@FinnishTeenager People fear violence too, especially senseless violence. The sheltered who have never seen violence are shocked and horrified, by what they dont understand. Thats why the studies, they want to make themselves believe they understand it so they feel in control and that something is being done.
So has fox news. The point is misleading. No matter how realistic it may be depicted, it is still not real, it is fantasy, and sane people can enjoy fantasy while keeping it separate from reality and not reenacting it. Being desensitized to depictions of violence does not, by itself, make you more likely to cross that line. Nor should it excuse you from the consequences if you do.
@foxbow There is a big leap from desensitized to violence and becoming a killer. I can play games and watch movies with obscene amounts of gore, blood and guts flying, dismemberement, etc... Its lost its shock value for me. This does not make the idea of going out and hacking peoples limbs off any more appealing or acceptable to me.
This study has already been done. Multiple times. Politicians and people looking for a scapegoat dont like the answer, so they throw money at rehashing the same question. Mark Twain defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
The truly frightening thing is, depending on who gets bought out, or who decides to be "socially responsible" rather than honest, the results can be different this time around. "Games made me do it" is the new "the devil made me do it", and its got the same problem. Responsibility vs scapegoat. And if you manufacture a reason to comfort those who cant face the fact that there is real violence in the real world without having something to blame, you also create a convenient excuse, and I wonder how much more violence this will create when people think "oh just blame games, and I'll get away with it"
SC will most certainly NOT be free to play. Those who have not pre-ordered will have to pay retail price to get in, though there will be no subscription fee (at this time). Players may purchase additional ships and other upgrades, including lifetime insurance, which as I mentioned above replaces their ship for free when they are shot down, giving them a huge advantage over those for whom death in the game holds an actual threat. That is pay to win, or more technical, pay to lose less. Which is really all a griefer cares about.
The problem with every game of this nature is that pvp is not optional. Those who do not enjoy it, who are frankly sick of it, will have it forced upon them, or they will be forced to play offline. I would never deny pvp to those who wish to engage in it, but you know, some of us DO like the idea of a deep, beautiful space sim where there are OTHER ways of interacting with players other than shooting them. But CR himself has said he intends this game to "encourage" players to pvp. It is designed to make any other role impossible to play to its fullest without pvp.
That is commonly referred to as a "chilling effect" and is one of the oldest tricks in the books of tyrany and oppression. And no, not even a teenager going to prison will stop the trash talking hordes of LOL and other games. They will probably see this and make it into a joke meme.
Perhaps that is why, though. When you are faced with real danger and violence, the childish crap on the internet is revealed, by comparison, to be meaningless. For some of those arguing about it, its the worst thing theyve ever faced. I envy them.
I am extremely skeptical of how long this game will last. Most of the money they raised was not from simple pre-orders of the game, but from players buying "pay to win" advantages such as additional ships, lifetime free replacement ships when shot down, removing all risk from pvp and letting them gank others with impunity. I believe this game will be graphically beautiful, require a computer that God himself would have to make payments on, and be reduced to a neanderthal gankfest by the pvpers.
Seriously? Saying something like that is in horrible taste, but so is the rest of the pvp smack talk teenage gamers regularly engage in. Some of what I've seen in those exchanges makes the "threat" in question pale in comparison. I can see the cops dropping by, giving he kid a tap on the shoulder and informing the parents, also checking if there was a weapon in the home. Then let the parents deal with it. We do not need to be wasting taxpayer money on this, nor even considering subjecting a teenager to the very real hell of prison just because he is young, loudmouthed and stupid.
*sigh* Does anyone else remember the days when you had to actually CAUSE HARM to be considered a criminal?
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