Mortal Kombat Devs traumatised by creating the gore in the game

[sXeth]

Ugh...Kotaku.

Can you actually point out any factual errors in their article? If not I?m going to have to ask you to actually contribute to the thread.

OT: The more I hear about the Mortal Kombat studio, the more I?m glad I have no interest in their games. I really don?t want to support their behavior.

I am just amazed people still posting Kotaku after they have been exposed as a yellow journalist/clickbait article website. This whole article reads like vacuous clickbait.

Yeah except the site does do fairly good investigative journalism, as seen with the whole Anthem incident. Again, if you want to ignore the article, please prove it wrong. Also don't confuse "they have been exposed as yellow journalism" with "I think they're yellow journalism."

I dunno how you prove an unverified anonymous single sources alleged history wrong.

Like sure, it can't be proven wrong, because there's nothing proving it right either.

The over-the-top ridiculous cartoon level MK violence, as "realistic" as they make it try and look texture wise or liquid physics, certainly doesn't hint to much practical research in the vein they're describing.


Kotaku being clickbaity as hell is pretty prominent. Not 100%, but they play pretty fast and loose with the details. I can't say much on the accuracy of the worker welfare reports, but there's been more then a few times they've printed unverified nonsense or actually provably inaccurate nonsense about games I was very familiar with (The ever-spiralling Fallout 76 saga for instance. Which had enough legitimate things to critique that it was insane that they would just make random stuff up, or source "community speculation" from a single dudes reddit post)

 

[Worgen]

Ugh...Kotaku.

Can you actually point out any factual errors in their article? If not I?m going to have to ask you to actually contribute to the thread.

OT: The more I hear about the Mortal Kombat studio, the more I?m glad I have no interest in their games. I really don?t want to support their behavior.

I am just amazed people still posting Kotaku after they have been exposed as a yellow journalist/clickbait article website. This whole article reads like vacuous clickbait.

Yeah except the site does do fairly good investigative journalism, as seen with the whole Anthem incident. Again, if you want to ignore the article, please prove it wrong. Also don't confuse "they have been exposed as yellow journalism" with "I think they're yellow journalism."

I dunno how you prove an unverified anonymous single sources alleged history wrong.

Like sure, it can't be proven wrong, because there's nothing proving it right either.

The over-the-top ridiculous cartoon level MK violence, as "realistic" as they make it try and look texture wise or liquid physics, certainly doesn't hint to much practical research in the vein they're describing.


Kotaku being clickbaity as hell is pretty prominent. Not 100%, but they play pretty fast and loose with the details. I can't say much on the accuracy of the worker welfare reports, but there's been more then a few times they've printed unverified nonsense or actually provably inaccurate nonsense about games I was very familiar with (The ever-spiralling Fallout 76 saga for instance. Which had enough legitimate things to critique that it was insane that they would just make random stuff up, or source "community speculation" from a single dudes reddit post)

Can you link some of their click baity articles and tell us how they are different from the ones on this site?

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

My apologies. I have little patience for someone who regularly has overwhelming opinions based off of what other people said on Youtube. And who in general just has a bad tendency to not want games he likes to be criticized.

But frankly, dismissing Kotaku out of hand is relatively short sighting considering they do still put out good stuff, considering the Anthem article recently.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Seems it?s tough to find balanced perspective in anything lately. It?s always a case of extremes to garner a favorable or sympathetic reaction from as many eyes and ears as possible to feel validated.

Is the idea of watching gore for videogame or movie research disturbing? Sure.

Is it really more disturbing than the actual jobs of people who have to deal with such content (trauma surgeons, CSI?s, coroners, slaughter houses, basically any of these for starters [https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/10-of-the-scariest-jobs-in-america], etc.) in their everyday occupation, hands on?

