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Ethical Gaming Revisited
In other news, I recently found myself pondering an issue I mentioned a month or two back; that of violence in gaming.
I haven't changed my stance; I still find the dispassionate way we gamers view violence to be somewhat disturbing. I still support age ratings on games and hard policies on not selling games to people below those ages. I still strongly believe that it's up to parents to police what games their kids play. And I still find the thought of governments or special interest groups legislating what games may be made to be even more disturbing than the violence itself.
We have laws against violence. People who commit acts of violence against others without lawful justification are criminals, and are treated as such. People who advocate bans on violence in games, or try to ban games outright because they object to their content... that's not trying to look out for society. That's trying to control how people think. And indulging that, no matter how noble the motives or how good an idea it seems at first, is and always will be a Bad Thing.
Anyway, that's as far as I got on that train of thought. My main point is that... well, I don't really have one. But this is the internet, so it doesn't matter - I can dribble out any mind-numbing ramblings and someone will still find it worth reading.
Anyway, once again my gaming enjoyment has been spoiled. This time it started with Flatout 2, a racing game where drivers can actually be thrown from their cars. There are game modes where the aim is to demolish all the other cars - if drivers are thrown out of theirs, does anyone make a point of avoiding them? Of course not. Unconscious driver lying on the tarmac between you and your target? Sod it, he's probably dead anyway, just run right over him. There aren't many things that disturb me on moral grounds, but that's one of them.
Another casualty was Knights of the Old Republic 2, where I tried - once again - to play through as a Dark Side character. It didn't work. Every time I tried for Dark Side points, I ended up thinking "that would be mean" and saying "You know what, I was going to kill you and steal your stuff, but here, have a hundred credits" instead. I'll never get my black cape at this rate.
And then there was the game adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End, which was offensive for so many other reasons, mainly for being so bad. I'm just glad I got it for free with a magazine subscription rather than spending actual money on it. Heaven knows I won't be spending any time on it.
Anyway, another thing that I've found curious on similar grounds has been the Violent Crime Reduction Act, which came into force in the UK in October last year. It prohibits the manufacture, sale and import of "realistic imitation firearms" - in other words, anything made to look like a gun, regardless of whether it can actually fire of whether it's a plank sawn to shape and painted black. So reenactment, amateur theatre, and particularly airsoft are in trouble. We can still keep the guns we have - though there's apparently talk of banning them too - but we're not allowed to buy any new ones. Unless...
Yes. It's a government thing, thus there's a loophole. Of course.
There's a specific defence for airsofters; you're allowed to buy more airsoft guns if you can prove you're a legitimate airsofter. Which is great - personally, I've lobbied for some sort of licensing scheme, rather like a driving licence for airsoft guns. But what annoys me is the definition of a legitimate airsofter. It's someone who is a member of "a legitimate skirmish site". And the guidelines say that a member has to actually play at that site regularly; I'm not sure how often, but before being offered membership you have to play two or three games over the course of a month or two... or something. I can't remember offhand.
Now, this would seem like a fair system - indeed, without being fairly immersed in airsoft, it would be. But not all airsofters are skirmishers.
I find skirmishes incredibly dull; run around in the woods shooting at people? Where's the fun in that? I enjoy milsim - military simulation - and I enjoy the LARP aspects of airsoft. I enjoy playing a character, getting the kit right, getting the accents and mannerisms and background right. I went to a four-day game in Sweden back in 2005, where I fired twelve shots in total.
I enjoy playing the part. I'm as serious an airsofter as any other, I just prioritise other aspects of the hobby. But the government says that someone who plays for the talking - and thus attends a few major "event-type games" a year rather than skirmishing once a month - isn't a serious airsofter, and thus can't buy any airsoft guns. But someone who just runs around in the woods shooting at anything that moves... they''re safe and healthy and wouldn't hurt a fly. Does that seem ludicrous to anyone else?
Anyway, on a more cheerful note, I thought I might plug a couple of incredibly funny web comics: DM Of The Rings (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14) which spoofs Lord of the Rings by working on the assumption that the whole thing's a roleplaying game, and Darths And Droids (http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/) which does much the same thing for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. They're both hilarious, at least for anyone who's ever played an RPG.
(Oh, and you may notice the "Current Music" listing for my last entry. The Not So Grand Funk Jam Band is a Finnish band I found after meeting two of their singers at a blues jam in Stockholm. They sent me some of their tunes, and, well, those guys are phenomenal. Pretty much the entire band are in their late teens, early twenties, and they play a great blend of proper old-school funk with hints of rap and modern stuff. A bit of Hancock here, a bit of JB there... Their pronunciation of the English language sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, but I tell you, those guys can groove. They've got some great trumpet licks, too. I'd suggest starting out with 21st-Century Funk, Groupies and Not So Grand Funk Jam Band Jam, but the main thing is that you have to hear these guys play.)
(Also, as you may notice from the "Current Music" for this post, I've recently developed something of an addiction to two or three of Gretchen Wilson's songs. It's weird. Country isn't supposed to rock like this. It's great.)
