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How we may wish some of our bosses play online games more often. At times some organisations drive people nuts. I wish I could apply what I learnt from DAoC (Dark Age of Camelot) to my working life.

• Team up at the right level
• Skill set is important
• Never pull a resource out during the project
• There is so much endurance one has
• If people are not having fun, they will leave the team
• Leadership is everything

Team Up at the Right Level

I learnt much from DAoC that teaming up at the right level is important. For instance, if I am a level 30 fighter, there is no point in grouping with a level 5 healer. Chances are, I will be dead long before my healer can heal me. And guess what? Very soon, my healer will be dead too. Teaming up a very junior consultant with a senior consultant is not effective. Definitely need something in between.

Skill Set is Important

Very often, my organisation assigns resource based on availability rather than skill set. That is really bad. If you play DAoC, you know that having the right skill is very important. Teaming up with people of the right skill set is crucial to group success. People should complement each other. If majority of my group are fighter class, time to recruit healers such as clerics.

Never Pull a Resource Out During the Project

During a fight in DAoC, each group member focus on bring down the monsters. No one leave the group during a fight. It is just counter-productive. Sigh … wish my bosses realise that. By pulling out resources during a project is like having team members leaving the group during a fight. It is a doomed move.

There is So Much Endurance One Has

You just can’t slave drive people. Each of us has limit. In DAoC, each character has a certain amount of endurance. When the endurance runs out in the middle of a fight, you know that is when trouble begins.

If People are not Having Fun, They will Leave the Team

This is obvious. People join a group and fight together. But if they are not having fun, they will just leave the group and find another group. Work-wise, it is the same. Do you really expect people to stick around if they are not having fun? No way! Be creative and add the fun to working life.

Leadership is Everything

I lead group in DAoC and I am led by others. Leadership is important. One trivial mistake can lead to the doom of the entire group. I look into the eyes of my group and I feel a sense of responsibility. If you are not fit to be a leader, step aside. Make someone else a leader. At least that is what we do in DAoC.

Car price has come down quite a fair bit since I bought my car about 4 years ago. New tax structure has brought the car price lower. Many of my friends have already upgraded their cars. Shall I follow suit?

The case for upgrading my car to a new one is simple. I bought my Toyota Corolla at S$91,000 with a OMV valued at S$15,000. If I scrap my car at the end of 10 years, the government will give me back 80% of OMV – i.e. $12,000. Hence, my yearly depreciation is going to be S$7,900.

Since I consider my made in Japan Corolla as the top of its class (the new Corolla is made in Thailand and I won’t consider brands like Mazda, Nissan, Honda, and other European cars of the same class), if I ever change my car, it will be an upgrade from my 1.5 liter car to a 2.0 liter car.

Consider a new Camry, or Accord, or a VK’s Pussat, they are retailing at about S$100,000 and the OMV of the cars are in the region of S$23,000. Under the new tax structure, at the end of the 10th year, the government will refund 50% of ARF and ARF is 110% of OMV. So new car will only get back 55% of OMV – i.e. S$12,650. Yearly depreciation is about S$8,700.

With a mere increase of less than S$1,000 a year, I could have ended up with a much better car. Why not?

The case against it is as such. If I am to trade in my car right now, due to the crash in car price, I will only get back slightly more than S$40,000. That is to say for the last 4 years, my car has depreciated by S$50,000 – i.e. yearly depreciation is S$12,500 instead of S$7,900 as previously calculated!

The bright side is that if I consider the past as write-off (I have to if I consider upgrading one because once I do so, I will realise the loss), the yearly depreciation for the next 6 years for me will be calculated using the current value of my car minus off the goverement refund at the end of the 10 years and that is S$4,600 per year!

And because I have almost paid up all the car loan, my cashflow for car financing for the next 6 years will be S$0.

How about an increase in car related expenses? The road tax for my 1.5L car is S$875. The road tax for a 2L to 2.4L car is S$1,550 to S$2,150. That is an increase of S$1,000 per year on road tax alone.

I travelled about 20,000 km a year. My car’s fuel consumption is 13.32 km per liter. Each year, my car consumes 1500 liter of petrol and if petrol cost is about S$1.5 per liter, I paid roughly S$2,250 on petrol per year.

A 2L+ car’s fuel consumption is estimated to be about 9.5 km per liter at best. Hence, it is a 40% increase in petrol consumption. That translates to about another S$1,000 of extra expense.

At the time of posting, I don’t have the exact figure for an increase in car insurance. My guessimation will be in the region of S$500 to S$1,000.

To sum up, for the next 6 years, I will have to pay an increased of S$4,000 on yearly depreciation and closed to and additional S$3,000 on expenses versus my putting up with my older car and increased maintenance cost, the choice is obvious.

That’s why I am not going to upgrade my car any sooner.