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The Moral Responsibility of Game Creators
Gamasutra.com has reactions from another provocative question of the week. The topic this time was "Do game creators have any moral responsibilities in teaching values to their audience?" There were many responses on both sides of the issue. From the article: "A resounding NO. Do writers have that same responsibility? Actors? What other limitations would we put on them and our freedom of expression, in order to accomplish that lofty goal? Just ask Jerry Falwell, or the embittered ghost of Senator McCarthy for your answer... NO. Leave the morality lessons to the parents and the priests. They are quite good at their jobs. -Anonymous"
I don't have any morals, you insensitive clod!
Now excuse me, I'm busy playing GTA, drinking tequila, calling a 1-900 number while a hardcore porn movie is playing in the background.
Morals I've learned from video games:
1) Killing people is bad.
2) Killing people is good.
3) Killing zombies is great.
4) Killing zombies is bad if they've gone through substantial character development.
5) Sacrificing yourself so that the team can make it over the lava flow to fight the Bad Guy is good.
6) Something about not sucking the energy out of the Earth to power your city.
7) Stealing is good, unless the chest is booby-trapped.
8) Feed your pets well, or they will abandon you forever.
That should be enough to get anyone through life, no?
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
No, not just Wow..
SW:Kotor and Morrowind too.
I, personally, have obtained nearly all of my morals from video games, especially playing RPGs
Me too! From Ultima I learned the virtues of honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality, and humility. That's why I no longer steal crops or torches.
So let's keep Jesus out of this, because we can all handle it on our own.
And remember: If you find pills lying around in streets or hidden passages, just eat'em. They are definitely good for you.
- Peter Brodersen; professional nerd
Black and white are two perfectly good shades of gray. I think some people are too quick to discard them.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.