So, why do we need trigger warnings in video games...

[Rebel_Raven]

... That's not a trigger warning, IMO.

Then what does constitute a trigger warning? I'm genuinely curious. I mean without specifically stating on the cover, detailed information about a scene in the game (eg: Warning, this game includes a scene where the female protagonist is violently assaulted, and threatened with rape), what can they put on the game to constitute a trigger warning?

Strong Sexual Content
Violence

Those 2 vague terms seem, to me at least, to give a general warning of what you might expect, without spoiling the game itself.

So what should game devs do to satisfy the need for a trigger warning, and just what is the definition of one. Because it seems that they can't satisfy the public's request for a trigger warning, without actually knowing what would constitute one.

I personally think the content warnings is sufficient, but that's just me. And I don't see any way to be more specific without spoiling the game. And frankly, I don't think the devs are responsible for how people react to their product on such a broad level. From my personal experience with people suffering from PTSD and other disorders, just about anything could trigger them. Hell on this site alone, I made a very random, benign comment about a totally safe and neutral subject, but it triggered something else in the other person, because it reminded them of something else, which then reminded them of the issue that gives them anxiety, and caused a panic attack. There's just no way to predict it, and thus, no real way to prepare for every possible scenario.

I mean hell, if most people are even slightly like me, and have a very tangential brain, then you can end up being reminded of all kinds of things from the most random stimulus. And it's impractical to assume a company can preface everything. Maybe just seeing someone driving in a car might trigger you, because you remember being in the backseat on the right hand side, looking out the window, and someone hit your family. And that scene in X game where the protagonist is sitting in the back seat triggers you. Do we warn against "Driving content" now? There's just no way to know what can trigger someone. I remember seeing someone on youtube, who has a disorder where they are obsessive about hair, and wanting to get rid of it I think? I'm honestly not 100% on this, but it seems that the condition makes a person be repulsed by their body hair, and want to remove it, sometimes to extreme measures. And she was talking about how an episode of Doctor Who triggered her, because the Doctor plucked a hair out of his companions head, and the show made a big scene about it. And it triggered her. There's just so many different things.

I mean, there was a very good, multipart article on this very site about triggers and games, the author even mentioned how sometimes triggers can trigger an episode. "Warning, this content includes depictions of rape" Well great, now someone is reminded of their own incident of rape, and have been triggered. That's right, the warning intended to help prevent episodes, can sometimes cause the episodes.

So yeah, I don't really know what game developers could do that would satisfy this issue. It's complicated and muddy, and something that I think is ultimately futile on their part to try and resolve.

It's not a trigger warning because it wasn't designed as such, but I'm not saying there's no overlap. It's like looking at the ingredients list on a food pack for shellfish, or peanuts because of allergies. It's not really there to tell you that it's a potential danger, it's there to tell you more about what you're buying.

What does constitute a trigger warning? The tone of the media, IMO. CoD, and Battlefield are going to involve shooting people, and War. Fallout's going to have a similar tone.
My Little pony is going to have pastel equines of assorted natures.

Honestly, I'd put the responsibility more on the buyer than anything. If there's concern, you gotta research the game same as anyone else. I mean one of the first things I wonder is about character creation, so I research like I figure a responsible purchaser should.
Putting a detailed list runs the risk of spoilers, so people might not even look for better, or worse.
The general tone of the piece of media can help decisions on if it's a good thin to watch, or not. Call of Duty is pretty obviously a military shooter.
Grand Theft Auto is basically about crime.
Teenage Mutant Ninja(hero for some parts of the world) Turtles is obviously about humanoid turtles fighting heroically.
A lot of games are as advertised. Going to see Mad Max Fury Road expecting for a romantic comedy is kinda really ignoring all the signs.

There's not a whole lot that can be done to cover the potential trigger warnings, IMO. I mean I've noticed atypical, not T&A, potentially positive female role models triggering people screaming about SJWs, pandering to minorities, and Feminism, and Tumbler, and stuff like that. Some of it gets kinda insane, like one facebook post I saw that hoped Rey from the Force Awakens wouldn't turn out a lesbian like Korra from Avatar to paraphrase.
Or a Black Storm trooper doing much the same.
Can't trigger warning stuff like that, can we?

