Talk:Guides/Getting Started Guide/@comment-30736282-20170724221829

I'd like to add a reminder that the most important thing to do is to keep a healthy state of mind. I don't mean that as the in game Sanity but rather your mindset when playing the game. The thing about DS is that it fucks with you in more ways that you can imagine, from the epileptic low Sanity display, the panic inducing sound effects, and the occasional grating soundtrak. This also includes the gameplay where yau are given the illusion of partition and control in the form of the time of the day, while the truth is it's the other way around and the time is in control of you.

You might think to yourself "okay I got this one in the bag. I'll gather grasses and twigs until dusk and then gather logs until dark. Then tomorrow I'll hunt for meats and silks." Then you go about filling checklists while suddenly urgent stuffs or rare things pop up and you get sucked into a never ending vortex of disorganized days. The thing with DS seamless time transition is that there is always a sense of security of being able to quit whenever while in truth, this requires a certain degree of willpower to put a definite end of that "one more rock" or "one more tree" feeling.

Not being able to quit is dangerous for both your game progress and your real life health. For one, you might want to rest your eyes and move your limbs after an unnoticed 6 hours of playing DS. Then comes the more subtle danger to your game progress. The more you play, the more absorbed you are to the game and lose sight of the real world. You'll start getting in game paranoia and the physical stress can get to your mind unnoticed. you'll start panicking more frequently, making rash and inefficient decision, taking unnecessary risks, and playing clumsier than you normally do.

When you feel these symptoms, the best decision is to take a break, regardless of what you're doing in game (unless you're under attack or freezing/burning to death), put your eyes away from the screen and put things into perspective. Keep in mind that DS is, in the end of the day, a video game, and when a video game starts not feeling fun then it's time to stop. Sometimes even taping the "Save and Quit" button can be hard. What you need is external motivation like an alarm clock or a friend that can snap you out of your trance and remind you of how long you've been playing. This way, you can break away from un-fun and haphazard gaming and thus preserve your real life sanity.

Bottom line is, don't let the shadow hands drag you too deep into the DS world, stay sane, and most importantly don't starve in real life!