Topic awaiting preservation: Has the Media Gone Too Far?

Anyone who is familiar with the gaming communtiy knows that games have long been associated with murders, suicides and homocides. in fact, just about every popular game has been blamed and just about every type of technology (with a screen) has been blamed. Some common ones are DnD, Quake, Doom, Warhammer...but Everquest...take a look at this:

Story 1
Story 2 (same story, diffrent article)

What do you think? Is it the media overreacting? Or is Everquest a true-to-life addicting, suicide causing game?



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counterfeitbacon

My favorite quote (from story 2) is about warning lables on potentially addictie games saying:

quote:

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Next they'll be sticking warning labels on women... "The Surgeon General warns that women could be the cause of undo amounts of stress causing premature balding, excessive annoyance, a reduction in bank account, diarrhea, and heart failure." Sometimes people... yeah I'll stop now.

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It's funny how, when something like this happens, its always the game's/movie's/music's fault. The fact that they always have some crippling combination of mental defect and/or substance abuse is brushed aside.



Odd behavior; even temperament...

"Yes ma'am, he was listening to Black Sabbath before he killed himself. It's our only answer.


Well yes he had smoked a garbage bag full of crack, and there was evidence that his father beat him daily with a vacuum hose...but really, if it's not the Ozzy I'm afraid we're stumped."

[This message has been edited by DarkGarden (edited 06-05-2002).]

Here's a link to a "rantitorial" about the history of music as scapegoat. I particularly remember the story about the suicide pact blamed on Judas Priest.

Oh my f*cking GOD! Why does everybody think that Suicide Solution is PRO-SUICIDE...It's not!
If you read the lyrics carefully it is actually anti-suicide...

look here: Clicky
looky here: Click

I mean seriously people: Jennys parents beat her with a broom. Jennys father molests her. Jennys mom dies. Jenny gets a computer. Jenny commits suicide. Must be the computer? Huh?

God I hate when these over-abusing christian mothers go around mocking and torturing ozzy for his music, I remember watching behind the music when a senator went to an ozzy concert, came back, and called making the heavy metal symbol with hands (of course thats not what he called it) and chanting "ozzy" was satanic... And again those stupid mothers, STUPID TIPPER GORE, I HATE THE GOVERNMENTS HYPOCRISY, one of the mothers had a poster saying the following : Ozzy promotes satanism, atheism, death, and canibalism... How can he promote atheism and satanism at the same time? Canibalism? WTF? These mothers just use ozzy as an excuse for their childrens death and suicide, even though it is really their fault for their upbringing of the child... Their are people in this world that really think ozzy is the anti-christ, that is so sad, so very very sad...

I didn't read the stories mass, sorry maybe in a lil, I just skimmed down and saw DG's input and thought I had to second the idiocy of the media and the mothers behind the destruction and hypocrisy of the american government and ozzy osborne....

By the way the media can bever go too far, thats why they are the media...

Yup...Ozzy is the antichrist, and in fact he's so evil that he raised two kids (one of which is a 4 point student), is against drugs now, and has had many anti suicide speakings around the country. Yup, that sounds like the antichrist... (sarcasm)


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counterfeitbacon

Well I don't know if you would be able to call what Ozzy does "speaking", but I'm sure the mumbles have meaning somewhere deep down.

Joking aside, I think people are missing a point here... this isn't about satanists hiding messages in Doom or Duke Nukem telling you to kill other people, this was an overweight, unhappy man that was hopelessly addicted to EverQuest. Because of this, and perhaps a jilted online-lover, he commited suicide.

Goes to show the addictive potential that this and many like it, have. Ultima Online... I have many friends that will play this 24 hours a day if they could get away with it. They toss half their paychecks on eBay so they can get a rare this or a hidden that.

Problem is, people don't have the self control it takes to know when the game stops, or must stop, rather. I've played UO before, wasn't my cup of tea BUT I can see where someone would get so wrapped up into it that they forget about RL for a while. Same with Nintendo games, Playstation, Xbox blah blah blah...

...for crying out loud, people need to stop blaming the company for making a game, and need to start yelling at the hopelessly addicted sacks. It's not the company's fault he killed himself, it was his fault. He held the gun to his head. He loaded it. He pulled the trigger. Why? A lack of self control... and as far as I knew, companies don't have any say in another person's self control. Yet.

