I need your help Guys!

[Ulminati]

Codexians,

I would like to ask you to help my GF, who's working on her master's degree work on the subject of glamorization and celebritization of murderers, killers and such, by answering several questions connected with video games.

Questions:

What was the most appalling game you have ever played? Did it involve killing humans?

I don't recall being appalled by any game. Except maybe Oblivion because it was so much worse than its predecessor.

During the gameplay are you aware of the fact that you are performing an act of killing or is it an automatic action?

As (mainly) a strategy gamer, I don't perform acts of killing. I perform the act of making other humans fight for my amusement.
If I press a button (new game or load game usually) the pixels that exploded into smaller chunks of red pixels revert to their original state. So it's not so much an act of killing as of temporarily removing obstacles in a game. You may as well ask if I feel guilty about murdering my opponents rook in a game of chess. (I don't).

Does it evoke any feelings in you? If yes, what kind? (relief after a stressful day, satisfaction etc.).

Depends. If I'm playing against the computer, I'll feel a little satisfaction if I barely manage to win against a fair system that gives up a hard fight
If it's some other guys pixels I'm breaking - especially if the breaking of their pixels is permanent like injuring a star player in Blood Bowl - a little schadenfreude is mandatory. (Especially if the other person throws a tantrum over the death of his pixels. It's just a game. Why so serious?) I don't mind having my pixels killed in return. Gambling [time spent improving my virtual dudes] and risking to lose them while playing the game is part of the appeal to me. The same way most people would find poker immensely dull if the gambling aspect was removed from the game.

Did gaming immunize you to the view of death and blood?

Watching the evening news did that. TV is way bloodier than games to me. The violence in most of the (violent) games I play is so over the top it becomes cartoonish. Same way kids aren't freaked out when Tom&Jerry hit each other with mallets or Wile E Coyote gets blown up by a pile of ACME Co. dynamite.

How gaming influences your view on murder? Is it less horrifying/appalling?

No. I can tell the difference between killing pixels and killing people. The two are nothing alike.

If you had an ability to choose one game character and to have its powers, which one would it be? Why?

[insert random wizard here] Why settle for one power when Magic™ allows you to have them all at once?
If I had to pick just one, teleportation would allow me to commute between a high-paying city job and a home in a faraway tropical paradise. And I could still go skiing every weekend. That'd be nice. If the teleportation would allow me to bring cargo or passengers along, there'd also be plenty of oppertunities to earn top dollar for relatively little work by robbing banks offering services as an express courier.

Honesty much appreciated

These questions are terrible. Others have already listed the reasons why. If this is for a master's thesis, your GF should rework them. Unless she's already written her conclusion and is just trolling for answers that support her preconceptions.

 

[Shadenuat]

1. Fallout 3. It had cannibal children eating mushrooms. Or cannibals eating children? Or mushrooms eating--
Anyway, it had incredibly gross and awful jibs and looked like trash. The killing also was distasteful and childish in approach to it.

2. It depends on how abstract game is.

3. It only evokes feelings if game has strong story and characters and motivations, i.e if it makes me think about nature of killing, decide if it is justified or not. In games like Diablo, monsters to me are like pins in bowling, and I feel satisfaction from knocking them out as many as I can, but mostly from seeing my character grow and using all the cool looking abilities like magic and stuff.

4. No, that was work of slasher movies. Games are a) for most part too abstract; b) we as children grow up knowing that all games are just fictional simulation and are used to "killing" each other with sticks c) I feel there is a connection between games making you an avatar of action and being an actor instead of receiver, as in the movies. When you are not a receiver like in movies I think you don't as much "learn" as just act on what you know.

5. Games made me think on the nature of human instincts and how ready are we to simulate our predatory behavior. Whole lot of games are about killing or spacial simulation, but so are games irl like sports, and most of "boys" games that reinforce man's natural role as a warrior. It made me a bit more pragmatic, but generally from educational standpoint, like when playing Paradox grand strategies I learned just how warlike our species are and that we were murdering each other in whole tribes and races.
When it comes to real death, murder and war, I do not see them any less horrifying because of games.

6. I'd like to be Najka from Aquaria cause I love swimming, and she can breath underwater and explore sea caves and ancient ruins of Atlantis, and sing magic with her voice and turn sea food into actual edible things.

 

[Haba]

1. What was the most appalling game you have ever played? Did it involve killing humans?

A certain Japanese game where a crime syndicate abducts a bus full of schoolgirls, you're tasked in breaking "them in" before they are sold as sex slaves. Killing humans wasn't really a theme, though you could choose to kill a few of the girls.

2. During the gameplay are you aware of the fact that you are performing an act of killing or is it an automatic action?

You can't one-dimensional virtual characters. I'm no more involved in the act of killing as when I am watching a violent film. Also, this is a loaded question.

