School maps for FPS games

[johnckirk]

I know that there have been some questionable security choices made in the last few years, but this one really did amaze me:
Student creates Counter-Strike map of school, gets kicked out of school

(Link via Bruce Schneier's blogThe article doesn't give much detail (neither the pupil nor the school is named), so it's difficult to verify the

Comments

[terpsichore1980]

While I agree that programming a map for a FPS for your local area does not necessarily mean you are going to go on a killing spree, and I am prepared to admit to considering programming Doom to show my old boss' head on occastion for cathartic effect. Can you imagine the outcry against FPS generally and the school for not doing something about it if the kid did go on a killing spree. Particularly given the all to frequent gun rampages in the US. So while I do not necessarily agree with the decision to exclude the child (and you have to guess there were probably other factors we don't know about), I can understand it.

[johnckirk]

I did a bit more digging on the web last night, and I found a discussion about this case. I haven't read all of the comments, but the people in favour of the expulsion basically gave two reasons:

a) It's a pretty stupid thing to do right now, so he should have known that people would react badly. [Counter-argument: it takes a while to program a map like this, so he probably started it before the shootings at Virginia Tech; someone else claimed to be from his school, and said that the map was actually made 2-3 years ago.]

b) "You can't be too careful."

That latter point ties into my "coffee theory", as described here. In other words, the basic logic for kicking the guy out (or at least taking some form of disciplinary action) would be "There's a link between computer games and actual violence, so we want to stop you before you get that far." However, the question isn't "What proportion of crazed gunmen have previously made computer maps of their targets?" but rather "What proportion of people who make maps go on to carry out a

[terpsichore1980]

I completely understand your coffee argument, and I think it is probably valid. Which is why I understand, but don't agree with the decision.

[shuripentu]

Well, I was once expelled from a school, and the consensus was that they probably did it as a precautionary, not a reactionary measure. Covering your ass is not a very fair or sensible reason to do a lot of things, but it's understandable when litigation is so easy to come by.

[stagknight]

I, for one, never go on a killing spree without first meticulously mapping my route in the Rainbow Six engine, adding waypoints and details of the possible paths and guards.

[johnckirk]

Heh :)

"Ok, my strategy is to go in and shoot everyone on the ground floor. The police will have been called by that point, so I'd better do a 'save game' there, just in case I get killed when I walk out of the room, then I can try to find a crate with a health potion inside it nearby..."