“I thought about those works of Art that had moved me most deeply. I found most of them had one thing in common: Through them I was able to learn more about the experiences, thoughts and feelings of other people. My empathy was engaged. I could use such lessons to apply to myself and my relationships with others. They could instruct me about life, love, disease and death, principles and morality, humor and tragedy. They might make my life more deep, full and rewarding.

Not a bad definition, I thought. But I was unable to say how music or abstract art could perform those functions, and yet they were Art. Even narrative art didn’t qualify, because I hardly look at paintings for their messages. It’s not what it’s about, but how it’s about it. As Archibald MacLeish wrote: A poem should not mean, but be.

I concluded without a definition that satisfied me. I had to be prepared to agree that gamers can have an experience that, for them, is Art. I don’t know what they can learn about another human being that way, no matter how much they learn about Human Nature. I don’t know if they can be inspired to transcend themselves.” -Ebart

Out of the post, this was the Core argument of it.  What Defines Art to him and how it applies to games.  Oddly I have to agree with him for the most part.  True Art is there to touch upon your emotions, thoughts or ideas in some way to move you.  Something that will make you stop and think about it even if it is just for a slight moment.  But for each person this is a different thing.  So while this definition of what Art is seems to fit well enough.  What becomes Art is for each individual to decide as what will really impact us is different.

For Ebart, he is moved by the classical styles of art.  Paintings, Sculptures and Stories (books/movies).  Those are the things that get to him past the cursory value of imagery or entertainment.  He isn’t as affected by music or gaming as they involve more than a pure Visual experience.  It’s just how he see’s the world and there isn’t a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to go about it.

Personally, I have grown up in a mix of the older Arts and the new age Entertainment.  My parents and teachers had instilled the understanding to seek meaning beyond the face value.  Family vacations to US parks to see the amazing things the earth can Create, museums of Art and History to find deeper meaning in everything around me, a plentiful book supply to immerse myself in Story and the craft of song and voice that brought meaning to Music.  Each of these things holds a deeper meaning and has made me stop and ponder.

Gaming is something that wasn’t taught or shown as ‘Art’.  It was simply Entertainment to have fun and pass the time.   There isn’t any ‘teaching’ behind catching 150 creatures, hiding in a box or saving a princess.  But eventually, there seeped in a few games that brought more to the gaming world than just pure enjoyment.  The first that comes to mind for me was Call of Duty (single player).  I admit to being a shooter fan but this was the first time the Experience of the game became something more than just simple entertainment.  The music, the battles and characters were all there.  You met people, battled along side them, watched them die to help bring victory to those left alive.  For once a game had instilled the emotions of Joy at victory but with the deeper understanding of it’s importance past just winning a game.  Appreciation for those who had to live through those hard times for the sake of our freedoms.  Among many others that I still fell even though I played the first game years ago.

There have been a few others since then and all of them delve into making you experience a Story.  Making me Feel and Think about things not only in the game but real life as well.  To me, this is qualification for it to be an Art.  Not the graphical work, not the entertainment but the ability to Move me.

Lately, the gaming industry has taken a turn away from this in an attempt to assembly line games for sales.  Sequels upon sequels or trying to improve an aspect of game play we really don’t care about.  There really hasn’t been anything recently (that I have played) that goes past Entertainment or Comedy and really involved you into the story.  Thankfully I have a nice weekly dose of dice RPG’s that I play/run right now to sate my need for that…

-Steven

Invoker + Seeker the ‘You Suck’ build

Monk + Rogue ground pound build

Fighter + Monk grab and drag build

Ranger + Seeker fill the sky with arrows build

Psion + Wizard the Gnome Illusionist build

The first tool is something that can be used for any RP system, not just D&D.  Obsidian Portal is a Campaign Wiki/Log website.  A great tool to help both the DM and the Players organize and keep notes on the game.  That could include any NPC you met and might run into again, individual character backgrounds, session updates and more.  While the uses focus on helping each session continue, it is also a good way to keep people focused on the Role Playing and Story between sessions.

The next is a set of tools made by Wizards to help both Players but more so the DM for D&D 4th Edition.  Sadly most the tools are only available as a demo if at all unless you subscribe.  But it isn’t too bad if a group pitches in the entire 10 bucks (or less) a month for access to these.  You can find them all together at the Dungeons and Dragons Tools page.  What you get from this is:

1:  A Demo (or full if subscribed) of Character Builder.  A good resource for both the DM and Players as it contains all the character creation steps on one page.  No more sorting through a multitude of books or articles to find the right Race or Feat.  It is all right there with each step and it helps you level your characters as well.  The DM can even decide to make certain books unavailable to the players for this process (like the Ebberon setting books).  I personally am so used to sorting through books in order to work out my min-maxed characters that I don’t ‘need’ it but I have to admit it is an interesting and useful tool to everyone.

2: A Demo (or full if subscribed) of D&D Compendium.  I quote from the site as there isn’t a better explanation. “For details on powers, items, rituals, and monsters over 3rd level, plus all paragon and epic tier feats, paragon paths, and epic destinies, plus complete material beyond the PH, MM, and DMG.”  The biggest benefit is that they keep this up to date with Errata so if there is some contention over a Rule or Wording, you can try to find some help here.

3: Full Version (Beta) of Adventure Tools.  This is more a promise of DM tools at this point but still houses a great feature.  The only available tool in this set is the Monster Builder.  Just as it sounds, you can find, modify or even create Monsters to fit into your campaign.  Only of use to the DM but one that gives you infinite more options to make unique and story related enemies for your players.

4: Character Name Generator.  Just an interesting tool to come up with a bunch of names.  Use the ones given, mix em up a bit or just use them for inspiration.  Always handy (more so for a DM who makes NPCs).