|
Undercut: The weight is gone. Who can be committed to a joke? Entertainment and business prevail. And nobody has to confront the spiritual message. Enhanced: Those who know the joke is true can take further delight in the humor of the situation. The joke can even be played as a hoax, where it starts out true but eventually becomes incredible. Or it splits into many independent stories, some false, as you'd expect from grassroots input, and we may have to determine the truth of everything for ourselves, a challenging treasure-hunt and learning process. Games have scenarios that are often fantastic and funny. Introducing the story as a game gives it more acceptance. And players pay more attention to the story to learn the game. They will even suspend disbelief and act as if the story is true, entering into the game world like multi-user dungeons. Keen players will extend the game, carrying its logic to the limit and finding there isn't any limit. I thought I'd start out serious, and perhaps I can if I say the game is for spiritual education. That's true, and it's the main truth. And those who believe in the truth will know the game is only a game. And that's a good place to stop. If the game turns into an economy we could be tempted to think that was the main truth, so it's a good thing to stay centered in the idea of game as spiritual education, only a pointer to reality. We can
counter the initial seriousness by making the game as funny as
possible. This will be the initial goal of the distribution game,
to grade rules and material on how funny they are, and contribute
our own. |
next >> |