There. And Ozzy rocks, dammit.

njuice42
icq 957255

If you ask me, I think Marshall (Eminem) said it best.

quote:

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They say music can alter moods and talk to you, but can it load a gun up for you, and cock it too?

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People are responsible for their actions. Not music, video games, or ANYTHING else.

[This message has been edited by Raptor (edited 06-06-2002).]

you said it nJuice...

There are a million and one things out there that are potentially addicting. From chocolate to video games to gambling to cocaine. We all have the potential for addiction. There's just no way to eliminate or regulate everything out there that may be addicting. The only solution is to educate people to the risks; hope they make intelligent choices; and be there for your friends and family if they start getting into trouble.

I still can't believe parents corralating BomberMan and suicides though...


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counterfeitbacon

overprotective moms suck

My mom blames Photoshop and 3dSMAX for my D in math...

I have to admit, after spending 8 hours straight playing Grand Theft Auto 3, I almost rammed my car into someone that cut me off while on the way to get some grub.

hmmm...stories...one time I played starcraft for (over) 11 hours and I dreamt about it for a week


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counterfeitbacon

I did that with the first Resident Evil. Gave me horrible dreams. And with Halo on X-Box. Halo has to be the best game ever, at least inteligence wise. I don't know much about computer games. I am sure there are some that beat it.

Also, about this guy here. This sucks and all, but the point of video games is that they are supposed to be fun and smart. Games that are fun and smart are addictive. The more realistic the better. The better, the longer people want to play it, then they get addicted, or what they would call having fun. I mean I watched this thing on TV about it and there are like 90,000 people playing it at once sometimes. So, one person is not to much, though it sucks.

Me tired.
Goodnight.


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[This message has been edited by Gilbert Nolander (edited 06-06-2002).]

Oh god don't get me started on GTA3 krets, see I can see the fun in that game, its pretty cool, but I think it is terrible, now for the story...

The first time I got to play GTA3 was at a friends party, (which kicked ass), after the party was over and we all were sick of rush and getting high (not on drugs, just the ambience) we turned on the ps2, and they started playing GTA3 and I was like this is cool, this is bad, this is still cool, but incredibly bad, I mean my friend just walked up to an old lady and kicked the shit out of her and she was bleeding on the sidewalk, thats terrible ok, I don't care if you call me a pussy, but it's terrible. Now the destructive side to the game, the codes/cheats, where you got EVERYTHING, made my day, I blew everything up, now I like that...

Starcraft? D2x? WC3?

Back long before I got into BNet, there was a game, that is still good today but I haven't played in a year, is called ARC, it stood for attack retrieve capture, I remember getting over 200 kills in 1 game of small, now that to me was just the time of my life, I took a screen shot and then lost it when my PC got hacked a year ago ...

Wait wasn't this topic on the media?

I used to play dusk till dawn (13 hours) sessions of Rogue Spear with a group of friends at the local net cafe (we knew the owner ).

After 13 hours of a game like that I found in hard not to hug the walls and be paranoid about dark windows looming yonder on the walk home. Then again, spending 13 hours straight playing a game like that's gotta send ya a little strange, especially when your excessively sleep deprived...

Although after the first DtoD session I didn't really notice it any more. Or was it after the second. Anyway, we did this twice to three times a week ever week for the whole x-mas break. That's about 320 hours gaming in just a couple of months and I was mostly fine. Although there is some effect, doing something so excessively has to have so kind of negative psychological effect. Yet I could deal with it better the more I played the game. Maybe that's the difference between a stable mind and an unstable mind.

I heard a really scary story about a mad gunman putting down his weapon and surrendering when an officer called out "game over". Sure, that'd have to be due to computer games and not cause he's completely fucked in the head or anything.... Surely..... heh.

Drac, I get the same feeling after watching The Crow and The Crow: City of Angels in a row...

Interesting topic...but hardly surprising...people have been giving everything but human behavior and choices the fault since time immorial...

It is just easier...one doesn't have to confront the problem (one of human nature...that resides in us all). It's called 'scapegoating' if I am not mistaken...

