Muslim Complaints Get Modern Warfare 2 Map Pulled

[Treblaine]

Does anyone think that the Muslims may get a degree of special treatment when it comes to things that offend them, due to the riots and such which were sparked off by that stupid video a few weeks back? And I'm not suggesting that Muslims are generally violent, just commenting on what the public perception may be for a while.

To illustrate my point, I can't see Smite getting altered to fit the demands of the Hindus, simply because I doubt there's a perception of the Hindus doing anything but complaining about it (which they have every right to do). However I doubt any publisher would dare create a game depicting Muhammad in the same light as the Hindu deities are in Smite.

Likewise, the tiny mistake of putting that picture in the wrong spot on that map, has prompted Activision to pull the map until the patch is out. Think about it... they haven't just said 'We'll make a patch and remove the texture', they've actually gone to the extent of pulling the map 'till the patch is ready.

It's almost like people are getting scared of offending the Muslims.

It's called mob rule.

If one guys comes to your house to beat you up, the police arrest him.

If 50 guys come to your house to beat you up, the police arrest YOU!

They'll charge you with some bullshit like "inciting hatred" even if it was inadvertent and hatred against yourself and get 3 months in prison as is all too common in the UK. It's not specially with Muslims, it's any large mob the police find it easier to side them them and carry out their retribution with abuse of laws to imprison people for being the victim of anger.

 

[karamazovnew]

Waaait a second... The kind of muslims that might get offended by such a minor overlook are the extremist ones, the ones who already don't have much love for the US military. So, the question I have to ask is... why on earth would THEY be playing COD MW2?! To learn the enemy's tactics? Why would they be playing games in the first place? Isn't there like a law or something against it? What's next? Nazi sympathizers asking for the cease of destroyed swastika portrayal?

I'm usually against discrimination, so in this case I'll just go with the theory that nobody complained or threatened with setting themselves on fire, but that Activision just wanted to avoid any trouble and took early action. But...

This is where "politically correctness" starts to show her fugly face. I'm gonna try my hardest not to refer to muslims, but to anyone who's the "I'm easily offended" type. Trying to be careful not to offend people in STUPID matters, makes you hate them. If I can not joke about you, I'll silently hate you. I'll watch in silence as your country gets raped. If you aren't about to behave like a human being, I'll stop treating you as one. If you want to be labeled as a "danger, danger, radioactive material, stay clear", fine by me. But don't come asking me to care when some natural disaster suddenly makes your angry stomach hungry. When I start to know you, you are a blank page. If you start to fill that page with crap, I'm gonna make fun of you. If THEN you start to get offended, I'll actually begin to silently hate you. That's the moment I'll start to be "politically correct". Oh, you want me to respect you? Work for it. That's how it works.

And now to islamists, surely there's got to be one of those extremist wackos reading this. One of those that went in the streets to complain about some shit movie and then trashed their own city, beat up their own police, set themselves on fire etc. etc. etc. Look morons, the reason your actions had any effects is not because we're scared, or even have the slightest respect. It's because unlike you, we care for human life. We don't want some texture to be responsible for somebody's car being burned, or a nice policeman getting a brick in his face. We're so sick of you tearing up your own countries, we're so sick of having TV always showing your righteous fury, that we'll just be the smart guys who back away from the kind of idiots who are a danger to themselves. If you still consider THAT a victory, then let me congratulate you whole heartedly on your achievement.

 

[Nickolai77]

From a business perspective, Infinity Ward did the right thing here. It hardly takes any effort on their part to briefly take the map out of circulation, issue a quick apology, edit out the Arabic text and put it back online again. Like it or not, a lot of Muslims do play Call of Duty, and regardless if you think it's rational or not, they're going to be offended and potentially not buy future COD games (or indeed, games published by Activision in general). Western gamers on the other hand, are still going to buy COD games even if they disagree with Infinity Ward appeasing Muslims.

Consider if Infinity Ward had refused to edit out the offensive text. From a PR perspective it makes them look pretty dickish because it's piss easy to re-edit the map. However yes, sometimes businesses should and will have to make a stand in favour of free speech, i just don't think it's worth the battle on this minor issue.

 

[GameMaNiAC]

Alright, Activision, listen up. I'm part of a the Zamolxianist gaming community, there's millions of us, and we are offended by your repetitive games that show little to no improvement year after year. We ask you to change this, or we will boycott your games.

Believe it or not, some people actually like the "repetitive games that show little to no improvement year after year".

The improvement is there, and it's visible to those who have played the games. You wouldn't hear people saying things such as "MW2 is better!" or "BO is better!" if they were truly all the same, would you? To the graphics whores, it does look all the same, that's true.

