Edit: Imagine what would happen to the industry if you changed titles from software engineers to software artists.
I long the day when software engineers start looking at themselves as artists. Take this from someone who isn't an engineer. You take your ideas and turn them into something others can interact with, play with, control, morph, do other freaking cool things with and sometimes they even get a feeling/emotion out of it. That's f&&ing art to me.
I do not know if this is what you were looking for, but I have seen some interesting behaviors arise depending on how the system is set up in Dark Mists. Usually it has to do with where the rewards/incentives lie, such that behavior can be guided towards it, and it is always a new lesson in humility when unexpected incentives appear.
Yet in other ways, there is the outside-game community with its rules and ethics. Here is a specific example: Players are concerned about gangs of other players logging in and coordinating because they want to believe they play a game in which the coordination is completely in-character... a sign of the work we have put into the game to focus it on role-playing.
When designing an RPG (stress on the role-playing part), I have learned that it is not just about the game mechanics and features. It is also about building the community, the mini-society.
I also find it interesting. "Software as social commentary" - this single expression gives me a lot of though-food to think about. I think this topic should be explored further. Thanks :).
I remember one game that did, by mere coincidence, serve as a social commentary - Volcanic Airlines (http://www.miniclip.com/games/volcanic-airways/en/). I believe was released just after April 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. It got an interesting reception here in Poland.
Not long before, the president of Poland along with many other people died in a plane crash. An official funeral was held, and many heads of states from all around the world announced that they will be arriving to Poland. Many of them later canceled their visits because of the ash cloud. However, the president of Georgia, M. Saakaszwili, arrived late, taking the trip through five different countries to get to the funeral. It made a great impression on people in Poland, and one of the effects was that the video game I mentioned before, the "Volcanic Airlines", was circulating around the polish Internet labeled as "Saakaszwili flies to Poland", or something similar.
I long the day when software engineers start looking at themselves as artists. Take this from someone who isn't an engineer. You take your ideas and turn them into something others can interact with, play with, control, morph, do other freaking cool things with and sometimes they even get a feeling/emotion out of it. That's f&&ing art to me.