419 The game.

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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 11:32 pm

TheDane wrote:

I have a bit of a problem with how this project makes light of a serious problem by turning it into a family game.

B8er wrote:

could potentially highlight the vast number of different scams to people who have never even thought about them

I think it could go either way. How much is it glorifying scammers vs. making fun of them or raising awareness?

Peat Moss, I understand resource management games, but you really need a sanity statistic. Like in Call of Cthulhu. Also, making it nearly impossible to win would be a plus.

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2016 11:38 pm

TheDane wrote:

^ I concur, and would like to add I have a bit of a problem with how this project makes light of a serious problem by turning it into a family game.

In all fairness, good games have been made out of other distasteful topics. "Imperial" has you playing as (in essence) The Illuminati by causing wars to increase your financial investment in countries, and "The Manhattan Project" tasks you with researching and stockpiling nuclear bombs.

That said, I'm not entirely sure I'd be comfortable playing a game where you are tasked with stealing money from innocents...

ETA:

Fi-Manni wrote:

...but you really need a sanity statistic. Like in Call of Cthulhu.

The sanity stat would be for the scambaiting portion of the game. If you can raise the sanity stat beyond XX, the lad has been successfully baited and he loses a couple of real victims.

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 5:24 am

This is the second time I'm calling myself a spoilsport here, but I would leave baiting out of such game entirely. It would only confuse the vast majority of people who are not baiters and take the focus away from the issue. What we do here is very different from what the big picture of victims and scams is. At worst it might bring up a small generation of rogue baiters who think casually messing with scammers is fun with no concerns for safety, ethics or whatever else we have cultivated here for years.

At most I would have a baiter as a single card or something, a random factor that could happen, but definitely not anything more than that. As I said before, scams are a huge phenomenon and we are a small part of it. I would expect no game, book or anything else to aim to cover it all. Such ambitious projects usually only end up losing focus and trying to do everything at once while in reality doing nothing well enough.

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:06 pm

^ You've made valid points. Might I just add that such a game might also encourage a new generation of scammers?

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:32 pm

...and if you take the baiting out of the equation, you take the comedy out as well - and all that is left is making light of a serious subject, namely scammers stealing from innocent victims.

I fail to see the educational value as well. While I'm all for learning by playing, and I'm well updated on newer theories in the area, educational games rarely works outside an educational context. And I don't see how this could, either, especially not with the baiting part removed.

Bottomline: I think it's a bad idea, and were I an investor getting the idea pitched, I'd keep my money in my pocket, just as I wouldn't buy the game as a costumer and old boardgame geek. But that's my opinion, so don't let it keep you from chasing your dream.

Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 4:42 pm

As for distasteful topics for games, I am well aware of the long tradition of tabletop wargaming. And yes, war is distasteful, but noone cares when they're 2 hours into Napoleon at War. Very Happy

All jokes aside, wargames has a status of being acceptable in our culture, so I think the comparison with a nuclear arms race game is quite off.

To me, making a game about 419 is more like if someone made 'Columbine - The Boardgame' or 'Serial Killer: A Collectible Miniature Game'. Just doesn't make my bell ring, I am sad to say.

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Quote:

You've made valid points. Might I just add that such a game might also encourage a new generation of scammers?

I would not be overly worried about that. Or making light of a problem by turning it into a family game the game would be aimed at mostly tabletop gamer types, if anything it would likely cause gamer types to look into scam bating and counter scams. As a long standing member of the gamer community, we tend to be morally centered, intelligent and educated. Taking the kind of risk and investment to run scams would hardly be worth the effort. however, spending a few hours with friends playing the part of scamers is right in our wheelhouse.

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 12:11 am

My brain hurts.

Just my tuppence worth

Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 2:07 am

Yeah! No true Scotsman, I mean gamer, would ever do anything morally wrong, or take risks, or make an investment!

Peat Moss wrote:

counter scams

On a serious note, we don't scam the scammers. That's just as illegal as what they're doing in the first place.