Games

[monkee]

I play quite a lot of games. I noticed that some games contain occult, hidden history, conspiracy related stories. So far we discussed these kind of stuff mainly in movie forum. But we never discuss/review games. The experience of playing a game is different than watching movie. The impact is imo bigger.

For example Broken Sword series. A lot of interesting features are in these series for example:
- utilization of powerful crystals in certain spots around the world (France, Egyptian ruins) built by a very advanced lost civilization. I immediatly thought of Atlantis.
- a secret powerful group that existed for centuries (connected with various groups including Templars, Hashshashins, etc)
- the main character needs to connect the dots/clues from around the world. These includes gathering knowledge in science, history, occult, etc
- symbolism in ancient manuscripts

In my opinion worth playing

There are also games where you can actually act, think, talk, manipulate like psychopaths. I don't remember the title. It's a Japanese PC game translated to English. I didn't managed to finish the game since I quit early on.

[Johnno]

Even a simple board game like snakes and ladders has "the work" elements about it too.

Nursery rhymes are another example.

[Peto]

I used to play a lot of games in my younger days too. Having grown out of it, I realize how addictive the whole stuff is, especially the new generation of role playing games. From my experience, when playing a game, I often became too consumed by it to reflect on any hidden meanings it might offer. And unlike movie, games demand so much time that can be used for something more useful. Perhaps, those are some of the reasons that they are never discussed, reviewed here. In my opinion, definitely something to avoid.

[j0da]

Video games - one of the best "population handling" techniques ever devised by PTB. Modern games are marvelously sophisticated, visually stunning and addictive like hell. You just can't spend half an hour playing one, just to relax a bit and get back to work. No, you have to sit through at least a couple of hours to achieve anything at all in virtual world. Having in mind 20-30 hours needed to finish any modern game (while the most revered by players community provide hundreds hours of "fun") and an industry which breeds one title after another one could say video games aren't just time-eaters. They are life-eaters.

I remember an interview with a sociologist, professor Jadwiga Staniszkis, during which I belive she said something along the lines: "Today the great problem for goverments is how to keep masses in place". It seems "the problem" isn't THAT great. Oh, and spin-doctors can be excruciatingly straightforward at times :\
Now, how long have you been "kept in place" by video-games? How about your family, friends?

One would like to think that modern games containing "occult, hidden history, conspiracy related stories" is another outlet for otherwise censored information. That somwhere, some people try to convey the truth in a form mostly digestible for youngest generation. But is it so?
An aquaintance of mine, very talented guy, video-game industry "concept artist" wannabe once asked me: "What do you do in your free time?" Having told him about this site and ideas which occupy my attention almost 24/7 I was very curious of his reaction. To my astonishment he remarked "Hey, how cool! That must be great inspiration for your art!" Yup, that's all, an "inspiration for art". No doubts, no further questions, no nothing. Would it be too fast to surmise that such mindset is prevailing among video-game designers? That they explore the "occult, hidden history, conspiracy" landscape only to selectively grab this and that, throw it into one bag and in truly postmodernistic fashion breed another "story" which would ultimately score high in Gamespy reviews?

Monkee, how do you think - is it possible that you are using the content of video-games as a rationalization for spending so much time playing them? Aren't you lying to yourself, that while you are "having fun" you are also doing something really meaningful, useful? That you are "advancing" or "learning"?

[monkee]

Monkee, how do you think - is it possible that you are using the content of video-games as a rationalization for spending so much time playing them?

I don't think so. I use games to replace tv, books and movies. Although my most played game remains windows freecell. Other games like adventure games are played for 1-2 days and then I wouldn't play for weeks. Instead of playing a game, I could also watch sitcom, read comics or read Harry Potter which consume as much time as playing role playing game.

Aren't you lying to yourself, that while you are "having fun" you are also doing something really meaningful, useful? That you are "advancing" or "learning"?

I am not saying that you can "advance" by playing game. I don't think it is possible to "advance" when playing games like Combat Flight Simulator, Star Wars Racer or any games.  But researching history about Roman Empire after playing Rome TW is fun to me. Just as researching things after reading books, watching tv or movies. I play games simply because I am having fun. The trigger to research things came afterwards, but I don't have that expectations when I purchased a game, book or movie.

[Peto]

Monkee, how do you think - is it possible that you are using the content of video-games as a rationalization for spending so much time playing them?

I don't think so. I use games to replace tv, books and movies. Although my most played game remains windows freecell. Other games like adventure games are played for 1-2 days and then I wouldn't play for weeks. Instead of playing a game, I could also watch sitcom, read comics or read Harry Potter which consume as much time as playing role playing game.

