Starting a book, need some help.

[old.Tohtori]

So, i've decided to "fight back" on this "Games are bad" propaganda and write a book that shows, without too much "no you're wrong" attitude, the positive aspects of gaming, how they can effect your life and all in all, show that games ain't the putrid ooze out of devils arse.

What i would ask, for those willing to contribute, is positive stories, small anecdotes and overall good things that have happened to you because of games.

No story is too small really, and even if you want to tell negative things about games, those are good too.

I'm aiming to create this with a zero profit mentality, meaning that the cost of the book will be only the production costs.

Also planning on taking interviews from game developers etc as "more scientific" proof, as well as ask around from psychologists(sp?) if there's any stories there.

So...i guess that's it

EDIT: Oh and also any ideas on what SHOULD be told in the book, 'cause i might not think of it all, are appreciated.

 

[Jeremiah]

Well to start off, I know a surgeon who has bought an XBOX just because it has been proven to increase doctor's accuracy when performing key-hole surgery. The increase reflexes and hand-to-eye co-ordination was shown to be improved in those who owned a games console

 

[tris-]

its quite a good social tool i found. have people round, play games all night, get high/drunk its all good. brings people together in a way.

 

[Rub]

Well to start off, I know a surgeon who has bought an XBOX just because it has been proven to increase doctor's accuracy when performing key-hole surgery. The increase reflexes and hand-to-eye co-ordination was shown to be improved in those who owned a games console

yeh, was gonna say the same what he said ^^

 

[crispy]

Makes me relax after a long hard days work at uni.

If you want a subject for a chapter i got an idea. Considering the positive effects of playing (certain) games (concentration, coordination, etc etc etc), i think its very important that the parents take an interest in the childs interests (as with any other thing) and also tries to learn the games so they can relate, and also find some good and interesting games instead of just saying that the child should go outside and play (which they should do also)... That way they also can't whine about the child playing violent games because after all, its their responsibility anyways

Think most of this 'blaming the games' idea comes from the fact that parents really havent got any clue of what video games really are and why kids wanna play them..

Nice long sentence up there btw :>

 

[Thadius]

So, i've decided to "fight back" on this "Games are bad" propaganda and write a book that shows, without too much "no you're wrong" attitude, the positive aspects of gaming, how they can effect your life and all in all, show that games ain't the putrid ooze out of devils arse.

What i would ask, for those willing to contribute, is positive stories, small anecdotes and overall good things that have happened to you because of games.

No story is too small really, and even if you want to tell negative things about games, those are good too.

I'm aiming to create this with a zero profit mentality, meaning that the cost of the book will be only the production costs.

Also planning on taking interviews from game developers etc as "more scientific" proof, as well as ask around from psychologists(sp?) if there's any stories there.

So...i guess that's it

EDIT: Oh and also any ideas on what SHOULD be told in the book, 'cause i might not think of it all, are appreciated.

MMORPGS give people who dont have many friends or lack the skills to converse with people a chance to talk and make friends in game. Hell its not exactly meeting people at a bar or a gym, but its socialising

 

[Jeremiah]

Found a couple of old BBC links which might give you more material.
EA Education
Stimulated learning

 

[tamtap]

pictures.

Tam

 

[Thorwyn]

If you want to to interview, just pm me.

 

[Lamp]

Good lick

 

[echome]

Best of luck, I would be very interessted in reading it when it is done.

 

[Himse]

Many people actually play games for social and chillaxing reasons, rather than to gain all the items and all the gold or whatever. As tris- said, it can bring people together and be pretty fun, especially when theres a few of you playing :]

 

[Boni]

I was 9 years old and my mum gave me the choice of a BMX bike or a computer for my birthday. I took the computer option and was set on the path of teh techie nerd for life. 25 years now of making computer games and I coudlnt be happier in my job, creating games is a passion and an art unlike any other, how many things can you do for a living or hobby that you can see, hear and interact with? To me that makes games programming more rewarding than anything else could possibly be.

