Call in the US Army

[Theseus]

Suggestion to Mark, Ming, and all the Apolyton guys:

Call in the Army.

I really mean the advanced study groups at all of the (Western) military / espionage / sociopolitical think tanks.

They dig this stuff... and some of'em get paid for playing around with games. Really.

I would love to see some of there contributions to the forums.

[Grrr]

I didn't know that they played Civ though. I have heard of the New Zealand army playing Serious Sam.

[notyoueither]

The Canadian Army plays LSLarry

[Theseus]

You guys would be amazed.

In the late 80s I did crypto for the USMC, and some of my friends have stayed in the game... they play EVERYTHING.

The USMC actually had a custom version of MP DOOM developed for small unit tactics practice (I think; could have been some other FPS, but I'm pretty sure).

I would be shocked if some of the scenario planners don't play Civ. If they don't, they should.

[notyoueither]

There's a theory that pulling the trigger a thousand times in computer games reduces the hesitation when the weapon is pointed for real at a real human.

Not surprising that armed forces would encourage 'play'.

[Zoid]

But it also dehumanizes the combat. Reports from Desert Storm revealed that fighter pilots sometimes thought it was a game rather than RL.

It´s really quite a frightening revelation that.

Does anyone else see parallells to Orson Scott Cards "Enders Game" ?

[notyoueither]

But do you want your killers to think twice? Or do you want them to kill?

[Flanker]

But it also dehumanizes the combat. Reports from Desert Storm revealed that fighter pilots sometimes thought it was a game rather than RL.

I think war itself is dehumanizing. Unless done in Civ... But hey, it´s just a game! It´s when people can´t see the difference between the game and reality when it gets frightening. I heard of some guys that had played CS or something similar on network, they got beaten by another guy they didn´t know, but they got so mad they went to his place and beat him up. Then you defenitly have played to much computergames!

[WarpStorm]

Re: Call in the US Army

Originally posted by Theseus
I would love to see some of there contributions to the forums.

I'm sure you already do see their inputs.

[campmajor!]

Didn't you know? Sid was paid to make civ for the US Army.

Oh oh, was that classified?

[kailhun]

Originally posted by Flanker
I heard of some guys that had played CS or something similar on network, they got beaten by another guy they didn´t know, but they got so mad they went to his place and beat him up. Then you defenitly have played to much computergames!

If this is true, then there was something wrong with these guys long before computer games got anywhere near them.

I have played computer games since 1984 (the year, not the book) and I don't think that shooting people has become any easier for me (thank God).
I doubt playing computer games teaches people anything about war. If it did, it would have people reaching for the reload short-cut in battle.

Robert

[Zoid]

Originally posted by notyoueither
But do you want your killers to think twice? Or do you want them to kill?

I want them to NOT kill of course. Maybe I was a little unclear. Flanker said it like I intended.

[SpencerH]

Part of the reason for the harshness in boot camp is to dehumanize your recruits (to some extent). Without that dehumanization a soldier is more likely to hesitate in situations where they shouldnt. Soldiers are not police (though they are often used that way). In simple terms a soldiers job is to kill the enemy. Personally I wouldnt care if the pilots and soldiers saw their targets as bouncing bunny rabbits so long as they killed them (and therefore stayed alive themslves).

[Shadowlord]

IMHO the Serious Sam Demo sucked (And thus I did not try the full version.), but maybe it was just me... But I like playing UT Demo with Instagib (One-shot kill. And as for why I didn't get the full version of that, what would I need it for? The extra weapons? Rofl... The other maps? Nah.).

And Duke3d still kicks ass.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Kamrat X
But it also dehumanizes the combat. Reports from Desert Storm revealed that fighter pilots sometimes thought it was a game rather than RL.

It´s really quite a frightening revelation that.

Does anyone else see parallells to Orson Scott Cards "Enders Game" ?

Some parralels yes. But Ender and company were kids that were being trained/brain washed whilst Army use young adults of legal age/citizenry. The big point 'bout Enders Game was the corruption of youth not so much the fact that war game trained folks to be efficient killers.

Now if you wanna argue war games played in military schools .....