Monkee, even if you don't play those addictive games, you are still using them (along with sitcom, comics and Harry Potter) as diversions, to kill the time you don't know what to do with. I can see it from my experience. But I'm surprised that you are still doing it after registering at this forum for more than a year. Do you think that you have that much time to kill? I sometimes wish that I could gain back all the time I spent playing games to do things that I'm doing now, or simply to be with my family.

Aren't you lying to yourself, that while you are "having fun" you are also doing something really meaningful, useful? That you are "advancing" or "learning"?

I am not saying that you can "advance" by playing game. I don't think it is possible to "advance" when playing games like Combat Flight Simulator, Star Wars Racer or any games.  But researching history about Roman Empire after playing Rome TW is fun to me. Just as researching things after reading books, watching tv or movies. I play games simply because I am having fun. The trigger to research things came afterwards, but I don't have that expectations when I purchased a game, book or movie.

This sounds like rationalization to me. How many games can give you that trigger to research things? And how deeply you do the research? Do you dig all you can on it or just read the standard summary from history textbooks? If it were the former, I doubt you would have any time to play any more games.

[Puck]

Lol monkee you're totally lieing to yourself, and i know because i did the same thing.

Video games are just that, nothing more. Nothing of value can be gained from them, and used in moderation, like napping, can be useful if you're stressed out. However if you find yourself sleeping all the time and having pleasant dreams... well that's all your doing.

Of course the matrix will throw esoterica into games... what a better way to keep you distracted...

My suggestion; try to cut them out, completely - you'll find you can't.

It's not like there's a pile of books with real info you could use to evolve/educate yourself...

[j0da]

Telling the truth - I'm a video games junkie too. It took time to face this fact, as well as realize that I can't just cut them out at will - like Cyre said. In observing myself I found endless rationalizations, why would I spend whole evenings playing. Last one was (please don't laugh - at least not too loud) setting my nickname to "pentagonstrike.co.uk" and playing Call of Duty shooter on numerous servers. I became quite proficient with anihilating other guys, to the extent I could beat professional clan players, who earn a living playing this game. All this of course took long hours, but still I was deceiving myself that I'm promoting SOTT. How about that?

But, such things happen. Bobo08, you shouldn't be surprised that someone who is already familiar with material presented here still wastes time. Like Morpheus said - "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking a path". If anything can be gained from games, or the urge to play them - they provide the necessary friction between "yes" and "no". The trick lies in ability to gradually more often say "no" than "yes" to games, osit.

[monkee]

Monkee, even if you don't play those addictive games, you are still using them (along with sitcom, comics and Harry Potter) as diversions, to kill the time you don't know what to do with. I can see it from my experience. But I'm surprised that you are still doing it after registering at this forum for more than a year. Do you think that you have that much time to kill? I sometimes wish that I could gain back all the time I spent playing games to do things that I'm doing now, or simply to be with my family.

Are you saying that you don't watch tv, movies, listen to music, read or do anything unrelated to the "work"?
I admit that I am unable to focus on the esoteric work all the time without any break. I would research for hours and then waste my time by reading comic or watch tv/movies or listening to music or play video games. Don't assume that every gamer is a stereotype gamer.

This sounds like rationalization to me. How many games can give you that trigger to research things? And how deeply you do the research? Do you dig all you can on it or just read the standard summary from history textbooks? If it were the former, I doubt you would have any time to play any more games.

I am not playing game because I want to research things. I play games for diversion (fun), other people do the same like playing instrument, reading books, go shopping, etc. And some  games have educational value in it. But to make things clear here, I do not play because I want to learn from the game (no gamer do that). The educational value like geography and limited history are just bonus. Playing strategy games triggered me to research military history but not enough to turn me into a historian .

[Puck]

Are you saying that you don't watch tv, movies, listen to music, read or do anything unrelated to the "work"?
I admit that I am unable to focus on the esoteric work all the time without any break. I would research for hours and then waste my time by reading comic or watch tv/movies or listening to music or play video games. Don't assume that every gamer is a stereotype gamer.

Nah Monkee, im sure we all still do all of the above to some extent, and that's where the whole gamut lies, in the 'extent'. I noticed when i started investigating this whole arena i did it only while 'bored at work', and then i started reading some of the books only when i was 'stuck' in a situation where i couldn't do anything else. The more I've learned, the more i allocate my 'free time' towards 'esoterica', and i find myself in a continual tug of war between my old 'relaxing activities' and my newfound understanding.

