Do you think game content is improving? Why is violence so prevalent in games?

But i think we are discussing the preponderance of violent computer games

That's part of the discussion. The other part is whether people think game consoles are improving/diversifying their content and genres.

a few more years and Skyrim was released, beautiful graphics and animations, ability to have a platoon of companions if you wish,  and so little to do that it seems little more than a framework for the community to hang mods on.  (I'll never forget a blog from someone who tried Skyrim, it is so indicative of many gamers today - "I did a couple of quests, visited a dungeon, a small town, and went to a larger town.  At this point I noticed i'd been playing three hours!  I don't have time to look in every nook and cranny for loot, I don't have time to talk to every NPC to get quests.  I like a game I can play through in 12-15 hours and move on".)

I can't speak on the blogger you're mentioning, but perhaps a majority of players may have found Morrowind or Oblivion confusing or overwhelming, even? Of course, there's also the possibility that they were cash grabs as you say. Two things that irritate me beyond belief with RPG's is 1.) When I think I am leveled up enough to move to the next stage of a game (and forget to create multiple save points), only to find out that there's a giant HP-draining monster that makes me re-start a segment of the game over again because it's three times my size and immune to available magic. 2.) If I am half-listening to (or sometimes ignoring) the details in a cut scene that are imperative to the game's progression, and not one character seems to reiterate what I missed or point me in the right direction of where I need to go.

It has been said that there only a dozen or fifteen unique plots in all of human literature, all the thousands of story lines you see are just variations on these basic plots and for this purpose games are a form of literature.

I can't say that I've ever heard it put quite like that, but you're right. I have to give it to game developers! They are doing a remarkable job with graphics, much better voice acting, beautiful soundtracks, and making games feel cinematic and immersive on a movie-quality level.

Today, my curiosity was piqued when I started looking up where we are with virtual reality development. I saw a presentation by this entrepreneur Thong Nguyen, that gave a very brief overview of different programs that are being used to research several areas of interest to help people with their fears, employee training, car buying/designing, cognitive and behavioral therapies to treat people with alzheimers, providing an alternative to medication, and even helping people experience empathy for one another using VR technology. Has anyone tried using an Oculus Rift/Quest, a Valve Index, or other Virtual Reality systems? (If there are any)

Edited by ArchimedesNose, 16 July 2021 - 01:30 AM.

When games must be labelled as Adult, Mature, etc. and feature flying body parts and blood, they are not games anymore; they are military training videos. I am not joking.

Do I want my kids viewing and "playing" these, such as GTA, hijacking cars, beating prostitutes, etc.? No, I do not.

Oh my, how very Victorian of me. Tsk, Tsk.

We, just in my area, had a 10 year old shoot several people with a handgun.

Don't preach to me that it "really doesn't affect them, they know the difference between fantasy and reality."

Look at the FBI national statistics of juvenile crime and murders. Then tell me again.

Hello ranchhand_...welcome.

When games must be labelled as Adult, Mature, etc. and feature flying body parts and blood, they are not games anymore; they are military training videos.

 

One could also argue that it isn't just the "Mature" video games that appeal to the military, but potentially most, if not all of them.

Do I want my kids viewing and "playing" these, such as GTA, hijacking cars, beating prostitutes, etc.? No, I do not.

We, just in my area, had a 10 year old shoot several people with a handgun.

Don't preach to me that it "really doesn't affect them, they know the difference between fantasy and reality."

I am so sorry to hear about this incident involving a ten year old shooter; that is beyond tragic.

To be quite frank, I don't want children to play mature-themed video games, either. But I can think of a few "Teen" rated games that shouldn't be marketed to kids as well. I think the question at hand, is where exactly would you draw the line. For instance, these "Adult, Mature" games you're describing, in all fairness, are made for adults.
 

Edited by ArchimedesNose, 20 July 2021 - 09:37 PM.

 

these "Adult, Mature" games you're describing, in all fairness, are made for adults

That's something that always amazed me. If it is morally bad for kids, why is it not morally bad for adults also?

Imagine you are sitting in your comfy chair watching a hardcore porn film and in walks your six year old daughter. What the hey, the kid's gotta' learn about sex anyway so you take her on your lap and you both watch while munching popcorn. What's wrong with this picture?

Adults can be mentally conditioned as well as children; you don't think so? Well, we got one of the greatest psychological examples of adult mental conditioning in history with Nazi Germany. The atrocities committed by men and women in the name of nationalism and belief in human evolution gave us deep insight into what dark depths of evil can be conditioned into the adult mind. Many of the SS believed in the Nazi ideology even after defeat, and they went to their graves still faithful to that conditioning.

If you feed your mind on garbage, it is going to affect your life style without question.

Granted, not all the problems in today's society are caused only by video games; they are just another indicator of what is going on in human hearts. Violence sells, and people spend their money where they get what they want.

Just one man's opinion.

 

 

these "Adult, Mature" games you're describing, in all fairness, are made for adults

If it is morally bad for kids, why is it not morally bad for adults also?

What a great question!

I can't justify the morality of playing some Mature rated video games. Indeed, there are titles that make me wonder what in the world developers were thinking while they were making them. Speaking for myself, an adult, I like playing some of the Mature-rated video games because they allow you to be in a movie-quality story, explore, and solve puzzles. Not every game that I like is wholesome (GTA comes to mind), and if games like GTA were removed from the market today, I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 Violence sells, and people spend their money where they get what they want.

What about the consumers that are getting some of what they want, but not enough of what they want? Do you think there is a solution that helps buyers get more of what they want?
 

Edited by ArchimedesNose, 22 July 2021 - 09:47 PM.