I mean in games. Yes in RL also, but that's not the issue in this forum.
No, I mean... when I saw an article on a gaming website "the cool upcoming games in 2013", it was like 90% of them were about war and killing, mostly as dark and gloomy as it gets.
I mean WHAT THE FRACK IS WRONG WITH HUMANITY?
Nothing. The need of violence is in our genes. How do you think we survive evolution and became lord of this planet?
Go read some Jane Austin, and stop playing video games, if you don't like killing & war. As for me, i will go kill some digital soldiers tonight. That is fun.
I mean in games. Yes in RL also, but that's not the issue in this forum.
No, I mean... when I saw an article on a gaming website "the cool upcoming games in 2013", it was like 90% of them were about war and killing, mostly as dark and gloomy as it gets.
I mean WHAT THE FRACK IS WRONG WITH HUMANITY?
No seriously, I really am not overly moralistic or whimsical. I play games for 25 years or so, and per se, I don't mind that games to a degree are combat centered. Really not. I mean, I collect swords, I am pro-NRA... but still: why have our games become so damn war & killing focused? I am really TIRED of it.
War against terrorist, war in Arabia, World War III, World War II, war in other worlds, war WITH other worlds... it never ends! And more often isn't even the funny kind of combat, as in, say Dynasty Warriors where it is so hyperbole absurd that you really don't take it serious. No, the war in games today is VERY serious. And all is grey, brown and dark, visually speaking.
Bending it back to MMOs, it is the same. Once in Ultima Online, a MMO was about a world. In Star Wars Galaxies I knew people who spent 50% of their time or more as DANCERS. Or musicians. Or Doctors. Or Hairdressers. And I don't have to tell you the many fantastic stories of the UO days.
And today?
Go there kill this. Even if it is wrapped in some fishy story appearing not to contain "kill this", it does involve killing. Always. Everywhere.
Sorry, maybe I am getting old (42 here) or what, but I am certainly not a pacifist or overly sensible, but I am just tired and worn out of KILL KILL KILL. What about finding other solutions? Talking to the robbers in the forest? Outsmarting them? Finding alternative solutions? Sure, I mean in single player games there are Sims or Civ or whatever. But by and large the games are so focused and dominated by war and killing, it starts to sorta unsettle me. Not that I think it causes violence, that is BS. But why people so much want to experience war and gloom and despair nowadays? Ultima the RPGs had combat too, but it didn't revolve around combat. Or there were games like Kings Quest or whatever and war was just one part.
Especially in MMOs I feel like Online Games have so gone in the wrong direction with their focus on combat as THE sole focus. Sure they add some figleaf crafting and a bit discovery, but by and large 95% of the MMos today revolve around war and killing. And sorry, but I just think that is sick. And as gamer it really starts to bore me, same as someone who eats cake every day, you reach a point where you simply can't see another cake anymore!
Rant over...
I play games to "get away from reality". During my playtime I like to shoot fireballs, lightning from my fingers, you get the point. Now there are other genera of games that are not combat related. Racing and Sports games for 2 examples. If you are so tired of combat gameplay, try one of those.
Edit: /rant on
Here is the deal, the real deal. Don't like it, don't play. Don't like the SB ads, don't log. Don't like racist jokes, don't hang with racists. Don't like hot dogs, don't eat them. STOP TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE ELSE WHAT TO DO. Actions speak louder than whiney words. So again, Don't like it, don't play.
Originally posted by Precusor Humans are hardwired for violence and war and it will never change.
No, we are hardwired for survival, like all living creatures. Granted this primal instinct often leads to violence but less and less so as time goes by and humans learn to live together.
Life today is way less violent and deadly than it was in the passed.
Originally posted by Precusor Humans are hardwired for violence and war and it will never change.
No, we are hardwired for survival, like all living creatures. Granted this primal instinct often leads to violence but less and less so as time goes by and humans learn to live together.
Life today is way less violent and deadly than it was in the passed.
It had better change, now that we are getting so good at killing if we don't learn to restrain this basic nature we'll eventually exterminate ourselves from the planet.