I see progress in that I find those old activities less fun then they used to be, and look at my reading less like a burden and more like something i want to do. The degree to which this happens varies from person to person, and some people will always keep it as a hobby, and that's fine for them, but for me it's more about learning enough to realize it's a lifestyle choice, and then slowly, daily, moment by moment making that choice, over, and over and over again.

It isn't easy, its not for everyone, but could you imagine the looks on WoW addicts faces when comets start falling from the sky? The sad thing is i know some kids who's last thoughts would probably be, "Ah crap, now i'll never get to level 70..."

[SAO]

j0da it's about as bad as me calling myself "Cassiopaean" in a game, for the same reason. Well at least I'm not the only one that fell into that trap lol, it's actually funny, too bad I didn't run into you during a game! . Being a "gamer" myself I think that the problem with videogames that makes them unique to some extent is that, as has been mentioned, is that many of them are designed to soak up hours and hours and hours of time. I think it's completely ok to give the predator a piece of meat now and then and just do something you like, totally unrelated to the Work, just something to unwind and take a break. But the trouble is, that's what all addicts tell themselves they're doing - even if they spend a ridiculous amount of time doing it. And you won't believe how many times I found myself running after a goblin in a game (why do so many games have goblins damnit!) overcome by a sudden pang of guilt as I remember something that will forever stay in my mind, especially when I'm about to pick up a game controller:

Q: (A) When you watch, look and listen, you are getting some signals, and these signals cause a certain pattern of thinking which were not yet able to emerge, but now, after you receive certain signals, you start to think in a different way. So, you cannot now think in a different way, but when you learn this and this has happened, then you start to think in a different pattern. So, you cannot now do things, but you always have to be ready to change your thinking at any moment when you understand more, when you see more, when you notice more, when you put things together which are not yet together. Then, there may be a big change of perspective, a total change. And this we have to keep our minds and thinking patterns open and ready to change, and work and put the puzzle and mosaic together. And, this is all that counts. It is this work that we are now doing that counts, not some future big thing: oh! Now we go on a ship! No, it is only doing our best, and what is it? Our best? It will change. I believe so. That is the idea. So, everything depends on this.
A: Yes. You see, my dear, you cannot anticipate that which is not anticipatable.
Q: (L) Well, swell. Okay, you want to stay on this subject, so let us move another step.
A: We are glad you noticed this birth of the spike.
Q: (L) Is that a clue? Is this one of those obscure remarks? Yes, I noticed, the kids killing their parents, all the shooting going on, the weather... is this connected in some way to some other event?
A: 27 days of record heat out of 30, oh my oh my! Suggest you awaken your internet pals, as they are too busy chasing "goblins" to notice.
Q: (L) So, I should have something to say about this?
A: In Florida now, where to next? How about a shattering subduction quake in Pacific Northwest of U.S.? We estimate 10.4 on the Richter scale. We have warned of Rainier. Imagine a 150 meter high tsunami in Puget Sound...
Q: (L) Does this subduction quake have anything to do with that UFO that buried itself in the Pacific?
A: All are interconnected.

And seriously dude, the C's are hyperdimensional, I mean - they said this in 1998 but they could've easily been referring to a future reference, so yes, they were looking right at you, sitting in your room in 2007, "innocently" chasing a couple of goblins with a sword. Now imagine this, the sky gets dark, the wind starts blowing and your windows shake, and suddenly your xbox loses its "power". What is going through your mind at that second? I'm sure it's not "Boy am I glad I spent the last few moments of my life enjoying a good goblin chase!", but by then, regrets will not matter anymore. If we really understood the seriousness, the true terror and urgency of our predicament, games would be the LAST thing on our mind. It's literally like sitting in the middle of a nuclear holocaust, and as buildings are blown up around you and people are dying as a dark cloud descends, you're very busy trying to get mario to jump over that big block at the end of level 3 and are getting all flustered doing it too. That's really, without much exaggeration, how ridiculous it is at this point in time.

Edit: Brent, funny how we had the same thought process..

[monkee]

Nah Monkee, im sure we all still do all of the above to some extent, and that's where the whole gamut lies, in the 'extent'. I noticed when i started investigating this whole arena i did it only while 'bored at work', and then i started reading some of the books only when i was 'stuck' in a situation where i couldn't do anything else. The more I've learned, the more i allocate my 'free time' towards 'esoterica', and i find myself in a continual tug of war between my old 'relaxing activities' and my newfound understanding.

I see progress in that I find those old activities less fun then they used to be, and look at my reading less like a burden and more like something i want to do. The degree to which this happens varies from person to person, and some people will always keep it as a hobby, and that's fine for them, but for me it's more about learning enough to realize it's a lifestyle choice, and then slowly, daily, moment by moment making that choice, over, and over and over again.

