mothra on 18/3/2010 at 17:54
a ted talk I stumbled across:
(
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/799)
which made me laugh and interested at the same time. a nice aspect I never thought about but after the talk doesn't sound too crazy. I just don't think we can get ppl to play a certain game just like the ones created by the institute the guest talks about.
Tonamel on 18/3/2010 at 18:58
If you wanted to check out (
http://www.urgentevoke.com) Evoke, it's been running for a couple weeks now. I haven't played it too much since I've been busy, but it looks like it borrows some of the more interesting mechanics from another game of hers, (
http://topsecret.ning.com) Top Secret Dance Off
Also, Edward Castronova? I know that guy! :D
reizak on 18/3/2010 at 19:16
That was pretty interesting, but a bit more optimistic than (
http://twistedwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/reality_by_pyxelated.jpg) the outcome I envisage for those 21 billion gaming hours she thinks we should aspire to.
I'm sure I've learned a lot of skills that have real life value from playing games. Always hire a native rather than try to float your wagon over Snake River yourself. If you catch dysentery you're screwed. Those things like hopeful optimism and problem solving etc that games engender in people according to her, though, are pretty shallow in my opinion. Games aren't that hard, and they tend to reward short term effort, so when you bring that hopeful optimism to any real life problem that might require grueling long term effort with no achievement unlocks and blinking lights at steady intervals, that motivation is going to run out and people will go right back to the games where the sense of accomplishment is easier to come by.
I suppose it
is an untapped resource, though, so maybe something can be done with it.
EvaUnit02 on 18/3/2010 at 20:04
More time playing MMOs, eh?
(
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1174)
Inline Image:
http://i.imgur.com/1djnt.jpgAs for her main point, as if real world social situations are even the least bit close to 1:1 comparable to online gaming ones. Skills and etiquette learned online are hardly at all transferable.
Online anonymity, an often lack of face to face communication and especially having no actual consequences changes the rules and context significantly.
Tonamel on 18/3/2010 at 20:14
Quote Posted by reizak
Games aren't that hard, and they tend to reward short term effort, so when you bring that hopeful optimism to any real life problem that might require grueling long term effort with no achievement unlocks and blinking lights at steady intervals, that motivation is going to run out and people will go right back to the games where the sense of accomplishment is easier to come by.
She doesn't really touch on this in her TED talk, but part of her design philosophy is that it's the game designer's responsibility to break down huge problems into parts small enough for any regular person to consider readily achievable. "Get everyone in the world to stop using nonrenewable energy sources" is too large for any one person to realistically contemplate, but "Design a new way to power something you use everyday" isn't. And if you get thousands of people solving those smaller problems, that starts to add up in a meaningful way.
And like she said, when you get people thinking about things in this way, it affects their behavior. I played World Without Oil, and I still prefer commuting by bicycle rather than car as a result.
ZylonBane on 18/3/2010 at 20:32
I stuck with it until around 4:00, where it became gobsmackingly evident that she's entirely full of shit.
Soviet Travolta on 18/3/2010 at 21:53
Funny thread title, considering that "epic" is one of the words the most emptied of any meaning by its over-use over the internet. Rather fitting.
mothra on 19/3/2010 at 15:25
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
I stuck with it until around 4:00, where it became gobsmackingly evident that she's entirely full of shit.
good thing then you stopped.
Quote Posted by Soviet Travolta
Funny thread title, considering that "epic" is one of the words the most emptied of any meaning by its over-use over the internet. Rather fitting.
Well, epic gets defined in the TED Talk as having a specific meaning in conjunction to games and in this vein it is used in the threadtitle, at least it was my intention. But of course ppl can just ignore the material and dream up anything unrelated and post it here.
I'm playin' the oil game, it's tailored for the US but "interesting" sofar. I like shit.
Soviet Travolta on 21/3/2010 at 22:25
Quote Posted by mothra
Well, epic gets defined in the TED Talk as having a specific meaning in conjunction to games and in this vein it is used in the threadtitle, at least it was my intention. But of course ppl can just ignore the material and dream up anything unrelated and post it here.
I didnt get far enough in listening the TED talk to grab that specific definition of "epic", so my apologies to you if you took the remark personnally. It was more like i was wondering/dreaming up on the use internet and us make of words, and the tendancy it has to lessen their original meaning. Maybe i'm/we're often unwilling to accept new ones?