But whether or not the Media has gone too far...well, free speech, right? So nope, they haven't gone too far...they haven't gone far enough.

And that, you see, is the real issue...I call it 'Pop-Media'...pablum for the masses...yum, yum...tastes good...but isn't nourishing...these things should receive much more serious coverage (background, the tracing down of real factors, and the like) IMHO.



[This message has been edited by WebShaman (edited 06-06-2002).]

The first console game that I ever played was Resident Evil 2 (I am a PC games specifically), I sill remember that part where the Nemisis (the baddie) jumped out a window and broke the glass. It scared the shit out of me. Anyways, when I got back to my house (I was at a friends) someone through a stone through the window at our house and I turned around, expecting to see Nemisis. Oh my god...then I realized that I was WAY too into the game...

Playing violent or even addictive games requires responsibility. If you don't have the responsibility to pull yourself away when you're getting too into it, then you shouldn't be playing the game in the first place. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell if that's the case before you start.

That's what ratings are for. Ratings on movies and on games. Listen to them. I never watched a PG-13 rated movie until I was 13, and never watched an R-rated movie until I was 17. Never played any "mature" games until I was at the age where the rating says they're for (I forget what that age is offhand). My only regret from these facts is that I missed Jurrassic Park in theatres (heh). But my point is, I play games responsibly. I don't play a game that I suspect may be emotionally hard to handle - or if I do, I do it cautiously. If I find myself getting addicted to a game of some sort, I make sure I'm spending time doing other things.

It all boils down to responsibility, folks. Have fun, but make sure you're living your life and not letting the games you play and movies you watch change the way you think about life.

I personally don't mind R rated movies, and have no problem watching them (I'm 14) but mostly that is becaues I don't let myself get absorbed into the movie or game. I know some people that get so absorbed in movies and games that they devote their whole life to it (seriously). I think that getting that into a game, or spending a lot of money on it is absurd. Like the people that pay 120 a year for EverQuest. I mean, 120 is 120.

Wow slime, I admire that very much, seriously that would take a lot of self disaplin (sp?)...

But I have to say this...

When I was like 4 or 5 (long after JPark came out) my mom took me to a theater where they would play old movies, like Jpark which is what we went to see. I still remember hiding behind my chair when T-Rex came out...

I remember when Jurrasic Park came out, I was 8 and my Mom and Dad went out on a date do see it. They hired a sitter to stay home with us, but I was very envious about not being able to see an adult movie. Well, when I was 7 and the movie came out on video, my Dad rented it for me because I got knocked unconsious that day while trying to jump from my friends trampline over their fence 7 feet away (I hit the fence on my head, had to get stitches and was unconcious for an hour) anyways...I remember being scared shitless, but now I look back at it and think...damn...How could anyone be scared of that movie? On another note though, it's fun to tease my mom about how she threw her popcorn at the screen and ran out of the theatre when the raptor jumped at the screen

You were 8 when the move came out, but you were 7 when the video came out

When i was Eighteen, I learned how to walk, and watched a good movie. When I was one and a half I had sex for the first time. I don't remember seeing Jurasskick Park, but I ahh. am making no sense. Goodbye.

'And that, you see, is the real issue...I call it 'Pop-Media'...pablum for the masses...yum, yum...tastes good...but isn't nourishing...these things should receive much more serious coverage (background, the tracing down of real factors, and the like) IMHO.' - webshaman

Yup.

And also, I am proud to see all these young people in here learning about the world, instead of sitting back and letting the world dictate your lives. You guys rule. I hope you don't forget.



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[This message has been edited by Gilbert Nolander (edited 06-07-2002).]

OOPS: InSiDeR, I was wrong...I'm 14, so I would of been 4 or 5 when the video came out, and 7 or 8 when I watched it...

...Now that I read it again, Slime is very admirable. I could never have that kind of self control!

Well, many of my nieghborhoods were much more violent than a video game could ever be...and so was the war....

And I don't really enjoy violent games, anyway...with the exception, if you will, of Tekken...Tekken rulz!!!

The distinction between a game, and reality, are very far apart...if one finds themselves in such a position where they can't discern that, then they have a problem...and need to spend more time in reality....

The greatest adventures lie before your feet...and reality is the best game of all...