The journey to access is when awareness is married with consistency. Awareness and consistency are key elements for continuing to build upon the basics. At times life can feel like standing in the middle of a nasty storm, and the same is true for most video games. Storms stoke fear and cause some to seek shelter, and at the same time are capable of bringing out the “lightning-rod” in others.

Before we go onto discuss the lightning-rod concept, let’s talk about why storms and disturbances intimidate. Disturbance is the cause of a loss of focus, disorientation, and inconsistent decision making. Storms and disturbances represent difficulty and unpredictability, that are associated with giving gamers a challenge. Challenges can feel more like a burden, rather than an invitation, but that’s the point. Storms are erratic so that you are afforded the opportunity to decide how you want to perceive them.

At times you will misjudge the threat of said storm. It may be smaller than anticipated, you may have time to retreat to cover, you may weather it like a champion, or be completely wiped out by them. Storms are guranteed, surviving one isn’t. Video games present you with a barrage of conflicts, and every last one of them has one purpose: to put your problem solving skills to the test.

So what does it mean to be a lightning-rod? A lightning-rod, is a person or thing that diverts a threat to prevent serious harm. If a person is ascribed lightning-rod characteristics, they are thought to be a person who stands in the eye of a storm, regardless of severity. This person takes on the threat that lightning presents, head on, with a unique tool and process. A person with these qualities must operate with intention, awareness and consistency, something that is nearly impossible to do when in survival mode.


Let’s visualize the actions taken by a player in survival mode when confronted by a storm:

Now, let’s compare the actions of a player who acts as a lightning-rod when confronted:

What’s unique about these players is that they both faced the same danger, but handled their situations differently. One player opted to be at the mercy of the storm, and the other decided to take what the storm gave them and maximize their options during the storm. To weather anything, you must learn to meet storms with awareness and consistency. Storms have consistent patterns quietly nested beneath the unpredictability they present, and your decision-making should have a similar pattern with awareness and consistency.

In RuneScape, there’s a combat triangle comprised of melee (close-range), archery (distance), and magic (distance) attack styles. All players and non-playable characters (NPCs) you can engage in combat with, will use one or a combination of these three techniques. Everyone by now is familiar with the tales of Knights slaying Dragons to become a legend. In the game of RuneScape, Dragons can have increased resistance from magic spells within the combat triangle and possess naturally armored scales to protect aginast melee and archery. This makes Dragons prime examples of lightning-rods. While not invincible, Dragons do not shy away from conflict; they stand their ground, and have the ability to neutralize all aspiring Dragon slayers from near and far.

NOTE: Some magic spells in RuneScape are often used to lower the defensive attributes of your foe and launch subsequent attacks more consistently.

Lightning-rod’s are not magicians, nor are they masters of smoke and mirrors. Lightning-rod’s are people who recognize that their options rest in their ability to recognize and address destructive patterns they face when in conflict. They are aware that functioning in surivival mode is a symptom of poor problem solving. These symptoms must be treated with developing awareness of problem-inducing engagements and deciding how to respond to them consistently.