CoD follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it formula".

Also, WaW gave us Nazi Zombies, MW2 gave us Spec Ops mode, MW3 gave us Survival mode, BO2 gives us story choices and a strategy-like gamemode.

I apologize if I come off as hostile, but the ignorance people spew about CoD is disgusting. It's not a perfect series, but it isn't the devil of all things evil people say it is.

 

[The White Hunter]

Funny people- they don't mind that they are being killed in hundreds every day
But as soon as you somehow touch their book of fairy tales or their pedophile prophet- suddenly they are enraged
And you know what is the most fucked up thing in this? THEY ARE NOT ENRAGED, simply muslim elite uses such things as excuses to show their supposed superiority.
As if they have unique right to ***** and moan about every tiny thing they don't like and everyone else is supposed to simply accept it.

P.S. Friendly advice- don't read Koran, unless you are of strong mind, otherwise you'll get indoctrinated. I'm not kidding, even translated version is set in such way that it will change the way you are thinking, unless you keep your guard up.
P.P.S. Now I know how Illusive Man felt.

I read the Koran a few years back. Reminded me of the bible a lot to be honest, a thing designed to indoctrinate those of weak will and sense of self in order to control a populace that lacks the means to define itself as anything but servants to a mythical being.

OT: Meh, Favela is kinda shit anyway (the proof being that I'm a s hit COD player, I just can't run and gun, and I managed to hit 30 kills with no deaths by shotgun on that awful awful map...) and who the hell still plays MW2? I got to level 26 and jacked cuz I was bored.

BUt really the Muslims need to stiffen that upper lip and stop being so easily upset by everything. Here's the thing: religion does not grant you absolute power over everything everyone else does.

Your book says homosexuality is bad. I have many books that say otherwise.

Hang on there's a Billy Connolly clip for this:

2 mins is where it gets semi-relevant!
4:46 is the quote I was thinking of, but I don't know how to set a start point on here.

Well, I finally managed to get a grip on what actually was wrong with Koran
The non-stop repetition- as if muslims have extremely short attention span and they will forget that Allah is allmighty if they aren't being reminded of this every freaking verse (or every second). Also the way how verses are written (that is the best explanation I have, sorry).
Bible is slightly lighter on that
But I must admit that it might be question of cultural perspective.
I wasn't raised on Bible, but I knew more of it than of Koran.
But again, I went through Torah with as little difficulties as with Bible.
So it might be me? Something about my mind that reacts badly on Koran? It is possible (unlikely, but possible).

P.S. Also religion and pedophilia for some reasons goes hand-to-hand. What's with that? It is about time another prophet shows with a new set of commandments. One should be that you treat fellow person as you want to be treated yourself. And another- that you don't fuck anything younger than 16-18 years.

Yeah I got that reading it, it's like it's trying to hammer itself in your mind and hammer out logical and open thought. The other "holy" texts I've read come nowhere near as close to it in terms of that, discounting of course crap like the book of mormon.

 

[The White Hunter]

Alright, Activision, listen up. I'm part of a the Zamolxianist gaming community, there's millions of us, and we are offended by your repetitive games that show little to no improvement year after year. We ask you to change this, or we will boycott your games.

Believe it or not, some people actually like the "repetitive games that show little to no improvement year after year".

The improvement is there, and it's visible to those who have played the games. You wouldn't hear people saying things such as "MW2 is better!" or "BO is better!" if they were truly all the same, would you? To the graphics whores, it does look all the same, that's true.

CoD follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it formula".

Also, WaW gave us Nazi Zombies, MW2 gave us Spec Ops mode, MW3 gave us Survival mode, BO2 gives us story choices and a strategy-like gamemode.

I apologize if I come off as hostile, but the ignorance people spew about CoD is disgusting. It's not a perfect series, but it isn't the devil of all things evil people say it is.

My bigges problem with CoD is the overpriced DLC, elite was a pretty good deal though considering you got a lot of content thanks to survival mode using the same maps as multiplayer.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

I think I'm going to start saying I'm muslim, that way I can get whatever I want! That's apparently how it works.

Muslims: Get over yourselves and stop killing in the name of no one.
Christians: Get over yourselves and your fear of nature.
Jews: Stop trying to start WWIII.
Everyone Else: Why can't we be good people without ancient, symbolic, convuluted texts telling us to be good people, but KILL anyone who doesn't believe in the same book?

There's a cognitive dissonance there that I apparently can't comprehend...

