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The Austin Chronicle: Screens: Cooperative Play: Richard Garriott and his team at NCsoft unveil their new online game

“My passion for online games comes from history,” says producer Starr Long… “The first games ever were dice games. They were social experiences. They were mechanics that gave us structure for social interaction. It was an aberration when they became about solo play. Cooperative play goes back to what makes games strong.“That’s a feature Garriott extols. In a climate where video games are blamed for everything from youth violence to obesity, he sees MMOs as a net gain for society.

“Solo-player games throughout the rest of history tend to provoke an anti-social behavior that drives people to hide in their rooms in the dark,” Garriott says. “That can be seen as a negative social impact; MMOs are bringing people with like interests together. So all good MMOs are having a good social impact.”

Hmm, I do think that Richard’s remark is a bit over the top. I would cite games that have made people stop and think and even think socially. Like say, the current BioShock, or Civilization, or maybe something like, oh, Ultima IV.

Edit: I should clarify that this is, of course, a reference to my prior comments that used the same wording.

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