Three men stand on a deserted street, their hands in the air. One wears a green T-shirt and a motorcycle helmet. The others wear bright yellow down jackets. They are surrounded by four armed men.
“Gentlemen,” a man called Klyka says, “we are going to play a very interesting game.”
He commands the hostages to drop their axes, then continues.
“This is DayZ,” he says. “Someone always has to die when players meet. But we’re going to make this interesting.”
He directs the men in yellow to sit cross-legged, 20 yards from each other, axes midway between them. There can be only one yellow jacket in this group, he says. The two men consider what he says. Klyka goes on. “When I shoot in the air you guys will run for your axes, and you’ll try to grab them.” The last man standing, he says, will be released.
DayZ is an online PC game set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Surviving the undead hordes is difficult, but at least the zombies are predictable. The bigger threat comes from your fellow players, who are just as likely to help you as kill you.
Jason "El Zorro" Fox '17 Subaru Forester 2.0XT
DCAWD - old coots in fast scoots.
I spent some significant time some years back on the study of "the Problem of Evil." For those those not familiar with the theological issues it raises I'll give you the one sentence primer: "If God is All Powerful and Good then how/why does evil exist?" Discuss. . .
My theological studies also led me to reading works on the topic of human evil by the likes of Martin Buber, Friedrich Nietzsche, M. Scott Peck, Martha Stout, and others. While not all the sources agreed on every point, there was a lot of consensus on certain aspects of human behavior that were indicators to sociopathic tendencies. This article highlights a number of them; lack of empathy, seeing people as resources to be exploited, having a highly competitive or zero-sum outlook, lack of honesty. Many of the authors premised that during times of great stress these tendencies would increase and may present in people with no previous indicators. Wartime was a universally agreed upon environment for this. Some argued that during wartime (and similar situations) people naturally resort to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and thus survival trumps all other considerations. Others were skeptical of that claim citing studies that indicate the vast majority of soldiers were able to recognize sociopathic behavior in their own units and still view it negatively.
That said, the on-line gaming scenario is very VERY different. Even in very stressful combat situations, people will still monitor their behavior closely. The folks in your unit will want to trust you and feel that you have their back and vice versa. If an individual shows signs of psychotic behavior, he may soon find himself without allies in the unit. A dangerous place to be with obvious consequences. In a gaming environment, the downsides are less obvious. The penalties are far less palpable and certainly less real. This allows a great deal of moral flexibility with none of the possible ill affects, especially with folks who don't really know you and could equate your behavior with your quality as a human being.
Now, if you want to try to relate this to the mentally ill spree killer, you are on your own. I'm not qualified to speak to that.
wow. i don't think that's a game i would play. nor would i allow a child to. i wish i was more surprised that people are behaving the way they are though.
drwrx wrote:The penalties are far less palpable and certainly less real. This allows a great deal of moral flexibility with none of the possible ill affects, especially with folks who don't really know you and could equate your behavior with your quality as a human being.
I think this is what bothers me the most. Most MMORPGs are fantasy, sci fi, otherwise, but this one is striving to be real. The fact that it is still a game allows the separation of humanity and ethics and the in-game choices. But its real enough that you blur the lines between virtual and real. Its a bad mixture.
Jason "El Zorro" Fox '17 Subaru Forester 2.0XT
DCAWD - old coots in fast scoots.
ElZorro wrote:I think this is what bothers me the most. Most MMORPGs are fantasy, sci fi, otherwise, but this one is striving to be real. The fact that it is still a game allows the separation of humanity and ethics and the in-game choices. But its real enough that you blur the lines between virtual and real. Its a bad mixture.
Completely agree. It could be argued, that the game environment is designed for rewarding antisocial behavior.
I was personally and emotionally curious about the events being portrayed in flight and driving simulators. And I actually doubt I would have taken pilots lessons without the video game simulator hobby. I imagined the physical reward would match or exceed the simulated environment.
And as such I can't imagine someone liking this type of game and not becoming personally emotionally curious about real life scenarios being portrayed within.