But I would argue that human progress has been defined more by the more noble side of us, in spite of our warlike nature.
Now I won't lie, I've enjoyed killing stuff in MMO's and RPG's for many years, blame it on my upbringing when we used to play cowboys vs indians, or GI's vs Nazi's, and had the best toy firearms (including a realistic M16 with working grenade launcher).
But not all MMO's have to be designed this way (and in fact, all are not) but it would be nice if someone could come up with a major AAA title that was focused on an entirely different game play elements. Unfortunately, it likely would fail terribly from a financial standpoint.
I mean look at the movie industry, and if you've been around for any length of time tell me the formula's are all pretty much the same for the past 40 years or so, rare is the movie that surprises me anymore.
Heck, I'll admit to being part of the problem, haven't even tried ATID because I know it has no combat right from the start.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Originally posted by Precusor Humans are hardwired for violence and war and it will never change.
No, we are hardwired for survival, like all living creatures. Granted this primal instinct often leads to violence but less and less so as time goes by and humans learn to live together.
Life today is way less violent and deadly than it was in the passed.
Our instinct of violence does not change fast enough because evolution works in many generations, and civilization is too short to change that.
We can only suppress the violence instinct and give it other outlets .. like competitive sports, or video games.
The games reflect who we are. Look at the world around you. I would argue this is a safer avenue to vent those dark thoughts/feelings. This is what there is a market for because frankly anything else would make for a boring freaking game. This thread is a sign of the emasculation of our society. I have no guilt. Violence in history, comics, games etc interest me, I make no apologies for this.
The games reflect who we are. Look at the world around you. I would argue this is a safer avenue to vent those dark thoughts/feelings. This is what there is a market for because frankly anything else would make for a boring freaking game. This thread is a sign of the emasculation of our society. I have no guilt. Violence in history, comics, games etc interest me, I make no apologies for this.
Peace is a lie.
Yeah ...
We are what we are. You can't fight human nature.
And violence is a pretty good solution for many problems. For example, all the nice packaged meat in your supermarket comes from controlled, large scale violence.
Once in Ultima Online, a MMO was about a world. In Star Wars Galaxies I knew people who spent 50% of their time or more as DANCERS. Or musicians. Or Doctors. Or Hairdressers. And I don't have to tell you the many fantastic stories of the UO days.
People do that every day in 2nd Life. If that's what you actually do want to do, there it is.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Originally posted by Loktofeit Have you tried A Tale in the Desert?
Yeah I'm wondering that too. A number of non-combat or combat-lite games exist.
This and there are countless non combat games outside of the MMO genre too.Not to mention non violent things to do in many MMOs that in some cases can progress your character vertically as well as horizontally.
Also if your tired of violence in games but can't find a non violent game or activity in a game that you like then...walk away and go do something else.No one forces you to play any games and taking a break from gaming now and then is always a good thing.
Stop being melodramatic and trying to make your issues into global ones or indictments of the human condition.
In some games that I've seen, non-combat tasks are not sufficiently rewarded. Many are just about use-less.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Once in Ultima Online, a MMO was about a world. In Star Wars Galaxies I knew people who spent 50% of their time or more as DANCERS. Or musicians. Or Doctors. Or Hairdressers. And I don't have to tell you the many fantastic stories of the UO days.
People do that every day in 2nd Life. If that's what you actually do want to do, there it is.
Not a lot of people want to be hairdressers in games. There is a reason why violent combat based games are the most popular, and mainstay of the industry.
You're really going to big up Civilisation as an example of a non-combat game, in the middle of a rant about the evils of war?
By their very nature games are about conflict and confrontation. The only difference between winning a race on Forza and winning a match on CoD is graphics.
Maybe you should try reading some books instead, because gaming won't change until we do, and that isn't going to happen for a very long time.
Originally posted by Whitebeards It is about excitement and thrill. What is more fun...hitting the robber in the face with an axe or talking with the robber?
It depends what the robber has to say. I certainly wouldn't take any joy in murdering a robber, he might be a very desperate man who poses no real threat to my life. To murder him without further investigation would be a terrible act indeed.