This is why, to simplify the world, I feel I MUST lump all religious people together. Examples: Muslims rioting because of the Youtube video. I know it's not all of them, of course it isn't, but I have to assume they all have that in them, plus the bloody book says to do that! "kill the infidels" or whatever. I'm an infidel! If they all followed their book to the T, the world would be a lot more fucked up. Now, if you aren't following every word, why follow it? Why do you have to have these ancient fairy tales and confusing invisible figures and "faith" to be a good person? YOU DON'T! Let's get over this whole religion thing and move our species into its next phase.

 

[Imperius]

If I had been the developer for that map the picture would have been in the toilet with a fresh floater on top of it.

Seriously, this constant practice of attempting to appease religious groups, especially bloody Hajji's is getting really tiresome.

"Huuur durr I'm offended I want you to change game to accommodate me"

No. Fuck you, you little sandflea. Sit down, shut up and play the game. Or don't, honestly there are enough retarded kids in COD as it is.

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

At least this is a legit reason.

What no one seems too get is that there are No, zero, zip, zilch, depictions of the Prophet Mohammed in the Muslim world. They believe that any image of Prophet Mohammed might lead some too start worshiping the picture itself and not Allah. I do not blame them for this, in my Christian walk, I have seen people claiming to be Christians do some pretty stupid thing in Christs name (even though they are contradicting Christ by doing some of the stupid but I digress).

So I say, this is legit.

No it isn't.

What Muslims seem to not get is this: I'm not religious, I'm not in the Muslim world, so why should this affect me or the tens of millions of other gamers not in the Muslim world? If people in the Muslim world want to get offended, then they can and perhaps boycott that map.

This is the crux of the issue that pisses off people who are not religious (or at the very least non-Muslim) - the world shouldn't have to change around a bunch of people who get offended by something. It doesn't matter what it is - writing on a wall, a stupid movie, women's rights, Britney Spears - people are entitled to be offended if they wish, just as everyone else is entitled to not care and not have someone else's offense affect their lives.

OK, I was going too use women's rights as a good example of tolerance but no, In your world women (or anyone else for that matter) have no right to complain about being offended.

LOL BAD RAPE-JOKE. Nope, by your logic, I can not tell you that joke is wildly offensive and you should learn sensitivity.

By your crazy logic Dr. Martin Luther King JR. should have just kept his opinions too himself and not try too change the world into one without racism.

Even better, By your insanity filled logic, the Abolitionist (those who fought too end Slavery in the US because Enslaving other humans is a sin) had NO RIGHT too talk back too those poor people in the Confederacy about how horrible and offensive slavery was.

After reading your, intolerance is great, logic I am going too go get a Beer and console the Founding Fathers of America, who I hear rolling over in their graves.

You're confusing crime (rape) with ideology. Although I suppose you could argue that if someone 'believes in' rape (what an awful thought) then that is an ideological argument too and, therefore, my post implies you don't have to be offended by it.

But anyway (head now spinning)... you're misunderstanding my point by saying I'm promoting intolerance. I'm not. If people want to get offended over some ideological idea from thousands of years ago, that's their right. I'm not stopping them. I just don't want the offended people to expect everyone else to be offended or even agree with them. It's totally subjective and it is your right to be offended. It's other people's right to disagree and/or not care.

I am still not following. So by your logic I have no right too protest an injustice I see in the world, in hopes of peacefully changing peoples minds, Like Saint Martin Luther King JR? I, voicing my opinion in a free and open America, have no right to tell every one I see about this blatantly racist/sexist/homophobic/antisemitism/anti-chistian/just-plain-intolerant thing, in hopes that people will wake up and say,

"You know words are very hurtful, they do emotional damage to people. I did not realize that my views on this were oppressing and generating bad stereotypes. I will work to make myself better because of it."

You are not alone in your little world. Your words and actions affect people around you, even without you realizing it. Words can hurt someone just as badly as a knife. I have seen it, a persons spirit crushed by hateful words and and disgusting images. I will not stand by a say nothing, I will speak for tolerance.

I haven't once said you have no right to do anything. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. You can get offended about whatever you like, but you shouldn't expect other people to agree or even care. If they do, great. If they don't then you can't impose your opinion on other people.

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

I think I'm going to start saying I'm muslim, that way I can get whatever I want! That's apparently how it works.

Muslims: Get over yourselves and stop killing in the name of no one.
Christians: Get over yourselves and your fear of nature.
Jews: Stop trying to start WWIII.
Everyone Else: Why can't we be good people without ancient, symbolic, convuluted texts telling us to be good people, but KILL anyone who doesn't believe in the same book?

