Inside the Sick Mind of a School Shooter Mod

[Jonesy911]

...Still looks pretty fun to me

 

[Wintermoot]

even though I hate the idea of making a game out of a school shooting its still a step too make games that re-tell certain events

 

[Jim Grim]

Context makes all the difference. What your targets represent is far more important than how they look. The fact that it's not real is beside the point, the player is still encouraged to gain enjoyment from a school shooting.

The idea that people should be allowed to produce whatever material they want and not have to justify it is a horrible idea. What the developer is doing here is communicating an idea to the world, of course he should have to respond to criticism. If you create something so obviously controvesial you can't ignore people's responses to it, and you'd better have some damn good reasoning behind your choice to create it. This guy doesn't have that. It would be better for him and I'm sure for many other people if he simply cancelled the project, though of course if he chooses to go ahead with it, he should have the right to. Equally, I should have the right to complain and protest against this, and I should have the right to a proper response to my criticism.

Oh, and you'd better be prepared to spend a long time arguing this point. You said something very contentious in a public forum, and now you'll see the results.

I don't actually think that last one is a right at all... By all means, dole out criticism as you see fit but there is no law or declaration of rights anywhere that says the creator must respond to such criticism in any capacity.

I don't really see the point in arguing shoulds.


Also, how do you feel about abstraction? If we remove the models used in the mod and replace them with cardboard cutouts with the word student on them, you can argue against that in the same way, right?

I'm sorry, it just seems like the creator of this tasteless garbage has gone out of his way to purposefully offend people, and when questioned responded with "I thought it would be funny." I think there should be an expectation for the guy to give a proper explanation for his actions. But that's just how I feel. Maybe I should just shrug it off, let him do whatever he wants simply because he wants to do it.

On your last point, while the extra realism invovled in shooting at detailed character models of children adds another level to how disturbing the whole thing is, I do think that it's horrifying in a similar way to shoot at targets like that.

 

[Dogstile]

Fox News will be on this in 3, 2, 1... "Games are ruining America"

Actually, I believe someone on facepunch forums actually emailed a trailer to them.

I'm pretty sure that threads been deleted like 3 times now though. I heard it off Roblox forums, so take that with a grain of salt.

Is anyone else strangely excited to see what bull they will come up with for this? It's all just going to come up in the court case and get debunked instantly anyway.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Wow thanks dev's for setting back videogames again for at least 5 years.
and no wow anymore for part of the comments here, i already knew how idiotic part of this community is.

 

[Wintermoot]

this is ONLY going to give more ammo to Faux News and is even WORSE then the dead space your-mom-is-going-to-hate-this campaign

 

[Sporky111]

I think these developers have some other issues going on in their heads. Some kind of social gap. I don't see how anyone can see bad educational games and think "These are shit, I'll make a game about school shooting. And it's going to be fun."

That just scares me.

 

[Zyphonee]

The only reason why I fell contempt for this guy is because in order to have his little share of fun and supposedly send a message, he's setting games back at least 10 years. He's personally ackowledging that games as a medium can have no educative value.

It's not a terrorist simulator like certain news chains named after animals would make you believe, and it's not aimed at making a kid start a school shooting, however, it is being completely disrispectful towards the families who saw themselved affected by these events, it's treating a very serious subject with levity, and gives the idea that no game can treat a serious subject with the due respect, which is clearly what he believes, according to his positions on the California Bill.

His claims that he hopes that the California Bill passes are some of the most infuriating and ignorant words that ever came out of any "gamer"'s mouth. It is true that plenty of games are, at their core, dumb adrenaline-junky action, such as Bulletstorm, but I, as a person who has been playing for over 10 years, thought Bulletstorm was a dreadful game for that very same reason. By abiding by the idea that games are nothing but that, he's putting a rope on games, furthermore preventing that they evolve and become the fully fleshed artistic medium that interactive storytelling can be. This guy is an ignorant, machiavellian moron, and I can only wish that people outside of gaming communities don't believe that the offensive things he says with both his game and his words aren't actually speaking for everyone.


Additionaly, I don't see how anyone can find it fun to attack innocent NPCs who won't fight back, that persons' got some serious ethic issues.

 

[Bobic]

I'm not even wholly sure what to make of this all; nothing good, certainly, and whilst I accept he has the right to make this ...thing... it doesn't me he's right to do so.

