Re: SPAM : What's the big deal?

From: jaede@acsu.buffalo.edu

Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Vbreferee wrote:
>
> I don't know what the definition of SPAM is... [snip]

> I guess what I am saying is that email, like mail, is a way to exchange
> information.  If a person goes to the trouble to send me a message, I
> don't see where I am being injured. [snip]

I'm not going to rehash the Great SPAM debate here, though if you are
interested you might visit http://www.cauce.org/index.html for more
info.

I think the original poster's main concern (or at least mine when I read
it) is that giving in-game rewards for extra-game sales activities makes
being a salesman for the game company a necessary part of a successful
in-game strategy.  This not only generates a lot of unwanted commercial
email and postings; it also contaminates the game itself.

Note that this is very different from an extra-game recruiting incentive
such as giving a free turn if you get a friend to join.  In that case
you are getting a small reward for doing a little work, but it's not
part of the game itself.  There is no in-game advantage.

I find the in-game rewards system distasteful because it denies the
players one of the greatest appeals of gaming -- the ability to enter an
imaginary world where the ordinary rules of daily life do not apply.  If
real-world sales and marketing (or SPAM and Velveeta) become part of
gaming life, where's the fun?  I sure hope this practice doesn't spread.

Mark

--
Mark G. Jaede: jaede@acsu.buffalo.edu
Ph.D. candidate, SUNY at Buffalo Department of History
Lecturer, Buffalo State College Dept. of History and Social Studies
Education
Visit my Latin America Homepage at
http://www.buffalostate.edu/~jaedemg/index.html

References

SPAM : What's the big deal?
vbreferee@aol.com (Vbreferee)
Fri, 25 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000