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Editorial
by Published on 11-26-2011 10:30 PM Number of Views: 1871Categories:
Greetings TG'ers, Damion Rayne here with a quick and juicy little article for you showcasing some of today's up and coming engines. Have you ever wanted to see an Engine capable of rendering entire planets? Ever wanted to see one that could render entire galaxies on the fly? Well want no more gamers, as that technology is here and getting better by the day. Lets first start with SE or Spaceengine. Below is a video showcasing SE in action, watch and be amazed... ...by Published on 05-13-2011 11:00 AM Number of Views: 7196Categories:
"Killing a man is murder unless you do it to the sound of trumpets." ~ Voltaire
The sources, methods, goals and tactics of identifying legitimate targets for covert action, are matters typically hidden from public scrutiny, yet clearly worthy of public attention and philosophical debate. The following of unequivocal ethical criteria when identifying targets is necessary to minimize blowback when conducting Targeted Killing Operations. Comparable to torture and rendition, the debate that encompasses these operations have passionate supporters on both sides of the issue. In spite of the genuine controversy surrounding this subject, a carefully circumscribed policy of targeted killing can be a legal and effective tool in a counter-terror campaign.
It is necessary to provide a coherent and acceptable definition of both assassination and targeted killing in order to form a common frame of reference when debating the pertinent moral and legal arguments for and against targeted killing. First, we must differentiate the current US policy of targeted killing from the common understanding of “assassination.” In asymmetric warfare determining combatant vs. non-combatant status is a critical task to any operation. Discerning between these two designations may initially seem effortless, however, in an asymmetric environment these distinctions only come in shades of grey. Throughout the paper, we will examine the arguments for and against targeted killing. Subsequently, I propose policy guidelines to that must be considered in order to minimize blowback when conducting Targeted Killing Operations. ...by Published on 04-11-2011 10:00 PMCategories:
Dichotomy of a Theme
Differences between Project Reality and ARMA II
I have been playing Project Reality at Tactical Gamer now for three and a half years. It has been a huge amount of fun, and the most realistic online game play I have ever experienced. There is just something special about it that you can't quite explain.
After playing ARMA II in earnest this week for really the first time after tinkering around with it for over a year, I began to think about it. I came to really see how very different ARMA II is from Project Reality, even though essentially they are the same type of game - first person modern warfare shooter. The differences go beyond just the game itself. They manifest in almost every area, right down to the people that play the titles.
It is interesting to scribe some of my observations on how the two games differ. For gamers that play both titles, it would be interesting to see how many out there have the same opinions. For players that don't play one or the other, this may be an interesting insight into a dichotomy on a theme - the first person shooter at Tactical Gamer.
I want to emphasize that these are my observations from playing hundreds of hours of Project Reality and tens of hours playing ARMA II, Operation Arrowhead on the Tactical Gamer Bravo Server. It is an opinion article on my perspectives as a very new ARMA II player. I am not commenting on future ARMA II developments and modifications (like PR for ARMA), as I have no knowledge of them. This is strictly my observations as a new ARMA II player coming from Project Reality in the present conditions of both games and communities. ...by Published on 02-15-2011 04:46 PMCategories:
Online communities such as Tactical Gamer have complex social structures and widely shared values. The following video essay by Dr. Strangelove (a.k.a. [TG] E-Male) looks at how the structure of the Tactical Gamer leads to a core value of teamwork within the community. This structure includes the codification of values in the TG Primer, the authority of game administrators, and the small groups known as in house squads. ...by Published on 11-08-2010 05:28 AMCategories:
Video games are more than just a product of the entertainment industry. They are artistic, political, and religious expressions. For anyone remotely familiar with the medium, this claim is obvious and needs no defense. Whether it is BioShock, the Sims, Farmville, or Castle Wolfenstein, all video games function not merely as an art form, but they are also vehicles for expression. Fans, artists, and scholars alike have used the medium of video games to create commentaries on many aspect of contemporary life....
by Published on 10-07-2010 01:07 AMCategories:
The Tactical Gamer (TG) community is one of the Internet's longest running examples of a group of individuals who adapt online multiplayer games to reflect values generated by community members and enforce these values through a hierarchy of authoritative administrators. As such it provides scholars of gaming and the Internet with a unique example of online community, the construction and maintenance of community values, and the decision-making process within these virtual communities. ...by Published on 09-27-2010 10:44 AMCategories:
This video-article explores the relationship between the military-industrial complex and the gaming industry. Many scholars argue that military-style first person shooter games invariably promote the ideology of empire, further the agenda of American military interests, and transform gamers into supporters of the "war on terror."
In the following video, Dr. Strangelove explores one such argument and suggests that gamers such as the members of the Tactical Gaming community are not mindless dupes of the ideologies of empire and American society.
...by Published on 09-22-2010 12:28 PMCategories:
This is video lecture by Dr. Strangelove, of the University of Ottawa, (a.k.a. [TG] E-Male) on pathological and non-pathological online gaming. I performed the monologue while simultaneously playing Bad Company 2. Thus the video lecture captures the ironic position of myself, addicted to the Internet and online gaming, analyzing the subject while engaged in the subject. How very pomo. ...by Published on 09-20-2010 05:19 AMCategories:
Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian media scholar, put media studies in the daily news and at the forefront of the social sciences in the last century when he drew a convincing connection between content, medium, brain, and society. McLuhan's insights were correct, although his theories about the nature of the connection were often fanciful and quickly disproven.
Over sixty years after McLuhan's initial connection between mind and medium we are still trying to assess the nature of media's effects upon us. A team of researchers at the University of Rochester just published a study about the impact of gaming upon an aspect of decision making known as "probabilistic inference", and for the Tactical Gaming community, the news appears to be all good. ...
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