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"We are what we pretend to be."
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Last time I checked, pretend was PRETEND.
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When I heard that, I laughed so loudly that I woke up my wife! 
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I'm extremely disappointed that an image of Statesman would be used in such a way. I know that we designed City of Heroes to appeal to "children of all ages." My proudest accomplishment with the game is that many parents (including my brother) play with their children...sharing, I hope, the same joy for the comic book world that I've had ever since I was 8. I cannot express the shock that I felt seeing that a character created by Cryptic would be used in the same sentence as Columbine.
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I was a little shocked to see Statesman shown along side GTA and Columbine myself. To me they might as well have shown Qbert in his place, Statesman has about the same negative impact as the Q.
I think States should call the producers of the Documentary and let them know that he nor the game he orginates from does not belong in that crowd.
Don't mess with Texas!
--moo
The claim that TV and video games causes violence in children and teenagers is complete BS. Parents look for anything but themselves to blame for their child's poor behavior.
A kid (or any person for that matter) that commits a crime because of video game violence has issues that have nothing to do with the video game. If it wasn't the game, it would have been something else.
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<QR>
On the topic I just saw on the news a thing about kids stealing video games. They interviewed a six year old asking him the games that he was going to buy. He said Halo and doom. Im really wondering where these kids parents are.
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Yeah, they really need an upgrade! Poor little tots, 
Having to suffer with such oldies as Halo and Doom. At the very least the ankle biters should have Half-Life 2, or my personal favourite, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodines. 
Nothing like some good wholesome vampy action to set kids right!
How are they supposed to grow up to be well adjusted teens and adults if they can not connect with popular culture? They are going to be the outcasts in school at this rate, and we all know where that leads. That's right; MIT, pocket protectors and a guest spot on Wierd Al's 'White and Nerdy'! 
Come on parents, get your acts together! All your kids need is a Wii, X-Box 360, and PS3 with a HD TV. =~.o= Failing that, a 2,500$ computer, they are about the same price overall. <.<
>.>
<.<
*Hands kids an X-Box 360 and Gears of War*
=. .=
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I'm extremely disappointed that an image of Statesman would be used in such a way. I know that we designed City of Heroes to appeal to "children of all ages." My proudest accomplishment with the game is that many parents (including my brother) play with their children...sharing, I hope, the same joy for the comic book world that I've had ever since I was 8. I cannot express the shock that I felt seeing that a character created by Cryptic would be used in the same sentence as Columbine.
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Well, dude. When Statesman does stuff like this:
You and Positron beating down a fool [me]!
What do you expect?! 
J/K. Ignore nonsense, States. As guys like us [30-somethings who grew up on games] move into positions of power and influence, video games will be seen as just another form of entertainment.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
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I'm extremely disappointed that an image of Statesman would be used in such a way. I know that we designed City of Heroes to appeal to "children of all ages." My proudest accomplishment with the game is that many parents (including my brother) play with their children...sharing, I hope, the same joy for the comic book world that I've had ever since I was 8. I cannot express the shock that I felt seeing that a character created by Cryptic would be used in the same sentence as Columbine.
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Consider the source, States. The opinions of worthless people are worthless.
When I was a little kid, my mom noticed an increase in hostility in my brother and myself when we watched certain cartoons (which shall remain nameless because it's irrelevant).
Noticing this, my mother did not 1) Attempt to have those cartoons banned, 2) Raise a hue and cry about how those cartoons were ruining children, or 3) Attempt legal action against the makers of the cartoons.
What did she do? She forbade us to watch them. Then she PAID ATTENTION TO WHAT WE WERE DOING so we could not sneak off and watch them behind her back.
Did it work? I dunno. I did stop trying to stave in my brother's skill with a Tonka truck, but I'll leave as an excercise to the reader what was the real source of my change away from violent behavior.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
English does not borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, hits them over the head, and rifles through their pockets for loose grammar.
