The big difference? There is a good chance the Torture victim might have deserved/earned it. Just like the giant monsters earned their fireballs to the face.
@Bgrngod: Yea but theres a good chance that the torture victim didn't deserve it (i.e. Salem Witch Trials unless you believe in Witches...then more power to you murderer).
When you can justify one you can justify the other...
So, in summary, his argument is that if you allow things like torture, it's a slippery slope to child porn? Congrats, Mr. B, you are a retarded attention whore.
Torture has been in the game, FYI, for quite a long time. He's clearly never been to Undercity.
And for the record, torture is worse than death. Don't know how he messed that one up.
Wow, shades of Jack Thompson right there. It's funny cos if this guy bothered to check out any of the recent topics regarding animals being tortured and killed he'd see the revulsion those actions are met with *in real life* (and that's for cats let alone humans). But I guess some of us are able to draw boundaries between reality and games a little more clearly than others.
I see what he tried to do with the trollish "child sex" comments, nice try but his point was a little lost amongst all the butthurt.
I give this Richard Bartle credit for apparently reading what's been said about him and his opinions.. but overall I still think he's mostly wrong.
This guy is 1) upset about the idea of a torture quest in WoW, a dark, war-torn world. Don't let the graphics fool you into thinking WoW is a children's game. 2) Expecting WoW to give you multiple options as to how to complete a quest. That's generally not how WoW works. You follow the quest instructions or you don't complete it. Is that a fault? Yeah it would be nice if Blizzard opened things up a bit in their quests, if only for things that may bother people. But to me WoW is not a family game anyway. Maybe Bartle had inaccurate expectations about what WoW was about.
I mean really, complaining about a quest that requires implied torture to complete it in WoW? I don't care what faction, class, race you play, you are going to kill hundreds if not thousands of humanoids while playing. So because a quest giver tells you it's justified, the murder isn't a big deal? Lawl. You're still killing people.
WoW has a bunch of faults, some of which I've ranted on before. It wouldn't hurt the game if they provided player choice in some of these quests, but it seems this guy had unrealistic expectations.
I would completely agree with the guy, except for the fact that he has no problems slaughtering animals, burning innocent NPCs alive with fireballs and doing all the multitudes of violent things that comprise the daily life in WoW.
"I knew it had rogues, so I expected thieving. I had to wait until the second expansion to find out it had gratuitous torture."
Gratuitous torture? For a second there I thought you just clicked a button and watched swirly lines shoot out at a cartoony douchebag. I must have missed the bit where you beat the living shit out of him, cut off his fingers one by one and make him eat them, and then slowly remove his organs until he talks.
"I guess you're really hoping Blizzard will be putting in some child sex quests in the next expansion. After all, no children are being hurt, it's just pixels on a screen, and if you get XP then why not"
... I think simulating child sex, which would I assume involves naked orc children and sex, is somewhat different to shooting a man with swirly lines... unless of course you have sex with them by shooting swirly lines at them.
Both Mass Effect books detail torture, one of which involves breaking every bone in a man's body individually, and the other involves ripping off a Quarian's eyelids and continuously beating him until his eyes dried out, among other things.
It's a valid aspect of a story if it's appropriate in the surrounding theme. That is to say, I'd be disturbed if Little Miss Muffet was raped and murdered by the spider, but I didn't whine when James Bond was straped naked to a chair and testicularly assaulted.
So a torture quest was really that far from the World of Warcraft universe? I'm not really so sure. If you would have said that after Warcraft 2 then I'd say yes, but Warcraft III got somewhat darker. The whole Arthas story is filled with some dark themes. Vengence, sacrificing friends either literally or by having them abandon you, killing your own father, a slight form of genocide (depends on if converting your people to undead counts or not I suppose), the high elves being made reliant on dark magics due to Arthas' attack and thus becoming the blood elves. I don't know it doesn't seem too far. I mean I have yet to get to said torture quest, but I'm not so sure if it is entirely out of line with the universe.
@Dullshimmer: Yeah, the blood elves are essentially CRACK ADDICTS! for christ sake. Does he go on about that? hell no.
1 torture quest... and I assume the point of the quest is to show that the ex-paladin or whatever it is, is giving up his morals and choosing to do twisted and disturbed things.. Its fine, its showcasing that its a bad thing to do.
Strangely, I had noticed WoW was "just a game". For the many players who seem to think that this means anything goes, I guess you're really hoping Blizzard will be putting in some child sex quests in the next expansion. After all, no children are being hurt, it's just pixels on a screen, and if you get XP then why not?
Uh, no. Apples and kiddie-oranges, pal. No comparison.
@TitillatedOcelot: Yeah, despite the fact that I disagreed with him, I still had some respect for him til he pulled that one out. Okay, so you're okay with ripping someone's soul out in a game, but jabbing them with a hot iron is a no-no, comparable to raping children? An assanine response.
