PLAY-ACTING - It's a game. Isn't it?

                    By James G. Johnston.

I recently visited a games night (table top miniature role play)
at our local Games Workshop. The scenario was a familiar one - The
High Elves' advance guard had found a precious artifact and as
they waited the arrival of the remaining troops of the rear
guard, they were pinned down by a horde of evil Orcs and Goblins.
The rear guard has now arrived and battle commences.  The High
Elves have to defend the artifact and preserve it. The Green
armies have to destroy the elves and the artifact. As the game
progressed, the atmosphere built up and soon the shouts of elation
and groans of despair were as real as they would have been in real
life. The final noisy victory demonstration by the Green mob left
everyone in no doubt of their belief that their victory was real
and that they had derived great pleasure from their wholly
destructive activities.

You may wonder why I have opened with the above scene, which
really has nothing to do with computer adventuring (normally a
single player).  The reason is very simple, as all our 'role play'
activities have a basic theme and purpose. Generally this theme
and purpose is educational but could, with careful manipulation,
be used to brainwash to a mind condition suitable to the
organiser.

Whoa!!  Let's not get in too deep yet! Let's take an imaginary
trip back to the origins of our 'civilisation'.  In the cave lived
an extended family group.  The women tended the precious fire,
gathered edible roots and fruits, cooked, bred, etc. The men
hunted, killed food and defended the group.

The leader (strongest) of the group takes a lump of marker
(tattoo) clay and draws the outline of a food animal on the wall.
He then surrounds it with man figures and draws a spear stuck in a
vulnerable part of the animal. All the warriors growl in approval.
Now they go outside and practice what they have learned. In this
Role Play Game, the leader who is wearing an animal skin, acts the
part of the animal being hunted and his group practice their
skills, as hunters, by trying to surround him then kill him with
their weapons.

Later, the hunters (led by their leader) set out on the real hunt.
All that they have been taught in the play-acting is now put to
use, as regular meat is required to sustain the group. The success
of the leader (even his life) was closely linked to the success of
the hunt.  Should he fail to lead successful hunting and the group
become in danger of starving, the group will carry out the ritual
practice hunt with the leader in his animal skin. On this
occasion, the starving tribesmen will turn practice into reality,
will 'kill' the animal skin and eat its 'meat' while choosing a
new and, hopefully, more successful leader.

This play-acting, as a form of teaching, has continued, through
the ages, down to our modern time. During early and medieval times
when none of the peasant classes were able to read or write, the
Christian church had to resort to miracle plays and other 'moral'
displays (burning heretics and confiscating their property,
etc.) to put their message across. They went further. In order to
cater for the peasants natural tendency towards their traditional
beliefs, they allowed certain days in the year to celebrate high
points of their calendar.  During these days the various work
guilds put on religious plays and displays.

The real high point, however, was the Feast of Beltane (or Lord of
Misrule).  A King (or Lord) of Misrule was selected by the people,
generally the village idiot.  He was given a mock coronation and
thereafter, for 24 hours, the people could indulge in every form
of activity normally proscribed by the church (drunkenness,
gluttony, licentiousness, etc. etc.).  By providing this
play-acted loophole, they were able, for the rest of the year, to
hold the peasants down in the drudgery of real life.

At school we were taught discipline and manners by the ritualism
or play-acting of various functions.  Each day at 11.00 a.m., one
at a time (starting from the top of the class), we left our seat,
went to the milk crate and took our bottle of milk. We made our
way to the teacher's desk where she removed the top of the milk
and handed us a straw.  We each thanked her for her kindness
before returning to our seat to drink our milk. Returning the
bottles was carried out by two children from the bottom of the
class carrying the crate round the class, from top to bottom,
collecting the empty bottles. We then sang a children's hymn,
thanking God for the good things we had received and were
dismissed to play.

This taught more than discipline and respect. It also taught you
to make sure that you kept as near the top of the class as you
could, by diligent work and good behaviour. Well! Would you want
to carry the milk crate?

