4 ms·

Can someone please invent a game where people like this can play obsessively, and yet the results are useful? Can we invent a game, say, where (even if the par

Can someone please invent a game where people like this can play obsessively, and yet the results are useful? Can we invent a game, say, where (even if the participants don't realise it) what they produce is a hyper-dense, hyper-efficient CPU? Or RAM? Or parallel architecture?

eru 17y ago
TED had a talk about such (or rather, much simpler) games. E.g. how they are used to catalogue images. There's also a game where you fold proteins.
lionhearted 17y ago
> Can someone please invent a game where people like this can play obsessively, and yet the results are useful? In terms of making productive output? Maybe not. But there's plenty of games that'll give you a deeper appreciation of how to think and will help you develop your character. Civilization IV will teach you a lot about how the path of technology generally went, historical buildings and achievements, and is good for thinking about constraints and balancing. Darklands (a DOS game from 1992, can be downloaded for free and run on te emulator Dosbox) is a very hard, very enjoyable game that gives a pretty good idea of the superstitions and beliefs of medieval Germany. It's really, really hard too, you're likely to killed a lot and have to learn how to play. I thought Planescape: Torment was incredibly well written, as well written as most books, and makes you think on some interesting philosophical questions. Very original sort of game. I play Conquer Club online a little bit, which is a Risk clone. Lots of math and strategy. Also you get some knowledge of geography playing on the different maps. I try to make my consumption a little productive when possible - reading books, watching movies, and playing games that teach me things in addition to being enjoyable. So I'm not sure if you could make a game that caused people to produce explicitly, but there are a fair few that you'll teach you things of more or less value.
- RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
  Yes, there are games that genuinely benefit the player. I'd like to see more of them, too. They take a lot of work, and it's hard to make them have very wide appeal, so the benefit to society is genuine, but small. The idea I'd like to see gain traction is for someone, or several someones, to write a game that may only get a small audience, but to get a truly hardcore audience, and to have the results of the game-play to be the benefit. To quote Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear: How hard can it be?
  - Semiapies 17y ago
    You're elected. Let us know what you come up with.
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  pet peeve: civilization games have almost nothing to do with even the standard historical interpretation of how technology developed and affected society.
  - lionhearted 17y ago
    > pet peeve: civilization games have almost nothing to do with even the standard historical interpretation of how technology developed and affected society. Care to elaborate?
mclin 17y ago
It's called business :P

eru 17y ago

TED had a talk about such (or rather, much simpler) games. E.g. how they are used to catalogue images. There's also a game where you fold proteins.

lionhearted 17y ago

> Can someone please invent a game where people like this can play obsessively, and yet the results are useful? In terms of making productive output? Maybe not. But there's plenty of games that'll give you a deeper appreciation of how to think and will help you develop your character. Civilization IV will teach you a lot about how the path of technology generally went, historical buildings and achievements, and is good for thinking about constraints and balancing. Darklands (a DOS game from 1992, can be downloaded for free and run on te emulator Dosbox) is a very hard, very enjoyable game that gives a pretty good idea of the superstitions and beliefs of medieval Germany. It's really, really hard too, you're likely to killed a lot and have to learn how to play. I thought Planescape: Torment was incredibly well written, as well written as most books, and makes you think on some interesting philosophical questions. Very original sort of game. I play Conquer Club online a little bit, which is a Risk clone. Lots of math and strategy. Also you get some knowledge of geography playing on the different maps. I try to make my consumption a little productive when possible - reading books, watching movies, and playing games that teach me things in addition to being enjoyable. So I'm not sure if you could make a game that caused people to produce explicitly, but there are a fair few that you'll teach you things of more or less value.

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
Yes, there are games that genuinely benefit the player. I'd like to see more of them, too. They take a lot of work, and it's hard to make them have very wide appeal, so the benefit to society is genuine, but small. The idea I'd like to see gain traction is for someone, or several someones, to write a game that may only get a small audience, but to get a truly hardcore audience, and to have the results of the game-play to be the benefit. To quote Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear: How hard can it be?
- Semiapies 17y ago
  You're elected. Let us know what you come up with.
nazgulnarsil 17y ago
pet peeve: civilization games have almost nothing to do with even the standard historical interpretation of how technology developed and affected society.
- lionhearted 17y ago
  > pet peeve: civilization games have almost nothing to do with even the standard historical interpretation of how technology developed and affected society. Care to elaborate?

mclin 17y ago

It's called business :P