Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
Serdar Yegulyap and I have been having a scattered dialogue about science fiction, culture, and economics as of late, mostly over at his blog.
(As he and I are both fans of old-school correspondence, I’m working to make sure I do part. I want to see what can be done with a blog-implemented, old-school correspondence on issues. Hell, we might get a book out of it.)
Frankly, I am concerned Economy has replaced Culture in America.
A lot of us have, are, or want to work in gaming. Which is great, even if the industry is insanely confusing (enough for me to have ranted about it for quite some time). Gaming is a legitimate form of development and dare I say it, art. Also it really helps push technology, so I’m all for it.
Except as I expand my work in the geekosphere I encounter a lot of people who just don’t “get” gaming. Oh they’re as nerdy as the rest of us, as technical (if not moreso in some cases), but they don’t see why people would blow hours doing this and what they get of it. Wondering why some people don’t “get” gaming is something I’ve been thinking of.
I’ve been thinking about it because it affects how we develop, how we market, and how we communicate. If we are missing people that may enjoy our games, that is an issue. If value is not communicated, that is an issue. If sometimes we’re wasting time on a bad project we could avoid with the feedback of a “non-gamer” that is a big issue.
So why is it some people just don’t “get” games? After some analysis, I came to a few conclusions, some of which are surprising. Well, to me.
“Too Soon?” is a common question I’ve seen asked when people make jokes, offcolor commentary, or inappropriate commentary on terrible events. Sometimes it is hard to know when certain things become appropriate, or what is appropriate, so the question was asked in sarcasm at times, and in sincerity at times. This would extend, to an extent, to politics.
After watching reactions to the bombing in Boston and the horrible kidnapping case in Cleveland, I’ve seen commentary . . . well I can’t say degenerate. It’s as if “Too Soon” is gone, especially in the case of politics.
People were quick to work on their narratives in the Boston incident, and still are, even if it seems the case didn’t fit any popular political narrative – and is still ongoing. Now with the Cleveland incident, it seems there was zero time between the announcement and inappropriate comments, and blatant politicization in comments I read on the internet. True, we’ve had many a politician who would exploit the latest incidents for gain, but it seems that behavior is now completely normalized.
I miss “Too Soon.” We’re in danger of becoming as bad as our worst politicians and pundits.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach. He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.