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posted by LaminatorX on Tuesday February 18 2014, @11:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the infinite-Primapes-with-infinite-gamepads dept.

laserfusion writes:

"CNET is reporting on a massively-mono-player gaming experiment. From the article :

In what can only be described as the best thing to happen to Valentine's Day, about 12,000 people are participating in a collective game of Pokemon Red on the live game-streaming service Twitch, all by simply typing in directions in the comment box in a messy frenzy. Not every single one of the viewers is mashing in commands of course, but because anyone with a Twitch account can comment on a public stream, any viewer is a potential player in this wacky experiment.

Currently there are 80,000 players. Despite all the noise and trolls, they were able to make progress in the game and multiple goals have been achieved. Now there is a new control mode "democracy" in which the most popular commands in every 10 seconds are executed. "Democracy" and "anarchy" modes can be switched by a 75% vote."

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by combatserver on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:03AM

    by combatserver (38) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:03AM (#2059)

    It's a lesson, at the very least, in how a community can interact--I'm sure there are lessons to be learned for everyone involved, especially in terms of governance. Keep in mind that many--if not most--of the people playing this democratic version of Pokemon Red are young, impressionable types.

    My daughter has been a Pokemon fan since she was a toddler, so I decided to get her take on this (She observed the game, but didn't participate). Here is her take on it.

    "It's looks like one person playing it, but with their eyes closed."

    If you take that in the context of governance, I'm not sure I like the outcome--It doesn't matter how many Captains you have on the ship if nobody is paying attention to the horizon.

    --
    I hope I can change this later...
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by edIII on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:55AM

    by edIII (791) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @02:55AM (#2110)

    If you take that in the context of governance, I'm not sure I like the outcome--It doesn't matter how many Captains you have on the ship if nobody is paying attention to the horizon.

    That's not entirely true. They're paying attention to the horizon, but all together are slightly paralyzed about what action to take, not if they take an action. Those actions are predominately intended to be positive, trolls aside.

    Now you already have something better than Congress. Congress deliberately ignores the horizon due to monied interests.

    I would rather have 250 million people screaming to control part of a big wheel with semi-random consequences, than a couple hundred people controlling it with no regard for the consequences for 99% of the people.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 2) by combatserver on Wednesday February 19 2014, @03:30AM

      by combatserver (38) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @03:30AM (#2123)

      "I would rather have 250 million people screaming to control part of a big wheel with semi-random consequences, than a couple hundred people controlling it with no regard for the consequences for 99% of the people."

      That smacks of Anarchy to me--no, thanks. I'd prefer something squarely in the middle.

      --
      I hope I can change this later...
      • (Score: 1) by edIII on Wednesday February 19 2014, @05:07AM

        by edIII (791) on Wednesday February 19 2014, @05:07AM (#2162)

        Think of it this way.

        Would you rather live in a country where vampires roam around treating like you cattle, you have no defense, and life is really just a crapshoot to see if you can make it til death, and you live in constant fear of if they are going to take you next?

        or

        Would you rather live in a country where at any one time everybody is acting towards their own benefit, which can often benefit others as well, towards a common goal, but still has a very random chance for bizzare events that can could bring great harm towards you, negligence, and overall inefficiency but in non-premeditated way?

        I'm not arguing that it isn't a form of anarchy, only that it would ultimately bring them less harm than what Congress has done in the last 15 years.

        I'm saying Congress is worse for us than random chance.

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:47PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2014, @04:47PM (#2591)

          I'm pretty sure Congress is worse for us than roving bands of bloodthirsty vampires. At least the vampires need to drink our blood to survive...