To answer the OP, game designers are not very inventive, and as such they rely on conventions that have already proved successful.
Are you serious with this? Where is killing in mmo's ?? You have maybe 2 mmo's on the market where your character dies, in rest of them you got resurrected all the time. Blood and war in mmo's is childish compared with shooters
Check out FFXIV: ARR you can just be a crafter and that's it. Crafters get their own gear their own levels and even have their own groups in the game. Disciples of the land Disciples of the Hand. Like literally you can just be a carpenter or a botanist. One for gatherers, one for crafters. Also Everquest Next is due to be shown on August 1st and lead dev on the project Dave Georgeson has stated that there is more to mmos than killing.
I really suggest you check out both.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I remember games like M.U.L.E., Zork, Rail Road Tycoon, Sim City and such, but apparently no one is interested much in those types of games these days. Many of the games with violence such as Pirates, Crush, Crumble and Chump, empire, were toned down without the realistic blood of todays shooters. Maybe todays graphics are to be blamed.
Originally posted by Gorwe To all of you that say "go read books Herp-Derp!":
I raise your book with a Warhammer book!
Really, I haven't seen a scene in movies/games/shows/even other books that is as horrible and as violent as is the beggining of "Gray Knights" by Ben Counter. It is Blood soaked(the chapter's name is Khorion IX and tells of a past battle with one of the minor Daemonic Princes where he was defeated). And that makes it awesome!
Do I wish for some, idk, bardic or farmer tales from Warhammer instead of constant, unremmiting war? YES! But, it is easier both to sell and to write a tale from the battlefield instead of the tale from the High court.
Don't forget that four big bads(Slaanesh, Nurgle, Khorne and Tzeentch) are based on the human faults. They are not some Elemental forces or whatever. Humans warped them into existence. And that is the message of Warhammer(and Sartre I guess):
"Hell is other people-there is no exit!"
It's in our genes. You can only suppress it(for a time).
Keep these words in mind
Errr...not human faults, elven faults, the chaos gods were brought into existence by the Eldar not the humans.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I kind of agree with the OP, in the sense that if anything is over used it loses it's impact; so when every npc on a map (bar a few in towns wearing !) is a purely disposable mob to grind through, it really doesn't matter whether you kill them, talk to them, take them out to dinner.
I would like the sense that clearing out the robber's den or whatever else is actually something worthwhile; much in the manner that Skyrim achieved where encounters were relatively rare by mmo standards and (within the technical limits of any game) impacted the world at least for a short time.
It would also be nice to see a few other objectives, whether they be exploration, economic, political, construction; other than mindlessly killing stuff.
Comments
Nothing. The need of violence is in our genes. How do you think we survive evolution and became lord of this planet?
Go read some Jane Austin, and stop playing video games, if you don't like killing & war. As for me, i will go kill some digital soldiers tonight. That is fun.
I play games to "get away from reality". During my playtime I like to shoot fireballs, lightning from my fingers, you get the point. Now there are other genera of games that are not combat related. Racing and Sports games for 2 examples. If you are so tired of combat gameplay, try one of those.
Edit: /rant on
Here is the deal, the real deal. Don't like it, don't play. Don't like the SB ads, don't log. Don't like racist jokes, don't hang with racists. Don't like hot dogs, don't eat them. STOP TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE ELSE WHAT TO DO. Actions speak louder than whiney words. So again, Don't like it, don't play.
/rant off
Yeah I'm wondering that too. A number of non-combat or combat-lite games exist.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
No, we are hardwired for survival, like all living creatures. Granted this primal instinct often leads to violence but less and less so as time goes by and humans learn to live together.
Life today is way less violent and deadly than it was in the passed.
It had better change, now that we are getting so good at killing if we don't learn to restrain this basic nature we'll eventually exterminate ourselves from the planet.
But I would argue that human progress has been defined more by the more noble side of us, in spite of our warlike nature.
Now I won't lie, I've enjoyed killing stuff in MMO's and RPG's for many years, blame it on my upbringing when we used to play cowboys vs indians, or GI's vs Nazi's, and had the best toy firearms (including a realistic M16 with working grenade launcher).
But not all MMO's have to be designed this way (and in fact, all are not) but it would be nice if someone could come up with a major AAA title that was focused on an entirely different game play elements. Unfortunately, it likely would fail terribly from a financial standpoint.
I mean look at the movie industry, and if you've been around for any length of time tell me the formula's are all pretty much the same for the past 40 years or so, rare is the movie that surprises me anymore.
Heck, I'll admit to being part of the problem, haven't even tried ATID because I know it has no combat right from the start.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Our instinct of violence does not change fast enough because evolution works in many generations, and civilization is too short to change that.
We can only suppress the violence instinct and give it other outlets .. like competitive sports, or video games.
They have meat on them. We are omnivores.
You know, I do wonder sometimes if we could use a game like the one postulated in http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal
The games reflect who we are. Look at the world around you. I would argue this is a safer avenue to vent those dark thoughts/feelings. This is what there is a market for because frankly anything else would make for a boring freaking game. This thread is a sign of the emasculation of our society. I have no guilt. Violence in history, comics, games etc interest me, I make no apologies for this.
Peace is a lie.
Yeah ...
We are what we are. You can't fight human nature.
And violence is a pretty good solution for many problems. For example, all the nice packaged meat in your supermarket comes from controlled, large scale violence.
People do that every day in 2nd Life. If that's what you actually do want to do, there it is.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I spend 90% of my time farming in Age of Wushu (as in growing crops).
It is a lot like Ultima Online
There are games that aren't 100% combat oriented, people just aren't playing them too terribly much.
This and there are countless non combat games outside of the MMO genre too.Not to mention non violent things to do in many MMOs that in some cases can progress your character vertically as well as horizontally.
Also if your tired of violence in games but can't find a non violent game or activity in a game that you like then...walk away and go do something else.No one forces you to play any games and taking a break from gaming now and then is always a good thing.
Stop being melodramatic and trying to make your issues into global ones or indictments of the human condition.
In some games that I've seen, non-combat tasks are not sufficiently rewarded. Many are just about use-less.
Not a lot of people want to be hairdressers in games. There is a reason why violent combat based games are the most popular, and mainstay of the industry.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
Well, developers have learned something the movie industry learned years ago.
Sex sells, but violence sells even more.
You're really going to big up Civilisation as an example of a non-combat game, in the middle of a rant about the evils of war?
By their very nature games are about conflict and confrontation. The only difference between winning a race on Forza and winning a match on CoD is graphics.
Maybe you should try reading some books instead, because gaming won't change until we do, and that isn't going to happen for a very long time.
It depends what the robber has to say. I certainly wouldn't take any joy in murdering a robber, he might be a very desperate man who poses no real threat to my life. To murder him without further investigation would be a terrible act indeed.
To answer the OP, game designers are not very inventive, and as such they rely on conventions that have already proved successful.
Hi
Check out FFXIV: ARR you can just be a crafter and that's it. Crafters get their own gear their own levels and even have their own groups in the game. Disciples of the land Disciples of the Hand. Like literally you can just be a carpenter or a botanist. One for gatherers, one for crafters. Also Everquest Next is due to be shown on August 1st and lead dev on the project Dave Georgeson has stated that there is more to mmos than killing.
I really suggest you check out both.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
Errr...not human faults, elven faults, the chaos gods were brought into existence by the Eldar not the humans.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I kind of agree with the OP, in the sense that if anything is over used it loses it's impact; so when every npc on a map (bar a few in towns wearing !) is a purely disposable mob to grind through, it really doesn't matter whether you kill them, talk to them, take them out to dinner.
I would like the sense that clearing out the robber's den or whatever else is actually something worthwhile; much in the manner that Skyrim achieved where encounters were relatively rare by mmo standards and (within the technical limits of any game) impacted the world at least for a short time.
It would also be nice to see a few other objectives, whether they be exploration, economic, political, construction; other than mindlessly killing stuff.