Is it even possible to design a game where people stop to admire the beauty? And if so, how?

I’ve got to say, in the last year or two there have been a few games that I have just had to stop and enjoy the beauty of them. The first is Oblivion. I’ve not finished the game, heck, I haven’t even come close, but the wandering around in the world, and picking flowers, and discovering is just so amazing, I keep going back to that and ignoring the fact that demons are about to come through the portals. Especially with one of the quests in the oil painting.

Another is LoroRoco. Everytime I’m feeling down I just play a level or two to get my happy on! That is the most joyful game I’ve played.

Any game that is beautiful will be admired, whether people stop to admire it or just admire it while playing through, in the same way the commuters in the article probably appreciated the violinist (counting change left in the box is not a good way to measure appreciation, and can’t be compared to buying a concert ticket – after all, people were on their way to work).

I’m sorry but there is not a single gameplay feature that can compete with the majestic beauty of an ancient culture. The Sphinx is a lot more powerful when it remains mysterious and silent than when it suddenly starts meaning something trivial.

Who said anything about “trivial”? I think you’re only thinking within the box here because you have an interest in the beauty as opposed to any other play involved. Please don’t assume that I only want a quest reward for any and all who see a Sphinx in a game. I’m suggesting something much deeper than that.

But I do agree with you that sometimes you want players to just enjoy the beauty, to just sit and appreciate. I say, just not every time. There are other forms of playing, and a good game should try to incorporate all styles of game play to make their world well rounded and meaningful in many ways.

From a gaming perspective, I would ask… what features or functions of the game involve “smelling the flowers?” There are times when I have been truly floored by great art and (less frequently) great music in a game, but I have never bought a game specifically for its “artistic” value.

Then again, though I occasionally play with my food, I have never purchased a meal based on its playability.

We admire fine craft all the time in good games, I think. “Great graphics” are a mark of fine craft. But art? A few mentions here have been made of titles like “Shadow of Colossus,” etc. They are art-y in the tradition sense of “pretty” and “with some kind of metaphoric meaning beyond the surface requirements.” OK… Here’s my 2nd question: Why would we want art in games? I ain’t being hypothetical or ironic. I’m asking.

Art, for art’s sake, has many different purposes. Most often cited is a quest or journey for meaning, beauty or some kind of satori. These things often require a commitment of time, psychic energy, and a yielding of ego. What are the purposes of games? Relaxation, entertainment, amusement and diversion. One might argue that these purposes are at loggerheads with the purposes of art. Maybe even diametrically opposed.

That art, and its pursuit, in a game-y game, would be, frankly, a distraction.

Is there a way to bridge that gap? If it is a gap, and not just the nature of the beast? The literary form of the novel was thought, by many critics in the 16th and 17th century, to be inappropriate to “art.” Feh. Novels. Just so much pedestrian crap. Now? Well… I think a few English majors like me and Raph might disagree

So… how to incorporate the values of art as game values? How to assign “theories of fun” to meanings in a different land. Interesting.

[...] to a post at Raph’s blog, I found an article/story at the Washington Post that can be summarized pretty quickly for [...]

Why work on getting the achievers to smell the flowers when they’re already the most catered to segment of the gaming population? Why not let the achievers go off and be goal-oriented, and let the explorers have their own fun?

If you find something new, lets say a statue of great antiquity and beauty, wouldn’t that discovery be enhanced if you suspected that it had meaning in the game?

I’m sorry but there is not a single gameplay feature that can compete with the majestic beauty of an ancient culture. The Sphinx is a lot more powerful when it remains mysterious and silent than when it suddenly starts meaning something trivial.
I think it is possible to design “games” that help us experience the deep beauty of certain objects and sights. It’s not a matter of stopping to smell the roses, it’s a matter of standing still. Our job, a designers, is not to make players stop. It’s to make them enjoy standing still.
Let’s design a chair instead of a car, for once.

In other words, the interactivity should be largely non-instrumental IMO, or the scene becomes a symbol rather than an object.

Oh, I disagree. But I’ll go half way with you and say “sometimes”.
But I’m a skill system lover, and gaining by doing is something I believe in and desire.
I think there are loads of ways a game can make “stopping to smell the roses” practical and useful without hurting the smelling part. In fact, I think it can enhance it quite a bit.
If you find something new, lets say a statue of great antiquity and beauty, wouldn’t that discovery be enhanced if you suspected that it had meaning in the game? Suppose that this statue is not only beautiful, but also represents a hint to something that’s important to the game world, and to you as a player?
The Pyramids and the Sphinx are wonderous sights. But suppose that they were hints to discovering the ancient art of levitation (I know this is stretching it to breaking point in RL, but in an MMORPG it’s not) and only requires one more discovery amid the ruins of the ancient world?

The real world is full of lore that might someday be proven out, and by doing so might make someone rich in gold and artifacts. Atlantis, El Dorado, the Holy Grail, the treasure of the Knights Templar, Blackbeards Treasure, and so much more. Why can’t this kind of thing be added to MMORPGs, to protect each players God given right to win all things? Would it lessen the “smell the roses” factor or enhance it?