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I was a guy and the smith in a little town just getting started. I worked hard all my life but sadly at the tender age of 30 I realized that there were no more girls in our town, no more babies, it would be abandon. So rather than sadly tidy the town and bury everyone I decided to take the horse, load it with iron and set off to find some place that was ALIVE. I would give them the steel and wrought iron that I found and smelted and at lest my work would not be in vein. Perhaps they would kill me, but probably not when they saw my fabulous gifts!

In my mind I was also thinking what if I could meet a girl in that town, and she let me name one of her kids? That would be nice... But I tried to focus on riding and avoiding snakes.

In my travels I found so many towns that had failed, I could have filled my cart with iron and tools 4 times over!

Perhaps, if I was young enough when I found the vibrant town of my dreams, I could come back and gather all the resources!

I could be the strange foreign hero who no one could understand, but who always came with gifts and a smile. Everyone would like me... especially the ladies... But I tried not to dream too much because as I rode on and on... I realized that I was growing old.

Would I even find a lively town filled with people before I died?

I kept going and just as I knew my time was close I saw the signs of a town.

I didn't get to ride in like a hero and show them the iron. I didn't get to meet a girl and name her child. I didn't get to make another trip to bring back more riches to my new home. But, I saw a little girl in a white hat collecting wild milkweed just before I died and she stopped so I know she saw my horse.

They will find the horse running just south of their town. They will wonder if the knife in my pack means I meant to kill. But, they will use the iron, and I hope they make many wonderful things.

I died happy, even though I had to travel so far.

Story telling is the oldest human art form, it's the mother of all other forms of artistic expression. From the first hunters and gatherers who embellished and dramatized their experiences in the wild around an ancient camp fire to the video games, movies and books that we have today people have always created art to tell stories.

The statement "all stories are about wish fulfillment" bothers some people because of course some stories are very sad and dark in their content. But wishes and desires are complex. In a tragedy terrible things happen, but what makes telling and hearing such a story satisfying is that, unlike in the chaotic often meaningless series of events that make up real life, in a tragedy terrible occurrences are given significance and reverence. The hero has died, but we all know how brave she was, how she suffered, horror and destruction are given importance and weight that isn't guaranteed to exist in the real world. To tell a sad story is to say that even suffering will not be forgotten. And that is wish fulfillment.

But what about the notion that "all art is story telling?" This is probably the more controversial statement! What about abstract art? What about Duchamp and his strange urinal? What about the works that resist coherence? I would argue that the essence of telling a story is still there. Each person who interacts with a work of art makes a story and when we really love a work of art we say "this speak to me" that is, it awakens a story.

But I want to talk about video games. Video games are art. It's ridiculous that this needs to be said, but even though they have been around for nearly half a century people will still ask "are video games art?" as if this questions were not settled. The more interesting question to me is "are video game the next primary form of art? Will they take the place of film as film took the place of the theater as the theatre took the place of the campfire in the hazy past of human history?

To me, the answer to this questions is: obviously yes!

The range of emotions and creativity in games continues to expand. Games have made me laugh and cry and they have made me think as much as any great film or book. But, games, because they place the audience in an active role, present unique challenges for creators: How do you do the work of wish fulfillment without making it cheap or easy? Many game take the easy route: you are the hero, loaded with weapons with the power of the gods you crush through "enemies" with little danger to yourself. You never really die, you just loose your stuff, or have to go back a bit and try again. It's fun, and exciting but it lacks depth. But, how do you entice your audience to take on real challenges? How do you make the experience of being weak... or even of not winning be a kind of wish fulfillment? How do you give death meaning and depth?

I think that OHOL has solved a small part of this challenge. The meaning comes from your relationships and dependence on others. You may die but the projects that your started can be picked up by others. Death can have significance because when the game is at its best your care when other players die to the rather harsh world you find yourself in... so you have hope that when you die others will care. For once, getting the top level gear isn't always the focus, you want to share that gear with your family. It's exciting to see a game that unlocks this kind of artistic expression without falling back on cut scenes and tons of passive content that make "playing" the game more like a movie. You are active the whole time in this game and you create the story.

I hope that future changes to the game will nurture and preserve this aspect of play.

When you are born in the game as a "Jones" you will always be born to a "Jones" woman from that point on as long as there are fertile women in the line. If there are none, you can't get back in the game for a bit and would gain a new family. This would really make people care about their family since it's your future, not only will you live in that town again, but it's the ONLY place you can live.

As the population expands more people would be added to the family this might make towns more sustainable and stable.