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Originally Posted by Trezker  Just replace music with computer games, programming libraries etc. Currently I feel that games generally doesn't do much good for people, they're mostly time killers. |
A Theory of Fun for Game Design OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Download the presentation toward the bottom to get the basic idea. Games are an integral part of our evolution as conscious beings. And in fact, games are being used to solve big problems for mankind.
Game Design, Psychology, Flow, and Mastery - Blog - Games With a Purpose
I'm very aligned with game design, and have been designing games "on paper" since I was 7. But one of the biggest hangups I have right now is that the "patterns" in most games don't do much more than teach us how to: 1) aim (shooters), 2) reinforce acting like sheep in a herd (raiding in MMOs), 3) figure out the shortest way to get the rewards (i.e. most games). And games show no sign of evolving either - we'll continue to see clones of basic SNES-PS2 games until the end of time until there's a breakthrough. Most games (like Final Fantasy) fail to reward exploration (like every good NES game used to), and fail to reward delayed gratification (i.e. giving only incremental rewards), reinforcing the brat-mentality that is so pervasive in the West.
It is for these reasons that I won't go into game design until I've mastered true AI, because the most important underlying lesson in EVERY timeless game is the ability to out-think your opponent, and no opponents besides real-life players "think", and most real-life players aren't really thinkin that much (they're mostly "zerging"). By programming actual intelligence into a game (rather than scripted routines), players will derive unlimited amounts of entertainment from enemies that combat them in an "interesting" way. (It will be interesting, because the enemies will be motivated to stay alive, and will use clever tricks to defeat you - unless you're really good, you'll constantly find yourself ambushed, surrounded, sniped, cheap-shotted, and otherwise out of your comfort zone when fighting NPCs).
When I finally bring true AI to the world, games like chess and poker, which are currently considered "timeless" games, will eventually become "solvable" - people will learn the underlying patterns needed to win the games, and playing them will be like tic-tac-toe. (And a lot of the "problems" that exist in the world right now, such as pollution and economic recessions, will seem trivial and we'll think of ourselves as having left a Dark Age).