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From: shebs@Apple.COM (Stan Shebs)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: Wargames and Virtual Worlds (Was Re: Questions about BattleTech)
Message-ID: <1991Apr27.011451.3418@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 26 Apr 91 17:00:16 GMT
References: <1991Apr25.080804.14090@milton.u.washington.edu> <1991Apr26.072659.1
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In article <1991Apr26.072659.17771@milton.u.washington.edu> cyberoid@milton.
u.washington.edu (Bob Jacobson) writes:
>
>My own inclination is to call these systems devices of the Devil, but
>merely bashing technology doesn't get to the ideas and persuasions that
>leads to such aberrations.  How do you feel about the virtual wargames?

As a one-time toiler on nuclear cruise missiles, a basically non-violent
person, the author of a popular wargame (xconq), and a strong disapprover
of our current adventures around the Gulf, I believe that the existence 
of virtual wargames is a non-issue.

Yes, you could say that VWs would encourage violence etc., but on the other
hand, they could also be a way to provide the "total combat experience" that
makes pacifists out of veterans.  If "Dr. Strangelove" is anti-war, then
wouldn't a virtual reality where the viewer *plays* Jack D. Ripper or the
President send an even more compelling message?   Would the (virtual)
experience of having a leg blown off by a mine or walking through a field
of decaying peasants' corpses encourage a teenager to go out and shoot people,
or instead encourage her/him to make sure that such things never happen
in real life?

Sure, somebody might build a VW where all the killing is "clean" and at a
distance, but then we're talking about good vs bad game designs, not about
whether virtuality has anything to do with this.  In fact, I would claim
that virtuality is better than the current state of affairs, since it
requires less abstraction than does mapping situations to character terminals
or bitmap screens, and it's that process of abstraction that takes away much
of the detail that our moral judgement depends on.  It's very disconcerting
to see a game player casually click an icon to start a simulated nuclear
exchange that would surely result in millions of deaths in real life; I would
much prefer a simulation environment that could also convey the tensions
leading up to such a decision, and the hellish aftermath.  

                                                Stan Shebs
                                                Apple ATG System Software
                                                shebs@apple.com