Playing to Win Book Now Free Online
Lots of gaming sites are still linking to my articles on Playing to Win, but as I keep saying, the book is so much more carefully written, better organized, and contains several new topics. Now you can point your links to www.sirlin.net/ptw which now contains the entire book as well as links to my original articles.
It might be a good idea to link to the Playing to Win Index in the beginner section of whatever gaming community you're a part of. I know how tiring it can be to say all that stuff over and over to new (or old!) players, which is why I wrote it down in the first place. Incidentally, the book has beginner, intermediate, advanced, and elite sections, so you could also post it in the elite part of your gaming community's forums, if you have one. ;)
Yes, it's all free. If you find it helpful or interesting, I hope you'll either leave a donation and/or buy a physical copy of the book, too. Writing a book--even a short one--is hard and time-consuming. If you got any value out of it and you take that extra step to support my efforts we'll call it a fair trade and it will give me some encouragement to write another book.
Enjoy!
--Sirlin
July 21st, 2007 at 2:09 am
[…] Original post by Sirlin […]
July 21st, 2007 at 2:12 am
I donated $5. Your first article alone brought me and my friends out of scrubness and allowed us to truly play Soul Calibur. Every game I have played since has been more enjoyable and more fulfilling. Thanks for your work.
July 21st, 2007 at 5:50 am
Thank you very much, though I’m still buying the book. Would’ve (will?) donate money if I could’ve.
Also, the changes to the sidebar menu are great.
July 21st, 2007 at 10:04 am
I’ve enjoyed many of your articles, especially your Playing to Win sections. Thanks and I hope I enjoy reading it :)
July 21st, 2007 at 10:14 am
I bought your book a couple of months ago for a school paper, I always found very interesting your articles. Thanks for putting it online.
July 21st, 2007 at 11:57 am
Have been following your site for years and have your book. Its good that this meme will be able to reach a lot more people.
“I know how tiring it can be to say all that stuff over and over to new (or old!) players” -> so true.
PS: that pic is lol, what happend there?
July 21st, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Thank you for this.
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:12 am
It certainly is great to see that you made ‘Playing to Win’ (the book) available online (especially for free, instead of $19.95 — which I’d say is a tribute to the strength of your character), although you’re going to hear that from a lot from people (kind of like how everyone said “we love you, Nintendo” when they released the Wii), so I’m going to say something a little different…
The fact that you just released a short book worth of free content aside, I hope your visitors/readers are able to see the true significance behind your actions. Let me explain…
While it may seem that Sirlin has just released a more fleshed out and polished version of his original playing to win articles, he has done much more then that. Essentially, in making the book available online, I believe Sirlin is saying:
“For those who are willing to listen, here is a way of thinking that, should you choose to embody it, will help you transcend your limiting, disempowering beliefs — a web of illusions created by the mind — and fully embrace what it means to be the best, whatever that may mean for you. Not for domination, fame and glory, or even reward, but for something much more noble, and arguably, much more desirable: mastery of ones self.”
He has exposed the world to a radical way of thinking — a way of thinking that could have a profound impact on ones life and change it for the better — and done is in a way that is easily accessible for a great deal of people. The treatment he gives the subject is also comprehensive, well structured, and makes it easy for people to absorb and put into practice what it teaches. All in all, that is not something to be taken lightly, and is, in my opinion, rather significant.
Some may think I’m exaggerating a bit here, but I’d go as far to call such people shortsighted. Why? Life is a curious experience… all it takes is one good idea to take root in order for you to fully alter the course of your life for the better. I am reminded of a quote by the popular and perhaps infamous “motivational” speaker, Tony Robbins:
“You know, sometimes one idea can change your whole life. And it can happen at any moment, when you least expect it. And you’re heading in one direction and you make a little 10 degree shift and it seems like nothing in the moment, but you take it out a month from now, 6 months from now, a year from now, or 10 years from now, you have a totally different destination, a totally different destiny.”
~ Anthony Robbins
This has been true in my experience, and I’m sure many can relate. But the beauty of the “playing to win” mindset is not the mindset itself, but what it points to. I cannot adequately convey it in words, but the comment made by ‘Blake8086′ above expresses it nicely:
“Your first article alone brought me and my friends out of scrubness and allowed us to truly play Soul Calibur. Every game I have played since has been more enjoyable and more fulfilling.”
It is unfortunate that, even after reading the quote, some of you will still not know what I refer to — and you are the ones that can benefit from Sirlin’s book the most — but for those of you who have experienced what I refer to, in any area of your lives (not just gaming), will surely understand, even if on an experiential level that you cannot really describe.
