13 March, 2019

What Ought We To Be Doing As Artists In Game Design?

The question of "what is Art" is endlessly fascinating to me, and it forms the touchstone against which I evaluate all art, including game design.

We are a species unique because we are the only one that makes images about our experiences and tell ourselves stories about who, and what, and why we are. 

We are a species of meaning seekers.

Games, and especially modern role-playing games, are interwoven with branches from literature, theater, film, and television.  These story telling media all inform game design whether NSG, or any of the new categories.

Unfortunately, many creative designers have imported leftist politics into their game design.  This is problematic since leftist politics are a hellish blend of post modern relativism, and the dehumanizing savagery of Marxism.  Even worse, less talented followers have joined the riot and demanded equal esteem with their output. 

I would assert that Art, should be seeking to reveal Truth, Beauty, and Craftsmanship in some form.  If the philosophical basis for a worldview is fundamentally devoid of objective truth, how can it possibly reveal true and beautiful things except by accident?

Of course, fun, competition, skill, and other factors are also part of a game, and those are also good to pursue in game design, but I don't see those things being such problems.  The hate, and discord by the noisy, strident left and the marginal, ugly, over-reaction by the right do not help games, art, or designers.

We ought to be seeking whatever is most common to humanity, not what is most specific to some niche demographic.

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