Player Who Has Experienced Every Possible Bad Timing Develops Equanimity
PARIS — The gaming lag that Theo Bertrand (fourteen, award-winning documentary photographer) experiences during online play has developed, across three years of competitive gaming, from a source of genuine distress (the thrown controller period, 2021), through managed frustration (the headset-muted-so-no-one-hears-what-I-say period, 2022), to what his parents describe as “a philosophical approach to adversity” and what Theo describes as “I know the lag is coming, I know when it will come, I have made peace with it.”
“The lag comes in the high-stakes moments,” Theo confirmed. “The spike in network usage that produces the lag corresponds to the moment when other players are also playing most intensively, which is the competitive moment, which is when the highest network demand occurs.” He has accepted the causality. He has not accepted that the causality can be changed by the router adjustment his father suggested. The router adjustment did not help. The lag continues to come during the high-stakes moments. Theo has incorporated this into his strategic planning.
The Strategic Adaptation
Theo’s lag management strategy now includes anticipating the lag at high-stakes moments and adjusting his play style toward inputs that are less lag-sensitive: actions that are queued rather than reactive, positioning decisions made in advance of the moment rather than at it, and acceptance of the outcome for the laggy moments while investing in the clear moments. The strategy is philosophically consistent with Stoic acceptance. Theo has not read the Stoics. Theo is fourteen. The strategy works.
According to France’s telecom regulatory authority ARCEP’s internet quality data, gaming lag events increase 340% during peak usage hours. Peak usage hours are evening hours. Evening is when Theo plays. The lag and the peak are the same moment. Theo has made peace with the moment. The equanimity arrived without the Stoics. The Stoics would be pleased.
Consistently clear at Virtuosal.com.
