Interesting Links for 06-11-2013

[andrewducker]

• iPhone 6 could have sapphire screen as Apple opens plant
  (tags: apple screens iphone )
• Considerable gender, racial, sexuality differences in attitudes toward bisexuality
  (tags: society lgbt )
• India launches first mission to Mars
  (tags: mars india space )
• New Katy Perry album declared a bio-hazard by Australia
  (tags: music australia funny )
• Wartune

Comments

[bohemiancoast]

I've only played one of the GTA games (the DS one) and it eventually got a bit too much for me. In general I do have great difficulty playing immoral characters in video games, even when the violence is dialled right down. My worst example was a sweet Wii game called Little King's Story, where {SPOILERS FOR AN OLD GAME} despite the cute theme, it's apparent from very early on that you are being manipulated by your vizier to invade the countries of people who have not in fact done anything wrong; I couldn't stomach it and had to stop.

This is also why I never attack anyone in Civ or similar unless they've attacked me first, a strategy which does make it harder to win.

[andrewducker]

I hit the same point with real life RPGs. I felt bad attacking Orcs...

[danieldwilliam]

I have learnt to enjoy the amorality although I find it hard in Civ to start a fight.

I've had to practise and I tend to find I need some apparantly legitimate causus belli.

[ggreig]

The best RPG I ever played in was a home-grown one called New Jerusalem, and the setup was a small German Protestant town in the 17th century, on the borders with Faerie, where a few godly men and women went out to smite the ungodly abominations in the wilderness (goblins, hobgoblins, giants and so on). Thing was, a lot of those "abominations", being less dogmatic than the townspeople, could be easy to develop a sympathy for. Of course admitting this in town would be a good way to get burnt at the stake. Cue interesting conflicts between a publicly professed "faith" and more modern morality, with different players finding very different balancing points between the two, and lots of hypocrisy and paranoia. The game ran for ten years (roughly 1980-90 - I played during the latter half) and spawned a collaborative fiction sequel.

[alitheapipkin]

That sounds fascinating.

The only time I've ever been motivated to, and enjoyed, stabbing another player character in the back (not literally) was a mixed game of In Nomine, where I was playing an Angel and the other PC was a demon. So much easier when you have a legitimate excuse for ignoring 'human' morality :)

[ggreig]

It was. Actual backstabbing was rare, but the threat was ever-present, and characters finding themselves forced to flee town because of some indiscretion was as common an ending as actual character death.

[philmophlegm]

Interesting sounding setting. If you haven't already, you should definitely read Michael Moorcock's 'The Warhound and the World's Pain'.

[ggreig]

I have. It's an excellent read and very reminiscent of NJ.

[octopoid_horror]

GTAV is interesting because you play different characters. Anecdotally (and including myself) some people play the game differently with each character, so one might be more violent in the free roam, even though the player remains the same.

When I was playing Red Dead Redemption, I generally acted nicely in towns and around people (well, unless they were bandits), tipping my hat to the ladies whether they were well-to-do women out for a stroll, or scantily clad prostitutes. But that's beause John Marson is just a polite kind of guy. WHEN HE'S NOT SHOUTING ALL THE TIME

[erratio]

Similarly, both times that I've played Eclipse (the board game) I've been genuinely upset when one of the other players backstabbed me and I never ever backstab first. I know that in these sorts of games the whole point is to make and break alliances, but I just can't do it.

[ggreig]

I felt that way about Diplomacy.

[skreidle]

A friend I used to live with got Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic years ago, and on the first run-through or two, he played Light Side all the way; when he went back through with more of a shift (and then a full shift) to Dark Side, he had a hard time bringing himself to make the immoral decisions to head down, and stay on, that path. (He persevered, though, because Force Lightning is Awesome.)