thread: 2005-11-10 : Open House: Ask a Frequent Question...
On 2006-02-02, Sukeu wrote:
A game is any diversion (an activity or occupation with no direct bearing on necessity), mental physical or both, that involves behavior along a certain set of established rules or guidelines...is what I think.
This makes NinJ go "Neccessity ?????a deep hole"
The "necessity" argument is one given for the definitions of art, too. It doesn't hold up.
For instance, there are professional game players (in sports, for instance) and it's easy to see the fate of a nation resting on the shoulders of a game of poker.
I propose that a "game" is any form of stylized conflict.
Therefore, war is not a game because the rules, on the rare occasions where there are any, are not followed. Boxing is a game, though, because the rules are very important, and if they aren't followed, you don't win, even if you beat the shit out of the other guy.
This makes NinJ go "Political elections"
Elections are a game.
This makes mneme go "pretend is a game"
For our purposes, anyway (ie, any where rpg isn't oxymoronic). So you don't need conflict between players (if you count conflict with the environament, all human activity is conflict).
This makes SLB go "Not all human activity is conflict."
All human striving is conflict. (So is non-human striving, for that matter.) But not all action is strife. Well, maybe if you're a Taoist, but I think they have a very specific definition of "action."
Example of what I mean: Watching a beautiful sunset is not a conflict.
