Scientific Suikoden Paper ~formerly:Is this real? Wow.

[Freak]

I stumbled across this by accident:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/j218hgv45633854k/

Someone wrote a scientific paper about Suikoden? Really?? I don't know what to say to that.

Specified title - Op

[ninjaluc79]

What an interesting find out there. Well, one thing that made Suikoden blow my mind was its realistic maps, specially S2. The maps were made to look that they were real places with real terrains, with all the mountains (Rakutei, Hei-Tou, Seifu), structures (especially the HQs of each game), hill cities (Tinto), walled cities (Rockaxe) and everything geographical. I heard about an awesome map of the Suikoverse posted at Suikox, but I haven't seen it yet.

Well, FF does have geographical features as well, but only for game purposes. But Suikoden includes the places located in the maps in the storyline. I have posted this in some thread: Suikoden is not just an RPG. It's one based on mythology, legends, and the real world particularly the political condition of man. Many plots in the Suikoden games involve politics, and for that reason it gave me some kind of a crash course in politics, learning what man can do in order to achieve power and influence over the people. The game series had also included the human element of life, noteworthy of it was the betrayal element. Well, some real life people really do betray others to get what they want.

In our language it has been said, "Kung saan ang tao ay makikinabang, doon siya." It translates to "A man will stay wherever he benefits the most."

[thcrock]

Yeah, I remember her. Leigh Schwartz might have written another one, too. I remember her asking us for input/feedback on one of her research papers that involved Suikoden. But the one you linked to I don't recognize. So I think she's published at least two.

[Freak]

Oops, sorry for not claryfying the subject title.
Man, I wish MY job involved writing papers about my favorite RPGs instead of the one on microbiology I'm supposed to be writing right now.

[Chris_Lightfellow]

Interesting. Kind of reminds me of my teacher. She gave a presentation and is doing her sabbatical on Mass Effect and how it can be applied to the classroom. Yeah, she's pretty awesome.

[thcrock]

Oops, sorry for not claryfying the subject title.
Man, I wish MY job involved writing papers about my favorite RPGs instead of the one on microbiology I'm supposed to be writing right now.

Those were papers for her graduate work, IIRC. It depends on your field of study. She might have been in anthropology or sociology.

[KFCrispy]

$34 to read? no thanks.... O_o

[eldrasidar]

That's actually a fairly common field of study in History/Sociology/anthropology. Not the suikoden part, but rather how we view each other. Suikoden does do a good job of creating a world full of individual societies that have to overcome differences to unite against a common good. And in each one there are examples of the sort of extreme prejudices that we find between different groups in the real world that makes it so hard to unite against common threats to all life. But we find it more acceptable to discuss them in the context of a fictional game setting than to talk about them in real life. It's kind of sad really.

[ninjaluc79]

That's actually a fairly common field of study in History/Sociology/anthropology. Not the suikoden part, but rather how we view each other. Suikoden does do a good job of creating a world full of individual societies that have to overcome differences to unite for a common good. And in each one there are examples of the sort of extreme prejudices that we find between different groups in the real world that makes it so hard to unite against common threats to all life. But we find it more acceptable to discuss them in the context of a fictional game setting than to talk about them in real life. It's kind of sad really.

Fixed.

And not only that. Suikoden is pretty much the only series I know which has politics on it. Well, asides Phoenix Wright, I think.

[EstrangedIX]

All sorts of games have been recommended to me by people who know I love Suikoden for its politics, but nothing else seems to come close imo, at least not in the same way. Also, sometimes it helps a person to see the dynamics in a fictional setting so as to more easily recognize them in real life (mainly those who have yet to really experience much of our world on their own). I remember many a reading assignment as a kid where the main character was dealing with prejudice in one way or another. These games are just teaching those lessons in an interactive fashion, but also with the added dimension of larger scale conflict and not just interpersonal struggle.