SO LONG, LIL' BUDDY

Lil' Gramps, aka, Luka, hit me up in clan chat today, "OMG, will you check your Twitter DMs, moron. I need to talk". I immediately reached for my wallet because I know what "need to talk" means. Shockingly, for the first time in about 10 years, my kid wanting to talk to me did not mean he needs money. "I think I'm going to quit Clash" This came as no surprise to me. I have watched his emotional rollercoaster with the game for many seasons now. All the while, I have been aware of what was going on, how it was affecting him personally and how it was affecting his life. The easy thing to do as a father is to step in and put a stop to it. I do not parent like that. I see my primary role, aside from food and shelter, as teaching him how to make good decisions on his own. It's a tough method to use when I see him making obvious mistakes. I stick with it because I believe real change can only come from within. I am simply a prop assisting with that transition rather than someone demanding it with force. There were two main factors in Luka's choice. I have talked about the first one in depth, only as recently as last week when I wrote about "Why it sucks being maxed". There hasn't been any genuine fun added to CR since the global tourney about 2 years ago. That is an incredibly long time for maxed players to remain loyal to CR in the hope that the fun will come. With CW2, it didn't. Ultimately, this is just a game, a source of entertainment for us all, so when it stops being fun, people walk away The second reason is obsession. I remember when Luka was close to getting 7k for the first time. As a divorced father, he stays with me on the weekends. It was Sunday evening when I dropped him off at his mother's place. Our season here ends on Monday in Australia, and since Luka had school the next day, he had to get that 7k that night. I fell asleep around 11pm and he was still trying. I woke up to pee at 3am...AND HE WAS STILL TRYING. I knew there and then that there was an issue. If it wasn't obsession, then it was a lack of priorities. From that day forth I began talking about how CR wouldn't pay any of his bills later in life, as well as many other ideas about what is important and what isn't. His drive to get high ladder finishes continued all this year. All he would do was ladder, ladder, ladder in every spare moment. He wouldn't even take the time to do the challenges or war to maintain his account in terms of card and gold accumulation. If he wasn't eating, shitting or studying, he had his head in his phone pushing ladder. I could have stepped in, as I mentioned earlier, but what affect would banning him from playing have had, particularly in his ability to make good decisions on his own? He had to come to the conclusion by himself. I helped by giving him good advice, but left the choice making up to him. I was proud today when he told me. He didn't just say it wasn't fun any more, but he also said it was affecting other aspects of his life. He recognised his own obsession. Having made that decision on his own, he now has the tools to check himself in the future if he recognises that he is partaking in similar behaviour with something else. The biggest problem I see, not just with Luka, but others on social media, is that people place value on things which are completely worthless. I'm talking about ladder finishes. The challenge of ladder should be fun, but it has zero value. A bad season is not a reflection on your self worth. It just means you sucked at a mobile game for a few weeks. It could be worse. You could be me. I have sucked at a mobile game for years. Speaking of me, I ain't quitting. I love the game still. I have fun being bad. I also love watching the pro scene and the community in general. I have met some very, very decent human beings from this game. So I'll still be streaming, dribbling my nonsense on Twitter and writing this largely unread blog. I'm sure Luka will still pop by on my streams, if not to play, but at least to call me a "moron". Okay, I lied. I'll tell you why he really quit. He couldn't handle the fact that he was the second best player in this family. Thanks for reading, Gramps.