I haven't changed my stance; I still find the dispassionate way we gamers view violence to be somewhat disturbing. I still support age ratings on games and hard policies on not selling games to people below those ages. I still strongly believe that it's up to parents to police what games their kids play. And I still find the thought of governments or special interest groups legislating what games may be made to be even more disturbing than the violence itself.
We have laws against violence. People who commit acts of violence against others without lawful justification are criminals, and are treated as such. People who advocate bans on violence in games, or try to ban games outright because they object to their content... that's not trying to look out for society. That's trying to control how people think. And indulging that, no matter how noble the motives or how good an idea it seems at first, is and always will be a Bad Thing.
Anyway, that's as far as I got on that train of thought. My main point is that... well, I don't really have one. But this is the internet, so it doesn't matter - I can dribble out any mind-numbing ramblings and someone will still find it worth reading.
Anyway, once again my gaming enjoyment has been spoiled. This time it started with Flatout 2, a racing game where drivers can actually be thrown from their cars. There are game modes where the aim is to demolish all the other cars - if drivers are thrown out of theirs, does anyone make a point of avoiding them? Of course not. Unconscious driver lying on the tarmac between you and your target? Sod it, he's probably dead anyway, just run right over him. There aren't many things that disturb me on moral grounds, but that's one of them.
Another casualty was Knights of the Old Republic 2, where I tried - once again - to play through as a Dark Side character. It didn't work. Every time I tried for Dark Side points, I ended up thinking "that would be mean" and saying "You know what, I was going to kill you and steal your stuff, but here, have a hundred credits" instead. I'll never get my black cape at this rate.
And then there was the game adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End, which was offensive for so many other reasons, mainly for being so bad. I'm just glad I got it for free with a magazine subscription rather than spending actual money on it. Heaven knows I won't be spending any time on it.
Anyway, another thing that I've found curious on similar grounds has been the Violent Crime Reduction Act, which came into force in the UK in October last year. It prohibits the manufacture, sale and import of "realistic imitation firearms" - in other words, anything made to look like a gun, regardless of whether it can actually fire of whether it's a plank sawn to shape and painted black. So reenactment, amateur theatre, and particularly airsoft are in trouble. We can still keep the guns we have - though there's apparently talk of banning them too - but we're not allowed to buy any new ones. Unless...
Yes. It's a government thing, thus there's a loophole. Of course.
There's a specific defence for airsofters; you're allowed to buy more airsoft guns if you can prove you're a legitimate airsofter. Which is great - personally, I've lobbied for some sort of licensing scheme, rather like a driving licence for airsoft guns. But what annoys me is the definition of a legitimate airsofter. It's someone who is a member of "a legitimate skirmish site". And the guidelines say that a member has to actually play at that site regularly; I'm not sure how often, but before being offered membership you have to play two or three games over the course of a month or two... or something. I can't remember offhand.
Now, this would seem like a fair system - indeed, without being fairly immersed in airsoft, it would be. But not all airsofters are skirmishers.
I find skirmishes incredibly dull; run around in the woods shooting at people? Where's the fun in that? I enjoy milsim - military simulation - and I enjoy the LARP aspects of airsoft. I enjoy playing a character, getting the kit right, getting the accents and mannerisms and background right. I went to a four-day game in Sweden back in 2005, where I fired twelve shots in total.
I enjoy playing the part. I'm as serious an airsofter as any other, I just prioritise other aspects of the hobby. But the government says that someone who plays for the talking - and thus attends a few major "event-type games" a year rather than skirmishing once a month - isn't a serious airsofter, and thus can't buy any airsoft guns. But someone who just runs around in the woods shooting at anything that moves... they''re safe and healthy and wouldn't hurt a fly. Does that seem ludicrous to anyone else?
Anyway, on a more cheerful note, I thought I might plug a couple of incredibly funny web comics: DM Of The Rings (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14) which spoofs Lord of the Rings by working on the assumption that the whole thing's a roleplaying game, and Darths And Droids (http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/darthsanddroids/) which does much the same thing for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. They're both hilarious, at least for anyone who's ever played an RPG.
(Oh, and you may notice the "Current Music" listing for my last entry. The Not So Grand Funk Jam Band is a Finnish band I found after meeting two of their singers at a blues jam in Stockholm. They sent me some of their tunes, and, well, those guys are phenomenal. Pretty much the entire band are in their late teens, early twenties, and they play a great blend of proper old-school funk with hints of rap and modern stuff. A bit of Hancock here, a bit of JB there... Their pronunciation of the English language sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, but I tell you, those guys can groove. They've got some great trumpet licks, too. I'd suggest starting out with 21st-Century Funk, Groupies and Not So Grand Funk Jam Band Jam, but the main thing is that you have to hear these guys play.)
(Also, as you may notice from the "Current Music" for this post, I've recently developed something of an addiction to two or three of Gretchen Wilson's songs. It's weird. Country isn't supposed to rock like this. It's great.)