3. Does it evoke any feelings in you? If yes, what kind? (relief after a stressful day, satisfaction etc.).

Again, if we're talking about cardboard enemies in a shooter, why would it evoke any feelings? Defeating a difficult enemy can evoke feeling of satisfaction or achievement. Being forced to kill someone in a game where killing is a choice rather than automatic part of the gameplay is completely different thing. I felt bad after doing some of the things I had to do in Harvester, for example.

Again, your framing your question in a way that you expect certain kind of answers. Why didn't you add negative emotions to your list of questions?

4. Did gaming immunize you to the view of death and blood?

No, gaming has nothing to do with real life violence. Real death is a very different matter from playing a game, reading a book or watching a film.

5. How gaming influences your view on murder? Is it less horrifying/appalling?

And again with the loaded questions. Fictional murder is completely different from real murder.

6. If you had an ability to choose one game character and to have its powers, which one would it be? Why?

I'd choose Rance. No matter how many stupid things I'd do, all the women would still fall in love with my penis.

 

[AlexOfSpades]

1. What was the most appalling game you have ever played? Did it involve killing humans?

Rapelay. In the game, you stalk, kidnap, abuse and viciously rape a little girl and her mother. You can even twist them into suicide. I was mortified. I'm not a SJW, but rape seriously shocks me.

During the gameplay are you aware of the fact that you are performing an act of killing or is it an automatic action?

Depends on the game, and how the act is presented. In shooters, where that is your primary objective, you don't really care when you shoot the 1000th enemy. But in Deus Ex, where I always had the option to kill or not, it's completely different. It's like an action movie VS a suspense movie - in an action movie you don't care when one of the thugs gets shot, but if it's a suspense movie and someone gets murdered you're on the edge of your seat.

Does it evoke any feelings in you? If yes, what kind? (relief after a stressful day, satisfaction etc.).

Depends on the game and who's dying. For example, yesterday i was playing Shadowrun Returns and I was shooting a group of hackers - one of them who hacked the brains of a group of civilian junkies. I had the option to shoot every mind-controlled civilian, and that would be tactically smart since they were attacking me, but I didn't. I replayed over and over until there was no civilian loss. When a civilian died, my heart sank in regret. But when the hacker himself was riddled with bullets and fell on a pool of his own blood, I had a smirk on my face. Fuck that guy.

So yeah, depends on the context, heavily.

Did gaming immunize you to the view of death and blood?

No. It's just that, since it's a game, if a character dies you're not as shocked, because you know it's virtual. If someone gets hurt IRL, it's a whole another issue. I'm a very empathic individual.

How gaming influences your view on murder? Is it less horrifying/appalling?

No, ever. I could see a thousand thugs die on screen, and hearing the news that my neighbour was murdered will always be shocking. That's never "a joke"

If you had an ability to choose one game character and to have its powers, which one would it be? Why?

My tremere vampire from Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. He could entrance people with his mind, control their memories, and he could also manipulate blood at will - could make someone regurgitate all of their blood, make it spill from every orifice, or even lift them in the air and make their blood boil until they erupt. Very messy and fun, and I have a thing with vampires...
He never harmed an innocent person though (in my gameplay of course - you always have the option to hurt anyone you want). I don't think I would use my powers to harm anyone unless forced to.

Shit, i'm pretty sure i'm in some sort of watch list now.

 

[Baron Dupek]

1. 762mm. Of course there're humans cause you play as a mercenary, what do you expect?
2. No cause I don't threat it that way. With this logic chess is brutal game so...
3. Pity but video games are better mental stimulation for me than most of people in real life.
4. Hell no, real life things are way worse (like death of important person for me or even stuffing turkey). Digital one? Rarely, if ever.
5. No because I never considered digital characters as real.
6. SHODAN and their robots cause no need to bother with mortal body of myself. And just connecting to internet and poking around.

 

[Farage]

Codexians,

Spoiler

I would like to ask you to help my GF, who's working on her master's degree work on the subject of glamorization and celebritization of murderers, killers and such, by answering several questions connected with video games.

Questions:

1. What was the most appalling game you have ever played? Did it involve killing humans?
   
   
2. During the gameplay are you aware of the fact that you are performing an act of killing or is it an automatic action?
   
   
3. Does it evoke any feelings in you? If yes, what kind? (relief after a stressful day, satisfaction etc.).
   
   
4. Did gaming immunize you to the view of death and blood?
   
   
5. How gaming influences your view on murder? Is it less horrifying/appalling?
   
   
6. If you had an ability to choose one game character and to have its powers, which one would it be? Why?

Honesty much appreciated !

1. Fallout series. Yes.
2. I am aware.
3. Regret.
4. No, i still faint from the sight/smell of blood.
5. Not at all, i've seen live death, its not pretty, i can still record every single second of it as if it was 30 minutes ago. A car crash i'll never forget.
6. None. Cause im cool right now.