I'll make a couple of comments:
The game doesn't set out to be "evil" or encourage anti-social behavior. It is an open world game, much like minecraft and many other games. What you do within it is up to you. Is it bad that people are exploring what is anti-social behavior in a safe environment? How is this different than them playing paintball or laser tag?
Movies for years have shown people killing other people, even though "we" as society know it isn't real and can mentally separate movies from real life. How is this different?
Sabre (Julian) 92.5% Stock 04 STI
Good choice putting $4,000 rims on your 1990 Honda Civic. That's like Betty White going out and getting her tits done.
I'll make a couple of comments:
The game doesn't set out to be "evil" or encourage anti-social behavior. It is an open world game, much like minecraft and many other games. What you do within it is up to you. Is it bad that people are exploring what is anti-social behavior in a safe environment? How is this different than them playing paintball or laser tag?
Movies for years have shown people killing other people, even though "we" as society know it isn't real and can mentally separate movies from real life. How is this different?
I don't oppose violent movies or games any more than violent books, which are prevalent and nobody seems to cause a ruckus.
I'm going to agree in that I think the behavior is alarming , but is a symptom of something else going on. There are other causes in our society that find shows and games edgy and exciting. Or in the case of kids, there is fleeting opposition to certain behaviors.
I am equally alarmed that shows that build up a sociopath as the protagonist have huge followings.
I don't know the full context of the game, so I submit to those in the know. My earlier post was coming from that Ive recognized an unhealthy obsession with video games in myself before. They are emotionally involving.
GaToR wrote:I don't know the full context of the game, so I submit to those in the know. My earlier post was coming from that Ive recognized an unhealthy obsession with video games in myself before. They are emotionally involving.
Very true. I knew an EE student when I first started college who failed out because of Starcraft. People who can't set priorities
Sabre (Julian) 92.5% Stock 04 STI
Good choice putting $4,000 rims on your 1990 Honda Civic. That's like Betty White going out and getting her tits done.
Definitely agree that its a symptom of something. If its some illness in our society, or some sort of escape from the boring/safety/bubblewrap world we live in, or any number of other things, I couldn't say.
The problem ultimately is there are people that can't separate fiction/virtual worlds from reality, whether it is digital or hallucination. Does that mean we ban anything like this? Certainly not. But there needs to be limits to it. You don't see snuff movies at AMC, Hunger Games (or The Long Walk, or pick your version of the genre) isn't happening - these are obviously over the limit. I'm just thinking this one takes a bit too close to the limit.
Jason "El Zorro" Fox '17 Subaru Forester 2.0XT
DCAWD - old coots in fast scoots.
I think I'm with Jason on this. While I'm not advocating for any sort of Government Regulations against gaming of any sort, we as individuals should be able to recognize the limits we need to set for ourselves. Sadly, there are those who have difficulty recognizing or setting limits. And they do not just disrupt and damage their own lives.
My other big issues with these kind of "survival" based games/entertainment is that they tend to get "survival" wrong. Humanity survived and ultimately thrived not due to competition, but through co-operation, and on a very large scale. Agriculture was possible only through whole communities working together to build sustainable growing environments, for us and for livestock. Commerce and trade accelerated this on a larger (even global) scale. Communities in isolation tended to suffer while those who embraced "the other" tended to thrive. Sure, there were conflicts, but despite how jaundiced a view we take, it was not constant. The 20th century is often referred to as the century of warfare because of the near constant state of global conflict. But warfare throughout history is actually a far less common event.
I'll make a couple of comments:
The game doesn't set out to be "evil" or encourage anti-social behavior. It is an open world game, much like minecraft and many other games. What you do within it is up to you. Is it bad that people are exploring what is anti-social behavior in a safe environment? How is this different than them playing paintball or laser tag?
Movies for years have shown people killing other people, even though "we" as society know it isn't real and can mentally separate movies from real life. How is this different?
I'm with you. The stories that come out of DayZ are pretty great. I wouldn't let a child, or even a young adult, anywhere NEAR this but I'm OK with it existing. It's too difficult to get into to attract the XBL 12 year olds, and they are pretty much the scum of the earth.
