[arg_discuss] Defining ARG's

[Clay Chiment]

Heyla all!

I was going through a box yesterday and found an interesting article on 
"what is a game?".  It was written some time ago (as in 30+ years ago) by a 
college student who was creating a D&D style game.  The game was designed 
to be played in the dormitory where he lived, it was being played when I 
lived there (~10 years ago), and it is apparently still being played 
today.  Anyway, the "what is a game" article seemed relevant to our ongoing 
discussion of "what is an ARG?" (at least tangentially) so I thought I'd 
share part of it...it's a tad dated (remember it's 30+ years old, written 
by a college student) but interesting none-the-less.  And of course, if one 
of you happens to be the grown up version of the college student who wrote 
this article, let me know...I'll mail you a copy for your folio.  :)

Clay Chiment

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 From the Game of the Gods:

What is a game after all?

To understand the question, we must first come to terms with the fact that 
all things have the potential of achieving game-like status, and that 
therefore those games we play within this grand and encompassing game can 
be as varied and diverse and yet as undeniably linked by common elements as 
are the people of this planet.  Some games are based entirely on luck.  An 
automaton could play these games.  They may be a waste of time.  Some games 
are made up of a dense and solid strategy construct.  These games, though 
interesting from a purely mathematical viewpoint, are also easily mastered 
by the appropriate program.  Other games are too short and simple.  These 
are often brief and without stimulation.  There is no experience 
here.  Still other games are much too complicated with rules governing even 
the simplest occurrence with laws more complex that those that govern our 
true reality.  These never-ending sagas are not games.  They are separate 
lives.

<snip>

It is not that game playing is bad.  Quite the contrary, game playing is 
good.  But a game should have certain qualities.  It should reflect 
reality, though exude an originality that is both curious and 
interesting.  It should posses a simple and smooth running system of 
mechanics that functions as the clockwork governing the evolution of a 
multitude of complex and unpredictable situations.  As in life skill and 
luck should both play certain factors in the events that take place.  In 
short, the game should be as simple and complicated and complete in itself 
as our reality appears to be.  For what is a game after all if not an 
opportunity to escape temporarily to an alternate world?  It is a place to 
exercise the useful skills of decision making and problem solving in an 
environment that challenges the individual in untraditional ways.  The game 
is a place where the individual can safely practice teamwork and 
camaraderie and also harmlessly act out anger and aggressions and 
occasionally even deceit and deception if one may so have the desire.  In 
this way the game is an intellectual, creative, and social outlet whether 
we are aware of it or not.

These are appropriately high standards for a game, and some may fairly 
argue that it is taking game playing a little too seriously.  After all, we 
have nearly missed the most important quality a game must posses: It's 
gotta be fun.

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