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Gaming can make a better world - she says
a_name
Member Posts: 249
Saw a decent video today about gaming. Her premise is that we can solve real world problems by stuffing them into mmos and general games. Is it possible we could solve problems if there were nice loot on the carrot string? Interesting idea or do you think she's off her rocker?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM
Oh, and she speaks of Herodotus - mr cool if you like anything about the ancient past. He went around writing about societies he saw so she digs into a time he mentioned gaming.
Comments
While it could work, everyone would laugh at the idea, except maybe a few MMO players, like myself.
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
Football = life
been that for many many many years
Generation P
I think it would work, but like a previous poster said, many wont believe it.
It would take one smart person to develop such a thing, then convince the rest of the world to hop on.
that was extremely interesting. thank you for that
Uh... Lets see... How to reply and not get a temp ban from the forums... heh... Yeah can't do it.. This is one of these wack job people that are responsible for every single person who plays getting a trophy, the concept of too big to fail and all the rest of this social justice malarky that people are coming up with to blame everyone but themselves...
If this is the mentality that the world is going to move to I'd happily give up every video game on the face of the planet to stop it.
The fundamental thing that makes games fun is learning, so twisting things around to teach real world problems and solutions is certainly a fantastic goal for gaming.
Many species will play with each other as a form of learning crucial survival skills. It's no different with early human games, we've just come to a point where we do them mostly for entertainment. While some of the same skills are embedded in these games (min/maxing decisions being a big one) a lot of it gets lost in the noise.
Some of her presentation seems a bit off, like citing some arbitrary number of hours we need to shoot for. No clue of the validity of her story either. Seems like she should've focused on the actual games her company was producing, as that would be the factual proof backing her claims.
I mean, I assume the oil game caused people to use less oil -- she could've cited some predictions of how much longer the world oil reserves would last if everyone played similar games. I dunno, perhaps it would've seemed self-serving at that point? Just feels like her presentation was a bit weak. (though maybe it's unfair to compare her presentation with other TED talks. I mean, I'm a designer and I certainly couldn't present in front of TED that well :P)
Thanks for the link, a_name.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
it's an alright idea but tbh it sounds no different to trying to get people to do stuff while they sleep or eat or take a dump.
Trying to solve problems while doing an everyday activity is not a new idea but i really don't see it working for many years to come.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
As if the gaming industry did not have enough problems at the moment, what with a recession, cash shop scams, players realising that games are being dumbed down and so on. But now we have:
“The Invasion of the Worthies” – yes at a MMO near you the politically correct worthies are coming. With their social agendas not producing the brave new world in the real world as they had hoped for they now want to reform society through online games. It will be a New World Order Online!
There will be a few casualties to your gameplay along the way. No more skimpy outfits, a utilitarian boiler suit for all genders and ages is a must. No more killing, of anything. You will be able to plant flowers and sing to the daffodils though. No more racial stereotypes, Dwaves are not really small and Elves do not have funny ears. Under no circumstances will your character be allowed to feel he has achieved more or is better in any way to anyone else. So that’s levels out and no guild ‘officers’.
Alternatively I recommend “Supreme Ruler 2020” if you want a game already out that allows you to decide what your nation should do if it is running out of oil. There is actually a scenario where you try to sort this problem out. There are diplomacy, trade and industiral solutions. But this game is realistic, you can also go to war to secure your needed oil reserves. So worthies of the world will be throwing up their hands in horror at what this game might ‘teach’ us.
As amusing as that all is...did you actually watch the same video I watched?
While we're offtopic, my favorite "game with a message" thus far is Oiligarchy: "Now you can be the protagonist of the petroleum era: explore and drill around the world, corrupt politicians, stop alternative energies and increase the oil addiction. Be sure to have fun before the resources begin to deplete." Such a delightfully cynical game.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
I found the speech to be fairly relevant to what goes on in the world today. Her goal seems crazy but the good intention is there. I can see where she was going with this, but I think she could have shaped her argument better. Basically, she leaves herself open for many counter-arguments, and I don't really think she mentioned any counter-points. Maybe I missed them, but it seemed all pros and no cons.
Either way I found the video to be immensely interesting and rather enjoyable even if her logic is somewhat flawed. A good find and thanks for sharing a_name.
"IRL is a pretty upstanding MMO with thousands of classes, a lot of PvP and even some pretty unique emotes and titles you can acquire. Explore that world first, then we'll talk about this virtual one."
Tehnological age, how fasinating.. now we just got to go 1 more step to get to the spiritual without needing a body age!
She wants us to play games where we learn how to be good ecocitizen care bears and hug each other. I thought I was totally on topic.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, good intentions are never enough, but that’s another story.