[MUD-dev] Fun in Games

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Rob Trickey wrote:

>>   "Fun is the primary and key component of games."

> This is true, but if you get too literal about it the sentence
> loses its meaning. Basically, something's "fun" if it made the
> game worth playing.

Is "Schindler's List" fun?

Sometimes we do enjoy feeling really really bad about things.
Misery and self-pity are forms of entertainment!  However, more
often we deal with subjects because they're difficult to face and we
have a perceived need to do so.  I think it is quite erroneous to
call this mechanism "fun."  I think perceptions of duty,
responsibility, or obligation are more important concepts here.

For instance, when's the last time you declined to see a "downer"
film because you weren't in the mood for it?  When's the last time
someone made you feel guilty for not seeing something, or how you
responded to it?  Before I saw "Schindler's List" I was afraid I'd
burst out laughing, because I don't like being told how I'm supposed
to feel about things or societies handing me scripts for my
appropriate responses.  But as it turns out, I didn't laugh.  I did
have a friend of mine who saw "Saving Private Ryan" stoned and burst
out laughing at the beginning though!  He completely failed to
impress his date, and he kept going "Boo!" every so often to get a
rise out of her.  He's not an unenlightened boor, I respect his
consciousness of life, but he was having fun that day.  Of course
all the WW II era folks in the audience thought he was the biggest
asshole ever.  He was not *supposed* to have fun at the film.

Cheers,                         www.3DProgrammer.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.

_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev