Are MW3 fans...unstable?

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

These generalization threads. Make them stop. For all that is holy, stop it...just...no. Christ...

 

[Hagi]

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

The seventh Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours. That's about double what MW3 is expected to sell. Yet I recall NO incidents of this nature surrounding that release.

THAT'S what I'm wondering about.

Well if we're going by anecdotal evidence here I'd say that being an actor in one of the Harry Potter movies is extremely likely to get you involved in crime.

One guy got stabbed to death in a fight outside a bar. [http://gawker.com/5010929/harry-potter-actor-murdered-in-london-top]
Another is accused of using a petrol bomb during the London riots. [http://www.london24.com/news/crime/london_riots_harry_potter_actor_charged_with_having_petrol_bomb_1_1088105]
And that same guy again growing marijuana in his own mother's home! [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20292538,00.html]

I recall absolutely no criminal incidents with actors from any other big movie or voice actors from any major game. Makes you wonder if acting in a Harry Potter movies turns people criminal or if maybe the franchise just attracts criminal actors....

 

[warhammerfrog]

As for

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

The seventh Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours. That's about double what MW3 is expected to sell. Yet I recall NO incidents of this nature surrounding that release.

THAT'S what I'm wondering about.

Well looking at the age and gender demographic which is young males more things are bound to go wrong. where as when you look at the book you have a spread demographic of children,teens and adults where as young men make up the lowest percentage. Two completly differnet kinds of people buy and play these products.

 

[luke10123]

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

The seventh Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours. That's about double what MW3 is expected to sell. Yet I recall NO incidents of this nature surrounding that release.

THAT'S what I'm wondering about.

The media loves to demonise videogames. If some wee kid got knocked down at a bookstore it would be an accident, but 3/7000000 incedents? THAT clearly means ALL gamer need to be locked up.
There's not a lot of these incidents, but you can be damn sure to read about each and every one on the news.

 

[Radeonx]

No, not at all.
By your logic, all Escapist members are generalizing assholes for continously generalizing fanbases.
Which isn't true. Well, it isn't completely true.

Stop base-lessly generalizing people just because there are a few isolated incidents happening.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

Fucking ninja'd on the first reply.

You guys want my thoughts on this in a nutshell? I'll quote myself from the stupid thief thread.

Okay guys, I'm not trying to defend Call of Duty or anything. I'd be one of the first to admit that anything after CoD4 is garbage. I just want everyone that is pinning this on the CoD fanbase to perform a simple exercise: Reread the article and replace every reference of Modern Warfare 3 with Skyrim.

Does Skyrim make people want to kill other people to obtain it? Would you associate people that stole a truckload of Skyrim copies with the Elder Scrolls fanbase? No? Then don't do the same with Call of Duty.

The game, as well as its general fanbase, is not the cause of this. These people shouldn't be associated with the rest of the CoD fanbase. These are isolated cases of nutjobs. A few people out of millions of CoD fans.

It's not CoD or its fanbase that's the problem at all. It's the nature of these idiots that's the problem.

TL;DR: It's not CoD, and it's not the fanbase. It's the individual's nature.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Yeah, all 13+ million of them are psychologically unstable.

With numbers like that you're bound to catch a few nutcases in the net, aren't you? How about we stop making irrational decisions about entire groups from 3 individual cases.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

no they are just "mature gamer's" as in the pic seen below

 

[RatRace123]

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

Well, statistcally speaking, COD attracts lots of people. Some of 'em are nutjobs. So therefore, COD does attract nutjobs.

Fortunately the nutjobs are few and far between.
But just in case they're not, fortunately Saints Row fans are perfectly mentally stable. Now excuse me, I'm going to go daydream about shooting octopi at people from atop a hoverbike while wearing only a space helmet and aqua colored thong.

 

[numbersix1979]

Does anyone else remember when this same exact sort of thing happened at every single new console launch since the PS2? Or every single year in stores around Christmas, or Black Friday, or whenever? I mean, seriously folks. This happens all the time. Blaming CoD for causing it is just hopping on a bandwagon.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Yes I play Modern Warfare 3, DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!

On a more serious note: no, I don't think they (we) are unstable. When you have a game with such a huge fanbase, there are sure to be some nuts amongst them. There might be relatively more nuts with a game that draws, well, not the most mature audience, but not noticeably so. Or so I would imagine.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

Fucking ninja'd on the first reply.