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I'm extremely disappointed that an image of Statesman would be used in such a way. I know that we designed City of Heroes to appeal to "children of all ages." My proudest accomplishment with the game is that many parents (including my brother) play with their children...sharing, I hope, the same joy for the comic book world that I've had ever since I was 8. I cannot express the shock that I felt seeing that a character created by Cryptic would be used in the same sentence as Columbine.
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And therein lies their tactics. These people are trying to associate any video game iconography with real life violence. They're the heirs to previous such demagogues - the anti-D&D crowd, the religious zealots who swore blind that all rock music serves Satan, the people who believed that comics seduced the innocent, etc. They're only interested in stirring up fear for their own gain.
Of course, as any good geek knows, fear is the path to the Dark Side, and I'd like to think most of the populace knows better than to buy into this nonsense. Last I heard, Jack Thompson was close to being disbarred for his antics.
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"We are what we pretend to be."
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Last time I checked, pretend was PRETEND.
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/QFT
/signed
We are we we DECIDE to be...pretend is fantasy...but since neocons think fantasy is reality and reality is a 'slogan' to bandy about...there's no wonder America went to war against a country that did not attack us...instead of going after the murderer of 3000+ New Yorkers.
I NEVER forget fantasy is fantasy and a game is NOT reality.
In order for these "moral warriors" message to 'stick', their underlying assertions must be accepted. Reject the underlying assertions and the entire argument falls apart.
Violence is not a vice. Violence is evil. Parents should educate their children about violence being wrong and how to avoid it.
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There has been a lot of talk about video games causing violence by people like Jack Thompson. Some people agree with his views and some people do not...I for one do not. Personal opinions aside, a documentary is being made called "Moral Combat" talking about the gaming industry's effect on society. Penny Arcade listed this link . Within this trailer they have a few screenshots of Statesman, as well as shots from other games. I'm not trying to start a flamewar about video game violence, but what I do ask is this: Do you think the CoX universe really falls under the same category as the rest of the games shown in 'Moral Combat'? Is there really a reason to put a game like ours under fire? Hope this makes sense, and thanks for reading my early morning rambling.
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Violence existed way before the advent of video game, TV,and movies. In fact, society as a whole is much more civilized than 2000 years ago, or during the Dark Ages, or even 1950s. Hence, any attempt to link violence with new inventions, is ultimately illogical.
Having said that, I do think that violence on TV and video games can DESENSITIZE a person to violence. But it certainly does not cause or promote violence.
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You are saying we are *more* civilized now than humanity was 2000 years ago? Have you done an honest comparison between present day and the past?
At best, I'd dare say we break about even. Humanity is in sorry shape still.
Virtue: multiple characters.
CoH/V: Woot! Maybe Fun is to be had once again.
Ack! RUN! Regen is glowing mean & green!
If it reduces you, it's a nerf.
If it buffs the mobs, it's challenge.
They are not the same.
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I'm extremely disappointed that an image of Statesman would be used in such a way. I know that we designed City of Heroes to appeal to "children of all ages." My proudest accomplishment with the game is that many parents (including my brother) play with their children...sharing, I hope, the same joy for the comic book world that I've had ever since I was 8. I cannot express the shock that I felt seeing that a character created by Cryptic would be used in the same sentence as Columbine.
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And therein lies their tactics. These people are trying to associate any video game iconography with real life violence. They're the heirs to previous such demagogues - the anti-D&D crowd, the religious zealots who swore blind that all rock music serves Satan, the people who believed that comics seduced the innocent, etc. They're only interested in stirring up fear for their own gain.
Of course, as any good geek knows, fear is the path to the Dark Side, and I'd like to think most of the populace knows better than to buy into this nonsense. Last I heard, Jack Thompson was close to being disbarred for his antics.
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I can't understand why he hasn't been disbarred yet, just for clogging the arteries of the system with his verbal waffle. Then again, we are talking about a system where a woman can sue McDonalds for damages when she spills a cup of coffee in her lap while driving her car, and win!
Well, I haven't read this whole thread, and I'm not going to. However, one quote sticks in my mind, "You are what you pretend to be," In CoH, I pretend to be a super hero. I'm ok with that.
