

Believe it or not, publishing bigwigs are more interested in drinking bourbon and spitballing with sycophants than writing, reporting, or… really paying attention to “ideas”.

It’s totally gross, and, for the record, I’m willing to subscribe to any magazine that makes Jennifer Barnett Editor-in-Chief.

While it is totally gross, the ugly truth is that I am like the guys in her story. I went into publishing because all I wanted to do was drink scotch and “talk” about ideas. Then I realized that there was real work involved, so I got the fuck out.

Now I am here to mess this place up. But where do I go?

Where do we go on Medium to drink scotch and discuss “White Tiger”?

I can’t find it. Can you?