Lost in Space

In response to “Confusion on Infinite (Virtual) Worlds” from The Escapist Forum: “The virtual world might, at that point, reach a degree of popular consensus that a revolution occurs, and the creators of the seminal work can no longer declare or decide official canon.”

I can’t think of an example where this occurred. Besides, in the world we live in, the creator has the power on their side: the companies with their wealth and influence; the law with its authority and intransigence. We all know “Hans Shot First” but that hasn’t made it canon.

If it’s not a question of power or control, but one of what’s right, should the audience’s wishes still trump that of the author? And when should the author become just another member of the community? JK waited until the series was done and dusted to announce that Dumbledore was gay… Most of the readers will never know anyway.

– donquixote

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In response to “Go Virtual, Young Man” from The Escapist Forum: Short time ago I graduated from university as a computer engineer, and my thesis was based in MMORPGs, about how these virtual worlds can help and encourage the developement of social skills and abilities in gamers. As a gamer myself, I’ve never seen virtual worlds as something inherently bad or good, but a world just like the “real” one, where consequences, while they don’t affect your real life (hopefully), they do have an impact in your virtual life and reputation.

Nowdays, I have the sensation that those virtual worlds satisfy a need of personal exploration, of disconnection of the burdens of the real life, or even just entertainment. And yes, a lot of gamers end up consuming a lot of time in those, but before blaming the companies for this, or the gamers themselves, people need to look around and see why the player chooses to be in a virtual life instead of the real one.

I liked the article a lot, it touches many of the conclusions I reached in my thesis work.

– Alexandra Erenhart

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In response to “Inside Job: Why the Future is Important” from The Escapist Forum: As a current student of computer science and burgeoning freelance writer (obviously hoping to work in the gaming industry someday,) I just want to say ‘thank you’ for your intent to spend the month focusing on students. I sincerely hope you revisit an issue you only touched upon in this week’s entry; the baffling clash between gaming companies wanting new blood but only asking for professionals with already-shipped titles. As I skim job postings online, I’m frequently intimidated by the language and requirements used. For example, Blizzard’s advertisement for the position of ‘Programmer’ asks straight-out that the applicant be ‘brilliant’ and already have at least two published games under their belt.

– Doctor Shenanigans

In response to “It’s All Real to Me” from The Escapist Forum: good article indeed.

-Valve is a brilliant studio, but Half-Life 2 lost its verisimilitude when Gordon Freeman sat through a ten minute tutorial on how to use a gravity gun and never asked the simple question of “hey, you know, where am I and WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”-

HAHAHA, right about that, the only thing i hate of half life is that Gordon Freeman is mute and all that, in the first game was someway understandable bt in these days ridiculous

– broadband

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In response to “Women Monsters and Monstrous Women” from The Escapist Forum: Games can’t let you “play like a woman,” because there is no such thing as a male or female gaming style. Of course this all goes back to how you feel about gender roles and stereotyping, but I like to think that a woman and a man are both very capable of receiving the same amount and type of joy from COD4 and Halo and RE, etc. The issue seems to lie in people confusing what it means to be a strong male or female. Can they be the same thing? Why not? You can’t argue that sheer physical stature makes up the ability to be a strong person. It’s really just a socialization issue, in my opinion. Think about it. It hurts my head to read articles like the one above, they are in my mind a part of the problem. It will only be resolved when people realize that there is no (and we should not expect there to be) difference in humans because of gender. The differences appear to exist because we are taught to place them there. People are all unique.

I firmly believe that someday there will be just as many female gamers as male gamers. And just as many strong female characters as male. I can’t wait.

– Cadge