metadigital

Yeah, no argument there. I'll give the example I gave in the other thread: A community mod has a choice for your character to either perform euthenasia on a terminally ill child, or infuse her with vampire blood (saving her from death but cursing her with eternal undeadedness). It is obviously a core dilemma for the game, and it directly effects both the PC alignment and the course of the game. That, I believe, is an appropriate mature content plot line. Having a field full of babies and setting fire to it because there just happens to be a can of kerosene in the middle of that field is not. :D

I just want to burn some Sim babies.

Obviously. but if your using a baby as a firebreak then any pretence you are taking the game the slightest bit seriously is gone. ... In order to ruin immerison, one would have to consider how likely that an action would realisticall be. In the example of FO thats certainly something that can happen as a normal part of the game, even if you never intended to shoot one. Using RPGs as some sort of life simulator dosnt strike me as particularly healthy, especially since the situations in them and real life are markedly different as would be the "solutions". <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I disagree. I might be bored one day and choose to burn a baby. It's only a virtual baby, and I don't like little children that much anyway. Burn it. And if it screams in agony, I will either be pleased with myself for doing something novel (and a little horrified at the result), or so disgusted at the sound (thankfully smell-o-vision never took off) that I will not want to repeat it. I doubt whether I would do it again if the whole process was unpleasant (gameplay-wise), like losing the PC to life imprisonment, or having to do some involved button pressing to scroll through pages of weighty dialogue of a court case to get my character back. Or not. Either way, I would never actually burn a baby. And it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

Now you're going off the deep end. Are you telling me that game developers can't be trusted to show that wife-beating will land you in a "jail" or beaten up by a mob, or something? How is that too complex for a) the developers, b) the audience, and c) a child?

Did you ask Kreia about the future? Did you read all the dialogue?

.... and figure out how to use the Search function.

No, I can't let that stand, sorry. Wifebeating is common because children copy their parents, not because one day men decide that they need a bit of sparring practice. That's why women in abusive releationships have generally come from a family where their mother was abused. A game environment strikes me as a perfect place to set up the problem and demonstrate the issues to help teach children how bad and wrong it is, and the consequences. The second MOST important part of teaching manners, good behaviour and ethics is the teaching the repurcussions to the children. Once they can associate a given (bad) result with poor behaviour, they will avoid it. I have seen this work on "irredeemable" children. (The MOST IMPORTANT aspect is mutual respect: children respond to hypocrisy just as adults do. They treat the practitioner with disdain.)

that is precisely why I would never play the Sims. It's pointless. And Fable sounds just as bad.

You need to gain influence with the characters to find out their stories. Yes, all the characters can become Jedi. No, Atton is not Carth (but he can appear in the game if Revan was female LS).

You wouldn't use a baby, because it wouldn't normally be a very good firebreak. The fact you can makes the game stupid and unrealistic, not "safe and comforting", or whatever the designer was going for. Think a little about people without perfect social skills. They might play a game as they act in RL, then they can see how other NPCs react to this behaviour. Then they can load a save and play differently, and see the difference. If you are going to allow heinous behaviour, you necessarily need to have repurcussions.

Welcome in, pick a topic and make yourself at home. Don't forget to search for things before asking!

If your using babies as firebreaks then your not worried about immersion. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That was my point. not many people would use a baby as a firebreak. But if you can, then the game just becomes a poor Tetris. (Except you don't get the dreams ... the dreams of multi-coloured blocks revolving and spinning ryhtmically to clear the level before you are engulfed in the multi-coloured blocks ... blocks, everywhere ...)

Planescape:Torment

No, I don't. You're talking about de facto, cultural censorship. I do not buy the whole evil-video-inspires-evil-children/people argument. I think it is the worst kind of bad science. That said, including it for sensationalist reasons is just as stupid. Even the youngest children can seperate fantasy from reality: you don't see any children trying to emulate Wile. E. Coyote by falling off cliffs (70 deaths / hour in Road Runner, iirc.) Just read all the people who have trouble ROLE PLAYING an evil character (<{POST_SNAPBACK}>), and you will see that this is nonsense. As someone said in one of the previous threads, it's mostly young teens who play out-and-out-pantomime-evil characters -- and that is a form of rebellion against the endless rules that they have to obey without any input into making / agreeing them. If I do some heinous criminal act in an RPG, I will feel the full (bad) feelings and effects of it, as well as feel empathy for the victim (if the story is written correctly). Another thread mentioned that most games have institutionalised murder. Well, as was said there, too, that is not strictly true: the murder is only a kill-or-be-killed transaction. I don't immediately see a plot point to torture or kill or rape a child. And most villains don't engage in p

The funny thing is, that was a better game than KotOR2! It was fun, didn't take itself too seriously, and -- more importantly -- didn't take SW too seriously. It was just plain and simple fun. :cool:

I'll never understand why having two wives is so frowned upon. If you can take that then you probaly should be nominated for Sainthood. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's the bit I've never fathomed; why would you want that sort of political nightmare?

Yep, I like that, too.

Souns like you have gone negative. You should really post this in the Spoilers (or alternatively, the Tech Support) forum.

Kreia is the One True Prophet! (w00t)

I'm not listening! *sticks fingers in ears* La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La

... NOT Chinese babies. It's no wonder they have such a problem containing their population; if any babies look like little dolls, it's theirs.

Well, no argument here, then. At least that beats the traditional amnesiac / raw Republic recruit thing. I agree that it is better to have a heretofor insignificant character for a PC that may (and does) go on to be the saviour of the universe (Flash! A-aahhhhh!) than it is to have an all-powerful amnesiac that has to learn their past to fulfill some great task. In short, it's better to have the central conceit: "many have tried, all have failed", rather than the "No, you can't be the chosen one! I will try valiantly, but -- ultimately -- fruitlessly to defeat you!".

I think it was a Ray Bradbury short story, but anyway it dealt with the issue of unswerving loyalty, bravery and a dedication to idealistic interpretations of the law for the good of society. Only those who possessed these requirements were permitted to be in the armed forces, let alone be officers and command the military. And there was a mandatory retirement age of 19, so that these people were not in these roles by they became jaded ...

I see. My mistake. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not at all, I perhaps might have been a little less oblique with my emoticons and a little more direct with my question. Or the developer might have been a little less ambiguous when he was being interviewed, or the interviewer might have been a little sharper and clarified the point. As long as they don't just rehash the same storyline again, and the engine doesn't fall about our ears, I'll be satisfied.

It's got a 4-6 week lead time, though. <_<