And to go further, it is COMPLETELY fitting with the theme of Wrath of the Lich King. If the next expansion was called Blood Elf Pedophiles, I don't think I would have a right to be surprised that it did contain child sex quests. They pitched it as a darker, more morally grey setting. What the hell did he expect? Quests about saving elephants from hunter traps. Oh wait, there are those too....
Dangeresque (Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear any more) was starred
Dangeresque (Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear any more) was unstarred
Even after reading the whole article posted, I still can't understand why he's so upset.
Mountains out of mole hills, IMO. He claims he's fine with manhunt, yet throws a fit when Blizzard "changes their style" by adding a torture quest. One quest, out of how many? Well into the thousands. This isn't "the Simpsons turning into Southpark" like he says, not by a longshot. This is like a quarter of the seconds-long of an Itchy and Scratchy show, if anything.
If all the expansion did was add torture to the game, and to level up you had to now torture for your xp, he'd have a point. But, no, he's just whining for attention, I think.
@Coquiton: Well that was what he was saying was that out of thousands of quests suddenly he had to torture someone. He wasn't expecting it and neither was I, but he is just more bothered by torture than your average Kotaku commenter.
@outforprophets: But torture, or even just "dark themes" in general are nothing new to WoW, or even Warcraft universe itself.
Just take a walk through the undercity, theres a ton of torture being done. And WCIII is a really dark game, despite how the graphics may seem. I mean, as early as the first chapter youre forced to wipe out a village and kill defenseless civillians.
This is nothing that came out of the blue, as he writes.
@Coquiton: Agreed, heck, let's look just at the classes, see if we can find anything there that might HINT at a darker universe. Warlocks- in WoW, they sign contracts with demons, and steal people's souls as fuel for their spells. Warning sign. Paladins- the Blood Elf Paladins, originally (as in during Burning Crusade) were't champions of goodness, they were people sucking the life out of a godlike creature made of light that they had imprisoned under their city. Warning sign. And finally, the main feature of Wrath of the Lich King, the Death Knights- soldiers who fell in battle, were forcibly resurrected against their will as undead soldiers wielding disease and blades in service of the man they died trying to stop.
If this guy found this torture quest to be a total shock, then he's a moron.
Dangeresque (Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear any more) was starred
Dangeresque (Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear any more) was unstarred
Child sex quests? Really? I don't think there is much comparison between virtual torture and virtual child rape. I understand where he is going, but still no comparison.
@Moleculor: There's a huge difference, though. From a societal standpoint, torture is MUCH more acceptable. Many movies and TV shows show torture, and it's really not much of an issue, but anything regarding sex with children is sure to set off an alarm...and you certainly can't show it!
I'd also say, and this is just a hypothesis on my part, that more people are accepting or unsure whether there are situations when it's acceptable to torture. I don't think nearly as many are unsure about whether it's okay to molest a child.
@UltimatePancakeSensation: Torture is not merely *tolerated* in movies and television, it is *extolled* and PRAISED as a Virtuous and Noble Act worthy of our heroes.
Watch how many crime dramas, action movies and spy thrillers use it. Note the subtle changes in musical cues as the "good guys" begin torturing the "bad guys" to get the information. There is usually some tense music involving a string-section that gradually builds up to a swelling score as the good guys triumph through the use of brutal, vicious torture, the likes of which are generally considered despicable and worthy of prison sentences were "ordinary" people to use them on one-another.
Yes, there is obviously a difference between entertainment and real life, but let's not kid ourselves that popular entertainment doesn't reflect the sentiment of the general populace. I get the distinct impression that the majority of Americans enjoy the process of brutally inflicting painful injuries on one another, and gleefully bathing in one-anothers' blood and entrails, while at the same time having enormously conflicting and self-destructive thoughts on sexuality.
Is it any wonder Americans delight in violence, when they all have such repressed and ignorant views on sexuality? It's a wonder Americans have survived this long.
12/10/08
1. run to npc48329821
2. click on quest_item932174332
3. get 1/1 trigger, if no, goto 1.
4. turn in quest for lukewarm lewts and XP.
12/09/08
EXP: 30,250
Gold: 15g 30s
Quest Reward: A nice long talk with a gentleman from TV.
12/09/08
The big difference? There is a good chance the Torture victim might have deserved/earned it. Just like the giant monsters earned their fireballs to the face.
Zero chance the child deserved it.
12/09/08
When you can justify one you can justify the other...
The child was leading me on...
12/09/08
Torture has been in the game, FYI, for quite a long time. He's clearly never been to Undercity.
And for the record, torture is worse than death. Don't know how he messed that one up.
12/09/08
I see what he tried to do with the trollish "child sex" comments, nice try but his point was a little lost amongst all the butthurt.
