Poll: Reward for suffering?

[fix-the-spade]

Reward for suffering, that pretty much defines life.

So yes, of course it's ethical.

 

[Z4N5H1N]

As many have already stated, it's completely unreasonable to say anything that people partake of voluntarily is "unethical" on the part of the provider. No one is making you play WoW and grind through hours of boring crap, you are choosing to do so because for whatever reason you think it's worth it. If people buy games that make you "suffer", developers will make them. Welcome to free market capitalism.

Easy counter argument to that. Drugs.
People partake of it voluntarily too, and most people would call the distribution of the stuff unethical.

1. Videogames have no physically addictive properties, and you cannot become physically dependant on them.
2. Distribution of videogames is not surrounded by gang-violence and prositution.
3. Videogames do not make people enter an altered state in which they become dangerous.
4. As a result of reasons 1 and 3, drugs are illegal, and thus so is selling them. They are not illegal because they are "unethical", then are illegal because of the very concrete and devastating damage they do to society at large when frequent usage occurs. The same cannot be said for videogames.

 

[Z4N5H1N]

1. My argument still holds. Are you saying you can't be addicted to games? You're original statement was something along the lines of voluntary consumption and free capitalism. How is it free if drugs are restricted?
2. Distribution of drugs doesn't have to be either, but many, many people try to stop it from happening, even if it would be regulated.
3. Oh, I'd disagree with that, from personal experience at the least.
4. Unethical is a subjective opinion. Many people do think it's "unethical". Is the damage not mostly because of the fact it's not legalized in the first place? The current system puts the economic power in the drug industry behind criminals, if we were to legalize it, we'd destroy the entire system wouldn't we?

You can't be addicted to games any more than you can be addicted to eating bananas or brushing your teeth. Any repetitive habit becomes psychologically addictive over time, regardless of what it is. Again, this is why drugs and videogames are not comparable. The addiction you acquire from drug use is not the same at all. It is a physical dependency, and cannot be stopped by willpower alone. The reason selling drugs is unethical is because it's entirely possible for someone who is unaware of the dangers to do it once and be fucked for life. In this sense, it's not a "voluntary" addiction at all; the person did not purchase the substance whilst knowing the side effects. Videogames are ethical regardless of their content, because they are only consumed voluntarily, can be quit at any time, and don't do any physical damage to you.

Drugs and videogames are not even close to being a reasonable parallel, especially when discussing ethical distribution.

 

[Knight Templar]

Ethical, or moral?

 

[Specter_]

Its not suffering, children in Africa suffer, gamers don't.
Sure grinding and farming can be boring, but you still enjoy the graphics and the gameplay. If WoW wasn't enjoyable noone would play it no matter how high is the number next to the word "damage" on a sword that's waiting for them.

but all of that time spent doing that I could probably invest in some scrap material and make my own armor.... then run around on nature bike trails and look like a raving idiot.

...That would be awesome...

Quoted for truth.

 

[ThePlasmatizer]

Do people actually find grinding enjoyable?

I severely dislike games that focus on grinding as the main source of "fun", why? because it's not worth the time and the difficulty of achieving a reward shouldn't be the amount of time put into grinding for it.
If that's the case with a game, it's not a game, it's a POW camp.

It reminds me of gamblers with a slot machine addiction who think the next one will be the jackpot, eventually they will get a payout but was it worth the time and effort spent?

 

[Phase_9]

I feel that a game should sink or swim on the merit of it's gameplay, and that doing well should not hinge on being able to sacrifice your social life to the game. That isn't a clever way to make the game accessible to more people, it's a cheap way to get people to keep paying a monthly subscription.

 

[kdragon1010]

I played Ninja Gaiden till my thumbs ached for days and my eyes felt like someone had washed them with sandpaper. No one forced me to do it. When I beat it I felt really good. So no its not unethical.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

Surely it's the basis of most things? The average job for example, you work longs hours, doing somethin you don't enjoy but at the end of the month, you get rewarded, so you come back.
I can't say I agree with the system, but it's just how things work, does that make it ethical?