Editing 189: Exercise

{{comic
| number    = 189
| date      = November 27, 2006
| title     = Exercise
| image     = exercise.png
| titletext = I haven't had the patience for RPGs in a long time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Role-playing_game|Role-playing games}} (RPGs) are a pastime commonly associated with {{w|Geek|geeks}} in which players assume the role of a fictional character in a fantasy world. In many RPGs, character evolution and advancement is represented by "leveling up." Through winning battles and, less frequently, completing tasks or missions, characters are awarded experience points (XP), which can be spent on increasing their ratings in attributes (such as strength or speed) or skills (such as bow-hunting or computer hacking). The number of XP awarded is generally proportional to the difficulty of the task completed.

[[Cueball]] is doing {{w|Chin-up|chin-ups}}, a strength-training exercise that targets the latissimus dorsi and biceps. Repeating this exercise over time will improve his ability to do more chin-ups in one go - in other words, he will become stronger. In doing so, he is effectively leveling up his STR (strength) attribute in real life. While doing his chin-ups, he comments that he will soon switch to running - an aerobic exercise that improves endurance - in order to build up his CON (constitution) attribute. Cueball is treating his gym session like an RPG, and observes that, as a self-confessed geek, he would not be as interested in exercising without that link.

The title text implies that since [[Randall]] has lost his patience and ability to play RPG games, as has happened to many people (likely due to playing more action-packed games), he now does not have the patience to exercise.

==Transcript==
:Like many geeks, I got a lot more interested in exercise once I made the connection to leveling up.
:[Cueball is doing pull-ups on a bar in a doorframe.]
:Cueball: One more point to STR, then I'll run to work on CON.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Video games]]