Harley [258120] —
Original article
Read this experienced player's opinion on why newcomers should not be intimidated by Torn's older and already established players.
On the 11th of March 2006, tiny Harley decided to register an account on this text-based game called Torn. However, this wee slip of a lad didn't last long, and he soon departed without so much as a hello or goodbye. It wasn’t until the 12th of August 2015 he decided to give Torn another go. And when he did, he realised that the city had become a very different place after nine years away.
Picture of my profile on 5th of September 2015, a month after coming back.
It was intimidating for Harley coming back to Torn as a tiny level 24 with barely any money and a whopping 20,000 total battle stats to his name. Everyone else had billions of stats, and at this point, inactivity refills were a thing, so I couldn't even use those to make up ground. Also, I had no work stats to help me in my quest for resurrection. For all intents and purposes, I was a new player in an old skin.
But despite all of the challenges which stood in my way, I stayed in Torn for good this time. And on the one-year anniversary of my return back in 2016, I posted my story in the achievements section to share my experiences with others. Further updates followed in 2017 and 2018, but this time I've decided to do something a little different.
Instead of making an achievement thread about my difficult return to Torn, I've written an article aimed at relatively new players to explain why they should not be scared off by the stats and accomplishments of more experienced players. This is a common fear for new players, and so who better to guide you through this issue than someone who’s been there themselves at one point!
First of all, it’s important to know Torn is not some game that you can play for a few weeks or months and completely finish it. Torn is the kind of place where achievements are gradual and deliberately hard to accomplish, but even more satisfying when they eventually come. In the meantime, most people will tell you to "compete with your peers, not with the top of the game" in order to keep you interested.
While this is good advice due to the fact that many of the older players are so far ahead you could never hope to challenge them, for your day to day experience, I think you should still be able to look at someone much stronger (and I don’t mean just battle stats), and say to yourself “one day I’ll be as strong as they are!”. Because if you keep playing and working hard, there are no goals you cannot reach.
It is at this point that young overachievers like Hildegarde will spring to mind. These players act as examples for those who like to say “see, it is possible for young players to be among the best!”. But people like Hilde are just as intimidating as the old guard. Each successful player excels in something or is able to use game mechanics to the best of their abilities. Achievements and big numbers are intimidating regardless of how old a player is.
Pictured: This baby is 10 months old. It could still f**k you up.
But I’m here to tell you that you can still do enormously well for yourself even if you don't have any specialist traits or skills. All you need to do is remain active. You don’t even need to take the most optimal path laid out for you by the myriad of Torn guides if you don’t want to, because if you're playing in an enjoyable way whereas others are following a strict, boring regime, you will quickly see yourself surpass those who play according to the textbook. Grind forever and you'll burn out fairly quickly, as Torn is supposed to be a game, not a chore.
So how does this tie into my story? Well, in just four years I went from the weakling I described in my intro, to a player who is able to compete with the majority of the old guard. And all I did was play Torn the way I enjoyed most, which was easily the most optimal path for long term success. Many of you will probably frown upon reading that, but if truth be told, I’ve never bothered to maximize my stat gains beyond a few stints of no more than a month.
Why? Because this playstyle simply didn’t interest me. Yet despite my aversion to stat maxing, I still managed to gain several billion stats in just a few years. I've never worried about earning lots of money either, as all I ever did was earn just enough to have a comfortable Torn life. Granted, I occasionally dream about being rich, but once again, it simply doesn’t interest me enough to really worry about increasing my income to the detriment of my enjoyment.
I’d say the only thing that ever really interested enough to invest significant time into it was getting to know the game in general as best as I could. It was this attitude which made me the player I am today, not an enforced regime of grinding and stat analysis. However, despite my relative success, there is still a very long road ahead of me on that front!
Which brings me to my conclusion, that even if you don't put all of your focus on growing your stats or your networth, you can still achieve great things if you just play the way you want. Torn can be whatever you want it to be, and if you figure out what you enjoy, then gains and glory will soon follow suit anyway. And eventually, one day in the future, you'll find yourself able to compete with the “old guard” yourself. And you'll have done this without ever having felt like the game wasn't a game anymore.
