Virtual Prisoner Execution in WWIIO, hilarity ensues

[The Hanged Man]

http://discussions.playnet.com/viewtopic.php?t=101759&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25

Several morons staged a capture and execution of a surrendered British soldier in WWIIO. They posted screenshots for people to see of this "hilarious" execution. Needless to say some of the WWIIO players are in the American military and are in danger of being captured and killed in Iraq.  Normall I wouldn't waste everyone in WTO's time by talking about WWIIO but this was especially stupid and tasteless.

[Roac]

When people play a game long enough, and especially if they haven't been forced to experience harsher realities, are going to dissassossiate the game from reality.  They weren't laughing about a dead US soldier; they were laughing about an opponent in a game who they got to beat up unfairly (bullyishly) on to feel better about themselves.  No different than PK gank squads who laugh about doing "bow" emotes over the corpses.

[SirBruce]

Hopefully GHC will punish the squads responsible.

Bruce

[schild]

Comparing games to real life is stupid.

http://discussions.playnet.com/viewtopic.php?p=1455472#1455472

I'm rather impressed with how the execution plays out in terms of video game 'roflpwnage.' Seriously - don't think of it as tasteless because there's a real war going on with real soldiers in Iraq. They don't want your pity over a fucking video game prank.

This is surely a case for the politically correct wahmbulance. If I had a picture of the emergency vehicle in question - I'd post it. For now, you get the sad penguin. Don't worry, he'll feed himself.

[Lum]

Comparing games to real life is stupid.

One of the more influential tales of online MUDs was the rape and subsequent trial of "Mr. Bungle", which occurred in LambdaMOO and nowhere else. Julian Dibbell http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle.html">wrote up the story (and later made a http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805036261/qid=1092892017/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/104-7247143-3976719?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">pretty good book out of it).

If acting out nonconsensual rape is assumed to be offensive (and it is in every MMO I know of), acting out nonconsensual war crimes would also be pretty offensive.

I'd leave the conclusion up to Sad Penguin.

[schild]

Comparing games to real life is stupid.

One of the more influential tales of online MUDs was the rape and subsequent trial of "Mr. Bungle", which occurred in LambdaMOO and nowhere else. Julian Dibbell wrote up the story (and later made a pretty good book out of it).

If acting out nonconsensual rape is assumed to be offensive (and it is in every MMO I know of), acting out nonconsensual war crimes would also be pretty offensive.

I had to read 'A Rape in Cyberspace' for one of my classes 2 years ago. He interrupted a community that didn't exist for those reasons. An execution in a war sim is expected. Messing around with furries is expected in FurryMUCK. Rape is expected in that awful game Terra Nova wrote about. There are games where some things are acceptable.

In no way is a public or private execution in a world war II sim unacceptable.

Edit: Links removed because I fudged them up.

[Lum]

WW2OL isn't a "ww2 sim", it's a first person shooter set in WW2. There's no swastikas, much less prisoner executions.

But really, it's up to Cornered Rat, and I'm pretty sure pretending to act out war crimes is against their terms of service.

[schild]

WW2OL isn't a "ww2 sim", it's a first person shooter set in WW2. There's no swastikas, much less prisoner executions.

But really, it's up to Cornered Rat, and I'm pretty sure pretending to act out war crimes is against their terms of service.

Being against their TOS is one thing. But complaining about it being too brutal with shit like Manhunt on the market is just a little nancified.

[Lum]

The linked thread is admittedly pretty funny.

"ok, so now the GHC is killing POWs and violating the Geneva Convention. This means war."

"i propse diplomatic sanctions."

[Comstar]

The guy could have despawned at any time. He knew what was going to happen and went along with it anyway. I find it amusing myself. It's not like they could have disarmed him, and if he'd wanted to he could have thrown a grenade out and killed the lot of them :)

I was reading the TOS last week. There is no mention of the Geneva Convetions in them, though I'm sure CRS would put them in if enough people asked.

I'm not sure the International Red Cross would take any complaint seriously.

[Trippy]

I was reading the TOS last week. There is no mention of the Geneva Convetions in them, though I'm sure CRS would put them in if enough people asked.

This is WW II. There was no Geneva Convention or UN for that matter till after the War.

