Program 5: 3:00pm - 4:10pm

PLATO Games: An Early, Robust Community of Multiplayer, Online Games

Abstract of Talk
Social gaming is the fusion of computer games and digital communities. Some of the earliest instances of this occurred on the PLATO system, and were made possible by the PLATO system's technological innovations as well as a sufficiently open environment to allow the development of such games. The most popular PLATO games were engineered with text based communications and what are by today's standards simple graphics. The result was some of the earliest instances of digital environments that are both social and immersive. PLATO games are the ancestors of, among other games, today's massively multiplayer games; they possess key attributes of today's games: users find them compelling or addictive; they are difficult to balance; they facilitate interesting social behavior. Three creators of these games will talk about their experiences. Other panel members will then discuss the influence of the PLATO experience on the current world of simulation and gaming.