Im crap with girls, and overweight, I often wonder what I would have turned into if I had taken the bike, but Ive never regretted my choice

 

[psyco]

I was 9 years old and my mum gave me the choice of a BMX bike or a computer for my birthday. I took the computer option and was set on the path of teh techie nerd for life. 25 years now of making computer games and I coudlnt be happier in my job, creating games is a passion and an art unlike any other, how many things can you do for a living or hobby that you can see, hear and interact with? To me that makes games programming more rewarding than anything else could possibly be.

Im crap with girls, and overweight, I often wonder what I would have turned into if I had taken the bike, but Ive never regretted my choice

who do you work for? do you live in the uk? do they have any opening?

 

[haarewin]

nick yee's research is a great place to start.
i did my dissertation on friendship formation in online rpg environments and have shit loads of research. if i got my act together, i could put my results together somewhere online to show what i found (like i already should have done) [not much that would surprise anyone thats played mmo's though]. a possible avenue for you to explore could be the social interaction provided within the games and because of the games - fh being a great example of social interaction that occurs because of a game.

 

[Ezteq]

i have agoraphobia (i'm ok and coping with it now btw) and for aaages i was housebound, well pretty much room bound and daoc and the net were my only ways of any kind of social interaction with anyone aside from my doctor and my bf, all my good friends are from daoc or FH and i seriously believe that it was being able to live a virtual life and have friedns and do fun things that kept me from cracking up, the last major agrophobic attack i had before that one was before i met my bf and i didnt have the net so i was totally alone and it was a nightmare.

so if people say that on line gaming prevents you from having a real life and making friends theyre talkign out of their bottoms because it was that that made it possible for me to have anything resembling a normal life


good luck with the book seel i hope you make it work and if this is useful then all the better

 

[Heta]

you have agoraphobia and still manage to get a bf?

 

[Ezteq]

you have agoraphobia and still manage to get a bf?

yes i really am that hot!


rofl its not like permanant(sp?) agoraphobia well it is in that its always there but sometimes something might happen which scares me so much i physically cant leave the house then i deal with it and get over it (might take a while but eventually i do) so it can be years between attacks, I met bf when i was free from it, i had a normal life when we met i was working and stuff and i was fine but something happened again and i had another attack whilst with him so i stayed inside for about just over a year and then i got better again and haven't had another bout for almost three years now

 

[Heta]

wish I had something like that instead of my regular despise of other people and not being able to stay at the same place as someone for a longer time without starting to hate them

 

[Dahakon]

Although they say that violent games encourage violence, I find the opposite: if I'm pissed off or in a bad mood, I play a violent game, and it makes me feel alot better, and afterwards I'm calmed down.

 

[liloe]

Interesting idea tbh =))

- try to stay correct, but I guess there's no need to really say that =)
- show that most of the "harsh examples" are extreme cases, by the same reason you could ban alcohol by showing some alcoholics beating up their partners

good:
- playing MMO's can give you nice friends (I met some of them in RL, was really cool =) )
- playing computer games with friends can be just as fun as playing board games with them
- playing a good game still owns watching a crap talk-show which displays the culmination of human stupidity

bad:
- on younger children it might have a bad influence on the imagination, as kids aren't that good at abstract things at younger age
- playing alone all day long is bad for your social life

 

[Pirkel]

Very nice idea Seel good luck with it!

Some positive influences gaming has had on my life:

- My current job I got via people I met in Dark Age of Camelot.
- I have friends all over Europe. And some of them are real friends in every sense of the "oldschool" world. I go and visit them, they come and visit me. If I'm in deep shit they are there for me (distance permitting) etc. I have friends in a closer circle outside of gaming as well of course but at least half of my "m8's" are internet friends.
- Gaming allows me an easy way to express some of my creativity. I write backgrounds for my characters for example and sometimes even stories. Hardly anyone reads them and I am well aware that this kind of writing will never amount to anything but I like doing it ... and that is most important. (The other way I can express my creativity is through my hot c6 sessions with Vlad and Gamgams of course )
- Gaming allows me to wind down after a day of hard work. Nothing says "relaaax" as good as splitscreen campaigning in Gears of War.

