Poll: Would you watch gladiatorial combat?

Thaluikhain

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Hmmm...one could argue that a lot of people seem to view the news as this. Our side shooting the hell out of a caricature of some scary enemy. Woo! Cue Skyhooks.
 

Politrukk

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Xan Krieger said:
Welcome citizen, to the great city of Rome. The gladitorial games are about to start, would you care to join me? Today it's going to be men vs men, women vs women, and a few convicts are going to be mauled by wild animals, it's going to be a splendid show. What say you, friend?

OOC: If the concept of gladiators was revived would you watch it? For the sake of modern times it's only between willing participants. Personally I would, seen enough videos of people dying for me to figure my stomach would be strong enough.
You do know there's enough evidence to support that in the old times it wasn't to the death either right?


Ah and I find that if one can watch MMA gladiatorial combat should be equally fine.
 

SKBPinkie

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Um, no. Let me repeat - fuck no.

The fact that there seem to several folks here who are okay with this is astronomically creepy. Jesus Christ, I hope they're joking.
 

Thaluikhain

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Politrukk said:
Xan Krieger said:
Welcome citizen, to the great city of Rome. The gladitorial games are about to start, would you care to join me? Today it's going to be men vs men, women vs women, and a few convicts are going to be mauled by wild animals, it's going to be a splendid show. What say you, friend?

OOC: If the concept of gladiators was revived would you watch it? For the sake of modern times it's only between willing participants. Personally I would, seen enough videos of people dying for me to figure my stomach would be strong enough.
You do know there's enough evidence to support that in the old times it wasn't to the death either right?
Sometimes it was, sometimes it was not. Cheaper not to kill people off, but by the same token, when you are a rich Roman wanting to show off your wealth, you might well get lots of people killed.
 

kasperbbs

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I would probably ignore it like any other sport. Maybe i would watch a couple of matches for the sake of "omg, i can't believe this shit is legal".
 

K12

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I don't even like watching boxing so no. Watching someone getting beaten unconscious is bad but actually dying? Hell no.

Unfortunately I think the steps needed to make something it relatively safe enough would take all the fun out of watching it. No one wants to watch gladiatorial combat with blunted weapons and padding.

I'm perfectly happy with well choreographed but fictional fight scenes.
 

Gorrath

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If I were raised with the morality of the Romans, I would probably have enjoyed the arena immensely. I'm a big fan of combat sports now and was an amateur boxer myself. All in all, I imagine I'd be there just about every week if I could afford it, if not happy to get in the arena and get my hands dirty myself. I love weapons and armor and I love to fight.

That said, with my moral upbringing as it is, I'd find arena combat appalling when it came to maiming/killing. I like a good bout of MMA or boxing but only as an exhibition of fighting skill not for the injuries that are caused.
 

Phasmal

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Jun 10, 2011
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No, certainly not.

I like my violence in video-game form only, thanks. I'm not a violent person outside of games, and I don't like seeing people get hurt.
Not to mention I don't like seeing blood in real life, it makes me feel kind of weak. Pictures of blood don't do the same thing, which is strange.
 

JohnZ117

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Xan Krieger said:
OOC: If the concept of gladiators was revived would you watch it? For the sake of modern times it's only between willing participants. Personally I would, seen enough videos of people dying for me to figure my stomach would be strong enough.
Gladiatorial competition was entertainment that required little thought to understand and was implemented as a way to distract the masses from the real problems the empire would not or could not mend. We Already Have That. Baseball, American and real Football, the Olympics, way too much etc. have diverted attention so much that who gets to play is national news.
 

Lufia Erim

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Steve Waltz said:
Fuck no. Absolutely fuck no.

It?s kind of funny, considering that I?m the kind of guy that idolizes masculinity. Still, I?m not interested in watching people stab, mutilate, and murder each other. Really, I wouldn?t be able to watch those people cutting each other up, and I?m honestly surprised at all of those ?Yes? votes. I can watch fights fine, but watching people die for real isn?t my thing. Death, in my eyes, is a bad thing, and isn?t anything I can be entertained by.

However, movie and video game deaths are entertaining to me because it?s all fantasy; no one actually died. I know myself; I would get sad if someone dies in real life. Whether they died for entertainment, or died being a hero by saving someone from a fire, I would still feel bad if someone dies. However, when it comes to movies and video games, no one actually dies, so it?s not depressing at all. I can be entertained by that knowing that none of it is real.
You say that as if people don't kill and maime people anyways. People get killed all the time. From other people and animals. Hell people go out of their way to find this stuff online to watch it. It's not that big of a stretch to say people would go to a colloseum to watch legalized events.

Personally. It would depend on the participants. If it's feels like a one sided event I'll pass. But if it was actually equally skilled combatants, sure why not.
 

Wiggum Esquilax

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http://legvi.tripod.com/gladiators/id2.html

Depending on who you ask, between 1 in 10 to 1 in 9 gladiators died. Professional wrestling is damn near as dangerous (mild hyperbole). If we judge a sport only by it's death toll, the Roman games weren't quite as bad as generally perceived.

Mind you, I still wouldn't watch gladiatorial combat, as my abolitionist views would obstruct any enjoyment. As would my my dislike of displays of human barbarism. For me to watch it, so much would need to change that it may stop qualifying as gladiatorial combat.
 

Kevlar Eater

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Yeah, I'd watch it. Bloodlust needs to be satiated somehow, and digital bloodshed has gotten stale to me.
 

gigastar

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Sep 13, 2010
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Yeah, i think i would like to watch death row felons in a free for all melee for a chance... to do it again, i guess.

Fijiman said:
The only way I see gladiatorial combat making a comeback in this day and age is if it's robots beating the shit out of one another until one or the other no longer functions.
That was a thing for a while in both the UK and US.

UK version got canned after the execs were caught fixing matches. Dont know what happened to the US version.
 

Whispering Cynic

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Oh yes, yes I would. Watching people get mauled by wild beasts or fight each other to death sounds like my kind of fun. But I do have a bit of a sadistic streak so I don't expect people to understand or approve of this.
 

Lufia Erim

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Dynast Brass said:
Lufia Erim said:
Steve Waltz said:
Fuck no. Absolutely fuck no.

It?s kind of funny, considering that I?m the kind of guy that idolizes masculinity. Still, I?m not interested in watching people stab, mutilate, and murder each other. Really, I wouldn?t be able to watch those people cutting each other up, and I?m honestly surprised at all of those ?Yes? votes. I can watch fights fine, but watching people die for real isn?t my thing. Death, in my eyes, is a bad thing, and isn?t anything I can be entertained by.

However, movie and video game deaths are entertaining to me because it?s all fantasy; no one actually died. I know myself; I would get sad if someone dies in real life. Whether they died for entertainment, or died being a hero by saving someone from a fire, I would still feel bad if someone dies. However, when it comes to movies and video games, no one actually dies, so it?s not depressing at all. I can be entertained by that knowing that none of it is real.
You say that as if people don't kill and maime people anyways. People get killed all the time. From other people and animals. Hell people go out of their way to find this stuff online to watch it. It's not that big of a stretch to say people would go to a colloseum to watch legalized events.
I'm sorry, people trip and fall to their deaths every day too. Are you suggesting that tragic fact is an argument for televising that as a sport?
Have you seen what's on television these days? To be honest I'm surprised they haven't already.
 

Darth Rosenberg

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Of course not: barbarism is barbaric. I get the feeling some people are saying 'yes' just to appear rather controversially bolshy/edgy.

'Yeah, look at me! I'm well'ard, I'd watch people murder each other for sport!'.