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Unbelievable: The IDF Has Gamified Its War Blog
- olliesaunders 14y agoIs this really the author's biggest objection to war? Really? I'm not surprised by this development. War is about winning. Props to gamification--really pointsification--for having gained enough traction to be used in this context. War still blows though.
- rdtsc 14y agoSupply a web feed to remotely control sniper robots and you can eat you popcorn and snipe Palestinian kids and get badges for it. Go all the way, right, was is about winning after all...
- yozmsn 14y agoI'd play that game. /s But seriously this is pretty cool, who new that a government agency had good programmers? I was very impressed with the polish of the tool while I was on the site, it felt very Hipster, could've been made by zynga or VLAMBEER or HalfBot. IMPRESSED!
- kzrdude 14y ago> biggest objection biggest strawman right there.
- rootedbox 14y agoshrug The U.S. has gamified it's wars.. http://www.globatron.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/UAV_cockpit1.jpg http://www.globatron.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/UAV_cock... That being said.. So is every other modern military.
- mey 14y agoThe US military has a longer history with video games then that. www.americasarmy.com
- anonymfus 14y agoBecause future armies will be soldierless, only innocent citizens will die in wars. Right? This article is about gamification of image of war, it is not about gamification of process of war. Imagine future where army is profitable by selling rights for TV translation of war.
- gwillen 14y agoWar has always been gamified. http://www.warhistoryfans.com/victory-tallies-enemy-flags-or-symbols-on-planes-and-ships-167222.html http://www.warhistoryfans.com/victory-tallies-enemy-flags-or...
- anigbrowl 14y agoNot really the same thing. I think this is atrocious, but given that it's a current event and involves countries that tend to arouse people's atavistic passions, an in-depth discussion is probably not on the cards.
- radagaisus 14y agoThe game has been up on the IDF website since July.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jpxxx 14y agoFor those just joining us, this is what's called an "obscenity" or "moral atrocity". Please keep this in mind when reading comments praising this inculcation technique.
- olgeni 14y agoThis stuff looks a bit like the "Megaphone desktop tool" of some years ago.
- nekojima 14y agoThis could be a helpful way for the IDF to track Hamas and other Palestinian users and to see what they are most interested in reading about. Either as a way to target them electronically, or by other means (covertly for exploitation or recruitment, not by missiles). Also might be humourous to know how many Hamas operatives or supporters have reached IDF "Research Officer" rank too.
- revelation 14y agoThis is only gamification if you believe this is a war being fought on social media. Of course, if you believe that, you should quickly rush out of your filter bubble. War always included propaganda for the home front. Back then it was ridiculous posters, nowadays it of course happens in social media.
- genwin 14y agoIn between posters and social media it was "Support the Troops" yellow ribbon bumper stickers.
- twoodfin 14y agoIf you're going to call those "propaganda", could you please suggest another term we can use so people know we're talking about things like Triumph of the Will and not anodyne bumper stickers?
- genwin 14y ago"Support the troops" is indirect propaganda. The thinking promoted is, you should support the troops (who deserve it because they are blameless) by supporting the war, even when the war is unnecessary.
- Spooky23 14y agoSupport the troops is hawk politician speak for... "Continue to vote for war funding, so we don't leave our soldiers in the desert."
- oconnore 14y agoIt was also used as insurance so you could criticize the war and then point to your car as defense against the "but I stand with the troops" nonsense and say "I do too". At least that was my perception in suburban Massachusetts.
- jellicle 14y ago
- matthewowen 14y agoI find it hard to be surprised by anything that the IDF does.
- yozmsn 14y agoBut you'll play call of duty and Battlefield 1942, or better yet mow down civilians in GTA?
- antihero 14y agoWhat?!
- matthewowen 14y agoNo. I don't. But even if I did, your 'point' would be irrelevant.
- fafner 14y agoHow is this a gamification of war? Reading a blog is not war. Social media is not war. Getting a virtual badge for reading a blog has nothing to do with the morals of war. Does the author realise that people get real badges in war for ... you know ... killing other people! Not for retweeting some 140 character long message. Propaganda is nothing new and propaganda was always quick to adopt to new media. Get over yourself...
- fleitz 14y agoIt is not badges that honor men, it is men that honor badges.
- tkahn6 14y agoThe points thing has been up for months, why outrage now? Oh right. Probably the same reason there is outrage now and not in the past few months when 600 rockets have been fired at Israeli civilians.
- tangue 14y agoWhile artillery rounds are falling, while rockets are raining, while drones are killing daily around the globe, a blogger finds out what's wrong with war : gamification. I hope to hear him talk about it on a tech-conference soon.
- Evbn 14y agoObviously if you are against the IDF actions, you are moatly against promotional tools, and if you are for the IDF actions, you are mostly for the promotional tools. Mock outrage over the promotion doesn't make any sense. They are simply an extension of the underlying actions. Be outraged by those, if you will.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- ramgorur 14y agonow this is sick.