It isn't easy, its not for everyone, but could you imagine the looks on WoW addicts faces when comets start falling from the sky? The sad thing is i know some kids who's last thoughts would probably be, "Ah crap, now i'll never get to level 70..."

I agree to that, but why do you guys assume I play hours per day wasting my time and rationalize it? I mean, I admit that I play freecell (sometimes tetris) everyday for a few minutes for relaxation/stress relief. But I don't own console games. I don't play shooters, any multiplayer games or most popular games. I just play several hours adventure or strategy games when it is released and I wouldn't play for months because the type of games I like are released once per year at max. It's my personal way to deal with esoteric work. For example: I read serious stuffs like Gnosis or Castaneda for hours and then I would read several pages Calvin & Hobbes for some good laughs.

[OneSoul]

I agree, Cyre and Scio. The tactic the PTB use for virtually everybody is "Keep 'em busy." The list of contrived pursuits the entertainment industries provide that people can choose to spend their time with is endless, and nearly all of them are completely unrelated to any meaningful insights, and in fact rather direct people's attention away from the essential and important truths.

The television offerings aren't called "programming" for nothing. Seems they'll do anything to keep people from "l'introspection."

[monkee]

I agree, Cyre and Scio. The tactic the PTB use for virtually everybody is "Keep 'em busy." The list of contrived pursuits the entertainment industries provide that people can choose to spend their time with is endless, and nearly all of them are completely unrelated to any meaningful insights, and in fact rather direct people's attention away from the essential and important truths.

The television offerings aren't called "programming" for nothing. Seems they'll do anything to keep people from "l'introspection."

Not only to keep people busy, but many games are also used for propaganda. The game industry is already huge and equals to the movie industry. In my opinion it is important to discuss the subject.
We have many topics about propaganda impact in movies, tv, newspaper and books. But we rarely/never discuss propaganda in games.

[SAO]

I'm not assuming that you necessarily play for hours monkee, I'm just saying that it *can* very easily consume a lot of time and is often designed to do just that, and it can become a very powerful and serious addiction in no time. But as with everything else, if you can do it in moderation, just as watching TV or going to the movies or to your favorite restaurant, I don't think it would present a road block in your learning.

Personally, most games bore me to death, I truly don't know what it is that occasionally pulls me to waste time on something I know is embarrassingly dull. Once you've played a couple and your fascination with "shininess" wears off, you see that the rest are just a regurgitation of the same simple formula, and very little actual progress other than graphical is made - their limitations are glaring. It all gets "prettier" and "shinier" over the years, but very little progress is made in terms of artificial intelligence and just how "smart" the game is - and the same couple of game genres have existed for a looooong time now with nothing new being thought of, just same thing only a bit shinier every year. When they wanna make a game challenging it's become a habit now to just give the computer more health or take away your ammo or some other cop-out. It's much more difficult to maintain a level playing field but actually make the computer play smarter and perhaps be at least somewhat interesting. They also try to cheat by scripting events and actions - but those are only interesting the first time they happen, since they happen the same way each time.

Now you wanna see something truly amazing and frankly just cool? Check out the demo scene. Using algorithms this group of hackers and other computer geeks can squeeze a LOT of complex and amazing 3d graphics, music, and physics into about 64KB of hard drive space (1/100th the size of a standard mp3 file). They actually have a really modern-looking 1st-person shooter game on the website that is about 64KB in size - something that would take up over 300MB if it was made using conventional methods as games have traditionally been made - and you just can't believe it till you see it. And even then you can't get your mind around how all that you're seeing fits into such a tiny file.

In the game Oblivion (considered the best and most beautiful RPG to date - and very very popular) there are some subtle and not so subtle references to "esoteric cults", and one such "cult" plays a major role in the game as a bunch of crazy satanic lunatics. If I was really crazy I might suspect that this could be subtle propaganda to dissuade people from joining a real esoteric group like ours. They joined the word esoteric with the word cult, and the link is complete in the mind of a "gamer". And don't even get me started on the whole crapload of games to do with Iraq war and anti-terrorism that have popped up in the past few years to REALLY "catapult the propaganda" as someone likes to say. Heck, one of the most popular ones called "America's Army" is totally free and downloadable from the army's website as a recruitment tool (sic!). And get this, when you play it online they don't allow you to play the "terrorist" side which is rather funny - both teams who play against one another see themselves in their own perspective as the US army and the opposite team is always the terrorists. This is, as far as I know, the only game that has 2 sides but each side sees itself as the same exact side. So that's weird, even for a game - but then they did say they like to "create reality".