Hmm I thought I'd have more positive points sorry Seel

 

[NikonL]

Compare gaming to beer, and you cant fail.

You've got the negative end of the scale, binge drinking- which can cause endless problems, and ruin peoples lives.

You've got the positve end of the scale, the golden moments- sitting out on a warm summers evening with a pint and some good friends, the pleasant buzz of alchohol. Where you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world at that moment etc.

Ultimately it depends on the PERSON, and they and only they can be held responsible for what goes on.

I'll post some experiances later.

 

[Boni]

who do you work for? do you live in the uk? do they have any opening?

I work for Rebellion the largest indepedent games company in the uk, based in Oxford, they are expanding and recruiting a lot atm, certainly worth a shot if anyone is looking for a job.

 

[Bugz]

bad:
- on younger children it might have a bad influence on the imagination, as kids aren't that good at abstract things at younger age

You'd have to be careful on the age boundaries you display for that though.

Personally, gaming improved my imagination greatly from the time I started FF7 (I imagine that was when I was ~10.) I actually achieved an A* on my English Coursework because my best piece of work was very much related to the opening scenes of FF7 but just tweaked and pumped full of imaginative ideas I had grasped over the years.

 

[Huntingtons]

You'd have to be careful on the age boundaries you display for that though.

Personally, gaming improved my imagination greatly from the time I started FF7 (I imagine that was when I was ~10.) I actually achieved an A* on my English Coursework because my best piece of work was very much related to the opening scenes of FF7 but just tweaked and pumped full of imaginative ideas I had grasped over the years.

wow, thats really imaginative & innovative, i think i just made a new word for it, yeah imma call it "ripping off" . nice you "ripped off" FF7. i sure wish i had your imagination.

 

[liloe]

wow, thats really imaginative & innovative, i think i just made a new word for it, yeah imma call it "ripping off" . nice you "ripped off" FF7. i sure wish i had your imagination.

Well that's kinda what I meant =)) I mean the judgement is a bit fast, since I don't know what you wrote ofc, but I often see children just reproducing what they see on TV and that's bad. Sure there is plenty of fantasy literature and lots of them have their influence taken from french and celt history, but there is still a good part of abstraction there, when people bring in their own ideas (like TEH Avalon author Zimmer-Bradley who's historically pretty inaccurate I think, but very nice to read =) )

I'm going a bit OT here though, so if we want to further discuss this special thing, we can split it to an own thread =) I'm open for discussion there =)

 

[psyco]

I work for Rebellion the largest indepedent games company in the uk, based in Oxford, they are expanding and recruiting a lot atm, certainly worth a shot if anyone is looking for a job.

ive never heard of them, ill give em a look though... ty

 

[Huntingtons]

Well that's kinda what I meant =)) I mean the judgement is a bit fast, since I don't know what you wrote ofc, but I often see children just reproducing what they see on TV and that's bad. Sure there is plenty of fantasy literature and lots of them have their influence taken from french and celt history, but there is still a good part of abstraction there, when people bring in their own ideas (like TEH Avalon author Zimmer-Bradley who's historically pretty inaccurate I think, but very nice to read =) )

I'm going a bit OT here though, so if we want to further discuss this special thing, we can split it to an own thread =) I'm open for discussion there =)

not quite sure why you have qouted me for this, i merely pointing out that bugz wasnt imaginative when he ripped of FF7

 

[Bugz]

wow, thats really imaginative & innovative, i think i just made a new word for it, yeah imma call it "ripping off" . nice you "ripped off" FF7. i sure wish i had your imagination.

That's two words. Counting is hard I agree =/

If you had read my post properly (obviously not) you'd understand that I did not just write the opening scene as I saw it. I would show you the work but I don't have it. But going by your 'oh-so-clever' logic (I lie - it's totally shit logic), each mmorpg is mugging off the older mmorpg's by stealing their ideas too? Ohhh and biographies - they take experiances and put them into words. We CANNOT be having that. Have you grasped the point yet?