I think this is an issue that SS will end up dealing with at some point, so i'll bring this up now. this thread is for taking a situation that connects gaming to violence, and discussing how it's a piece of crap. i'll start.

So, I heard a story about a kid, maybe five years old, shooting an old lady after a session of Grand Theft Auto. people automatically connect the situation to the game. they're part-right to do this, but they're glossing over the rest of the situation. no attention is payed to the fact that, okay, I won't be driving for three years, but my peers still play GTA5. thing is, compared to them, that kid is WAAY too young for GTA. no mention is made of that fact, and ABSOLUTELY no mind is payed to how the kid got the gun, and why it was, presumably, already loaded. anyway, I've gone long enough about this, and I have adventurequest open in another tab, so please read this, and feel free to comment! (WITHOUT BEING A DICK!)

i blame the parents. i mean, how the fuck does a 5 year old get a gun?

and what the fuck is a 5 year old doing playing an R18+ game?

when someone crashes their car while drunk, everyone blames the driver.

so why the fuck is it, that when some mental patient shoots a bunch of people with an AR-15, everyone blames the gun? or the videogames that the mental patient played, DESPITE the fact that numerous scientific studies have thoroughly debunked the idea that playing violent videogames makes people more violent (the study actually showed the opposite effect, playing violent videogames helps people deal with their anger and makes them less violent), and numerous studies and statistical analyses have thoroughly debunked the idea that reducing gun ownership reduces violent crime (when guns are taken away, violent crime increases. the shootings decrease, but stabbings and beatings increase dramatically)


i think we just have to accept that people are fucking retarded.

they literally do not give the slightest shit about what actually causes these tragedies, they are completely blind to all evidence and reasoning. they dont care about stopping these tragedies. all they care about is getting rid of the thing they hate.

nutjob conservatives hate videogames, and fuckwad progressives hate guns.

and mental patients hate nutjob conservatives and fuckwad progressives. (which actually makes them seem like the most sane of the bunch...)

It's easier to blame video games. They aren't going to speak up for themselves. Blaming mentally unstable people is probably considered 'non-PC'.

A lifetime of terror and violence has desensitized me to films and video games.

Yes, in five hundred years, when Tobal's descendants randomly shoot down innocent travel ships, SS will have to deal with the legal consequences. (Which will be a hard blow, since SS will of course still be around, but with the exact same size of player base as it's always had.)



Oh... Sorry, ignore my comment.

What I really dislike about this connection is basically replaces "Bad Parenting" with "Video Games." I know for damn sure if I had a kid I would not let them touch Star Sonata until high school, which, I believe is the minimum age for SS anyways... if we have one?

I think the issue is it is much harder to gauge a video game's content by a simple rating. A movie you can "pre-screen" essentially and watch it in two hours. A video game though is 20+ hours of content. I personally think ratings should be improved, and a detailed description should accompany it.

I read this comment from a manager for a game store, and she makes sure she tells parents exactly what the game is they're buying for their 12 year old son before they buy it. That has resulted in some pissed off 12 year olds, but it prevented them from having access to some very mature games.

Video Games are not a baby sitter, and when parents actually realize this, maybe we'll see the conversation change. Parents need to be involved in their kids lives. If a kid is playing minecraft and wants to bring a loaded gun to school because of it, it's not the game's fault, it's the parent's for not educating their child on what's right and wrong.

I can talk about this at length, but I'm derpy as hell and it's 1am.

I would say that considering some of the chat in all chat, one might have to extend that age limit to only people in their late 20s can play the game because teenage minds cannot comprehend some of the insanity and immense perversion.

Video games are not in themselves bad, hell, if it wasn't for video games I'd have nowhere to pool my misery and rage. I'd need to be locked up most likely! XD But no... Now when people are horrible to me in reality, I go on fallout new vegas as a mad bomber and kill everyone everywhere. BOOM! BANG!!! EXPLODY SOUNDS!!! Once the wargasm wears off... I don't need to kill anyone anymore.

I like the idea of the manager that cares. However, I was introduced to weird and horrible at a young age and I turned out fine... or DID I?

I think your attitude to children is similar to mine. However, I would probably state that a child who plays minecraft is not generally going to know what a gun looks like. So when your child goes into school and massacres everyone with a sponge... You know it's minecraft. (I mean a sponge could be ANYTHING couldn't it?)

Please talk more about it!

Using video games to blow off steam is... I dunno, to me that's not a good argument. If kids (well, people in general) get the habit of blowing off steam in a video game every time they get upset, then what happens when there's no video game available? I'm not saying that said person will find a gun and start shooting people, but I'm sure there are more healthy habits one can get used to. Self-control, and to mentally process anger, is something you can practice, and get better at.

Research states (a compilation of research conducted between 2000 and 2011) that there is a statistical connection between people who play violent games, and who have aggressive behavior. What hasn't been proven is if the aggressive behavior is caused by the games, or if aggressive people generally prefer more violent games. Either way, the day I have children I want them to learn compassion and self control. ('Cause if they don't, I'll beat them!)

Games mellow me out and make life easier, reduce stress, and occasionally bring me joy. Without this game, and without the help of the person who returned it to me, in this really dark time I would still be trying to top myself. However I am able to play again and I'm able to relax a little, so it's good for me.

Violence comes from a primal urge. The primal urge comes from a person and their stimuli. I blame television more than games because I find that nowadays things are very inappropriate for children. (Though personally, I find Pugwash hilarious for all you retros out there!)

i know the feeling of being introduced to unadulteratedly adult content prematurely, and i'm glad that others do. not to mention, this topic has provided more in-depth discussion and critical thinking than i could've ever hoped, and you don't se either of those things anymore, especially in relation to games. so congrats, y'all are smart!

I was 14 when I was introduced to a film called Terror Firmer by my dad. It was massively inappropriate, yet strangely hilarious. It changed my entire view on the world. It was a ghastly troma flick and had my father known just how truly putrid it was, I doubt he'd have shown it to me. However, I have to say, it was an amazing film alright! But then again that's just an example of where something good can come out of a potentially bad situation.