Its interesting that other users of the forum felt uncomfortable entering into the dialogue within this thread. Does this not suggest that there is a heirachy within the forum of asymmetry information. Do computer games and forums then, further a progression to an introverted society as was touched on in the essay. Are "The Sims" only representative of an interactive and visually forum, users able only to express their emotions through Will Wright's toolbox.
So with 40 replies and around dozen contributors and for post #41 you say: "other users of the forum felt uncomfortable entering into the dialogue" Yeah right! You're kidding, huh? [Edit] Oops! Welcome BTW Hope you get to read this cos you won't see this bit on your email notify ... if you have chosen to have email notification, that is ... [/edit]
Obviously not. I was enjoying your notion; The essay was attempting to look at the way we as users of a medium have interacted with that particular medium. Does it then surprise you that I was more interested in the dozen participants or so of this thread and their views and interacteractions. Sorry for not replying earlier.
Just suppose we were all gathered around a quilt, sewing and talking about everything from stitch size to religion, which is about what happens daily in this forum. Methinks you have missed the forest because of the trees. Whether it be a quilt, a computer, a dinner table, or a classroom, it's communication between human beings and it's a marvelous thing. This business about progression to an introverted society is sociological doubletalk that means absolutely nothing. You are taking yourself and your essays entirely too seriously. Unless, as Mirelly said, you really are kidding.
LMAO ... for a terrible second there I thought I was being hailed as "young", "intellingent", "kind", or -- even worse -- "adult". I obey (and enforce) rules of taste and decency but I do not kowtow nor fawn and as an imperfect creature I sometimes get it wrong when I tease. Who were you quoting? That surely wasn't me for, with no offence intended to the actual author, that so doesn't sound like me ... and luckily it mentions most of users I would most hate to insult with a carelessly phrased mal de bouche. Love to have ya here, anyway, dt, with your repartee and rejoinders. World Sims is definitely deficient in the field of robust debate that I like term: "smouldering" (flaming being so destructive )
Um, I have a request, dtimms: could you put question marks after your questions? I'm a bit of a grammar freak and it's been bugging me.
LMAO, Person. Good point. Proficiency in the normative or prescriptive rules with regard to the current standard of usage for English is necessary for precise intellection. Know what I mean?
I think a big problem with the above statement is that there is a big premise that all users will particpate in every thread and discussion. That's not true. Some may have opinions. Others may not. We don't have a rule on this forum nor does any other forum that I'm a member of that states all members MUST particpate. We encourage our members to particpate, but in no way are they obligated to particpate in this thread or any others. One factor I personally feel that there wasn't much of a reply to this thread was primarily, that the author simply overwhelmed the reader with information. It wasn't structured as nicely as it could. Points were obscure at points. In fact, there appears to be a lot of efford to impress the reader. Often I found myself wondering what does this have to relate to The Sims. In fact, there are still instances of my reading where I have still many questions unanswered. I feel that if the essay was reorganized and structured properly, with points clearly stated, you'd have a higher feedback and more accurate data for your psychological experiement I sincerely feel that The Sims is just one of many potential outlets in the computer games/forums. There isn't just this sims forum to consider. There are many other forums with similar outlets of expression for The Sims. There are many other games with other game-focused forums themselves that form community and friendship. Many other games come to mind that bring together the spirit of friendship and competition. There are many generic boards with an off-topic sort of approach that encourages the discussion of anything within their minds. I think I may echo the sentiments of many, but I don't appreciate being used as a guinea pig without my prior consent or approval. Many people don't appreciate being part of a psychological evaluation or experiment without prior permission or approval from the client or patient. In fact, you violate several key fundamental rights and rules by even attempting this sort of psychological experiment. What comes to mind at the moment is you violated the ethical principes of psychology and code of conduct. Even if you were NOT a student studying psychology or your profession is not in the field of psychology, these basic fundamental rights still exist even in a basic court of law. In many courts, including the State of California and I believe also the UK as well, that such tests without consent and notification of the patient, is viewed as rape. You may want to consider reading the APA Ethical Principes of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. (http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html). I highly recommend focusing on Article 8 in particular as this focuses on research and patient approval.
A fair point, Josh ... though maybe a little harsh. An open invition to the public to express, publicly, an opinion is hardly a violation of an individual's human rights if there (as you point out) no compulsion to participate. That said, I suspect that had we had known we were being pumped for reasons other than being asked for an empiric appraisal, our contributions to the debate would have been rather different in both character and content.
Okay, I missed where dtimms said that he was doing an official psychological experiment on us. The way I followed this thread, I took it to mean that he's very proud of his essay, and he was curious in our reactions to it. I think that's all he meant.
There is no experiment, intially I thought it would be appropriate to recieve feedback on the essay from people who have more experience playing "The Sims" to gauge whether or not I understood the game or that the comments I made were deemed sensible. I apoligise if you feel you've been "pumped" for a reaction or that I'm prying into one's personal cyber space. I didn't intially reply because I wanted to see if there was a recurring point made about the essay, then the thread went of topic. The essay progresses through the mediums, all of which can be shared with another, "The Sims" is a one player game, in essence it can only be shared through a forum, where the communication is not as emotive as other mediums. One point I tried to look at. Earlier in the thread it was pointed out that the essay looked at areas that only a small minority of gamers indulged in. Therefore everyone implying that "everyone was inherently good". "I highly recommend focusing on Article 8 in particular as this focuses on research and patient approval." ManagerJosh
