New blog entry - Panzer Command and Good Will

Rule_303

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Can't comment on the PC piece, since I don't yet own the game.

But I liked your July piece a lot. Superbly written.

Our gaming generation of 40-60somethings grew up in the shadow of WWII vets (our fathers in many cases) and victims -- most of them, especially the ones with real stories to tell. never told enough about it, so we were left with the first generation of histories (many of them mythologies, really. Thinking of Shirer, Toland, the rehabbed Nazi generals, all those hardcovers with swastikas on the cover -- the Crooked Cross sells).

And then by the mid Sixties, with memories starting to fade and newer wars on the public's mind, we had the nostalgia stuff coming in, aimed both at the guys who "served" but didn't really get shot at much and we, their interested children -- the Time-Life coffee table books, the Ballantine paperbacks, World At War with Olivier's solemn intonations, Tamiya/Airfix/Monogram model kits, comic books and -- wait for it -- the boardgames.

Anyway, rambling a little here. But your piece struck a chord with me.
 

Michael Dorosh

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Can't comment on the PC piece, since I don't yet own the game.

But I liked your July piece a lot. Superbly written.

Our gaming generation of 40-60somethings grew up in the shadow of WWII vets (our fathers in many cases) and victims -- most of them, especially the ones with real stories to tell. never told enough about it, so we were left with the first generation of histories (many of them mythologies, really. Thinking of Shirer, Toland, the rehabbed Nazi generals, all those hardcovers with swastikas on the cover -- the Crooked Cross sells).

And then by the mid Sixties, with memories starting to fade and newer wars on the public's mind, we had the nostalgia stuff coming in, aimed both at the guys who "served" but didn't really get shot at much and we, their interested children -- the Time-Life coffee table books, the Ballantine paperbacks, World At War with Olivier's solemn intonations, Tamiya/Airfix/Monogram model kits, comic books and -- wait for it -- the boardgames.

Anyway, rambling a little here. But your piece struck a chord with me.
I like the way you ramble; I wasn't sure my July piece was coherent in the least. I agree with you - the "real stories" seem to have not gotten into print. We got "Combat...in COLOR" instead. I think it was simply easier to deal with it that way. But I suppose if we had started out with Band of Brothers, none of it would seem like much fun, and Charles S. Roberts would have never gotten a start at all.
 

Rule_303

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A good friend of mine does psychological assessments for the local VA -- vets need to be certified to get funding for PTSD treatment. He's hearing a lot of stories because the guys have to tell him to get their money -- mostly the first time they've told anyone about this stuff. But it's all sealed under patient confidentiality and he can't share -- he sometimes tells me the battles he's heard about but leaves out the grim details. These interviews are going on all over the country. A pity they aren't being recorded and transcribed by the DoD for posterity with names removed, but who has the funds or the inclination to do that?
 

Michael Dorosh

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A good friend of mine does psychological assessments for the local VA -- vets need to be certified to get funding for PTSD treatment. He's hearing a lot of stories because the guys have to tell him to get their money -- mostly the first time they've told anyone about this stuff. But it's all sealed under patient confidentiality and he can't share -- he sometimes tells me the battles he's heard about but leaves out the grim details. These interviews are going on all over the country. A pity they aren't being recorded and transcribed by the DoD for posterity with names removed, but who has the funds or the inclination to do that?
Other vets have the inclination, at least some of them. We have a fellow here who was not treated well by the system, who is collecting stories from our Afghanistan vets - and appears to be the only one. They wanted to put up a memorial wall here for all the guys who served overseas since 1945 on peacekeeping missions, etc. but found that no one ever really kept a list of who even went.
 

Michael Dorosh

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I found this interesting; after mentioning Medal of Honor as an example of a game that was clearly not "realistic", there was a news item on the radio this weekend, regarding public outcry about EA's decision to allow players of the next Medal of Honor game to play as either NATO soldiers, or as members of the Taliban. Network World discusses it here:

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/081710-medal-of-honor-taliban-angle.html
 

Patrocles

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I found this interesting; after mentioning Medal of Honor as an example of a game that was clearly not "realistic", there was a news item on the radio this weekend, regarding public outcry about EA's decision to allow players of the next Medal of Honor game to play as either NATO soldiers, or as members of the Taliban. Network World discusses it here:

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/081710-medal-of-honor-taliban-angle.html
I have no issue with allowing players to play the "enemy."

Interestingly, about 2 months ago my posts at the Guardian newspaper gamesblog were deleted when I suggested during a CoD/MoH discussion that these games should allow players to play as Taliban, Viet-Cong, etc. forces.
 

Michael Dorosh

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I have no issue with allowing players to play the "enemy."

Interestingly, about 2 months ago my posts at the Guardian newspaper gamesblog were deleted when I suggested during a CoD/MoH discussion that these games should allow players to play as Taliban, Viet-Cong, etc. forces.
Who's the webmaster there? Stalin?
 
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