Question of the Day, August 15, 2010

[The Escapist Staff]

Question of the Day, August 15, 2010



Jane Mcgonigal, IFTF's Director of Game Research & Development, thinks that gamers have the ability to change the world for the better. Which quality of gamers is most helpful in helping to change the world for the better?

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[Antitonic]

Imagination: because without it, we'd stagnate.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

To Quote Spongebob.

"IMMAAAGINAAATTION!"

Calumon: Why did Jack just draw a rainbow with his hands?

 

[silver wolf009]

Imagination because it means we come up with things that alot of people cant.

 

[Abedeus]

Teamwork, because without it, no war can be won, no test can be passed, no challenge can be achieved.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Problem solving. Looking at the issue from our sick, demented, tainted minds' perspective could help solve problems non-gamers just can't figure out.

 

[Jedamethis]

Well, we use that imagination for problem solving, so I don't know which to pick...

Definitely not teamwork though, which in most games amounts to "Don't shoot people who are on your team"

Cue people providing me with games where teamwork is much more than that...

 

[Subzerowings]

Problem solving through imagination.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
-Albert Einstein

 

[ProtoChimp]

Teamwork because people are so retardedly competitive about things we really shouldn't be like oil and missiles I think gamers who can work together to get the intelligence from those bastard reds could definately make the world better.

 

[Patton662]

I wouldn't say imagination, I mean we are most of the time playing finished products. We don't have a lot of creative input in there. It's the developers who are really creative.
I'd say problem-solving and teamwork are things one can develop through gaming.

 

[TheComedown]

Haha I havnt seen imagination in the video game community for a while, not to mention the only time I see team work is when I get lucky in L4D2 or TF2 and get a team that understands this concept. I voted for endurence, people still play MW2 dont they?

 

[Zhukov]

Other.

Namely, the ability to spout verbal abuse at strangers through a microphone.

About the only skill I can think of that is common among gamers.

 

[Betancore]

Well they're all helpful qualities. When you have a problem, you need to solve it. Sometimes it's not a logical solution, so a little bit of imagination and experimentation is required. If it fails the first time, you have to try again and again until you can solve it. And if all else fails, others can help you. So I guess problem solving, and all that goes into the process of solving a problem, is the most useful thing gamers can bring to the world.

 

[Cabisco]

They are all helpful, Team work and Imagination are at the top of the list though I believe.

I personally cannot wait for the day I can put 'learnt team building skills on BFBC2 and was able to lead my squad to victory using each persons strengths and weaknessess' on a job application paper.

 

[Anachronism]

Imagination. In theory, at least.

It's the one advantage of games not being taken that seriously as a storytelling medium, and it's one they share with comics. Because people don't take them very seriously, they can get away with things a film or a novel couldn't. They can implement unique characters, scenarios and ideas into their plots which would be difficult to get approval for in a film. For instance, the plot of Shadow of the Colossus, in screenplay form, would never have found funding or a publisher, but since it's a videogame, it was able to.

As I said, they can do this in theory. It doesn't often happen.

 

[Rakkana]

There is nothing there that can't be over come by imagination.

 

[mattaui]

Teamwork was about the only quality that I could ascribe to gamers as a whole, but it's also the most important. It's the reason civilization is where it is today, and anything that reinforces that is a good thing. All those other qualities are very useful, but if people don't put their heads together to apply them, the effects aren't nearly so great.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Calumon: Why did Jack just draw a rainbow with his hands?

Because he's awesome like that?

OT: Imagination (and innovation). Without that we would just get the crap like Halo, Call of Duty, and Madden where they just change a minor thing or update the graphics and physics a tad and call it a new game. Sure, new ideas aren't always incredible hits (Mirror's Edge), but sometimes they are (Portal).

 

[Marter]

Problem solving is like the logical way of being imaginative.

Logic = Good

So...problem solving.