You guys want my thoughts on this in a nutshell? I'll quote myself from the stupid thief thread.

Okay guys, I'm not trying to defend Call of Duty or anything. I'd be one of the first to admit that anything after CoD4 is garbage. I just want everyone that is pinning this on the CoD fanbase to perform a simple exercise: Reread the article and replace every reference of Modern Warfare 3 with Skyrim.

Does Skyrim make people want to kill other people to obtain it? Would you associate people that stole a truckload of Skyrim copies with the Elder Scrolls fanbase? No? Then don't do the same with Call of Duty.

The game, as well as its general fanbase, is not the cause of this. These people shouldn't be associated with the rest of the CoD fanbase. These are isolated cases of nutjobs. A few people out of millions of CoD fans.

It's not CoD or its fanbase that's the problem at all. It's the nature of these idiots that's the problem.

TL;DR: It's not CoD, and it's not the fanbase. It's the individual's nature.

Gah, you just said it so perfectly. Replace it with Minecraft or Pokemon or Pacman. There are crazy, crazy people in the world and generalizing an entire group of people with similar interests because of a number of crazy people within said group is just plain unfair. Tis why I don't assume every Muslim is a terrorist, or hell after Oslo, Christian is a terrorist.

Any real reason why this is happening to video game players and not Harry Potter fans? Don't know. Why do crazy people do anything?

 

[tippy2k2]

Are you serious? Really? Is Candid Camera here?

For fuck's sake, isn't the argument you're using to bash CoD fans the same exact argument Jack Thompson has used: "This man committed a violent crime. He also plays video games. Therefore, the video game caused him to commit this violent crime! Argument is airtight!"

EDIT: Okay... I never thought people would take the thread title so DAMN seriously, so here's the deal: I'm not trying to make a generalization. I'm not trying to condemn and entire group based on the actions of a few stupid people.

I was just pointing out something that I thought was strange and curious.

The seventh Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours after release, yet I don't remember hearing about ANY incidents of that nature. MW3 isn't expected to sell near 15 million in the first 24 hours, yet we have people doing stupid stuff like this.

Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's coincidence. Maybe I shouldn't have expected to be able to make a thread like this and have people take it with a grain of salt.

I just thought it was something interesting and game-related to think about and discuss...

Sheesh.

You come out with "Call of Duty fans are raging lunatics" and you expect people to just take that with a grain of salt? Honestly, you can't make such a stupid argument and expect people to sit back and take it.

 

[Spy_Guy]

After playing Mw2...
Yes. Yes the fans are unstable.

Which is why I don't intend to pick up Mw3. I'm sure the fanbase hasn't swapped out for new, less nutty people.
(yes, some of you aren't nutty, I know, feel free to point out your un-nuttiness, and I can probably agree with you)

 

[FFHAuthor]

I think the OP seems to be blissfully unaware that there were acts of violence for much anticipated releases in everything from LoTR and Star Wars, to the PS3 and Xbox 360, to the final Harry Potter. The thing is that with time comes the simple fogging of memory, or the fact that people don't give a damn about something that doesn't interest them. So it goes down the memory hole and you forget.

The CoD3 release was yesterday, so of course something that happens yesterday is going to be remembered, something that happened years ago that you don't care about isn't.

But I forgot, this is the internet and logic has no place here...

...continue with your 'people unlike me who like something different from me are all accurately characterized by unusual and isolated incidents'...

...oops...to complicated...

I mean, it's a; 'DIFFERENT PEOPLE ARE BAD' thread.

 

[The .50 Caliber Cow]

Spoiler

So next time you're walking home and someone aims a gun at you asking for your game... instead of fighting off the robber spite your life is in danger- instead ask him this, "Dude, why did you follow me? The time you spent following me to get my game, you could of already picked up your game at the counter now. I see you have money, don't lie to me. Heck, why don't you come in my house and we'll play together bro."

Robber: =Mind blown=

More like your head = blown. These people shouldn't be around with guns and threatening people over a video game in the first place. The moment you stop defending yourself or stop running away to safety they'll take advantage of it. Call me cynical but you'd probably be dead in the gutter while the nutter runs off with the game you paid for. An appeal to a logical thinking person doesn't work with illogical lunatics.

