Author Topic: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread  (Read 17065 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #75 on: July 02, 2016, 12:22:14 am »
The intention is B, and it would indeed be a dick move if you could pull it off in this massively interconnected age. Remember when steam briefly pulled Hatred? There's no evidence that made it harder for anyone to obtain the game indeed, it might have just made it more attractive to the edgelords who bought it straight from the manufacturer-which might have had something to do with them backpedalling on their own internal ban.

I understand condemning the desire to make a game unavailable but if the means to do so that's employed is completely ineffectual, again, why should I care?

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #76 on: July 02, 2016, 01:14:40 am »
Which makes for an interesting point of discussion, how effective are games at propaganda anyway?

Offline Cloud3514

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1776
  • 404: Personal text not found.
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #77 on: July 02, 2016, 03:09:18 am »
Well, Barrett Firearms hopes that kids playing shooters will grow up to buy guns. Here's a choice quote: "But video games expose our brand to a young audience who are considered possible future owners."

Even if government propaganda in games isn't a problem, this raises an eyebrow. Why the hell are games featuring licensed appearances of real life firearms being targeted at kids? Why the hell is a company that would normal deflect accusations of marketing to children with "responsible ownership" rhetoric openly admitting that they want kids playing these games to buy their guns?
Who needs a signature?

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #78 on: July 02, 2016, 03:27:36 am »
I'd actually be surprised if gun manufacturers didn't want a piece of the advertising action in games. FIFA does, as do the associated sports apparel brands and so do automobile manufacturers but marketing guns at kids is still incredibly creepy and no, that doesn't mean I want to ban shooters b/c "think of the children".

Offline Askold

  • Definitely not hiding a dark secret.
  • Global Moderator
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8358
  • Gender: Male
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #79 on: July 02, 2016, 03:35:12 am »
I think there have been times when manufacturers have refused to have their guns be in a game. There are some games that you do not wish to have your product associated with.

Still, the only problem here is KIDS playing such games but seeing as most shooters are not games that kids are allowed to play then this is already a rules violation if someone gave a kid such a game.

And advertising guns to 18 year olds who like to play CoD or whatever is not as bad as specifically advertising guns to 10 year olds.
No matter what happens, no matter what my last words may end up being, I want everyone to claim that they were:
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Aww, you guys rock. :)  I feel the love... and the pitchforks and torches.  Tingly!

Offline Canadian Mojo

  • Don't Steal Him. We Need Him. He Makes Us Cool!
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1770
  • Gender: Male
  • Υπό σκιή
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #80 on: July 02, 2016, 03:43:53 am »
It's really not that insidious, it's the modern version of a kid wanting a Daisy BB gun because John Wayne used a lever action in his cowboy flick. The gun companies know this and know that when kids grow up they'll be drawn to things they knew and loved as a child. Barrett just wants to make sure it's their .50cal sniper rifle these future adults will be drawn to.

Offline Cloud3514

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 1776
  • 404: Personal text not found.
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #81 on: July 02, 2016, 03:53:16 am »
I don't see any sort of problem of gun manufacturers licensing their products for games. It's like how Fender and Gibson license their products for music games. It even makes sense to advertise to adult gamers who may be interested in purchasing the guns they see in games. What gets me here is that they openly admit that they want kids to grow up to buy their products. It wouldn't be hard at all to give some bullshit excuse about how they believe the games they're licensing their weapons for are targeted at adults, but, no, they flat out state that they want these weapons advertised to kids.
Who needs a signature?

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #82 on: July 02, 2016, 05:14:38 am »
There's a political element here. It'a been argued that AR15 style rifles are pretty crap for hunting and home defense which means that the real reason people want them is that they look fucken cool.

If you're advertising a product whose primary function by its target market is as a tribal marker/fashion accessory then are you also training up a voting bloc who'll fight to keep their collectors items on the market?

Offline Askold

  • Definitely not hiding a dark secret.
  • Global Moderator
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8358
  • Gender: Male
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #83 on: July 02, 2016, 05:29:03 am »
Actually AR-15 style weapon can make a very good hunting weapon. Depends on what you are hunting of course but AR series is available in so many calibers and configurations that you can find the right one for almost any game.

...Like the hog hunters in Texas who have started using fully automatic AR-15s with night vision AND infra-red scopes and in calibers like .300Blackout. They are still having problems cutting down the numbers of feral hogs but are barely able to keep them from increasing in numbers and destroying the local ecosystem and farming.


EDIT: Tangentially related, this is a good article about representation of women in games: http://thespectacularspider-girl.tumblr.com/post/102919064149/representation-of-women-in-video-games-the

Just yesterday I tried to watch a walkthrough of Bombshell but was horribly disappointed. The only good thing you can say about the game is that the main character is just a gender flipped "boring generic action hero dude" and despite being a woman she isn't treated differently as a character.

Unfortunately the plot is bad, the characters are bad, the action seems clumsy and even the jokes and one-liners are bad.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2016, 03:01:36 am by Askold »
No matter what happens, no matter what my last words may end up being, I want everyone to claim that they were:
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Aww, you guys rock. :)  I feel the love... and the pitchforks and torches.  Tingly!

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #84 on: July 04, 2016, 05:12:58 am »
I think she makes a good point about women in games not being allowed to cross the "moral event horizon". Which is weird for games because in comics the opposite is true.

Offline Tolpuddle Martyr

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 3716
  • Have you got thumbs? SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING THUMBS!
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #85 on: July 06, 2016, 10:21:57 pm »
Interesting piece this one, on Valve profiting from online gambling on its site.

Quote
Valve is being accused of deliberately allowing the creation of a market where players and third-parties trade weapon skins like casino chips. The lawsuits accuse Valve and third-party sites like CSGO Diamonds, CSGO Lounge and OPSkins of allowing millions of Americans to link their individual Steam accounts to websites that allow players to gamble with their CS: GO weapon skins.

"In sum, Valve owns the league, sells the casino chips, and receives a piece of the casino’s income stream through foreign websites in order to maintain the charade that Valve is not promoting and profiting from online gambling, like a modern-day Captain Renault from Casablanca,"

Offline ironbite

  • Overlord of all that is good in Iacon City
  • Kakarot
  • ******
  • Posts: 10686
  • Gender: Male
  • Stuck in the middle with you.
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #86 on: July 06, 2016, 11:26:00 pm »
I had heard about this.  Or something similar where a bunch of high level CS players were banned for match fixing.

Ironbite-jesus.

Offline niam2023

  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 4213
  • Gender: Male
  • The Forum Chad
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #87 on: July 07, 2016, 12:24:58 am »
This is...surprising. Ruthless on Valve's part.

And the fixing and use of skins as gambling chips...ohh, my...
Living Life, Lifting, Waiting for Summer

Offline Askold

  • Definitely not hiding a dark secret.
  • Global Moderator
  • The Beast
  • *****
  • Posts: 8358
  • Gender: Male
Re: The Social and Political Issues in Gaming Thread
« Reply #88 on: July 13, 2016, 01:27:11 am »
...Do the people who use CS like that live in a place where gambling is illegal? Because otherwise there are casinos (online and actual physical casinos as well) where you can play in a much easier way and the amount of 12-year olds who have had sex with your mother is much lower.

In fact, I could even say that one of the benefits of playing in a casino is that at the very least, whether you win or lose there won't be 12-year olds telling you how they recently had sex with your mother.
No matter what happens, no matter what my last words may end up being, I want everyone to claim that they were:
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine."
Aww, you guys rock. :)  I feel the love... and the pitchforks and torches.  Tingly!