Week 12: The second article

So i published an article about ethical gaming and can it be a source of good, i wanted to change tack and explore another issue that i think might make an interesting discussion for the class 

is i found this article on games industry.biz by Mike Williams Titled  

Robert Yang: "The game industry needs to get laid"

Developer Robert Yang talks about the game industries issues with sexual content the link of the article can be found below:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-03-18-robert-yang-the-game-industry-needs-to-get-laid

in the article Yang has called for the industry to be more open with topics like sexuality noting how sexual content is banned or minimized in certain spaces. and according to yang its the case of the industry being afraid to talk about it or even tackling sexual content. 

Yang later discusses the problems he found when creating games with sexual content especially with Paypal and twitch.tv 

"'Certain sexualities are banned.' Which sexualities? They won't tell you. They say not to cross the line, but the line is invisible and shifting," Yang said about PayPal.

He later explains that if games are transcending into this powerful medium then idea's and policies need to changing and running form ethical issues need to be looked at and not banned 

"If games want to be the most powerful industry and art form in the world, don't freak out about dick jokes," Yang said at the end of his talk. "Everyone loves to play games, some games are about sex. Don't ban games just because they are about sex. Society will not collapse. Chill out, go get laid. Go get over it."

this is a interesting topic to discuss and in class and also as it might prove an interesting article piece for my final essay as there is many ethical issues with this that can be raised and what if these games are available to people under the legal age or 

i know film and tv have sex scenes and have done for a long time and have dealt with serious ethical issues with sex like rape but games have not and with the interactive element there needs to be caution and the subject of sex needs to be handled careful but i do agree with yang a bit that the industry can't hide form it if it proclaims to be this art form and must find a away to approach the subject in a delicate manor and not use it as a tool mechanic. 

it also stems the questions if these sex scenes and games are there must be guidelines in place as it could be easy to force in a interactive world a sex scene on a character would that not be ethical wrong?  

there are so many interesting ethical issues with the statement by yang but i do agree its issues that need to be discussed 

Week 12: Open forum find two articles that to discuss

For Week 12 the task was to find two articles that you wanted two discuss in class either thgat will be the focus of your essay or just something that interest you 

so the first Article i found that i wanted to talk about is this one i found in the guardian online website the title: Ethical Gaming can it be a source of good? the link of the article is below

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/12/ethical-video-gaming-games-for-change-festival

in the article it discuss the use of games in a much more serious content than what people's interpretations of games are and wanting to push the boundaries of games and show the potential of what games and the messages they can convey to the audience instead of the the perception that still exist with games being childish, violent and shallow,

Asi Burak quotes in the article "People understand that games are powerful, but they're also scared of this power," says Burak. "We need to change the perception that all games are shallow, violent and childish, because they are not."

Minecraft has already started to be implemented in schools academic learning as its been proven t help children learning process using tools that the have a strong affiliation to with helping in computer programming or even build and structural how things work its a useful teaching tool. 

and they are powerful tools and the unquie thing about games is that it can immerse you in them and give you information or teach you something instead of being used to entertain like in Dead Island where the objective is to survive the Zombie Apocalypse by killing any zombie in your path. But lets flip that what if the game is about you surviving an actual ethical situation say your in Law Enforcement You are a rookie officer assigned to a training officer for the first six months of your employment. The training officer is a 20-year veteran and is a close friend pf thee Assistant Chief of Police and the brother-in-law of the Watch Commander. The third day that you are working with him you respond to a burglary call at a local convenience store. It is 2:30 am and the manager has been notified. You are directed to wait 30-35 minutes for his arrival. A short time later you observe your partner take a soda, candy and a bag of chips. He consumes the soda and chips. When the manager arrives, the two of you depart. What, if anything, should you do?
 

probably not the best example in the world but it would be interesting to gauge what the person would do and doing it in a game environment also the justification could be that it helps the trainee gain experience if a situation like that cropped up what would the right course of action to take, without causing any harm. 

The potential of using games as teaching devices is well known but its still an interesting research topic looking it in terms of  is games mature and ready to tackling more serious ethical issues like rape? 

Week 11: : Virtual Virtues, Virtual Vices

For Week 11 we had to read Virtual Virtues, Virtual Vices and answer the follow question for class

Do you see the relationship of STAs to POTAs more like Aristotle or Nietzsche? Explain. 

To answer this question first we need to know what Aristotle's or Nietzsche meaings and relationship of STA's to POTAs before we can decide if it is more like Aristotle or Nietzsche 

So lets take the view point of the Aristotle perspective in Aristotle's mind it is clear that some acts remain vices irrespective of the content in which they occur, nor is the principle of the meaning applicable to them already with this Aristotle opinion would be that unequivocally that POTAs are vices and are not actions of a virtuous person 

and if we use examples of theft, murder and adultery in the virtual space how would they be judge by Aristotle, we know Aristotle is concerned with being good rather than what counts as a good act. so the  the issue with Aristotle is not much with whether murder is a right or wrong / good or bad, but whether engaging with murder is what the virtual person would do. 

But what about Nietzsche take would be first thing pointed out is that Nietzsche proclaims that its immoral to say What is good for one is good for another so in sense for Nietzsche Morality is contingent on one's strength of will as is what should be deem moral or virtuous with the consequence of what is virtue or conversely a vice for one may be different to another. 

for example in the game space world is a space where things can be completely different to our outside world. because the relationship to out actual world has been altered to fit within the story context of the game. the rules, the costumes have been altered so to the way we interact in that environment will be different. and even your avatar the embodiment of yourself will be different you will look different be given special powers even play as a different gender or sexuality this is all possible in the game space. 

and it could be in that virtuous space that i am virtuous cause im big and strong and take what i want when i want it 

so with these two viewpoints in mind i would have to go with Nietzsche stance rather than Aristotle for the relationship of STA's to POTA's 

why you may ask just simply but its hard to justify with the statement What is good for one is good for another as its what could be good in the game space which is not real like you need to steal a powerful weapon to defeat the next boss just with that the act of stealing in Aristotle's view is moral bad even thou it can be justified and in that world in his eyes it is still wrong regardless if its in that world or this 

your actions in this game space is not hurting anyone as its not like for instance you need to attack someone in this game space cause they are in your path its not like you would perform that same act in the real world its just like viewing a tv show or film that has violence or shows something that fits into the story but would not work in our actual space. 

Aristotle's Argument i can understand his point of view but would disagree with in the terms of this question  as i have played games that i have killed people, stolen from people and i have never expressed the desire to go out and commit these in real life just like i have driven a formula one car in the game space does not mean im going to jump into the a formula one car and win the championship or i have played football manager does not give me the expertise to go and manage a professional football club.

the view of Sicart also backs this up with the view of "the moral being who understands the contingency relation is free to experience the game space without the threat of the practice having leading to a detrimental change in virtuousness"

the only question i would take from this what if you are doing these acts to a fellow player in this game space and not characters that are being controlled by the computer but are in control of another player?