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i would make a comment here, but im to busy crying from that dramatic background music
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Honestly.. They make it sound like the freakin' apocalypse is about to happen.
*cue dramatic music and narrator*
"You thought that 15$/month charge on your credit card bill was for a superhero 'game'..."
"But... Right under your nose... Your children are actually being brainwashed to become... VIOLENT KILLING MACHINES."
"The streets shall run RED ..."
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Doesn't that apply for almost any religious combatant of sex and violence in the media?
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Pretty much. The Tao Te Ching might be safe, but I wouldn't vouch for many other holy books if we really started to clamp down on anything with sex and/or violence.
It's only more noticeable with Christians in this part of the world because the Bible gets quoted so frequently and is clearly an influence on a larger number of people. Since it is undoubtedly a bad influence on at least a small number of them (Jim Jones, for example), you can find all the ammunition you need to attack it fairly easily.
True, you can also find a lot of evidence to defend the Bible (it promotes good behaviour more often than bad), but the habit of would-be censors is to bolster a poor case by dismissing everything but their own "facts" as irrelevant.
The reason people who advocate banning books seem so scary is that it is usually obvious that the case against what they are attacking is very weak, but if they succeed in making their charges stick, anyone can pursue an equally weak case against a different book and succeed there, too.
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Honestly.. They make it sound like the freakin' apocalypse is about to happen.
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(A bit off topic) They do that with global warming too. I think we'll realize that the water level is rising before it's too late... We're not just gonna all drawn one day out of the blue...
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(A bit off topic) They do that with global warming too. I think we'll realize that the water level is rising before it's too late... We're not just gonna all drawn one day out of the blue...
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It was very off topic. Certainly, I am not the ONLY one who prefers we focus on one piece of propaganda at a time (video game "violence"). I saw your point, but I wish folks like you would go start their OWN threads or blogs about Global Warming or the Iraq conflict somewhere ELSE. 
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Don't write this off just yet.
Yes, it's framing a battle on gaming violence, but it seems some game developers and scholars that are GAME ADVOCATES appear to have participated in this.
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"Participated" =/= "Agree with what the filmmakers are saying."
Anyone can get an interview with a game designer, sit there for an hour or so, and get them to say all sorts of things in response to specific leading questions. Then you can use clever editing to take comments out of context and throw in dramatic sounding music to make it appear that the person interviewed is saying something very different from what they actually believe.
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Agreed. See: any local news station interview between candidates in a particularly heated local election. Or cable news channels for that matter. Sound bytes be damned.
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Just to make it clear, some of the speakers that are game advocates are VERY MEDIA SAVVY GAME ADVOCATES, including notables like professors of media studies at MIT. They aren't easily duped.
And the idiots on the other side have been frequently beat up by flawed references and incorrect assumptions (Jack Thompson's bully crusade and anti-sims comments he had to step back from, for example). The flight sim statement he's used in other places, and while he seems to love it, many anti-game-violence people cringe every time he uses such garbage. He damages their cause.
Look at what was really said and ask yourself how much is patently anti-game and what's neutral or pro-game.
Also, from what I've read, the director of this isn't a known anti-game crusader and has said he'd like to frame the topic for debate, not persuade one side or another.
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Also, from what I've read, the director of this isn't a known anti-game crusader and has said he'd like to frame the topic for debate, not persuade one side or another.
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Judging from the trailer, I'm sure he's exceedingly unbiased.
/sarcasm
PS: Jack's Bully crusade was one of the most retarded things I've ever seen. He's in good form.
I look at it this way, my kids are growing up in a gamer's home, bar none. They both like playing games now as well and their usual standard fare is something like GH2 or Pokemon or any of my superhero games. When I play something that's rated T+, I usually play alone and out of their sight in another room.
I remember playing God of War late one night when it came out. I was in the middle of royally tearing a new one for my foes when I heard an "Eeeeeewwww!!" from behind me. I turned around to see my then 12 year old daughter's face, eyes wide and jaw dropped in shock. She looked at me, looked back at the screen, wrinkled her nose and jetted back to her room. Needless to say, I have no worries of her shooting up a Hardees one day.