[Flashman]

I was reading the TOS last week. There is no mention of the Geneva Convetions in them, though I'm sure CRS would put them in if enough people asked.

This is WW II. There was no Geneva Convention or UN for that matter till after the War.

Sort of. There are 4 Geneva Conventions. 3 of 4 (including the one that deals with POWs) are pre-WWII.  The very first Geneva Convention I think came about in mid 19th century.

The one Geneva Convention thats post-WWII deals with treatment of civilians, if I'm remembering correctly.

[geldonyetich]

I was virtually executed in a Battletech MUSE once.   By my own Capellan Confenderation faction members for getting my hovercraft one-shot by a lucky shot from an enemy Phoenix Hawk when I was out scouting.    Hrmph, those Capellans have zero tolerance for newbies.

As for this WW-II Online endeavor, hey, whatever they have to do to make the game fun.   It's usually a fairly bad sign for MMOFPS when people start resorting to roleplay.

[Trippy]

Sort of. There are 4 Geneva Conventions. 3 of 4 (including the one that deals with POWs) are pre-WWII.  The very first Geneva Convention I think came about in mid 19th century.

Yes you are right, my bad. The current Convention dealing with POWs was signed in 1949 after WWII but it was a revision of the earlier one you mentioned.

[Sky]

Comparing what people do in a game to the atrocities occuring in war does a disservice to the victims of those atrocities.

It's a game, nobody died. The brit could have logged off at any time.

[Dark Vengeance]

Being against their TOS is one thing. But complaining about it being too brutal with shit like Manhunt on the market is just a little nancified.

I don't think the point was about brutality...I think the point is that it was insensitive (which admisttedly isn't much of a concerned in any FPS), and that it was disrespectful to American and British troops in Iraq. Especially since, yknow, insurgents and terrorists have been going around filming executions of coalition forces and civilians.

That being said, meh. It's a soldier being killed by other soldiers....in a game where the purpose is for soldiers to kill each other. It was done in poor taste, but it's not exactly offensive on a Jane Fonda scale.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

[HaemishM]

Wow, that was pretty fucking tasteless. I know some people who'd get apoplectic over that sort of thing.

On the whole, it just seems like a stupid thing to get all pissy about, but having been in MMOG's a while now, I'm sure someone's vagina is awful sandy about it even as we speak.

But I gotta go with schild on this one; in a world where Manhunt is on the shelves, this seems pretty goddamn minor.

[Furiously]

I got assraped by a pk once in UO...Who do I get to sue?

[El Gallo]

There was a big hubub on the WoW boards the other day about players supposedly getting warned for sexual harrasment on the PvP server by presenting low level fodder with the option "Strip and dance or I kill you".  Suppedly some upstanding PvPers took this even further and rooted some lowbie and emoted that they were gangraping her.

[WayAbvPar]

I would have wagered a princely sum that the Axis was responsible...surprise! I am right. There are more zergrush, pwn at all costs asshats playing for the Germans than the Allies. This kind of thing is right up their alley.

[schild]

That's my pokedog, Shinobu. He/She is dryhumping a dancers.  Beastiality must be worst then an execution in a war game or azzrapz0ring in a pvp setting.

[Krakrok]

And this is different than running over people in Grand Theft Auto, how?

Wait, it's not.

[Trippy]

And this is different than running over people in Grand Theft Auto, how?

Wait, it's not.

There's no real person playing the character you just ran over in GTA.

[murdoc]

There's no real person playing the character you just ran over in GTA.

You mean the real person that could of apparently despawned if they wanted to? You think that the whoever was playing the Allied character in the game was executed against their wish and now might be experiencing mental anguish now?

[Rodent]

Considering millions died in WWII and the fact that survivors still suffer from the memories today plus the fact I really hated the game, makes the entire game pretty tasteless.

Having that said however I don't understand where theese people are comming from. It's a god damn game, in fact it's a god damn game about the most brutal conflict known to mankind. The soldier claiming to feel squemish about playing Axis after this must not have held a high grade in history during school.

[Margalis]

And this is different than running over people in Grand Theft Auto, how?

Wait, it's not.

THANK YOU!

Hell, the US makes their own FPS now. This is not news at all. I think it's kind of clever actually.

[Arcadian Del Sol]

STOP FEEDING THE MARKETING LION. IT IS ON A STRICT DIET