Comments on Avant Game: UPDATED: I am not a game evangelist.

if i was u i would make a rpg game im planing ot ...

2010-03-25T12:35:41.538-07:00

if i was u i would make a rpg game im planing ot be a like u but if u do make a rpg game u can e mail me at joeyblue1293@yahoo.com and i can help u by makeing items or ideals for u

Kevin -- super, super interesting comments. I agre...

2009-02-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Kevin -- super, super interesting comments. I agree completely about the use of "gaming" to describe maxing out personal benefit in ways that undermines the designed goals and intended spirit of a system. also intersting is common use of the phrase "playing the game", meaning not really doing want you think is best but what you think will get you ahead. this is probably worth its own blog post...

The 'Evangelist' label is problematic as it does i...

2009-02-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

The 'Evangelist' label is problematic as it does imply a messianic commitment to a revealed truth. Some of us use "Advocate", as this is closer to the idea of holding a discourse - I'm a Developer Advocate at Google, and I advocate some things to external developers, and I advocate for them internally. Ludic Advocacy is part of what you do.
This maps back to the discussion about
My favorite are agnostics who manage to be Zen even though they've never studied it or hear of it beyond pop references. I summarily pay them money to attend

Thanks everyone for this terrific feedback. These ...

2009-01-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks everyone for this terrific feedback. These are some very thoughtful points and I'm grateful for the opportunity to mull them over! I'll keep mulling and in the meantime, the one thing that I do think bears mentioning here -- it's something I say often elswhere -- is that gaming is not a monolithic system, one game fits all. There are so many different kinds of games to play, and so many

It takes guts and forsight to place out there on t...

2009-01-30T10:30:00.000-08:00

It takes guts and forsight to place out there on the table all your ideas. It is also refreshing.Debate is exausting. There are those who hold positions not out of logic but because they wern't hugged enough or 7th grade was really tough.
Our institutions are working on a mystery that will incorporate both our new social media initiatives and a real time experience opening weekend.
Sure

An excellent post, Jane. The other day I was givin...

2009-01-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

An excellent post, Jane. The other day I was giving a speech on pervasive games somewhere, when a game publisher guy raised his hand and asked: "This is all fine and good, but how do you make money out of it?"

I was thinking "I'm not trying to *sell* this stuff here, in fact I don't benefit a bit if you benefit from this". I'm just saying: These things exist, and you might want look

Evangelizing may not be necessary, but it doesn't ...

2009-01-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

Evangelizing may not be necessary, but it doesn't hurt to nudge people once in a while. Some people can't do the mental reverse engineering to figure out what the cause was that led to a particular effect, even if the effect is a good one. Sometimes good ideas just aren't that self-evident, and you can still do beneficial work by getting someone to ask the right question even if you don't feel

I've newly found your blog and after reading your ...

2009-01-30T06:29:00.000-08:00

I've newly found your blog and after reading your post, I like it so much. I’m feeling so attached to your blog and I thought to leave comments on your blog today. I really enjoyed reading your post in this blog. Good and nice blog. I will pay a visit to your blog more often.

Cheers,
Jaguar XKE

I don't know exactly what your mission is and what...

2009-01-30T04:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know exactly what your mission is and what your points are, I'm probably going to read up on that later (I'm too hungry right now). But, as a gamer, I have my doubts about your theory that "people are happier and quality of life goes up when we make the real world work more like our best-designed games." Simply because of the fact that it's not so black and white, it's not that simple.

A more fruitful question would be 'What are you?'....

2009-01-30T01:32:00.000-08:00

A more fruitful question would be 'What are you?'. Many ignore the word not if they see it.

You strike me as articulate and a passionate advocate for bringing games to life (oh the dancing!). People will try and draw on that.
So how to move from evangelism to advocacy?

Maybe do less discussion and more what engages you? Action always trumps inaction and sawing sawdust

Games are similar to any other new media and how n...

2009-01-30T01:25:00.000-08:00

Games are similar to any other new media and how next a 'new media' is introduced and penetrated into society. Take reading (and literacy as an enabler of that process) as an example. Initially a very lucky few were literate, and even smaller amount of the 'got the point' and made use of it and/or found its pleasures. The remaining rest was mostly opposing to literacy due to its 'sinful nature'

Oddly enough, this is pretty close to an idea i've...

2009-01-29T16:19:00.000-08:00

Oddly enough, this is pretty close to an idea i've been wrangling with over my love of electronic music and mashup culture. Though i've been contemplating the whole "I'm not here to evangelize electronica/mashups(/postmodernism?)", at this point i'm still definently evangelizing it :P

I think another important thing that distinguishes...

2009-01-29T16:03:00.000-08:00

I think another important thing that distinguishes you from evangelists is mystery. An evangelist would try to make their views as plain as possible, and as easy to understand, hoping that people will be attracted by the simplicity of the system. Modern christian mega-churches in the US ascribe to this strategy. You won't find ornate robes, cloisters, antechambers, or Latin; rather, it's very

Referencing Zen practice while decrying evangelism...

2009-01-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

Referencing Zen practice while decrying evangelism is a contradiction in terms, although maybe that's just me and religion, I'm either in or out and lately I'm out. Perhaps my game sharpened skepticism is aimed at the rigidity of held beliefs in general. And maybe not so much skepticism as wariness, and while that may be a personal flaw, it is something I want to investigate when it comes to

David, I appreciate the ninja simplicity of your c...

2009-01-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

David, I appreciate the ninja simplicity of your comment. ^_^

Infrarad, I love the idea of "waiting just long enough". I think it is an inevitable demographic shift. 97% of people under 18 in the U.S. are regular players of online games. Uninformed bias can't persist that much longer. At the same time, I should say, I am wildly interested in gamers who disagree with some of my premises

I don't think there's much else to say about the s...

2009-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

I don't think there's much else to say about the situation than that.

I attended the webcast of your talk the other day,...

2009-01-29T12:54:00.000-08:00

I attended the webcast of your talk the other day, and I found that the entrenchment of the GAMING = ISOLATING VIOLENCE FANTASIES in (a small number of) attendees was frustrating, as was debate over what 'happiness' is. Gamers always seem to get it, though, which seems to indicate that 'evangelism' may be functionally replaced with 'waiting just long enough.'