Leveraging

I'm watching a movie by the name of Waking Life. There is a scene that has four guys walking and see a man who has climbed a utility pole and is just holding on. One of the guys asks the man if he needs help getting down. The man responds "I don't think so". One of the guys then says to the other guys in group something to the effect of the man being stupid. Then one of the other guys explains the similarity between them and the man on the pole. He says that the man is all action and no theory and that they are all theory and no action.

It seems that this sort of connection exist in many areas of life. For myself it exist right now, as I am nearing the completion of my degree. On another level that is close to me is game design. I personally hate the direction of mainstream American game design. It looks like we've found a box that was once a haven of comfort and have been here so long that we've forgotten that we were once hunters and foragers.

Perhaps my perception makes me a foreigner in my own land but, I value the game designers of Japan because they realize that games are not merely graphics and stories. Here, at home, we have become bent on the graphical elements of games and lost sight of the content.


Here's what I see:
Systems exist. Whether or not these systems are intentionally or unintentionally created is not relevant for this matter. Systems can be patterns or collective sets of desire, or acceptance or anything for that matter.

Our gaming culture is such that we are becoming professional re-inventors. Several times have we created the same game with different stories or delivered the same story with a different skin.

Tina Turner had a song (Proud Mary) with a lyric that read "Working for the man every night and day". Perhaps we are doing exactly that. Perhaps the man is actually the mean. We serve the man. We serve the system. The system that we begot. Yet, we do not serve ourselves.

Again, I'm watching Waking Life so my mind is sort of on another plateau, please forgive my
lossiness.

What do you suppose would happen if someone were to begin to make games not for a particular group but, merely because they wanted to make a game? What would that game be?

I'm basically arguing that those games that we once enjoyed so much are becoming a prize in the zoological art collection of the economy.

I mean seriously, how many people play games not because they are fun but, instead because they occupy their time? I'm not saying that isn't your privilege or anything. I just miss the fun.

While I need to be able to survive, the last thing I want to hear about when deciding to make a game is how much money it will make me. I don't want to make games because they are the best of what is available at the time. Anything I find worthy of making will lend itself not to industry but to people. At least that is what my sane self says.

This is going to be a lonely journey it seems. Who cares? I think its better that I be a lonely designer than one who creates that which I would soon loathe.

After seeing these things. The act of trying to acquire the world, as it were, I'm beginning to see that my shoes are trying to sell me shoe laces.

Seriously, that was the wrong direction.

Blurred meaning

Caution: This essay is written somewhat backwards. You will see what I mean when you read it.

Focus Terms:
word, language, semantic, art, purpose, original, efficiency, comprehension.

word - A sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or of a combination of morphemes.

language - Communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols.

semantic - The study of relationships between signs and symbols and what they represent.

art - A system of rules serving to facilitate the performance of certain actions; a system of principles and rules for attaining a desired end; method of doing well some special work; -- often contradistinguished from science or speculative principles; as, the art of building or engraving; the art of war; the art of navigation.

purpose - 1: an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions; "his intent was to provide a new translation"; "good intentions are not enough"; "it was created with the conscious aim of answering immediate needs"; "he made no secret of his designs" [syn: intent, intention, aim, design] 2: what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?" [syn: function, role, use]

original -

1. Preceding all others in time; first.
1. Not derived from something else; fresh and unusual: an original play, not an adaptation.
2. Showing a marked departure from previous practice; new: a truly original approach. See Synonyms at new.

efficiency - The ratio of the effective or useful output to the total input in any system.

comprehension - The sum of meanings and corresponding implications inherent in a term.

We use words to express concepts and things. Words are not something that are made by some external being to us. Words are what we create to symbolize what we choose or intent to communicate. What is the value of any particular word? For instance the word damn. While is sounds like dam, it is not used to convey the same message. I seriously doubt that anyone will intent to use damn as a means for conveying the idea of a device which blocks or redirects water from proceeding though particular passage. When used as a matter of profanity, in these modern days (2004), it can mean pretty much anything. So why is the word considered to be taboo? (That last question is off topic, so don't worry about that now. I may bring it up in a later post). I said all of this to say that words are sounds which have meanings imposed on them.

The relationship between the terms language and semantic should be readily evident. The first paragraph is based on the idea of the arbitrary nature of any word in and of itself. When our language was derived, one could have very well used the word this in place of that and green in place of red. The order of the letters has nothing to do with the message which is intended to be delievered. The important thing to understand is the message. That is all that really matters in the case of language. Can this be communicated?, is the question asked in a hidden manner during every conversation.

In written language is there any particular benefit in one over the other? When comparing English to Japanese an American might take the position that English has fewer characters to memorize. While this may seem to be an appropriate response; ask yourself whether or not the Japanese have an issue remembering Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. For them it is in fact a normal part of their culture. Maybe you'd argue some other obscure idea as the basis of your presentation. The point is, that the language is transferable. If you have ever talked to yourself out loud you should be well aware that some of your babble may not be understood by others. That is fine, it was not intended for others. A problem could occur in the event that a word is used for something outside of its 'original' meaning. Original is perhaps not the best choice for a word here maybe the word core would be a better choice.

The art of deception, the art of war, the art of seduction and the art of manipulation. Each of these arts is a frame. (In an earlier post I explained that a frame is an organized suite of thoughts, ideas and concepts). The frame deception is focus on the idea matters is which deception is used. The idea is not so much to teach one to be deceitful, so much as it is to produce an awareness of the nature of deception and possible areas or events prone to deception. The art of war in the same manner is not to promote war. It's purpose is to make the user aware of the mechanics of war. The mechanics of war happen to extend beyond the physical battles of the world. War as far as this art is concerned is a generalized expression that can be used in an array of environments. Basically any art in this sense is a generalized system of working with some form of information.

This portion will focus on purpose and efficiency. The reference here will be a topic of particular interest to me. There is a situation arising in the gaming world that I see though others may not see or agree with. Role Playing Games are games, generally video games, which act as a wrapper to dynamically intense stories. (Dynamic is compared to static, where static is noted as being without change. Dynamic is then where there is always the element of change). Role Playing Games as the name of the genre has been tainted