Editing 2154: Motivation

{{comic
| number    = 2154
| date      = May 24, 2019
| title     = Motivation
| image     = motivation.png
| titletext = What's even worse is, a month ago they transferred me to work on the game I was already playing, and suddenly I found myself procrastinating by playing the one I'd been assigned before. It's possible they're onto me and this is all part of the plan.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Motivation}} is an important part of human {{w|psychology}}. It arouses a person to act towards a desired goal. It is a driving force which promotes action. As [[Ponytail]] is feeling unmotivated to do her job, she decides to procrastinate by playing a video game on her laptop instead, with the hope that she will eventually be more motivated to do her assigned task. [[Cueball]] seems to understand her sentiment, and admits to being in the same situation in the past, seemingly assuming she's referring to games that feel like work.

Games are [https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4x38aq/why-do-we-play-video-games-that-simulate-work sometimes criticized] for feeling like work. This is usually aimed at games that simulate an actual or historical job which can frequently cause the player to have to check each individual plant as if he were an actual gardener, or work out a cost-benefit analysis as if he were an actual manager. This is more generally applied to any video game {{w|Grinding (gaming)|grinding}}, also known as farming. This is why when Cueball asks Ponytail what she's doing, she replies that she's playing a game that involves exactly as much planning, problem-solving and boring drudgework as the actual job she's avoiding. Cueball then laughs and says that he has definitely been there before, before asking Ponytail what her job is.

The punch line for this comic comes when Ponytail admits that her actual job is a {{w|Game testing|video game playtester}}, someone whose job is to test and play video games. So it seems that Ponytail is avoiding doing her task to test video game X by playing video game Y. As a result, her original statement can be interpreted in a completely different way: Instead of comparing the game she's playing to a regular job, implying that grinding is as difficult and boring as an actual job, playing games '''is''' her actual job, and she's simply comparing two games she's playing. Though being a game tester can be seen as glamorous and fun to people who enjoy playing video games ("I get to play video games all day at work"), it is [https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/03/29/the-tough-life-of-a-games-tester less rewarding] [https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-be-a-video-game-tester-2015-6 than it may seem], as game testers often aren't ''playing'' the game but are ''testing it'' by constantly doing mundane tasks and running through a game that they may not like to identify bugs and problems, which is far less enjoyable than playing a game one likes for fun, even if it requires a grind.

The title text continues Ponytail's admission, adding that she had originally been assigned to play video game Y in the first place, and was previously procrastinating by playing video game X. Her company may have caught on to her procrastination, as they then changed her assignment to work on video game X that she was already playing to procrastinate. To further procrastinate herself, Ponytail changed to play video game Y, the original video game that she was assigned. However, this would not serve to have her work on her original task to test video game Y.  Testing a video game is very different from playing a video game while procrastinating.  For example, video game testers must intentionally make "mistakes" to verify that the game responds correctly and, more importantly, report on what worked or didn't work.  Playing normally, while attempting to win, would not yield the data obtained from proper testing.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball and Ponytail sitting at a desk, working on their laptops.]
:Cueball: What are you working on?
:Ponytail: Playing a game that involves exactly as much planning, problem-solving and boring drudgework the actual job I'm avoiding.

:[Zoom in on Cueball, leaning back with one arm on the back of his chair.]
:Cueball: Haha, yeah, I've definitely been there.

:[Zoom back out to Cueball and Ponytail sitting at a desk, working on their laptops.]
:Cueball: What's your job these days, anyway?
:Ponytail: Video game playtester.
:Cueball: ...
:Ponytail: Look, motivation is weird, ok?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Video games]]