Play-acting, using tabletop miniature layouts, has been used by
the army since very early days, to teach battlefield manoeuvres to
young trainee officers.  In fact play-acting forms a large part of
military training.  During my air force conscription service,
various marching and other military skills were achieved by dint
of constant repetition of the specific manoeuvre - regardless of
time, meals or sleep.  We charged, bayonets fixed, dummy figures
of humans, screaming at the top of our voices.  Repeatedly
stabbing the dummies to the shouts of the drill sergeant that they
had raped and killed our mothers and sisters.  I confess that the
play-acting did bring a degree of vicarious satisfaction for
having avenged my imaginary family tragedy.  These 'minor'
details, however were overshadowed by the final act of the play.
The Passing Out Parade - the whole of the junior airmen in the
wing assembled on the parade ground.  The space nearest the
saluting dais was kept clear for the Elite. In a special area
behind the saluting dais but across the road from it, were our
families. The band played suitable music to entertain while they
waited.  Outside our billet, we lined up in full dress uniform,
white webbing and highly polished boots and buttons.  We were
checked and rechecked by our NCOs until they were satisfied that
not a hair was out of place. The flight escort marched up and took
up position at the head of our flight, colours at the carry,
escorting our flight officer. We waited.

Suddenly the band, at the parade ground, struck up a military
march to indicate that the Commanding Officer was on the dais
waiting to receive us. The colour party came to order, officers
drew swords to the carry, we shouldered our rifles and our Warrant
Officer commanded us to march. We 'swept' down the road to the
parade ground, passed our families and swung on to the parade
ground taking our rightful place as senior flight (The 'Elite'!!).

After showing our paces in drill movements, being inspected and
receiving the flight baton and sword, 'The whole Parade' was
called to attention and we marched completely round the parade
ground, out and past our families, colours flying, fixed bayonets,
led by the R.A.F. band playing the Royal Airforce March Past. The
herd feeling developed was so strong that if they had ordered the
elimination of my family immediately, I would have carried out the
order with enthusiasm and gratitude for being chosen.  So much for
emotional conditioning by play-acting.

This use of play-acting has continued into the 'computer age' and
now takes the form of "hands on experience". The idea is that if
the operator uses the computer to 'play games' (adventures or
shoot-em-up's, etc.) he is interacting with it and is losing his
fear of the 'animal' and getting to know and predict its actions
under certain circumstances.  Creating programs and allowing
others to play-act your adventure is giving them training to
interact with the computer as well as furthering your computer
literacy.

I could never understand my enthusiasm for cave adventure
(Crowther and Woods) until I read that the writer's work involved
him in the geological mapping of cave networks in his area.
Suddenly it clicked!  His descriptions were accurate. My training
and occupation involved me underground in collieries and mines
(i.e. man made caves) and I have walked down tunnels where water
poured from the roof like a tropical rain storm.  I have travelled
roadways where the water oozed 'blood red' from the roof and sides
(Iron oxide). Gazed in wonder at the weird shapes of various fungi
growing from the wooden supports and watched the gray net fungus
glistening like millions of small chandeliers as they reflected,
from the water drops the held in their structure, the light of the
lamps.  I had been fortunate to have interacted with someone with
a similar background and this had given the added bonus.

Now to conclude and bring this playability up to date, I will cite
the use of interactive computer setups for the training in various
disciplines.  To chose just one, the use of a flight simulator in
pilot training.  The original pilot training aid consisted of the
use of a bicycle with a metal screen bolted to the handle bars. A
slot in the metal similar in size to the cockpit view allowed
trainee pilots to cycle the runway lines and practice straight
landing. This is now superseded by a computer controlled
flightdeck with all instruments active and able to simulate any
circumstance in aviation. It will record pilot action, pilot
reaction and plane response. These records can be examined in
detail and any correction discussed. So complex is the flight
simulator that plane movement and crash shock can be simulated.
This means that dangerous manoeuvres like stall and engine failure
which had to be carried out in 'real conditions' with all the
inherent dangers can be play-acted in safety yet in 'real and
genuine situation'.  If a mistake is made the program will allow
the crash but not kill the crew.

So it is true to say that all our computer adventuring and gaming
along with all the other play-acting activities have a high
educational factor. However they also have a high conditioning
factor and care must be exercised that we do not substitute false
values for real life thus devaluing it. It is perfectly all right
to enjoy a good shoot-em-up on your computer but to then carry
this into real life would be tragic. I am not going to sit in
judgement but I often wonder if the people who play "Real Time
Adventures using those paint balls would, in the heat of the game,
notice if I substituted live ammunition or would they just go on,
happily shooting down their opponents.  You say that it can't
happen and that you would never 'copycat' in real life but I
remember when, for Queen and Country, I repeatedly stabbed those
dummies under the enthusiastic direction of the sergeant
instructor. Thank God I was never asked to carry it out in reality
but if instructed, AT THAT TIME, I would have done so without
conscience or remorse.


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