[MUD-Dev] Slashdot story about review of Bartle's new book

[Evan Harper]

From: "Dave Rickey" <dave at mutablerealms.com>

> I just took exception to a particular issue of how the "Art
> vs. Game" debate was addressed in the book.

I haven't spent much time involved in social science discussions,
but I think you're being unjustifiably harsh in your comments. It
seems to me that you've concluded that Bartle's talk of literary
archetypes in relation to MMOGs is the same as the worst of social
science, which is itself all about muddled academic
postmodernism. Without meaning to draw in a whole debate about
social sciences, are you saying that anything that can't be
empirically proven at least to a degree of certainty doesn't exist
at all?  Or isn't worthy of our interest except as a trifling
diversion?

I mean, you can't *prove* that a Beethoven symphony is more
aesthetically valuable than an advertising jingle, but I doubt very
much that you'd reccomend that aspring composers not bother to study
Beethoven to further their practical craft. Yes, there is room for
meaningless blather and me-too-ism once we leave the hard sciences,
but there's room -- in fact, there's a *requirement* -- for valid
and insightful study. I mean, if there wasn't, how would we live out
our daily lives? Very few of us have done careful statistical
studies to prove who our friends are -- we're using the "soft"
category of thought evey time we strike up a conversation.

Evan
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