Recently refocused blog site eToychest (which is overseen by current Gamasutra news contributor Jason Dobson) has posted a neat Chris Chester-authored editorial called 'Strategic Thinking: The Carebear Capers'.

In the intro, Chester explains, in case you forgot: "A reference to the American Greetings Care Bears property, a group of lovable, huggable teddy bears living in the clouds that can shoot beams of happiness out of their stomachs... the term carebear has come to refer to players of a given game who are less pre-disposed to fighting and player-versus-player combat than their fellow gamers."

The crux of the argument seems to be that strategy games, and particular RTSes, need more ways to co-operate in multiplayer modes: "There are any number of games one can imagine where players can be put in a cooperative scenario against an AI opponent and forced to utilize that unique level of stimulating communication only really possible with multiple players at the table. Supporting and engaging one another, I think that, given the right approach, a game based upon these sorts of cooperative encounters would be well-received by the general public."

Also, there's an _absolutely hilarious_ anonymous comment appended to the post: "It seems to me that coop games can be the gateway drug for the huge untapped market of "girls who date gamer guys." You can call me a "carebear" all you want, but at the end of the day I get to play video games and get laid." What, both at once?