Re: 3e SJ races...

>From:    Leroy Van Camp III <malacoda@????????.net>
>  > My point is 'professional' game designers have no particular skill.
>>  It's not a 'profession', really.
>
>What is your definition of "profession," Paul? How is good
>game design not a skill?
>
>Those seem like odd statements from a long time gamer.
>

Well, my dissertation deals directly with the issue of
professionalism, specifically military professionalism, so I am
constantly wrestling with that definition. I'm not certain exactly
what my own definition is yet, but perhaps I came closest to it in
the paragraph below taken from one of my papers:

>       What that debate misses,  however,  is the  historical
>solution to the problem implied in Allen Millett's Military
>Professionalism and Officership in America,  that at its heart
>professionalism is a matter solely of perceptions,  the perceptions
>of those who would claim professional status,  and the perceptions
>of society as a whole.  If a society perceives that the members of a
>given occupation possesses expertise in its field,   a sense of
>social responsibility,  and a corporate identity  then they must be
>accepted as professionals.  Additionally,  the definitions of these
>three characteristics are formed through an ongoing,  ever changing
>dialogue between the profession and its native society.  If these
>characteristics are maintained to the satisfaction of both concerned
>parties then the profession continues.  If not then occupational
>status awaits.

Put simply, I do not think game designers have a calling, nor do I
think they deserve professional status. For one thing, the skills are
extremely varied (writing a good board game is very different from
writing a good RPG product). For another, there is no standard within
the industry, nor are the skills limited to the designers.

I think the majority of game designers have an occupation, they are
workers not professionals. I do believe that a very few are artists,
because I think good game design, especially good RPG product design,
is an art, not a science.

Well, now I come across as extremely pompous! Never get a professor started! :)
--
"We sleep safely in our beds, only because rough men stand guard in
the night, ready to visit violence upon those who would do us harm."
H.G. Wells.

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, History, Ohio State University
Instructor, Humanities, Columbus State Community College