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Chat topics?

8 replies [Last post]
Fri, 11/21/2003 - 17:58
phpbbadmin
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Joined: 04/23/2013

Folks,

It has been brought to my attention that more people would attend chat if they were provided with a worthwhile topic and were given said topic some time in advance in order to plan to attend. OK, that makes sense to me. Guys, start firing off chat topics you'd like to see. After we get a few, Fastlearner and I will divy them up and start posting when we will host each one. We will also try our best to give you guys at least two or three days notice for each chat topic.

Ok, that's the scoop, now let 'em rip!

-Darke

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Fri, 11/21/2003 - 18:05
#1
Anonymous
Chat topics...

Defining a game for an appropriate age level? What makes a game 4 and up versus a game that's for ages 6 and up? How do you design with a target age in mind? I'd like to hear other designers give me their ideas on this.

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Sun, 11/23/2003 - 14:35
#2
Dralius
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Joined: 07/26/2008
Chat topics?

How about: Educational value VS. Entertainment, Are they truly opposed?

I am at a loss to remember playing an educational game that was fun. I would like to know if anyone thinks that it is possible to educate without hindering the fun factor.

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Sun, 11/23/2003 - 18:14
#3
Scurra
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Joined: 09/11/2008
Chat topics?

Dralius wrote:

I am at a loss to remember playing an educational game that was fun. I would like to know if anyone thinks that it is possible to educate without hindering the fun factor.

There was a terrific maths game called "Numberquest" IIRC (it was later published by Ravensburger with a different name) which I found eductional and entertaining - it certainly sharpened up my mental arithmetic skills and taught me all the prime numbers up to 100 :)

Certain games of Trivial Pursuit can be both, but they tend to be the exceptions, since that's rather against the point of the game.

And, of course, most games of Puerto Rico I play must be eductional, because they always end with me saying "well, that's taught me a lesson."

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Sun, 11/23/2003 - 20:48
#4
Torrent
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Joined: 08/03/2008
Chat topics?

Not exactly a chat topic, but a related request.

Due to my schedule and being in the Time Zone I'm in, I unfortunately do not get a chance to attend the chats. As such I always wonder what took place. I remember one chat seemed to have gotten logged and posted on the site. It would be nice to see some more of these logs of chats. Even if just for a few days.

As sort of an aside, if the chats were posted for perusal it might be interesting to have a forum for their discussion. Especially for those who could not make it, and for discussing interesting questions brought up during chats.

Just a suggestion, but I definately would appreciate the logging of chats.
Andy

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Sun, 11/23/2003 - 23:12
#5
FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat topics?

Good idea. From time to time the chats don't have much really shareable game design info, especially if they're not well attended (in which case we sometimes end up discussing movies or what have you), but when there's a topic and a reasonable attendance they can be great.

When we have such chats (at least for Monday chats as I'm always there) I'll be sure to grab it and edit it. Because they can require a fair bit of editing sometimes it might take a number of days to post but I'll still make certain to do it.

I'll post them in one of the forums here (either an existing one or a new one) so that discussion can continue.

-- Matthew

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Thu, 11/27/2003 - 16:07
#6
tjgames
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Chat topics?

Another possible topic.
Books have you found helpful in creating new games either by giving you ideas or inspiration.

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Thu, 12/04/2003 - 19:28
#7
DavemanUK
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Edutainment

A few years ago, the word 'edutainment' was touted around in the computer games industry to represent educational/entertainment type games. Unfortunately, mostly they were like doing sums with cartoons ;)

However, I think there's a lot to be said for _induced_ education from games as after playing, say, Puerto Rico one may perk up to watch a documentary on 'The plight of slaves working in 17th century South American sugar plantations'.......(as there was on UK TV last Sunday and jolly interesting too) :)

Dave.

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Thu, 12/04/2003 - 21:15
#8
setarcos
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Joined: 07/31/2008
"Educational" Games

Dave,

I think you have a good point. I’ve always been skeptical about the claim, occasionally made by some, that games can be educational. (I’m not so sure that games even should be, not even great strategy games.) I mean, how much can any game actually teach someone without becoming pedagogical to the point of hardly even qualifying as a game any more? (No offense to the ConSim guys.) However, while games may not be particularly well suited to educating anyone, I do think that good games can (and do) go a long way toward making their players more educable. The mind is like a muscle in that the more it is exercised, the stronger (and more capable of learning) it gets. Not only that but, as DavemanUK has pointed out, a great game tends to stimulate interests in a person that might lead one to seek out knowledge of a particular subject or issue. Don't worry about designing a game that's educational. Make your games a fascinating workout for the players' minds.

IMHO,

Leland

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