Picture of my profile 12th of August, 4 years later.
Picture of my profile on 5th of September 2015, a month after coming back.
It was intimidating for Harley coming back to Torn as a tiny level 24 with barely any money and a whopping 20,000 total battle stats to his name. Everyone else had billions of stats, and at this point, inactivity refills were a thing, so I couldn't even use those to make up ground. Also, I had no work stats to help me in my quest for resurrection. For all intents and purposes, I was a new player in an old skin.
But despite all of the challenges which stood in my way, I stayed in Torn for good this time. And on the one-year anniversary of my return back in 2016, I posted my story in the achievements section to share my experiences with others. Further updates followed in 2017 and 2018, but this time I've decided to do something a little different.
Instead of making an achievement thread about my difficult return to Torn, I've written an article aimed at relatively new players to explain why they should not be scared off by the stats and accomplishments of more experienced players. This is a common fear for new players, and so who better to guide you through this issue than someone who’s been there themselves at one point!
First of all, it’s important to know Torn is not some game that you can play for a few weeks or months and completely finish it. Torn is the kind of place where achievements are gradual and deliberately hard to accomplish, but even more satisfying when they eventually come. In the meantime, most people will tell you to "compete with your peers, not with the top of the game" in order to keep you interested.
While this is good advice due to the fact that many of the older players are so far ahead you could never hope to challenge them, for your day to day experience, I think you should still be able to look at someone much stronger (and I don’t mean just battle stats), and say to yourself “one day I’ll be as strong as they are!”. Because if you keep playing and working hard, there are no goals you cannot reach.
It is at this point that young overachievers like Hildegarde will spring to mind. These players act as examples for those who like to say “see, it is possible for young players to be among the best!”. But people like Hilde are just as intimidating as the old guard. Each successful player excels in something or is able to use game mechanics to the best of their abilities. Achievements and big numbers are intimidating regardless of how old a player is.
Pictured: This baby is 10 months old. It could still f**k you up.
But I’m here to tell you that you can still do enormously well for yourself even if you don't have any specialist traits or skills. All you need to do is remain active. You don’t even need to take the most optimal path laid out for you by the myriad of Torn guides if you don’t want to, because if you're playing in an enjoyable way whereas others are following a strict, boring regime, you will quickly see yourself surpass those who play according to the textbook. Grind forever and you'll burn out fairly quickly, as Torn is supposed to be a game, not a chore.
So how does this tie into my story? Well, in just four years I went from the weakling I described in my intro, to a player who is able to compete with the majority of the old guard. And all I did was play Torn the way I enjoyed most, which was easily the most optimal path for long term success. Many of you will probably frown upon reading that, but if truth be told, I’ve never bothered to maximize my stat gains beyond a few stints of no more than a month.
Why? Because this playstyle simply didn’t interest me. Yet despite my aversion to stat maxing, I still managed to gain several billion stats in just a few years. I've never worried about earning lots of money either, as all I ever did was earn just enough to have a comfortable Torn life. Granted, I occasionally dream about being rich, but once again, it simply doesn’t interest me enough to really worry about increasing my income to the detriment of my enjoyment.
I’d say the only thing that ever really interested enough to invest significant time into it was getting to know the game in general as best as I could. It was this attitude which made me the player I am today, not an enforced regime of grinding and stat analysis. However, despite my relative success, there is still a very long road ahead of me on that front!
Which brings me to my conclusion, that even if you don't put all of your focus on growing your stats or your networth, you can still achieve great things if you just play the way you want. Torn can be whatever you want it to be, and if you figure out what you enjoy, then gains and glory will soon follow suit anyway. And eventually, one day in the future, you'll find yourself able to compete with the “old guard” yourself. And you'll have done this without ever having felt like the game wasn't a game anymore.
Picture of my profile 12th of August, 4 years later.
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