*raises eyebrow*

There are significant support apparatus available to those people. They're also jobs we have long had in society in one form or another and have long observed the effects they have on their number. If I was making video games - even Mortal Kombat - I would not expect to see real life material that would serve as a base for any of the outrageous shit that goes on in that game. And if it became part of it, I'd also expect the company to brief and debrief me accordingly.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Not to mention that that the physical and mental stress of crunch can augment the psychic damage that constantly watching material can do. There's a reason that mental and physical exhaustion is a key component of brainwashing.

Imagine somebody being brainwashed by watching people being executed and animals being slaughtered. That's pretty horrific.

This sounds like a load of bogusness to me. You sign up for a job like Mortal Kombat, you know what you are working on, you know what the job is gonna entail. There should be some aspect of having to deal with some sort research in regards to the job. This job happens to deal with gore, and maybe you might have to check out gore or horror movies in order to gleam ideas for how to make the violence in the game have impact and meaning.

I can watch every Hellraiser movie in a row and the most damage I take is from most of them being shit. Saw one dude getting IRL executed and it fucked me up. Because one is fake and one is real, and I can tell the difference.

Seems it's tough to find balanced perspective in anything lately. It's always a case of extremes to garner a favorable or sympathetic reaction from as many eyes and ears as possible to feel validated.

Is the idea of watching gore for videogame or movie research disturbing? Sure.

Is it really more disturbing than the actual jobs of people who have to deal with such content (trauma surgeons, CSI?s, coroners, slaughter houses, basically any of these for starters [https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/10-of-the-scariest-jobs-in-america], etc.) in their everyday occupation, hands on?

*raises eyebrow*

Are we ignoring the substance abuse and PTSD found in trauma surgeons, first responders, soldiers, etc? Because that's also kind of a massive problem we have a hard time dealing with.

 

[BrawlMan]

Snip

Razorfist? Dude, you gotta stop letting Youtube forming your opinions.

That explains so much about Sam. Razorfist is just a worst version of MovieBob that's a hardcore know-nothing-know-it-all conservative. Two sides of the same coin. As for the devs, they're taking so much abuse, it's ridiculous. While still despise Kotaku, I will say they sound truthful. If this does indeed to be true, count me out from buying anything from WB/Netherealms ever again. Especially the fucking crunch periods. Honestly, there should be law suits up the ass right now.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Most people can't idly quit their jobs you know.

Game development is a lucrative market, if you work on games like Mortal Kombat I'm sure you can find a job elsewhere.

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Yeah, they're not "holding a gun to their head"...

If these accusations are correct they probably had to watch real-life people with a gun to their head.. and then the trigger getting pulled.

They could've said ''no thanks''.

 

[Erttheking]

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Most people can't idly quit their jobs you know.

Game development is a lucrative market, if you work on games like Mortal Kombat I'm sure you can find a job elsewhere.

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Yeah, they're not "holding a gun to their head"...

If these accusations are correct they probably had to watch real-life people with a gun to their head.. and then the trigger getting pulled.

They could've said ''no thanks''.

And you can tell there?s openings in their areas...how?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Yeah, they're not "holding a gun to their head"...

If these accusations are correct they probably had to watch real-life people with a gun to their head.. and then the trigger getting pulled.

They could've said ''no thanks''.

Sure, but the ones in charge could've opted to just not have it be part of the assignment (if that is how it went). Working on a violent game, but having big problems with real-life depictions of violence is probably not the easiest thing to bring up when the upper management tells you to go watch some. It just puts that person in an awkward position, when the ones in charge should've anticipated that having their devs watch actual hangings might result in them being a bit uncomfortable with it.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Is the idea of watching gore for videogame or movie research disturbing? Sure.

Is it really more disturbing than the actual jobs of people who have to deal with such content (trauma surgeons, CSI?s, coroners, slaughter houses, basically any of these for starters [https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/10-of-the-scariest-jobs-in-america], etc.) in their everyday occupation, hands on?