Basically I agree that it's not something we can readily do when almost anything could be a trigger. They're open about what a game is, and that's about all I can ask of them. The rest is up to responsible consumers that care about what they see, IMO.

 

[Something Amyss]

So first you accuse me of twisting your words to make a comparison you didn't make, and then you do the same to me.

Nope. I did not say you were the one saying that. Especially since you were the one who quoted me. You weren't even part of the equation before that.

I didn't say that having fiction spoiled was a "bigger deal".

This is the equivalent of #notallmen. And it ignores the context of the first post you quoted.

Funny, I don't remember being told that

Spoiler

Vader is Luke's Father

at the start of "A New Hope".

Just as I don't remember that being the only thing to happen in Star Wars. I notice you didn't touch upon B5, though.

That's because, in recent years, people have been claiming PTSD for increasingly broad (and frankly, absurd) reasons. You say that this is a "cop-out". If so, then it's not only inevitable, but those demanding "Trigger warnings" have only themselves blame for it. They're the ones that have been making "triggers" and "PTSD" less and less clearly defined.

Because it is a cop-out. The argument that broad, vague, ambiguous people are to blame for devaluing PTSD is exactly the sort of thing you seem to be against--well, against when it's claimed in favour of it.

Besides, how can posters prove that they have PTSD, and that another poster triggered it? How would the mods enforce such a rule without turning it into a mechanism for posters to ban any other posters they don't like by simply claiming "Triggered!"? Spoiling fiction is something that's straightforward and obvious to see. Not so with PTSD.

Slippery slope fallacy aside, treating such things with the same gravity we afford the sacred spoiler warning would be a fairly innocuous move. And it doesn't seem unreasonable or in any way a gateway to a chain of bans. No more than any other system on any other site has the potential for abuse, anyway.

You'll also find that spoilers have taken on an increasingly broader definition over the years, to the point people cry "spoiler!" at things which are on the back of the box, in the description of the work, or in the trailer/preview/whatever. Sound familiar?

It's not a trigger warning because it wasn't designed as such, but I'm not saying there's no overlap. It's like looking at the ingredients list on a food pack for shellfish, or peanuts because of allergies. It's not really there to tell you that it's a potential danger, it's there to tell you more about what you're buying.

Speaking of being an informed consumer, have you looked at the ESRB's site? I'll link to a recent example of a game, Rise of the Tomb Raider:

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34057&Title=Rise+of+the+Tomb+Raider

What do you think?

The synopsis involved does not contain anything I would consider spoilers but does provide more detailed information which I think would better inform the consumer as to what they specifically are buying into. I mean, it's not particularly a "trigger warning," but it lets you know roughly what you're getting into. This is aimed particularly at parents buying for kids admittedly, which is likely the way it will most be useful.

I think the problem with consumer information in terms of traumatic experience is going to to be the same whether the "trigger warning" is on the box or on a blog, however: people get upset and offended when the word "trigger" is brought up. And the term is already on the euphemism treadmill, to the point where even other forms of content warnings are now being called "trigger warnings" by people upset that such a thing exists at all.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

It's not a trigger warning because it wasn't designed as such, but I'm not saying there's no overlap. It's like looking at the ingredients list on a food pack for shellfish, or peanuts because of allergies. It's not really there to tell you that it's a potential danger, it's there to tell you more about what you're buying.

Speaking of being an informed consumer, have you looked at the ESRB's site? I'll link to a recent example of a game, Rise of the Tomb Raider:

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.aspx?Certificate=34057&Title=Rise+of+the+Tomb+Raider

What do you think?

The synopsis involved does not contain anything I would consider spoilers but does provide more detailed information which I think would better inform the consumer as to what they specifically are buying into. I mean, it's not particularly a "trigger warning," but it lets you know roughly what you're getting into. This is aimed particularly at parents buying for kids admittedly, which is likely the way it will most be useful.

