I found and downloaded the game. Very entertaining.

Would not have thought to try it if it wasn't for your protest.

Aunt Bessie sez:

"I don't think your message is lost on the kids who play the game. Honestly, if you make just one young man (or woman), stop and think twice about the violence he or she is participating in under the guise of a "game," or, even more importantly, about joining the army, you have saved a life."

Clearly, Aunt Bessie sees right into the hearts of these gamers, and, like she really knows what she's talking about (because she's related to young people!), so we should all pay attention to her testimonial.

Good God, DeLappe, what kind of media rookie are you, anyway, printing private emails to prove that some people like your work (not to mention that sanctimonious tag line of yours about praying Chloe is wrong: gack.)? Let the work speak for itself, and if that ain't enough, perhaps there's something insufficient about it? I thought it was telling already when you opined, early in the thread, how pleased you were that you and your work had managed to spark a lively debate here; I guess you haven't noticed that even an article about KNITTING on Salon would spark a lively (read: vicious) debate. Also: rule of thumb with thread postings (the Blog Law of diminishing returns):each comment you post is half as valid as the one preceeding it. Having said that, I must say I kinda like how Aunt Bessie wraps her little encomium up:

"But even one life or one future saved is an amazing feat for an artist, let alone a human being."

Unintended ironies are always best, I feel.

"Military spokesperson Lori Mezoff"

Lori Mezoff is a contract PR person for the subcontractor who helped build the game for the US Army.

While she does "speak" for the game itself, she is not military.

Thank you Ms. Clarren, and Mr. DeLappe.

I found and downloaded the game. Very entertaining.

Would not have thought to try it if it wasn't for your protest.

-- hmmmsigh

Yeah. As if.

FPS fans have known about this game for years. If you had two clues about FPShooters, you'd already know about it.

And if you took up a new gaming genre just so you could "hmmmsigh" at some people you've never met, you're such a loser I don't know where to start.

I love FPShooters, especially Half-Life and Halo; (and coincidentally, I am also a 41-y-old female - are we some hidden FPS demographic?) I am currently playing F.E.A.R., which is probably the best FPS I've ever played.

I do categorize this as "different" because it's a recruiting tool for a real military. Anybody who doesn't get that has rocks in their head.

I think DeLappe has a great idea. This is the kind of activism that potentially can change the world. Getting into the streets is important but the media rarely covers a demonstration these days. DeLappe's approach is really stepping right into people's lives.

The gamers apparently discuss DeLappe's interference in the ArmyOps Tracker chat area. I'm sure the gamers complain constantly in their discussions as they're convincing each other how cool the game is, how cool it would be to join the military and how useless DeLappe's efforts are in dissuading anyone from participating in the war. Who's to say these discussions by those playing the game don't cause some to be more cautious if considering joining the military? I would imagine there are recruiters/moderators that monitor the chat areas and will be available to persuade players to ignore DeLappe's annoying reality slaps. That should do nicely to alert the game players to be somewhat guarded or suspicious of any recruiters.

A smarter approach is necessary for one's message or point of view to be heard especially by those other than the choir. Full and clever advantage must be taken of the Internet(s), this wondrous gift of communication. Many people are making antiwar videos and vignettes like 14 year old Ava Lowery. Some are sharing creative protests like 'Banksy' and the 'The Yes Men'. 'Banksy' protested the Bush administration's ongoing mentally defective need to torture and indefinitely imprison people and sneaked a life-size orange-suited figure appearing to be from Guantanamo onto the Disney grounds in view of visitors. 'The Yes Men' play impostors in various scenarios to make a point. Recently one of them played the top federal HUD official in a New Orleans housing meeting. The impostor shook hands with the mayor and the governor and from the podium declared a complete reversal of the city's plan to destroy intact, working class public housing which was untouched by Katrina's waters. Those who wanted to move back into their apartments were not offended but appreciated the efforts of 'The Yes Men'. Even the building contractors who were informed by 'The Yes Men' impostor that unfortunately there would be no contracts for them thought it was the fair thing to do.

Of course both these events by 'Banksy' and 'The Yes Men' were covered in blogs and mainstream media online and on-TV.

I'm hoping for smart, clever, creative, energized activism where confronting others can be more of a discussion or a video or audio link to demonstrate one's point of view. Maybe this will stimulate some meaningful interaction between all groups.

"In his frustration with the conflict, and desire to do something, he is deluding himself into thinking he is making a difference. He is not."

Bingo.

The thing I hate most about those magnetic yellow ribons is not the conceit of the message ("Look at me! I support the troops, unlike everybody else!) or the subtext ("Shut up about the war."), it's the thought that putting this thing on your car actually does anything for the soldiers in Iraq. Displaying this ribbon takes a miniscule amount of effort. They are in fact, magnetic, so you don't even have to spend 45 minutes or so with some Goo-Gone to take it off. Is this starting to sound similar to what Joseph DeLappe is doing in America's Army?

I have a BA in Fine Art, and I think I "get" comtemporary and modern art. Art does not nessecarily take effort or craft, but labeling the act of posting messages on an in-game chat channel as art stretches even this rather loose definition past the breaking point. America's Army is really just another forum, not unlike a street corner or the editorial page of a newspaper. If what DeLappe does in America's Army is art, then so is what I'm doing right now.

As far as political statements or activist statements go, it is, but so what. This is the internet we're talking about, after all, and provacative messages, whether the motivation is political or just to piss people off, are common.

The closest thing to a common experience all three generations born after World War II have had is the constant and relentless message that we shouldn't have to wait for anything, everything should be convenient, and everything should be easy. Recently, when President Bush was asked about why the American people had not been asked to sacrafice anything in either the war in Iraq or the war on terror, he answered that we had, indeed, been making a sacrafice; we had been paying taxes. Our burning desire to avoid any personal sacrafice, be it of safety (or the the illusion of total safety), of life and limb, or the loss of prestige, was the raison d’être for the Iraq war in the first place. To me, this is the same mentality that confuses posting messages on the internet as an important anti-war statement. In another time, DeLappe's act could be seen as comment on this pervasive attitude; holding an electronic protest placard in a simulation of a war. But nowadays, with real people dying, and a nation filled with people making token gestures, it hardly seems remarkable.