Your lucky it wasn't the part with the two headed whatever she was... thingy...
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I look at it this way, my kids are growing up in a gamer's home, bar none. They both like playing games now as well and their usual standard fare is something like GH2 or Pokemon or any of my superhero games. When I play something that's rated T+, I usually play alone and out of their sight in another room.
I remember playing God of War late one night when it came out. I was in the middle of royally tearing a new one for my foes when I heard an "Eeeeeewwww!!" from behind me. I turned around to see my then 12 year old daughter's face, eyes wide and jaw dropped in shock. She looked at me, looked back at the screen, wrinkled her nose and jetted back to her room. Needless to say, I have no worries of her shooting up a Hardees one day.
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There must have been something wrong with me then. At twelve I would have asked how the game was played and lept onto the couch beside you to get some quality time with my dad. >.< Though at twelve I think I was just starting to graduate from Mario to Civilization and Master of Orion. >.> The first 'graphic' game I played was Duke Nukem 3d, none of the others caught my attention, not even Doom.
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(A bit off topic) They do that with global warming too. I think we'll realize that the water level is rising before it's too late... We're not just gonna all drawn one day out of the blue...
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It was very off topic. Certainly, I am not the ONLY one who prefers we focus on one piece of propaganda at a time (video game "violence"). I saw your point, but I wish folks like you would go start their OWN threads or blogs about Global Warming or the Iraq conflict somewhere ELSE.
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When someone claims that a video game, book, movie or even a voice in their head made them commit the crime. I feel that the person should be immediately examined by a psychiatrist no waiting not even a single day would pass. Then if they are proven to have a mental disorder then they would be put in an institution for the criminally insane. If not then they should stand trial and not be able to use that as a defense.
Part of human nature is to pass the buck. Finding a scapegoat to blame other than themselves as teenagers or adults for their actions. Parents that do not truly do their job of raising their children properly because they just do not care want to have something else to blame.
If they stuck Mickey Mouse in with porno movies and said that Walt Disney's toon are just as sexually explicit then Walt Disney would sue. For crying out loud this is a teen rated game. The rest of the games in the mix are either R rated or for Adults only. You can correct me if I am wrong but I think that Best Buy has a policy concerning video games. That policy is that they will have any mature or adult rated titles in there store. There may be other companies like but I just do not know.
Ebony Fists: Level 50 DM/Regen Scrapper, Gloom Piston Robotics/Dark mastermind level 34, QueenFireMare: Level 34 Fire blaster (pure fire),
I'm pretty sure I bought God of War at Best Buy.
I'm kinda glad my kids are still just that...kids. My daughter's 13 now and while I do worry about her staying too naive, I'm also happy to know that she doesn't act like she's 20. Let em be kids while they can, adulthood hits you smack in the face fast enough as it is.
My son, I keep away from the "graphic" games because he's only 7. He doesn't need to be exposed to that until he's got a firm grasp on the concept that things on TV or movies or video games are not meant to be done in real life. I'm as pleased as punch to buy games like Donkey Kong, Pokemon or Mario Cart till the cows come home for now.
Same here. We buy age appropriate stuff for our daughters and occasionally let them play video games with us. More often than not, the kids would rather watch Dad play games and ask questions. They apparently find it greatly entertaining to watch me play games.
I think it has something to do with the arcade champ effect (as I call it). Whatever, it works and I don't let the kids watch the gorier stuff and won't let them until they are older.
Likewise, what they can watch on TV is controlled and we periodically check in out of the blue just to make sure they are following the rules. It's gotten to the point where our daughters will come home from a friend's house across the street if a show is on they aren't allowed but their friend is. They understand that Mom & Dad don't like them watching certain shows and why.
Virtue: multiple characters.
CoH/V: Woot! Maybe Fun is to be had once again.
Ack! RUN! Regen is glowing mean & green!
If it reduces you, it's a nerf.
If it buffs the mobs, it's challenge.
They are not the same.
Unbelievable.......