So without sounding too “pro-Sirlin”, I implore those of you who make use of Sirlin’s content or have somehow benefited from his work to support him in his current and future endeavours, in whatever way you feel is reasonable and fair. Even something seemingly small such as recommending his book or website to a friend or co-worker, mentioning his book or website on a forum you visit (or even your own personal blog), or even buying a copy of his book or leaving a small donation can do wonders, as all of those seemingly “small” things add up and create a positive ripple effect that can have a great impact in ways you may not even think of.
Realise that when doing so you’re supporting more then just Sirlin; essentially, you’re giving your vote to the type of thinking that Sirlin so beautifully exemplifies and expresses in his writing and the other work he has made available/will likely make available, and helping to make that work more accessible to an even wider audience. And perhaps, like you, they will resonate with the essence of Sirlin’s work, and they too will be able to experience what you have experienced as a result of being exposed to the “playing to win” mindset, not only when it comes to games, but in the other areas of life as well.
- Bruce
July 22nd, 2007 at 4:46 am
BADDASS! My girlfriend gets Harry Potter 7, I get Playing To Win!
Thanks dude! There’s a DJ i enjoy, and when he retired, he made all his live sets available for free on his site (normally he sold them for pretty cheap on his site). I love this mentality (not that you’re retiring…)
I’m looking forward to this.
July 22nd, 2007 at 7:11 am
Sorry for the double post–probably should have waited to post after reading. However, I’d just like to share a little story in regards to chapter 6) Study the Details of the Enemy.
A few years ago I checked out a fencing club at my college. I got into a good conversation with one of the instructors during a break. She asked me to sit with her and just watch matches today as she explained the fundamentals of fencing. I was BLOWN AWAY at what she had to say. People talk about psychic dragon punches, but this was surreal. As soon as the competitors stepped up, she would say how and where an person was going to strike, how they would lose, how they would blunder, etc… Not joking, exact moves people would win and lose with just as they were taking their stances.
This had me so intrigued so I did my best to try and find these things in fighting games. Not by physical body language, but by their body language in game. I have countless T4 examples, 3s examples, and starting to get some good GGxx examples (new game for me), but one that just cracks me up thinking about it and all the occurrences I’ve witnessed applies almost universally. Try and see if you notice this to in your experiences, but if someone knocks you down and they’re already close on wakeup (ie they don’t have to run up) and they stand still there is a GIANT chance they’re going to go low rather than overhead or throw or block. It’s not 100%, but it’s pretty funny how obvious it is after you start to see it.
July 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 am
Hey Sirlin, great stuff for giving this content away for free. Just want to let you know that the original playing to win articles really inspired me to be a better player back in the day when I was playing CvS2 24/7. Nice one dude.
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:10 am
I just bought your book a week ago D:
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:18 am
I just ordered your book to have a physical copy because I was going to sit down here and read it for free!
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:42 pm
[…] Read the rest of the article and find the book here: Sirlin.net posted by drewstylz in the category games | trackback […]
July 24th, 2007 at 2:18 am
[…] We’ve previously printed an extract from game designer David Sirlin’s excellent (and just slightly surreal) self help/competitive gaming book ‘Playing To Win’ on Gamasutra, so it’s great to see that he’s now made the entire thing available for free, according to a post on his site. […]
July 24th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
I just bought the book a few weeks ago, and would rather have a bound and published version to include in my library. Making the information available online is a great move, and I only feel slightly remorseful that I just dropped cash on shipping and handling.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:23 am
I wonder what Sirlin would think about the recent Pokemon adventures Gabe had from Penny Arcade? Link here:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/07/23#1185177840
Definitely not playing to win, which qualifies them as a bunch of scrubs… but still, they have fun. Thoughts?
July 27th, 2007 at 4:16 am
I doubt that David thinks that you should never ever play a game for any reason other than to win or that avoiding scrubbiness is like the sine qua non of playing games.
Instead he claims that achieving excellence at a game is a means to the end of personal growth, and that embarking on that path of growth requires that you break through many common barriers to that excellence.
So like, you can still play the Game of Life with the family, even though your edge is only microscopic. And you don’t have to care about winning! It’s just that doing this isn’t embarking on a journey of growth. It’s just playing a game.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:52 am
Many thanks Sirlin. I’ll still buy the book (new job, I can afford stuff like this now. Right.) But it will be a real eye-opener for people who waaaaaaaah too much.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:08 am
[…] Read the rest of the article and find the book here: Sirlin.net posted by Andrew in the category games | trackback […]
December 27th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Mr.Sirlin
Would just like to say I extremely enjoyed your book Playing to Win, and am definitely going to pick up a hard copy as I go further on in my life endeavors. There was so much information in there that goes beyond just competitive that I took from its pages. Excellent job on your book and I hope to continue enjoying your writings.