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RE: (TFT) Copyright discussion-Lawrence Lessig



From: "rsmith" <rsmith@lightspeed.ca>

	Soon after Metagaming went under, the wargaming market
dried up. The roleplaying market shrank to 1/3 its 1978 size.

The story I heard is that the man who wrote the first published miniature combat rules latter burned those rules. He is H. G. Wells and the rules are Little Wars. He also wrote War of the Worlds. The way I heard it, after being confronted with the absolute horror of world war he relented. He went back, destroyed his manuscript, and wrote actively against war. While I feel for his reaction I think he over reacted. Write against the horrors of war, yes. Burn your own contribution to peaceful hobbies, no. It has been my experience that war-gamers are among the most devout of pacifists. They know how easy it is to lose, to be killed, horribly maimed, or captured. There is no glory in violence as a career. Combat simulations act as therapy for aggression. A player can act out in ways they would never do in real life. They can deal with things like war crimes, atrocities, and murder in a safe controlled environment. Among peers. Experience has shown that the more war games a person plays the more peace loving they become. Consider the military tradition of an elite soldier being de-briefed after a mission. The soldier tells of his mission, objectives achieved, and casualties. His conduct is under review but this also acts as a form of therapy for him. The events are put into words. He is able to clear his conscience. The de-briefing also acts to reintegrate the soldier into society. If it was according to his duty or not. It also helps him to leave it behind and learn from any mistakes made. Now consider the average modern American child. They have viewed hundreds of hours of violent acts on the screen. More than any elite soldier would see in multiple lifetimes. And without benefit of a single de-briefing session. All these dark and bloody images churn around in their memory. It is no wonder that table top fighting games are increasing in popularity. As a people we are learning to debrief ourselves. A group of friends sitting around the kitchen table dealing with these violent memories one at a time. Recognizing them for what they are and moving on. H. G. Wells wrote a combat game. Yet he reacted very negatively to the idea of war. Writing the game did not make him violent. If anything it made him more aware of the value of peace. If I had a wish fulfilled it would be that everyone who cant find a group to play war games with would write a small fight game. Choose the most violent event they have seen and write out the rules for it objectively. It will serve as self therapy and an act of creation. Creation in the face of killing. Who knows. They may even get someone to play the game and make some new friends. As a society we should be so fortunate.

  David Michael Grouchy II


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