Posted on 03/22/2018 11:36:06 AM PDT by TigerClaws
At a time when President Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association, and others on the right are blaming video games for promoting violencewith nary a shred of credible evidencea new book has leveled a completely different criticism at the gaming industry: "toxic meritocracy."
According to Christopher Paul, chair of the Department of Communication at Seattle University and author of The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games: Why Gaming Culture is the Worst, video games promote individuality, reward skill, and encourage players to do their best in order to win. These are supposedly bad things.
"Games are based on leveling up and getting stronger," Paul tells Campus Reform. "We expect the most skilled, hardest working player to win. The typical narrative in a game is a rags to riches story where the player propels the character into a key role and perhaps even attains god-like status."
"All those things shape our expectations and focus players on individuals, rather than the collective," he added. "As actualized meritocracies, video games quickly become really toxic spaces where players are focused on individual glory, rather than creating positive spaces for interaction."
Not all is bad, Paul notes, pointing out that games like Mario Kart and Mario Party are more cooperative and based on "luck, contingency, and serendipity," elements that he hopes game developers will prioritize more in the future.
"Moving away from merit allows communities to be developed on different terms, giving an opportunity to build something else, something new, something that has features other than the endemic toxicity that comes with meritocratic systems," Paul contends.
Speaking as someone who played a whole lot of Mario Kart and Mario Party growing up (and in college...and as an adult...), I will say that the luck-based elements are sometimes a lot of fun, but they're also infuriating. In the Mario Party games in particularwhere the "luck" aspect can be overwhelming and game-breakingmy play-group often came away thinking, "Well, that was a terrible game." The mini-game comes to mind where Bowser appears, forces you to pick a random color, and then relieves you of your hard-won coins and stars if you choose wrong.
If that's your thing, more power to you. Play all the Mario Party you want. But I don't think it's "toxic" for more serious gamers to prefer games with clearly defined rules and a skill-based system that rewards good gameplay. Gamer culture has its problems, but promoting meritocracy isn't one of them.
At least Paul doesn't want to regulate away the aspects of gaming he doesn't like. The person who wants to do that is the president of the United States.
A few years ago, playing Gears of War with some friends online...
“Hey, I just switched to the black character. Now I only have to shoot these guys half as much.”
A good laugh was had by all. (we share political leanings)
It’s called, “college.”
Heh, the last video game I played (other than Solitaire, of course), was “Digger”, back in the days of DOS.
Meritocracy is racist?
Then you’re admitting that you want a tiered moral system that is inherently unfair.
Even the Borg had a Queen. So much for equality.
I think we need to reinstitute slavery - in reverse. We should round up gems like this ‘professor’ and sell them in Africa and the ME. We could pay off the national debt and simultaneously provide these poor souls with some exposure to reality which would Settle Their Minds and give them a Stable World View.
Oooooooo.
A new liberal buzz phrase, “Toxic Meritocracy”.
I wonder how long it will take them to forever link it to that other buzz phrase, “White Privilege”.
Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!
RIGHT! You should get a high score and never have even played the game!
I guess the author would advocate that advertising has no impact on the consumer. Movies, TV and video games which glamorize killing have no impact on the consumer?
Sigh war never changes
Interaction and collaboration are just two words used to drag the feeble minded and lazy liberals along.
If you want a strong organization, fire the liberals.
“A rather interesting thing to say, given that video-game players are often depicted as losers living in their parents basement.”
Mass media depicts gamers this way, as gamers are disengaged from mass media while they are gaming. They also become in some ways critical thinkers, and actors in changing their circumstances - all things the mass media and this malignant professor abhor.
It is interesting that Jordan Peterson actually applauds gaming for the very reasons this guy denigrates it - there is a degree of vestigal effort=reward training in most video games, almost absent in the artificial environments of mandated conformity and mediocrity many are bound in today. It is profoundly ironic, but in some instances virtual games are more atavistic and primal than urban and suburban hamster wheels.
If you like games of luck, go to a casino and play at the roulette wheel. But play with your own money.
As shown by the bridge collapse, FIU and its contractors have clearly rid themselves of the stigma of being “toxic meritocracies” and the accompanying evil of excessive rigor in engineering. All cheer diversity and AA.
OMG! What happened to his face?
The popular smartphone video game Summoner’s War is a good example of one game that fosters meritocracy. MANY adult scientist friends of mine play it - along with aerospace engineers and Ivy leaguers. It was written up in the WSJ awhile back.
“Toxic meritocracy” - how this guy got to be a professor......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.