Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Yesterday I saw a blog on conspiracy. I claimed the game probably was run by free masonry, controlling the world bank in order to start wars. It was late in the evening (here in Denmark) so I briefly looked it through, and bookmarked it for a later review. Today it was gone, and this evening I found a post from Jane McGonigal stating that non-Evoke stuff would be removed from the game.

This makes me really worried and sad.

But first things first. The original blog, even thou I only briefly read it, and skimmed a few of the post comments, was interesting to me. Not because I believe in any part of it, but because it made me think. It made me think about what the game was. Today I had pondered with thoughts about a relevant response to the blog. Therefore I was saddened to see it gone.

Why would I make a response for such an apparently irrelevant blog post? Because it was clear that here was a person who clearly had misunderstood the basics of the game, and it made me think about what the game was really about. Not the technical stuff, the goals etc. but the fundamental mechanisms in the game. I had seen Jane's video on TED, and knew she was studying game design and game drivers.

To me the game is about inspiration. I already do some good in the world, and I liked the game because it gave me inspirations to do more. Players made post about great ideas or added links to other sites dedicated to support around the globe. I commented on posts in order to start discussions about ideas, or simply to cheer on a good initiative.

When I read the conspiracy blog, claiming the game is controlled by evil masterminds, I had to respond. The game is controlled by the players. The inspiration I have picked up so far (and its quite a bit) came from stuff placed on the site by other players. I.e. It was not the content provided by the game. The game was merely a frame or platform the helped initiate the content. In a sense it didn't matter if the game was controlled by green aliens, it still served the purpose of spreading ideas.

All these thoughts came from reading an apparently irrelevant post.

Jane in her TED video (and I can recommend those who haven't seen it yet to see it) referred a lot to world of warcraft. She commented on epic wins. In my time I have played a lot of games and had my share of epic wins. But none of them came from the game design. They all came from the other players involved. When a team of 50 takes down the dragon, it is not the winning that is epic. It is how the individual players has acted. It was when a healer miraculously saved one of the key fighters or when one of the mages successfully cast a spell at the right time. The game is simply a frame.

Back to Evoke. All these thoughts I would like to have shared. Those who had read the conspiracy blog could have read my post (that now never will be, but is here instead) and hopefully I could have made a few more people consider why they play. That playing was a way to have fun, share and improve the world all at the same time.

Today I realize the game has censorship.

Sure I don't know if the blog had gone to far out (I can't read it now that it is gone), but I havn't been given the choice. It could also be that the blog player requested to be removed.

But if the case is censorship and moderation, then I'm worried. I agree that hardcore sexual content should be removed instantly, but this blog was harmless. Yes it probably took up a few bytes on a hard disk somewhere, and if the game was filled with them, blogs like that would cloud up the really interesting content.

But as I noted above in the response I never got to write my response: The game is made by the players, and not by the game frame itself. The inspiration I pick up comes from the content, ideas, links etc. written by other players. This is the core game driver. And censorship and moderation is a killer to this driver. So when game designers try to interfere with the game they have created, changing the rules, doing moderation, they damage the game. Even this apparently irrelevant blog had me thinking. I may only be one player (or there may be others), but one is enough. This site is about changing the world. And if you and I change the life of one single person in our life for the better, we have done good. So one is enough.

I will not go into a discussion with the game designers whether or not the removal of blogs and posts has been relevant in the individual cases, but I do hope they understand my point of this blog. They may have other goals and reasons to act the way they do (as they probably know more about the remaining game).

So to the game designers I say: You have made this game, now let it live its own life.

But even thou I'm worried and saddened by this I still have to state that I get a lot of inspiration from this game. Even if it appears to be run by green aliens (if it is, please let me know, I won't tell), I already have had plenty of ideas, inspiration and lovely readings, and I hope, (actually I expect) to have plenty more before concluding the last mission.

Views: 26

Comment by Elastika on April 3, 2010 at 1:25pm
Bjarne, I agree with you. Now, after a week of all this censorship drama I've figured out that still, I'm here to do good, regardless of this limited free speech practices we are witnessing.
So I continue to do the tasks and connect with people who inspire me. For me this is the true benefit of EVOKE: meeting people with whom maybe in the future I can realize amazing projects in the future :)
Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 17, 2010 at 11:28pm
I know this is a bit old, but it's still completely relevant, and deserving of attention, by both game players and game designers. This game is about finding new ways to solve world problems, right? And that includes finding new ways to deal with a diverse range of people and personalities, rather than the old, unhealthy ways of censorship and discrimination.

So thanks for posting this, and for offering us a chance to really think.

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