Wow. The sheer idiocy of his letter fills me with contempt, but hopefully, if we ignore him, he'll go away.
Jack Thompson Threatens Gabe Newell Over School Shooter Mod
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
This is the image that springs to mind.
Gabe's sitting in his office, going through his mail. He reads this letter. Smirking slightly, he intercoms his secretary. "Betsy, are we publicly traded yet?"
"No sir, why do you ask?"
"Oh, no particular reason. Could you send Mr. Thompson a bouquet and my compliments? The card should read:
Gabe's sitting in his office, going through his mail. He reads this letter. Smirking slightly, he intercoms his secretary. "Betsy, are we publicly traded yet?"
"No sir, why do you ask?"
"Oh, no particular reason. Could you send Mr. Thompson a bouquet and my compliments? The card should read:
Got all that? Thanks, Betsy, make sure the starting letter of each line is ever so slightly larger than the rest of them." Gabe crumples the letter and tosses it into his massive Victorian fireplace, leans back in his chair, and chuckles slightly.
I love that he had the nerve to end a letter full of false claims and baseless assumptions with "I hate being right all the time".
The man is less balanced than your average cartoon/sitcom character, and it tickles me.
The man is less balanced than your average cartoon/sitcom character, and it tickles me.
Valve's response I know is going to be a very thought out and carefully worded response to Jack "Ratshit Crazy" Thompson. The guys making the mod on the other hand, I await for a wonderfully trollish response to pop up on the internet.
Can we just start ignoring Thompson please? Can there be a pact between all the major gaming sites that they won't talk about him so he'll finally just fade into obscurity?
Also, Half-Life a murder simulator? My memory's a bit fuzzy but don't you spend a majority of the game killing mutants and not people (save for the bits where the army comes crashing in)
Can we just start ignoring Thompson please? Can there be a pact between all the major gaming sites that they won't talk about him so he'll finally just fade into obscurity?
Also, Half-Life a murder simulator? My memory's a bit fuzzy but don't you spend a majority of the game killing mutants and not people (save for the bits where the army comes crashing in)
How about Valve doesn't do that, because they aren't dictatorial dicks like you, Jack? How is an FPS a training aid for school shootings.
A) A keyboard is not a gun, unless you're playing Typing of The Dead. If a person is training himself mentally to kill people, odds are he's already off his knocker and will do it anyway.
B) What training do you need? Here are the four easy steps to a school massacre:
1. Walk in with gun.
2. Shoot everything that moves.
3. ????
4. PROFIT!
A) A keyboard is not a gun, unless you're playing Typing of The Dead. If a person is training himself mentally to kill people, odds are he's already off his knocker and will do it anyway.
B) What training do you need? Here are the four easy steps to a school massacre:
1. Walk in with gun.
2. Shoot everything that moves.
3. ????
4. PROFIT!
While you're at it, why don't you blame the Wright brothers for the Sept. 11th attacks?
Ignorant prick.
Ignorant prick.
I am a member of the studio developing the mod in question, and I must disclose that we are trying to get in contact with Jack and explain to him that he has us, the mod, and the purpose behind it all wrong.
I'd explain the misjudgement he is making in more detail, but really this is between us and Mr. Thompson.
I'd explain the misjudgement he is making in more detail, but really this is between us and Mr. Thompson.
Didn't he blame the Virginia Tech shootings on Counter-Strike? If he's so right all the time why doesn't he remember what he said on national TV?
I think this argument should be presented to Jacko in it's entirety. He probably start spouting stuff about how Valve can control video games (I'm sorry murder simulators; y'know, because that's totally the point of every game ever made) because of Steam.Crimson_Dragoon said:
It got me wondering, since he brought up the VT killer as an example of someone who "trained" on Half-Life, did he read the police report that stated that investigation showed that the only game he owned was the original Sonic the Hedgehog? Or maybe those recent studies that showed that gaming was actually much more beneficial than harmful?
Hmmm, making up provably false statements and ignoring facts in order to bolster your argument and make it seem like you know what you're talking about...maybe he wasn't such a bad lawyer after all?
While I do believe violent video games can influence children at the very least to be apathetic to violence or suffering with a minority that actually pursues violence as a direct result. (If this were not the case then academic video games for kids would be just as useless) Outside of the criminally insane, this game will cause little harm to adults as these kind of things attract people with already present mental instabilities, not the other way around. But I conclude with saying just because you can do it or say it does not mean you should. Personally I think the mod should burn because it is purely tasteless, a fantasy no doubt for someone who experienced abuse in school. Understandable but not encouraged.
*falls over laughing* I love how Jack just keeps getting crazier. Basically, the letter says: "Your game is already a horrible murder simulator responsible for many deaths, but you need to stop it from becoming a really horrible murder simulator that emulates some of those deaths and may end up responsible for more! Or else... or else I'll do something! Yeah!"
I sincerely hope that Mr. Newell and Valve just throw this letter out and don't think for even a moment about listening to Thompson's insanity. I think the School Shooter mod is a pathetic plea for attention in a society that rewards tasteless behavior (Jersey Shore, anyone?), but it's still better than giving Jack Thompson any sort of validation whatsoever.
I sincerely hope that Mr. Newell and Valve just throw this letter out and don't think for even a moment about listening to Thompson's insanity. I think the School Shooter mod is a pathetic plea for attention in a society that rewards tasteless behavior (Jersey Shore, anyone?), but it's still better than giving Jack Thompson any sort of validation whatsoever.