Pokemon Go: ghastly issues

One of my room-mates posted an article about a holocaust museum being flooded by Pokemon Go players attempting to catch Pokemon in the exhibits. It raised a lot interesting questions about respecting a space and deserves a longer format than a Facebook thread.

The primary issue is the idea of sanctity of space. There are physical regions that through culture have become established as somber places. Which are socially deemed to be inappropriate for play. The Holocaust museum is definitely a place I would consider to be inappropriate to play in and yet I do not think it should be excluded from the virtual game world. This sort of geo-location censorship would hide it from the public and it would be akin to hiding the Holocaust.

This premise sets out to create an interesting conflict in the integration of differing opinions. With the game exploding in popularity there are many players who may be hunting for a Pokemon which enters the physical space of the museum, their interest in the space is not sanctified. They may not be aware of the museum's purpose. Their play in such a somber space is considered intolerable. Yet this presents an excellent opportunity for curators to bring some insight to potential patrons on the occurrences of the past.

If the offence caused by the joy of others causes curators to be uncomfortable it can be worth while to  challenge the expectations of how others have entered the space. Respect of a space is not inherit in the stone but in the meaning that we assign to it. Without understanding the toils that are represented in the halls of the museum a wandering player will be be able to understand what they have encountered.

In the Haggadah there is a story of the four sons; a wise son, a foolish son, a renegade and a lost son. The wandering players similar to the lost son. They do not know where they are, likely enter without  malice, and do not know what questions to ask in order to understand the space. So as a curator it is important to remember to ask them questions to help them understand what they have found.

As a trainer I know there are intricacies and the drive to be the very best and overcome all obstacles to capture every monster is enthralling. Some spaces in the game world over the years have been free of Pokemon and occasionally off limits for capturing them. A curator has minimal idea about how their space has suddenly become integrated into the Pokemon World and it's important to trainers. Communicating  why the pursuit of these monsters drives a trainer to enter their space. And why entering this space is important could help foster an understanding.

An understanding is a bidirectional thing, both sides must be able to speak and hear each other's perspective. The key in conflict is to find out what our opposition's perspective is, very rarely do people approach a situation with malice. I think it is important to remember that life is a mixture of joy and sorrow, learning the source of both is important. Each can have a time and place separate but the richness of life is only achieved when both are intermingled.

The Holocaust is a tragedy of immense scale, learning about it taught me some of the depths that humanity can fall to. It came from a nation divided against it self, cutting off components of it deemed un-fit to try and get healthy. It grew from pride and a blind eye. It is an important lesson is how dividing and polarizing creates rifts which can lead to self destruction.

Pokemon Go has been an interesting experience which has brought people together in many cases. Creating alliances and bringing people out into the real world to meet. It has broken down barriers because in the virtual world every one is just a trailer. It fills many of us with mirth and nostalgia.

Both joys and sorrows are important to know. I think that having a pokestop at the Holocaust museum is an interesting sign of the times. It is not culturally appropriate to catch pokemon there from a curator's perspective, yet a trainer is not seeing the physical space or it's ramifications. It does raise an interesting question about how to handle the integration of virtual and physical spaces with different objectives.  Neither is inherently wrong and I think will be an interesting ongoing conversation  in coming years.

original post for posterity
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It raises concerns about how visitors respect the space but it is a space that I would like people to discover if they have not been there. If pokemon is a medium that allows for more people to become aware of the Holocaust then it may be an acceptable means to that end. It does cause an uncomfortable convergence of joy with sorrow. I would like to consider it an opportunity to allow people to understand the juxtaposition of the dark and light elements of life. One of the most important components to me is for us to learn that our present has come from dark roots in places. And while a visitor may not understand the pain that built the museum it may spark some flicker of understanding....this is part of my brain flop on social engineering for positive change.
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Clash Royale:

I had a bunch of throughts about this game but didn't get the post up while I was playing, for the archive ;

I started playing a game called Clash Royale it combines a lot of things I like into an accessible format and after talking a few friends ears off I wanted to consolidate my thoughts about it into one place. I'm currently in Arena 4 and will be talking about the units I have unlocked

The game introduces you to a neat set of mechanics, play cards to summon units on your side of the field (saturated area).

There are quite a few options for cards, they tend to fall into a few categories;

Melee or Ranged, Tower targeting or Wildcard or Straight ahead, Single target attack or area of effect attack, Single summon or spawner. This is a bit of a lot to take in with the words or a list of units. Thinking about the units in a radial / color wheel fashion helps me group them. Starting from the 12'00 position and moving around the wheel clockwise. 

Ranged units, 

these are fragile high damage units. They come in a few flavors, good vs a single target or many targets. The Spear Goblins closer to the center summon a group of three ranged units which are good against either groups of enemies or single units without area of effect attacks. 

The Spear Goblin Hut summons a stream of goblins over the course of a minute. It is a great way to put pressure on a lane and when played in response to a Giant (tanky tower targeting) a wave of Spear Goblins will build up. 

Archers is a personal favorite, it summons two units which deal moderate damage and have decent survive-ability. They can help push back waves of small units and damage comparable to Musketeers.

Musketeer deals great single target damage and is good for dropping large units when a tank in the way. I tend to not use this quite as much that since it will only target one unit. 

Towers, 

These are great for defending, each one has a specialty, since they can only counter but don't offer a path to victory. These don't tend to be part of my deck unless I have a strategy that is built on them. They slow my games down when I use them.

Horde Breakers

The horde breaker categories are spells and units which are great against clusters of enemies. The Witch is a very high utility card which is good against Bruisers, ground hordes and air hordes. The Valkyrie is great against ground hordes and can be used to start a counter push into enemy territory.

While all the area of effect damage spells are excellent I use them only a limited amount, their single use nature and relatively high cost makes it hard to play them just right for me. They tend to be able to flip a situation in your favor if used well.

Anti-Heavy

This spell (Lightning) and tower (Inferno) are great against high hit point opponents, with the x-bow straddling the line as a great anti tower building as well. The Inferno tower is wear against hordes but will counter a Bruiser. 

Anti-tower

The Anti-Tower units will head directly for the nearest building and work on crushing it down. They tend to get caught up in hordes of enemies and are the force needed to swing the game one way or another. 

Bruiser

These are the scary units that force your opponents to reply, They each do strong damage for the elixir cost and have enough health that left unattended they will take your tower. Their weakness is that they are easily distracted. A quick drop of a horde unit will be a solid counter to this unit. 

Horde

A bunch of dudes for the elixir. It is simple and a solid counter to most things. Barbarians are the only unit in this class which are tanky enough to push towers. These are a great staple in a deck, pick the one that matches your deck speed. 

These combinations and counters lead to a lot of interesting game play. Jump in, get to deck building