You know, I don't mind the mod. It is not that much different from running over people in GTA. What I have a problem with is how little he cares for the medium, how little he cares for other people's opinions(especially the people who had to live through this stuff), and how much he just doesn't give a shit.

Just a damn disgrace. Thats fine if you don't want games to be more then mindless shooters devoid of anything interesting. But don't fuck it up for the people who want more out of it.

The asshole.

I will say only that the difference as I see it is that running over NPCs in GTA isn't the goal or purpose of the game, whereas this is build from the ground up to be about murdering children and innocents. At least in GTA, the goal was typically to kill other killers, or defend yourself from them.

As for the 'developer', I suspect he's just a teen kid, too absorbed in himself and his 'beef with society' to realise the scope of what he's doing; possibly.

But running over civilians for fun is something at least 90% of GTA players do for fun at some point (oh and in the original top down ones there were side missions where you were given a weapon and told to kill as many innocent people as possible). This guy's just making a game that appeals to that mindset. You may not enjoy it, that doesn't mean other people don't. You may be offended by it, that doesn't mean other people aren't. Remember those mothers that were appalled at dead space 2 claiming it to be made by psychotics and saying it's sick and wrong. This is the same, people just have different limits.

 

[Madara XIII]

This guy sounds like a sociopath, and that's not a term I use lightly. I feel sorry for him and everyone around him, because it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that this is going to explode into a firestorm of controversy.

This game just makes me feel uncomfortable and just something about it is down right disturbing.

Plus the guys defense didn't help all that much either.

How did you feel when you personally heard about Columbine or the Virginia Tech shootings?

"I think the media tried to cover it in a way that made the events more dramatic than they actually were. Even in my younger age, I saw right through most of it. The way the news victimized the victims and overplayed the evil of the shooters disgusted me more than the actual shootings themselves. The fact of the matter is, I never knew any of the victims, or anybody else who attended the schools. It affected me as much as hearing about the quakes in Haiti. Which is to say, not very much at all."

That's a very very very Dick thing to say. The guy sounds like he has little to no compassion for humanity.

 

[Ddgafd]

It's a shooter that takes place somewhere that's supposed to resemble a school. I really don't see the big problem. It's just a silly mod, not every single gamer ever is going to play it and/or enjoy it.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

This guy has a long and prosperous career in the EA Marketing department waiting for him.

It sounds like a silly game, and I want to see what will happen. While I don't like it my principles do not let me call for it to be banned.

 

[BabyRaptor]

Glenn Beck may well die from excitement.

Think about the net benefit to society if this were to happen. That may well be the one positive thing this game has going for it.

On topic, I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said better, so...

 

[Cousin_IT]

*insert comment about how I love to play all the latest "mature" games on the market but think this one is wrong for all sorts of reasons without any hint of irony or hypocrisy here*

 

[David_G]

I just want to say that I can't wait for this game to come out.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

His arguments and responses are sound but creating such a mod are just wrong. Horribly wrong.

Reading the interview, the dev appears to have some rather strong opinions about video games and the people who play them. Which is okay and his personal buisness.

He, however, also appears to be COMPLETLY incapable of reflection, considering other peoples viewpoints and emotions or even that he may actually be WRONG about something.

I.e. EXACTLY the type of person who could make such a game and really honestly believe that there is NOTHING wrong with it.

Without wishing to label people or judge people I haven't met he sounds like a text book sociopath. He is egocentric, unable to see how this events may have affected others as opposed to himself and appears to lack empathy.

Either that or hes trolling but even if he is, to troll in real life to this magnitude also suggests some form of emotion blunting.

Edit-Damn beaten to the punch. At least I know I'm not the only one who sees it.

This guy sounds like a sociopath, and that's not a term I use lightly. I feel sorry for him and everyone around him, because it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that this is going to explode into a firestorm of controversy.

 

[templargunman]

This game is wrong, it's mocking the deaths of students from various school shootings, it doesn't honor them the way that war games at least try to honor soldiers. It's wrong and it's disgusting. Would I care if it was monsters or zombies instead of students, no, because those are not humans and I don't care about them. Would I care if it was soldiers, no because those people have chosen to fight you. By making a game where you shoot defenseless students you mock the deaths of everyone at columbine and any other similar circumstances.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Sounds fucked up. Insulting everyone for the sake of insulting everyone? That doesn't sound appealing.