*raises eyebrow*

So I'm a nurse, I work in a PICU (psychiatric intensive care unit). Sufficient to say is that my work can get pretty hairy at times, from severe cases of self-harm to patients attacking staff physically or psychologically. As others have said, we have systems in place to deal with this. We have counseling, we have debriefs, we have routines for preparing for and minimizing risks, we have recurring training, we have introduction programs to make people ready for the risks and dangers. And we have a workplace atmosphere that allows for the venting of negative emotions as they occur, via colleague to colleague talks, others covering for someone who's pushed to the limit and an openness about how tough the job can be.

I doubt Netherrealms had all of that in place for the people who had to watch videos of animal slaughter for hours on end. And even if they did, there's a significant different in mindset when I have to stop someone from cutting open their arms to save their life or have to start brawling with someone who attacks a co-worker compared to someone who has to watch ISIS videos to make animations in a video game as realistically gruesome as possible. I can see that what I do is to save lives and help people get better, which does a lot to help you cope with gore, violence and threats. I doubt someone at Netherrealms went home and was like "Yeah, watching 2 hours of beheading videos is really bad, but it will be so worth it when someone on Reddit compliments Kitana's fatality animation!"

 

[WindKnight]

Just gonna throw this [https://www.reddit.com/r/MortalKombat/comments/bmpjvm/a_guy_had_his_elderly_parents_react_to_mk11/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app] out there for reference and the hell of it.

I didn?t notice the embroidery on the wall either until someone pointed it out - LMAO.

 

[CaitSeith]

Bring back Babality and Friendship moves.

Also this.

 

[WindKnight]

Is the idea of watching gore for videogame or movie research disturbing? Sure.

Is it really more disturbing than the actual jobs of people who have to deal with such content (trauma surgeons, CSI?s, coroners, slaughter houses, basically any of these for starters [https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/10-of-the-scariest-jobs-in-america], etc.) in their everyday occupation, hands on?

*raises eyebrow*

Is that claim being made though? Because it's not.

When you're made to watch executions and other disturbing things for your job when there's zero need for it, than that's a tad questionable to say the least. And I don't think it's too much a of stretch that, for some people who really didn't expect this from their job, it might have a bit of an impact.

^That.

The issue as I see it is not whether it is more disturbing then those jobs, but rather that this was not necessary, and it was not an understood part of the position.

Would it be ok if a kindergarten teacher was forced to watch the same horrific videos? I would say no, their job does not require it, so it would be cruel to put them through that.

EMTs/Nurses/Etc have it as a necessary and understood part of their position.

Kindergarten teacher is a stretch of a comparison don?t you think? They should be diametrically opposed to violent content of any kind. I mean, MK isn?t the only violent game series around by any means, and arguably not even the most violent. But, just like sound designers use lots of different reference material to create distinct and authentic sounding samples, or environmental artists go on location to get a feel for the worlds they create, what would people be expected to use for creating some of MK?s most detailed finishing moves? You can only do so much with fruit.

At the end of the day, it seems like most people there might?ve been taken aback a bit when given the request for using gory reference materials as part of their job, but again...Netherrealm and MK are infamously known for this content and most seem to have accepted it in stride. Everyone in the studio is encouraged to pitch ideas for new finishers to the point it?s actually a part of the development culture. The series notably specializes in inventively detailed death sequences in increasingly graphic fashion given the advancements in visual tech. It was bound to get to that point unless they flat out cut that aspect or did it half-assed.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Snip

Razorfist? Dude, you gotta stop letting Youtube forming your opinions.

That explains so much about Sam. Razorfist is just a worst version of MovieBob that's a hardcore know-nothing-know-it-all conservative. Two sides of the same coin. As for the devs, they're taking so much abuse, it's ridiculous. While still despise Kotaku, I will say they sound truthful. If this does indeed to be true, count me out from buying anything from WB/Netherealms ever again. Especially the fucking crunch periods. Honestly, there should be law suits up the ass right now.

I would like to put into record that I don't religious follow Razorfist all the time. And don't agree with everything he says.