There's a cognitive dissonance there that I apparently can't comprehend...

This is why, to simplify the world, I feel I MUST lump all religious people together. Examples: Muslims rioting because of the Youtube video. I know it's not all of them, of course it isn't, but I have to assume they all have that in them, plus the bloody book says to do that! "kill the infidels" or whatever. I'm an infidel! If they all followed their book to the T, the world would be a lot more fucked up. Now, if you aren't following every word, why follow it? Why do you have to have these ancient fairy tales and confusing invisible figures and "faith" to be a good person? YOU DON'T! Let's get over this whole religion thing and move our species into its next phase.

100% agree.

 

[Lopende Paddo]

I wonder.. If i make a game where you can encounter the pope shitting in the woods and my future profit was partly dependent on Ireland would i pull that detail?

also, cod sucks moving on...

EDIT: also religion sucks... now really moving on...

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

I really don't understand why the Muslim's are upset over a painting saying "Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty". Did they misspell Allah, is this insulting? I just don't fucking get it!

Because the painting is in a bathroom which is considered disrespectful. There are a lot of rules on being respectful in Islam and a lot of the religion is geared around it. You don't put religious text in bathrooms and you don't let your Koran touch the ground. They also have signs of respect that are not always observed nor required to be, such as the wearing of burqas and the refusal to depict images of the prophets of Islam(which technically includes depictions Jesus.)

Hang on a second, what about sacrilegious Christian imagery in games? Doom, Quake, Silent Hill? Images potentially offensive to Christians (Inverted crosses, satanic symbols desecration of churches etc.) has been happening for ages.

Yes and Christians bitched about Doom and Quake. But id does not give a shit.

Unfortunately I don't believe that this kind of incident portrays the Muslim community in a good light.

Why? Pretty much every group with millions of members is going to make complaints like that. And Islam has 1.5 billion members. He doesn't seem like hes flipping out over it at all either, considering that it's an important part of his life and religion.

I see no problem with their fixing the map, though if I was the CEO of Infinity Ward I likely wouldn't have pulled the map but simply posted a message saying that it would be fixed in subsequent patches. If for no other reason than because it's inaccurate.

 

[Tomeran]

Im not sure what's worse.

That some muslims are actually angry over this?
(Tolerance levels have truly reached zero)

That some people draw parallels between the ones that are angry(a very VERY small number) and the ENTIRE FRIGGING RELIGION?!
(I mean, COME ON! You think it was entire nation populations that protested against the movie too?)

...or that Activision actually withdrew the entire map. A chickenshit move by all accounts, and not to mention stupid since you could..you know..just remove the little thing in the bathroom instead of the entire map?
(Just...*facepalm*)

 

[UltraXan]

Think about it... they haven't just said 'We'll make a patch and remove the texture', they've actually gone to the extent of pulling the map 'till the patch is ready.

It's almost like people are getting scared of offending the Muslims.

Yeah, I've noticed that too. That video a while back went and pissed them off, and I even read about a scenario in The God Delusion where a bunch of cartoons were drawn in Denmark. There were 12 originals (from independent artists) that were put in a newspaper, but 3 more that were depicting Mohammed or something were added on top of that. I haven't read up on what happened there in a while, but if I remember correctly, those 3 were drawn by people in Egypt and added to those original 12. Naturally, Muslims in the middle-east flipped the fuck out. They then demanded an apology from Denmark's government. HOWEVER, their government didn't even know those cartoons existed. Like Dawkins said in the book, the Muslims there seem to have some misconception that anything offensive that comes from another country was created by their government on purpose. Why do they think that? A plausible answer is that they don't really understand the concept of other countries having free-speech and a free press, so the thought that the offensive material was posted by independents never really comes to mind.

Now to the point I wanted to make: It seems that Muslims are being regarded as that "emo kid" in a school where the teachers are doing everything they can to make him happy or not piss him off for fear of another 9/11. Should Muslims be offended by THAT? They probably should, but then again, it's kinda their fault for flipping their shit every. single. time.

 

[Thyunda]

Now to the point I wanted to make: It seems that Muslims are being regarded as that "emo kid" in a school where the teachers are doing everything they can to make him happy or not piss him off for fear of another 9/11.

I think you got your analogies mixed up a little bit.

 

[duchaked]

oh good grief the new South Park RPG will probably have an RPG toting Jesus Christ NPS who ironically needs to be rescued at one point and no one's gonna bat an eye about that

but speaking of Favella...back when I actually touched CoD MP (just a little bit), that was the MP level where I got my butt kicked the hardest >:[ loll