Letter to Kurt and Olivia Bruner

June 15, 2006

Alright, let’s take a look at Chapter 4 of Playstation Nation and go through the numerous things that I noticed could be expounded upon or I related to. Those driving forces were of course good, so lets take a look at them real quick:

· Beating the Game: It’s all about following through, finishing what you start and taking things through their natural course. I think that these attributes I just described go hand-in-hand with being a man/woman of your word, but would probably be more vital in real life situations rather than justification for playing a game (I used these frequently in justifying my extensive gaming sessions).

· Competition: You wouldn’t believe the bragging rights and status that comes with games; not to mention the feelings of affirmation that come with others asking you for help with their game. I used to visit sites where people would write their own RPG game walkthroughs and strategy guides and hidden level guides, and the individuals that wrote them were the authorities on their specific topics, so they always had people e-mailing them or asking questions. I liked when I could suggest different courses of action and have people asking me what the best character setup was. It felt good to “feel” important.

· Mastery: Much like the first driving force, if you are going to do something, than do it all the way. I was the type of person that wanted to not only finish the game, but I wanted my character or party of characters to be a virtual killing machine that could literally take anything out in the game. If there were special games that would net secret or epic items then I would spend days attempting to obtain them; if there were numerous bonus dungeons then I would hit them all to test my mettle and see just how much all my hard work and hours had really accomplished.

· Exploration: This is of course the only way to complete a game, but also one of the most time consuming things that one must go through.

· High Score: RPG’s have a number of “mini games” that allow you to obtain some of the most helpful and powerful items/weapons/armor in a game, and are thus made to be fun and very challenging. People will write 20-50 page strategy guides on how best to obtain all the items, which could take you literally days to complete.

· Story-driven Role Play: People play them for a number of reasons, and like you stated, people want to know what is going to happen. I’ve watched the storylines get more and more in-depth over the years, and getting to watch that story play out is what keeps you coming back. Also, those FMV’s add a great deal of enjoyment as they provide great graphics and sound, but continue to develop the storyline.

· Relationships: Well, being member of the gaming community entails some level of relationship-building, because you will inevitably get to know others that share a common interest with you. One of the things that my wife didn’t like was the online options i.e. (World of Warcraft) to join groups of people that I could constantly chat with on an instant message system within the game. While this was a vital tool for collaborative efforts amongst party members, I think that the open nature of that chat session bothered her, because I could literally spend hours talking with these people on a regular basis. Conversations were commonly aimed at game-related subjects, but there’s always the regularized chatting about other subjects outside the game, and I think that’s the part that bothered her. Traditional game consoles are now building this option into their systems, thereby giving the PC industry some competition, while also giving their customers more options.

I distinctly remember the section where you mentioned that games can become a replacement for real life, and I think that is can be true. While the majority of gamers realize that games are simply “games,” there are those that more than likely use them to fill a void in their life. Since games provide a virtual landscape where we can do the impossible, the attraction is there for people to become addicted to this. Like I mentioned in my first month’s journalizing, one of the benefits of gaming for me was being able to explore castles, caves, kill vile creatures and save the world from utter destruction. While I never used this myself to fill the void or replace things that I couldn’t do in real life, I think that some people use games to substitute for the lack of excitement or potential that they might have. What they don’t realize is that potential has to be developed, and playing games won’t develop potential allowing us to truly face real life issues. With this in mind, you also mentioned the fact that people play because they want to live out that idealism of being a hero; of being someone special or unique that can do amazing things. However, life isn’t about being a hero in the sense of saving the world or destroying an invading army of orcs and trolls. The hero that we envision is simply living life, doing the right thing, safeguarding our families and living for others. Those are the type of people that achieve notoriety, not the person sitting in front of the television for hours each day, and while many people don’t aspire to heroism anyway, they could at least be trying to make a difference in their sphere of influence.

On the other hand, I can understand people who want to partly buy into being a part of something that they in all reality can’t, because there is some level of excitement in that. When it becomes dangerous is when we use this to substitute for real life and begin blowing off obligations, friends and family in the pursuit of virtual fulfillment. Some of the people interviewed in your book mentioned that one thing they liked about games was that no one judged them and they found respect in gaming that they otherwise didn’t receive in their real lives. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people will look for ways to obtain affirmation, respect and positive reinforcement, and if they have to do so through a virtual medium where their job, grades in school, physical makeup, income or reputation are unknown and irrelevant, then they will do it. However, like I stated before, playing games isn’t going to change those things in their real lives either, and that time spent gaming could be used in pursuit of obtaining an education, searching for that better job, improving physical fitness or developing concrete and established relationships.

In Chapter 5 you mention that games also don’t require any level of risk or sacrifice, which sort of goes together with the growing movement toward immediate gratification and wanting everything now. In games you can fail, but those failures rarely have permanent impacts on the game. While I might miss obtaining a really good item in a game if I don’t find it or don’t finish a mini game, I do have the save function available, which means that I can always start over again. The only risk or requirement of gaming then is our dedication to completing them, the money to purchase them and the numerous hours of time they take to work through. In real life we might not get a second chance at doing something, and our inability or willingness to act or do something right can have everlasting consequences. In gaming we can complete in hours what it would take a real person a lifetime to finish, so this idea that things come easy can be disconcerting when people realize that real life forces us to really give of ourselves and make tough decisions in order to accomplish a desired outcome. While I think that most gamers have a sense of this and recognize that real life isn’t the same as virtual life, I think that it does bring up some interesting points of discussion.

Lastly, in Chapter 6 discuss the fact that people use games as a form of escapism, and I think that there are those who use it for such a reason, but I think that a good number of people primarily games due to those driving forces from Chapter 4. Most people’s intention of gaming is for the aspect of enjoyment and challenge, and while it could become a way to circumnavigate dealing with real life, I think that people at least “start” with the basic mindset of simply having fun. Whether the reasons for playing eventually change, or the gaming becomes an unhealthy pastime, I think that the reasons people play games is quite relevant. Much like one’s justification for drinking is vitally important in determining whether it’s healthy or unhealthy (or could potentially become so in the future), I think that gaming can be viewed in the same manner. However, whether the reason for playing is harmless or of concern, the potential does exist for those people spending the majority of their time playing games to lose out in the experience of real life. It’s hard to learn about being a man if you’ve never had to really deal with situations or consequences that would make you a man.

The Harbinger