12/09/08
12/09/08
This guy is 1) upset about the idea of a torture quest in WoW, a dark, war-torn world. Don't let the graphics fool you into thinking WoW is a children's game. 2) Expecting WoW to give you multiple options as to how to complete a quest. That's generally not how WoW works. You follow the quest instructions or you don't complete it. Is that a fault? Yeah it would be nice if Blizzard opened things up a bit in their quests, if only for things that may bother people. But to me WoW is not a family game anyway. Maybe Bartle had inaccurate expectations about what WoW was about.
I mean really, complaining about a quest that requires implied torture to complete it in WoW? I don't care what faction, class, race you play, you are going to kill hundreds if not thousands of humanoids while playing. So because a quest giver tells you it's justified, the murder isn't a big deal? Lawl. You're still killing people.
WoW has a bunch of faults, some of which I've ranted on before. It wouldn't hurt the game if they provided player choice in some of these quests, but it seems this guy had unrealistic expectations.
12/09/08
Seeing as how it isn't a necessary quest, yes your point is irrelevant. You are given a choice to not torture.
However, I think you have way too much pride to admit to such a point in this juncture.
Good luck with that whole credibility thing.
12/09/08
12/09/08
12/09/08
12/09/08
12/09/08
Gratuitous torture? For a second there I thought you just clicked a button and watched swirly lines shoot out at a cartoony douchebag. I must have missed the bit where you beat the living shit out of him, cut off his fingers one by one and make him eat them, and then slowly remove his organs until he talks.
"I guess you're really hoping Blizzard will be putting in some child sex quests in the next expansion. After all, no children are being hurt, it's just pixels on a screen, and if you get XP then why not"
... I think simulating child sex, which would I assume involves naked orc children and sex, is somewhat different to shooting a man with swirly lines... unless of course you have sex with them by shooting swirly lines at them.
12/09/08
Both Mass Effect books detail torture, one of which involves breaking every bone in a man's body individually, and the other involves ripping off a Quarian's eyelids and continuously beating him until his eyes dried out, among other things.
It's a valid aspect of a story if it's appropriate in the surrounding theme. That is to say, I'd be disturbed if Little Miss Muffet was raped and murdered by the spider, but I didn't whine when James Bond was straped naked to a chair and testicularly assaulted.
12/09/08
12/09/08
1 torture quest... and I assume the point of the quest is to show that the ex-paladin or whatever it is, is giving up his morals and choosing to do twisted and disturbed things.. Its fine, its showcasing that its a bad thing to do.
12/09/08
12/09/08
Uh, no. Apples and kiddie-oranges, pal. No comparison.
12/09/08
And to go further, it is COMPLETELY fitting with the theme of Wrath of the Lich King. If the next expansion was called Blood Elf Pedophiles, I don't think I would have a right to be surprised that it did contain child sex quests. They pitched it as a darker, more morally grey setting. What the hell did he expect? Quests about saving elephants from hunter traps. Oh wait, there are those too....
12/09/08
Mountains out of mole hills, IMO. He claims he's fine with manhunt, yet throws a fit when Blizzard "changes their style" by adding a torture quest. One quest, out of how many? Well into the thousands. This isn't "the Simpsons turning into Southpark" like he says, not by a longshot. This is like a quarter of the seconds-long of an Itchy and Scratchy show, if anything.
If all the expansion did was add torture to the game, and to level up you had to now torture for your xp, he'd have a point. But, no, he's just whining for attention, I think.
12/09/08
12/09/08
Just take a walk through the undercity, theres a ton of torture being done. And WCIII is a really dark game, despite how the graphics may seem. I mean, as early as the first chapter youre forced to wipe out a village and kill defenseless civillians.
This is nothing that came out of the blue, as he writes.
12/09/08
If this guy found this torture quest to be a total shock, then he's a moron.
12/09/08
12/09/08
Actually, I'd say the comparison is fair. Torture -really- ain't cool, and neither is sex with children.
12/09/08
I'd also say, and this is just a hypothesis on my part, that more people are accepting or unsure whether there are situations when it's acceptable to torture. I don't think nearly as many are unsure about whether it's okay to molest a child.
12/09/08
Watch how many crime dramas, action movies and spy thrillers use it. Note the subtle changes in musical cues as the "good guys" begin torturing the "bad guys" to get the information. There is usually some tense music involving a string-section that gradually builds up to a swelling score as the good guys triumph through the use of brutal, vicious torture, the likes of which are generally considered despicable and worthy of prison sentences were "ordinary" people to use them on one-another.
Yes, there is obviously a difference between entertainment and real life, but let's not kid ourselves that popular entertainment doesn't reflect the sentiment of the general populace. I get the distinct impression that the majority of Americans enjoy the process of brutally inflicting painful injuries on one another, and gleefully bathing in one-anothers' blood and entrails, while at the same time having enormously conflicting and self-destructive thoughts on sexuality.
Is it any wonder Americans delight in violence, when they all have such repressed and ignorant views on sexuality? It's a wonder Americans have survived this long.