Slashdot Mirror
Army's MMO Game Sim Details Discussed
Thanks to HomeLan Fed for their interview with Robert Gehorsam of There Inc. regarding their U.S. Army-funded 'virtual world' project, as previously mentioned on Slashdot. This extension of an the existing There Inc. MMO title will apparently "enable a commander of an [Army] unit to say, 'Hey, my unit needs to train for its upcoming peacekeeping duties in Kumar.' He works with a trainer to develop a specific environment and scenario (or better yet, modify an existing one out of a repository), figures out who is going to play the bad guys, the civilians and the 'others' -- like the Red Cross, the UN, etc. -- and then prep his unit for the exercise." However, when asked about the types of features MMOG fans might recognize, Gehorsman suggests: "Guns? I'll admit, however, that the magic system is not particularly robust."
While magic may not play a part in this I would expect that random elements of good and bad luck will.
Au contrare! It's onlyExactly Where They're At Weapons of Mass Destruction"
Other magic items will include: The Magic Flight-Suit of Re-election Ads: with this authentic U.S Navy flight suit, fortunate sons who managed to avoid real wars in Vietnam get to declare wars they instigated to avenge Daddy to be over! The magic lies in glossing over the ensuing casualties during the "peace", which will actually be larger than the casualties during the "war", and in providing macho footage suitable for use in re-election ads!
The Magic Avenging Aide: this highly placed administration aide can be used to cast a spell of revealing on Valerie Pflame, letting every enemy of America know she's and undercover CIA operative, in order to punish her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, for not toeing the administration line and claiming that Iraq had nuclear bomb ingredient "yellowcake" when it did not. The magic is, even thought it's a Federal crime to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA agent, no one will ever be prosecuted!
The Magic Influencing Vice President: this magic item, also known as a "Dick Cheney", can be used to intimidate CIA analysts and other members of the intelligence community into changing their findings to indicate the existence of WMDs they don't actually believe exist. The magic is, this will even work on credulous Labour leaders in Great Britain -- even those who public claim they've found a "Third way"!
Please note that full use of "The Magic Influencing Vice President" artifact requires concurrent use of The Magic Halliburton No-Bid Payoff Spell: this spell allows companies that gave ungodly amounts to your campaign to get even more back in the form of no-bid exclusive contracts to "support" our troops. Actual soldiers in the field will receive benefit form these contracts on a roll of 16 or more on a 20-side die., but Halliburton will always prosper.
And finally, the most potent magic item of all: The Magic Word Patriotism: Use the word to shut up anyone who questions your policies, by accusing them of "giving aid to our enemies". Teh magic is that anything else that you do -- not finding Osama, non-existent WMDs, bad intelligence, skulduggery and payoffs --, can be swept under the rug, by the invoking of the magic word Patriotism. Any dissenter's reputation can be impugned by claiming that they don't have Patriotism. Any law can be passed, by invoking Patriotism.
It's the Bush Administration: suspend your disbelief, because the magic's all around you!
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
uh, that quote is by There not America's Army
isn't anybody else reminded of Ender's Game?