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."

Comments

Realism

[papadiablo]

From the article "while we have a skill system in There's architecture, I'm not sure we're going to use it to automatically improve your aim, allow you to understand languages you can't really understand, and so forth."

Sounds pretty neat to me. I don't recall if their America's Army improved your shooting skill or not, but that game was fun and challenging. It doesn't sound like they are sure if they'll release it to the masses though.

"HomeLAN - Is there a chance that this game will be released in modified form as a commercial project?
Robert Gehorsam - That's a very interesting question, and I bet a commercial MMP exploring conflict in today's world would be pretty amazing. And useful, perhaps, to the Army itself, as civilians played roles -- like terrorists or other shadowy movements -- that it's hard to get people to play for real training. But ask me again in about a year."

That would be a shame if we didn't get to play it.

Re:Realism

[theghost]

Sounds pretty neat to me. I don't recall if their America's Army improved your shooting skill or not, but that game was fun and challenging.

Even though AA has "levels" in the form of Honor points, the only time they help you out is in weapon selection. Higher Honor players tend to get first pick of weapons in a scenario. They do not adjust your accuracy or give you any other benefit.

It doesn't sound like they are sure if they'll release it to the masses though.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if they used the work they do for the Army as the foundation for another game, but i doubt we'll get to play alongside the actual Army guys who are doing their training.

Now that i think about it though, it would probably be a good idea for the Army to hire some 31337 AA or Counterstrike players to play the bad guys, and maybe some deep roleplayers from some MMORPGs to fill in other parts.

Now that brings up some ethical quandries! I won't work for defense contractors IRL for ethical reasons, but would i work for the Army as an NPC/trainer in their MMORPG if the job was offered? On the one hand, i'd get paid to play a game - sweet gig. On the other hand, it's still working for the Army.

I guess it would depend on what kind of training i'd be doing. If i could help them learn to resolve more disputes non-violently, then that's a net positive, but if i'm just helping them learn to intimidate and kill more effectively, then that would be not cool.

Not magic. Luck

[securitas]

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.

Even with people behind the opponents of the team in training, every war has soldiers who have stories about experiencing lucky and unlucky coincidences.

Lord Kril

[daeley]

Can we just get to the Last Starfighter phase of all this military video gaming and get it over with? I want off-planet already! ;)

Magic system not robust

[Syncdata]

That's entirely too funny, and it illustrates exactly why I'm supportive of the team producing Americas Army.
They are candid and upfront when asked questions, unusual for a group affiliated with a government. Is it a recruiting tool? Of course it is. Can you be a wizard? No, magic isn't in the current build.
It's simply refreshing to think a house can be a affiliated with the government, yet build and maintain a project superbly, while offering no spin and good humor as PR.