Games as a metaphor for something else

[Michael S. Miller]

Hi, Mikael.

When you say this:

Maybe all I have is some sort of exploration of an issue that is currently central in my life, and which has not been addressed by any game that I know of.

and Paul says this:

I didn't conceive of My Life with Master out of consciously wanting a tool for teaching how to resolve being controlled via suppression of self-esteem. I just couldn't stop thinking about a game in which the player characters were evil henchmen.

You're both saying the same thing. Putting the lesson first doesn't work (I know. I've tried.) Just write the game from the deepest, darkest parts of your heart and the lesson will be in there. You won't be able to help it. You probably won't even be able to see it for months afterward (I wasn't). Just write the game.

Make a sign of this and post it next to your computer: Just write the game.

Hmm, I'm off to make myself that sign right now.

[Thunder_God]

First, I'll link to my Blog where I talked about this just now, after having planned to write such an entry for nigh on two weeks. This entry is it. The quote is worth its weight in gold.

Also, I'll share what Tim Powers said in a lecture here last year, a Sci-fi book is not about anything. The real world is an arrow going forward, and sci-fi/fantasy are a line going sideways, once you make it "Actually, it's about this and this.." then it no longer is really fantasy/sci-fi, merely a backdrop for a morality tale, and the arrow goes forward once more.

Orson Scott Card said the exact opposite things two years prior, He writes stories about humans, about people. He wrote a story about humans in a Cyberpunk backdrop, about which he said he knew next to nothing and didn't like what he knew(going from memory here), and then people congratulated him on his Cyberpunk story, which wasn't actually about cyberpunk!

Make of that what you will :)

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Guy, this is blatant trolling for traffic to your blog. Mikael reached a point of conclusion, and you should respect that and not post to the thread again. This kind of self-monitoring is absolutely required here.

If you really wanted him to benefit in some way from the quotes you've blogged, then you should have sent him a private message with the link.

This thread's now closed, having raised a question and resolved it. For newcomers, this means "don't post to it again." It's an honorable end to a good thread, which is why we don't sully it by locking it, which looks like a punishment or ban.

Best, Ron