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* If you entered this thread thinking you were going to immediately defend a stance on a sensitive topic, then please read through this first post before jumping to conclusions.
I've been playing computer games since PC's first became available. Anyone remember the Timex Sinclair? TI-99 4A? TRS-80? The first games I played were from legends such as Infocom (i.e., Hitchhiker's Guide, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, etc.). I've watch PC games evolve from Wasteland to Fallout 3. From King's Quest 1 to Dragon Age: Origins, and so on. Okay, enough history.
Purpose for this post? Simply, thank you Bioware. Sincerely, thank you! At a time when many game producers are afraid to make games with deep content which may or may not contain material that others consider "adult" or "offensive", Bioware has the integrity to realize that good story telling requires broader boundaries.
It doesn't take much to set off the protestors. Blood, nudity, moral or ethical diversity, religious deviation, etc.. The primary battle cry from most protestors is "what about the children?" or "your influencing fragile minds with dangerous content". At this point, I have to wonder if the "fragile mind" is the person speaking or their alleged victim. Many still consider computer games to be a sandbox for children. As a result, games get watched more closely than other art forms such as books, movies, television, etc.. Many of you already know this, so pardon me if I'm rehashing already accepted truths.
Obviously, I'm for including adult content in PC games. That doesn't mean I think the industry should go all "wild west" with it. Having the ability to include nudity in a game doesn't mean it can't be abused. I suppose it depends on the way it is integrated. In a game such as Dragon Age: Origins, it would be normal to experience a love scene between consenting partners that includes nudity. However, walking into a castle where the ruling party has declared all women must be topless is well.. ..you get the idea. Still, there are areas where nudity could be put into the game that would make sense and be relevant, but also be fertile ground for the protestors to jump on.
For example:
Your hero walks into the lower wards of a city. A group of thugs is attacking a young woman. Her clothes are torn and slight nudity is involved. She's bleeding and clearly in "a bad way." In a game like Dragon Age: Origins, you can either: A: Come to her rescue and fend off the attackers, B: Turn a blind eye and move on, C: Cheer on her attackers, or D: (you fill in the blanks).
Many would opt for choice A. If you're playing the game with the direction that you're going to be a villain, then B, C, or D become considerations. The latter is where the game opens itself up for outside interests to start throwing stones.
I know that companies such as Bioware need to be careful how they tread with sensitive topics, but at least they're taking the steps. Anyone that has any intelligence knows that human beings have a very dark side. Actually, "dark side" is being overly kind. This is reality. For a hero to be truly righteous, he/she has to have something they are fighting against. If a hero is going to be viewed as standing on the side of good, there has to be bad present. The more evil that is present, the greater the hero will be if he/she overcomes it. The same is true for a villain. In order for an individual to be truly vile, they need to be involved with disturbing activities. The greater the spance between the two sides, the greater each side becomes. Basically, the deeper a story teller is willing to delve into the darker side of the human psyche, the richer the story will be. It is easy to take the good side as far as it can go, but it will be vapid unless it has a truly evil side to compare itself against.
Okay. Enough of the yadda, yadda for now. In closing, a very big thank you to Bioware having the strength to produce a game that doesn't insult my intelligence or try to approach me as if I was thirteen years old and/or standing at a moral precipice waiting for a bad moral compass to send me off the edge.
Modifié par Baelin Firestorm, 21 octobre 2009 - 10:14 .
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