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In a message dated 4/4/2007 7:49:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
xmiyux@xxxxxxxxx writes:
The game [LOTR} truly is an example of very difficult decisions to make and everyone working together to try to win. As long as one player makes it to the end to destroy the ring then all the good guys win. If everyone falls to the dark then all players lose together. There's the rub. I don't see how a cooperative game that designates
all of the players as "good" and urges them to work together to triumph over an
unembodied evil does anything to dismantle our war culture. It's an
us-against-them with "them" logic in which "they" lack humanity and "we" must
suppress internal divisions and urge self-sacrifice. Sounds like the stuff
wars are made of.
As for games in which all players win or lose, an 8 year old friend of mine
had a really interesting perspective: "I don't care if I win," she
said. "It's fun for me when my friends win. But why play a game
where no one will win?" After which she refused to play Break the Safe a
game whose cooperative (beat-the-clock) mechanism I've often seen bring out real
bossiness and power struggles among young players. Once everything you do
affects whether or not I succeed, the logic goes, I have a
legitimate interest (and should have a say) in what you do and I want to
make sure you don't screw up. This logic can involve identifying the
presumed weakest link and bullying that person into following the will of the
majority and/or designating a leader who calls the shots.
In short, I think these issues are much more complicated than we're giving
them credit for.
Sue Hemberger
Washington, DC See what's free at AOL.com. |