Ramble: When games make the world better

Usually when games are mentioned in the news it's in a negative way.  Recently a story in the Guardian got me thinking about the positive aspects of gaming.  It can be an escape from your problems - we all know that - but it can be a real leveller for people.  Friendships you make in games can be just as strong as those In Real Life.  (After all, the teamwork required to conquer a dungeon in World of Warcraft can really bond you with your guildmates!)

The story I read recently was about Elite Dangerous: How a video game community filled my nephew's final days with joy.  Michael, aged 15, was autistic and loved Elite Dangerous.  He had terminal cancer. 

"For us, it was a lifeline: I spent time with Michael in the game world as he tried to escape the suffering of the real one."

His uncle tweeted about him playing and Frontier saw the tweet - Frontier visited brought him goodies in the hospital.  Other players sent their best wishes.  Then Frontier's Zac Antonaci offered to put together a script for a short story set in Elite, with Michael as the hero. 

The way everyone got together to give Michael the best days of his life towards the end brought tears to my eyes (and I'm on antidepressants, not much makes me cry these days!).

There's another story that touched me in a similar way, published by the BBC a few months ago: My disabled son's amazing gaming life in the World of Warcraft.  Mats had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  When he was 11 he started online gaming, and he could interact with everyone else without them knowing his situation.  Online he could run, fight, do whatever everyone else could.  He became Lord Ibelin Redmore, and sometimes Jerome Walker.  He was a member of the Starlight guild.  When he was 24 he wrote a blog where he talked about WoW being his escape.  He shared his blog with the Starlight guild, who had had no idea about his situation.

"There my handicap doesn't matter, my chains are broken and I can be whoever I want to be.  In there I feel normal."

When he died, aged 25, his father wrote about his death on his blog and gave an e-mail address for anyone who wanted to get in touch.  To his surprise, more and more e-mails arrived.  Starlight pooled money so that those who could not afford it could travel to Norway for the funeral.  Though they'd never met In Real Life, guild members travelled hundreds of miles to see him off. 

In a less serious way, another article about gaming in the Guardian rather cheerfully points out the positives of gaming for everyone: It's ironic, but gaming can be an escape from our hyper-connected, screen-filled life.  Games can be a form of mindless mindfulness.  They take your mind off the things for a while (though of course avoidance of big problems in the long run is not helpful...) 

"It seems counterintuitive, but gaming provides for me the kind of peace and relaxation that's becoming harder and harder to find."

Games have structure.  They have rules.  (Unlike Real Life!)  And if you like a game that other people like, you're part of a club.  You have something to talk to other people about.  In the case of those with Autism, this can be a massive thing.  Liking the same game as others your age gives you social openings with your peers.  This little video from BBC's Newsround sums up some of the positives here: How Minecraft is helping kids with autism.

So, then, games aren't all bad.  I know I'm biased.  And we all know it's not good to spend your whole life playing them.  But they can be a great leveller.  They can provide friends.  Spend a few minutes reading the first two articles on here, cry a little, and you'll see what I mean when I say games can be a real force for good.