Combo Breakers in Real Life

Just the other day I was having a conversation about the frustrations of being interrupted while online gaming. When you are playing a game off line, it is usually simple enough just to put things on pause. Really, that’s what the pause button is there for. I have left games on pause to grab lunch, take a walk, or I have even left games on pause overnight.

Online gaming does not afford this same luxury. If you step away from an online game, you are basically giving up the match, race, fight, or what ever you are doing. Most of your online opponents are not going to show mercy on you if they realize that you stepped away from the controller. At least not the people I have played games with.

This is why being interrupted is so upsetting for many gamers – their score, kill rate, match, or significant progress is at stake, and in a game, that’s pretty much everything.

C-c-c-c-ombo Breaker

The fighting game Killer Instinct is perhaps most famous for its multi-hit dramatic combo system. The system is designed to allow players to execute a string of attacks that regularly reach 10, 17, or even 20 plus hits in succession against their rival. At the end of a match, players can even input a special command that unleashes an “Ultra Combo,” special move where players enter a button combination and can literally step away from the game while their character doles out dozens of uninterrupted blows upon the helpless opponent.

Killer Instinct also features a unique system for interrupting almost any combo (except the Ultra), and this move is called the “Combo Breaker.” With correct timing, the recipient of a combo can perform a designated special move, and if they use the right button combination, they will interrupt the combo and deal out some damage of their own. If done successfully, the game announcer will boisterously shout “C-c-c-c-combo Breaker!”

Real Life Combo Breakers

Have you ever been interrupted?

Of course you have. We all have.
Chances are, it will happen again. And again.

And while not everyone will have an embarrassing public interruption like Taylor Swift & Kanye West, we can still feel stepped on or frustrated by the demands or needs of others bumping into the plans we have for that moment.

Sometimes we need to interrupt others, but what about you? Can you be interrupted?

There is a really interesting research experiment from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Darley & Batson, that came to my mind when I think about the importance of being “interruptible.”
The study “Examined… the helping behavior of 40 theology students in an emergency situation suggested by the parable of the Good Samaritan. [Individuals] going between 2 buildings encountered a shabbily dressed person slumped by the side of the road. [Individuals] in a hurry to reach their destination were more likely to pass by without stopping.

Some [individuals] were going to give a short talk on the parable of the Good Samaritan, others on a nonhelping relevant topic; this made no significant difference in the likelihood of their giving the victim help.”

The outcome of this study demonstrated that even seminary students on the way to teach about the “Good Samaritan” did not stop to be a “Good Samaritan” to others. Out of the entire study, less than half actually stopped to help the “victim.” What made the greatest difference was not knowledge, or even the topic the individuals were preparing to speak about.

It was how interruptible they were.

Those who were not in a hurry or running late provided the greatest amount of assistance, with over 60% stopping to help. Compare that to the busiest individuals, running late – only 10% stopped to provide any type of help.

Several of the seminary students in a hurry to speak on the topic of the “Good Samaritan” even stepped right over the “victim” in their efforts to be on time.

Yikes.

Here’s the allegamy: When we allow interruptions, we open up new opportunities.

Are you interruptible? More importantly, how nice are you when interrupted?

What interruption will you allow today? Sometimes the best moments are when others bump into the things we had planned, maybe with something even better than we imagined.