And also Mortal Kombat 11 is a good game and you are missing out.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Most people can't idly quit their jobs you know.

Game development is a lucrative market, if you work on games like Mortal Kombat I'm sure you can find a job elsewhere.

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Yeah, they're not "holding a gun to their head"...

If these accusations are correct they probably had to watch real-life people with a gun to their head.. and then the trigger getting pulled.

They could've said ''no thanks''.

And you can tell there?s openings in their areas...how?

Having to watch people get murdered and get traumatized or not was their option. I very much doubt they either had to watch snuff films or move to Alaska/turn homeless.

I mean, no one is forcing these people to work on Mortal Kombat games.

Yeah, they're not "holding a gun to their head"...

If these accusations are correct they probably had to watch real-life people with a gun to their head.. and then the trigger getting pulled.

They could've said ''no thanks''.

Sure, but the ones in charge could've opted to just not have it be part of the assignment (if that is how it went). Working on a violent game, but having big problems with real-life depictions of violence is probably not the easiest thing to bring up when the upper management tells you to go watch some. It just puts that person in an awkward position, when the ones in charge should've anticipated that having their devs watch actual hangings might result in them being a bit uncomfortable with it.

Really? Would people that high up in the gaming industry not believe someone when they say they're fine with video game gore but not gore in real life? Sounds very strange to me. Sounds like they don't know the difference between a video game and real life.

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

Can't help but notice you were dismissive of my question instead of answering it. Tell me. Are you aware of any developers near NetherRealms Studios that are hiring?

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

Well it's Mortal Kombat what are you going to expect when you take the jo...

At one point its mentioned that part of the research for the work included watching videos of executions, and animals being slaughtered,

Holy shit! Watching real violence is a lot harder to stomach then fake gore. Who thought this was a good idea?

Also is it just me or is Kotaku just pumping out these inside reports on game development. They've been exposing so much ever since they publish that riot article.

This is probably some of the best investigation journalism I've seen in my life and it's from Kotaku. What is this world?

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Well it's Mortal Kombat what are you going to expect when you take the jo...

At one point its mentioned that part of the research for the work included watching videos of executions, and animals being slaughtered,

Holy shit! Watching real violence is a lot harder to stomach then fake gore. Who thought this was a good idea?

Also is it just me or is Kotaku just pumping out these inside reports on game development. They've been exposing so much ever since they publish that riot article.

This is probably some of the best investigation journalism I've seen in my life and it's from Kotaku. What is this world?

Ok I call into question being forced to see animals getting slaughtered because:

1. We are not necessarily committing fatalities on cats and dogs here.

2. How long have NetherRealm been doing this?

 

[residentout1]

Well it's Mortal Kombat what are you going to expect when you take the jo...

At one point its mentioned that part of the research for the work included watching videos of executions, and animals being slaughtered,

Holy shit! Watching real violence is a lot harder to stomach then fake gore. Who thought this was a good idea?

Also is it just me or is Kotaku just pumping out these inside reports on game development. They've been exposing so much ever since they publish that riot article.

This is probably some of the best investigation journalism I've seen in my life and it's from Kotaku. What is this world?

Ok I call into question being forced to see animals getting slaughtered because:

1. We are not necessarily committing fatalities on cats and dogs here.

2. How long have NetherRealm been doing this?

I don't think this it new to the game industry i think valve try to do something like this for Left 4 dead were they look at car accident victims to get the zombies right. It may not have been valve but i do remember hearing dev commentary talking about this.

 

[I can't enter my old name]

I don't think this it new to the game industry i think valve try to do something like this for Left 4 dead were they look at car accident victims to get the zombies right. It may not have been valve but i do remember hearing dev commentary talking about this.

Did anyone else have to watch those car accident education videos in driving school? The ones with the victims with their brains on the ground and head splattered and stuff like that?

I thought that was a normal thing in the US, kind of weird now that I've read this thread.