OT: Ignoring the whole "You can't generalize" thing, I think violent people tend to gravitate towards these games as well as normal players. You can't prevent it but you can certainly understand that endlessly killing virtual people has to grant some release.

 

[Lunar Templar]

no they are just "mature gamer's" as in the pic seen below

there's a generalization there i could make but don't think i have to

OT: every large group has idiots, no exceptions, but that doesn't mean they all are

 

[craftomega]

First, there were the armed hijackers in France who stole truckloads of MW3.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.321850-So-two-dudes-stole-6-000-copies-of-Modern-Warfare-3

Next, I'm reading about a guy followed someone home from GameStop and tried to steal that person's copy at gunpoint, not because they couldn't afford it, but because they didn't want to wait in line! And then, when that didn't work, he went back to the same store to wait in line...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114117-Modern-Warfare-3-Fan-Fends-Off-Really-Stupid-Thief

Then, there was the guy who threatened to shoot the employees of a Best Buy and blow up the store because they didn't have his pre-order.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114128-Modern-Warfare-3-Nutcase-Threatens-to-Blow-Up-Best-Buy

What the hell is wrong with these people?

Okay, the hijackers probably weren't desperate fans as much as they were looking to turn an opportunistic under-the-table profit by fencing the game to thousands of desperate fans who wouldn't want to wait a few more days for it to come out. That I get. Sleazy and low, but I get it.

But what about the other two? I understand that some people get obsessive in their fandom. I also understand that some people are unstable. And yes, I get it, there is going to be some overlap between those two groups.

What I DON'T understand is this...

I don't remember hearing about armed robberies or serious threats of violence when people camped out for Star Wars or Lord of the Rings midnight premiere tickets.

I also don't recall hearing about any armed robberies or serious threats surrounding the release of the last Harry Potter book.

Now, I'll be the first one to say that the way certain media types go after video games as encouraging violent and subversive behavior is garbage. I will call Jack Thompson an ass-clown at the drop of a hat. And I will be on the front lines defending video games from the sort of censorship attacks that tends to leave books and movies alone (see: that California case that went to the Supreme Court).

That being said, is it possible that the Call of Duty community actually is more aggressive than the fanbase of things like the LOTR films or Harry Potter books?

My first thought: Call of Duty, by the nature of what it is, is much more likely to ATTRACT the aggressive, unstable types. Hmm, I think I just answered my own question.

Oh well, let's discuss anyway.

EDIT: Okay... I never thought people would take the thread title so DAMN seriously, so here's the deal: I'm not trying to make a generalization. I'm not trying to condemn and entire group based on the actions of a few stupid people.

I was just pointing out something that I thought was strange and curious.

The seventh Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours after release, yet I don't remember hearing about ANY incidents of that nature. MW3 isn't expected to sell near 15 million in the first 24 hours, yet we have people doing stupid stuff like this.

Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's coincidence. Maybe I shouldn't have expected to be able to make a thread like this and have people take it with a grain of salt.

I just thought it was something interesting and game-related to think about and discuss...

Sheesh.

Thats because people always asume corrilation = causation. And that most readers dont take the time to acually READ BETWEEN THE LINES. Or in your case acually read what you say. Yay for uneducated pricks eh?

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Gah, you just said it so perfectly. Replace it with Minecraft or Pokemon or Pacman. There are crazy, crazy people in the world and generalizing an entire group of people with similar interests because of a number of crazy people within said group is just plain unfair. Tis why I don't assume every Muslim is a terrorist, or hell after Oslo, Christian is a terrorist.

Any real reason why this is happening to video game players and not Harry Potter fans? Don't know. Why do crazy people do anything?

Your mentioning Muslim extremists prompts me to ask the community a very important question.

Hey Escapists, you're slowly turning into Fox News with your crazy generalizations. How do you feel about that?

Flame shield activated. Time to sit back and enjoy some popcorn.

 

[Jegsimmons]

Wow, 2 incidents out of the literally millions of people that must have gone out to buy it. Yes, this proves Cod attracts nutjobs.

The seventh Harry Potter book sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours. That's about double what MW3 is expected to sell. Yet I recall NO incidents of this nature surrounding that release.

THAT'S what I'm wondering about.

i was wondering the same thing, Halo releases dont do this, skyrim probably wont, arkahm city didn't, niether did battlefield 3.

most are going to shrugg this off, but seriously, something is askew here.