<nettime> velvet televolution digest [bobig, nicolaisen]

["nettime's_role_player" <nettime@bbs.thing.net>]

Re: <nettime> Velvet-Strike: War Times and Reality Games
     "bobig" <bobig@bobig.com>
     Jasper Nicolaisen <jnicolaisen@gmx.de>

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From: "bobig" <bobig@bobig.com>
Subject: Re: <nettime> Velvet-Strike: War Times and Reality Games
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 08:08:02 +0200

==> http://www.bobig.com/tag/

----- Original Message -----
from: "anne-marie" <amschle@cadre.sjsu.edu>
to: <nettime-l@bbs.thing.net>
sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 1:17 AM
subject: <nettime> Velvet-Strike: War Times and Reality Games

> Velvet-Strike: War Times and Reality Games
> (War Times From a Gamer Perspective)
 <...>

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Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 10:00:21 +0200
From: Jasper Nicolaisen <jnicolaisen@gmx.de>
Subject: RE:Velvet Strike/remarks on computer games/Diablo2

Hello all,

Iīve just visited the 'Velvet Strike' Website, and first of all Iīd like
to say that in my opinion this is a brilliant idea, politically concious
and stil funny, subversive though down with the gamer culture.Thank you
anne-marie for letting me know about this and your interesting mail.

Still, there is too little research done on computer games.Iīm missing
balanced comments and essays leaving behind the
structuralist-functionalist approach (i.e. whatīs the game dealing with
and what kind of ideas does it transport) in favor of a more
'player-response' oriented criticism , taking into consideration the
patterns of cultural practices growing around computer games (i.e. how
are people dealing with games and what ideas do they infuse them with).

I think anne-marieīs thoughtful remarks made it very clear that a game
like CS cannot be judged by its martial appearance alone.One would also
have to take a look at how players are forming social relationships via
the game and how in general they are 'mis-using' games and adapting them
to their own purposes.

Another game with springs to my mind here is Diablo2, which is
structurally a pretty straightforward hackīnīslay action RPG, but has
turned via the internet into some kind of trading simulation or virtual
bazaar.Since the right equipment is most important for advancing in the
game, players have started trading items, and in order to do that, one
has to build a web of relations with other players, be trustworthy and
find out who else is,become a part of the community,  know about the
current market value of the numerous items etc.Many high-level players
have abandoned actually playing the game in favor of trading their
collected items in order to end up with the 'perfect' equipment for a
certain character class.You might say, they have worked enough for items
and now let their items work for them.

Are kids being poisioned with capitalist values and strategies here ?
Maybe, but at the same time, as anne-marie pointed out, isnīt it just a
game ? Arenīt market mechanisms revealed here to be parts of a game also
?
And is that good or bad ?
If millions of people are engaged in gaining capital in a game world
which will gain them absolutely no capital in the real world, isnīt that
a subversive strategy in itself ?
Iīm not sure about any of these questions, but these are the questions
whicj would yield more interesting answers than just the usual 'killing
virtual people leads to killing real people in the end'.

Jasper

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