Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ogicse!milton!hlab
From: jcs@crash.cts.com (John Schultz)
Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds
Subject: Re: Wargames and Virtual Worlds (Was Re: Questions about BattleTech)
Message-ID: <8861@crash.cts.com>
Date: 27 Apr 91 00:13:01 GMT
References: <1991Apr25.080804.14090@milton.u.washington.edu> <1991Apr26.072659.1
Sender: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu (Human Int. Technology Lab)
Organization: Crash TimeSharing, El Cajon, CA
Lines: 31
Approved: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu



In <1991Apr26.072659.17771@milton.u.washington.edu> cyberoid@milton.u.
washington.edu (Bob Jacobson) writes:

[stuff deleted]
>which it sprang -- never to mature into civilian applications?  Of course
>we know that there is more to this than just more weaponry, but do the
>shoot-em-up's -- BattleTech and Virtuality -- help or hinder our field?

>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?


  There is a time and place for everything.  It's far better to relegate
human destructive instincts into the domain of fantasy in VR, than to
play out these games in standard reality (SR).  The most popular games
on home computers are "shoot-em ups" and combat flight simulators. Of late,
driving games have become popular (some with weapons of destruction).
Has this affected the way we use personal computers?  Does the fact that an
i486 with an i860 can play Wing Commander or Red Baron (etc) make the
device any less useful for productive work?  If there is worry that games
are going to negatively influence the future of VR, then the solution is
simple. Waste no time finger pointing, but spend time wisely _creating_
what *you* think is *right* for VR.  The beauty of VR is that there are
no defined limits. No rules. No right or wrong.  Do what you believe.


  John