I think the problem with consumer information in terms of traumatic experience is going to to be the same whether the "trigger warning" is on the box or on a blog, however: people get upset and offended when the word "trigger" is brought up. And the term is already on the euphemism treadmill, to the point where even other forms of content warnings are now being called "trigger warnings" by people upset that such a thing exists at all.

I can't say I have looked. Frankly, gimme gender select/multiple characters/female player character(s) and I'm good, so that's usually the extent of my research.
I haven't played Rise of tomb raider as I lack an xbone, but having played the previous, I'd say it's kinda spoiler safe. Nothing gets specific, aside from the ancient warriors thing. Anyone expecting only modern mercenaries might be alerted that there's more to things. I'd say, though, anyone that played TR games shouldn't be very surprised.

I'm sure some parents somewhere use the ESRB for their kids.

Some people are really trying to make the "triggered" thing a joke. Funny thing is, they seem more easily "triggered" than the people they're mocking, flying into rages every time something doesn't cater to the. Like I said before, if we get triger warnings we need "Warning: You play as a competent female character that's seriously good at stuff!" coz people generally fly off the handle when they're about.

In the end, not everything can be covered, but some stuff can be. Generally work towards a greater good, I guess.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Adding more to the ESRB stuff (say "Themes of suicide - implied/mild/graphic", and "Sexual violence - implied/mild/graphic") and having common triggers (suicide, rape, etc) listed on the ESRB web page for the game would be a good idea. No inconvenience for people who don't need them, and people who have said triggers can get the info they need that will help them avoid it or brace themselves for it.

Noting major common triggers is a good thing to do, as having an emotional trigger pulled is never fun. Especialyl if it's especially traumatic. That said, anyone going "we would have to trigger warning all the things, anything can be a trigger"...REALLY? No one can know a personal trigger like that, so we can't warn for it. We just flag the major ones and that's all we can do. Anyone asking for "they should warn me about artichokes, my sister chocked to death on one" is being unreasonable and their demands will not be met, ever. Just mark the obvious ones that you know are gonna be a problem.

And to people going "wah wah who cares, it's just an emotion", you have probably never been blindsided by an emotional attack before. I'm lucky I only had a minor one that I had only myself to blame for, but, still it hurt. (if you must know, I made the mistake of looking at a "5 signs your BF is a keeper" article a friend shared, which reminded me of my months-old breakup. My evening was ruined after that. x_x)

Yeah. I've got a friend who has PTSD. *snip*

Ouch. That's horrifying.

 

[MerlinCross]

My question is even if we give them trigger warnings, what do we actually warn about? My own experience is lacking so someone with more can correct me, but aren't the two most common PTSD for non military either Rape or Abuse(Usually as kids). These tend to be topics games tend to shy away from or at least imply that it happens off camera(Fallout series has a lot of bad stuff that happens off screen/before you get there). And children tend to be absent in general along with flash backs to childhoods.

I probably am wrong on all counts(Sorry haven't gotten caffeine yet) but what should and shouldn't we warn people about if we expand on the warnings? Side note, why are we just talking about games, why not movies and books too?

 

[Gengisgame]

IT's just an overly common example of someone not backing down from an argument not because they care about the point they are making but because they don't want to be seen as losing, people do it all the time even loved ones, you will be arguing about something and if you show you are 100% right they will often go "remember that unrelated bad thing you did", people just seem wired to see winning as more important than giving in to reason.

You pointed out that what they where complaining about already existed and rather than admit ignorance and just admit a mistake had been made they just waded deeper into the mud.

 

[LonePunman]

Used to be people were taught to suck it up when something offended them. That's life. Of course these days everybody is a fucking victim.

 

[Mutant1988]

IT's just an overly common example of someone not backing down from an argument not because they care about the point they are making but because they don't want to be seen as losing, people do it all the time even loved ones, you will be arguing about something and if you show you are 100% right they will often go "remember that unrelated bad thing you did", people just seem wired to see winning as more important than giving in to reason.

You pointed out that what they where complaining about already existed and rather than admit ignorance and just admit a mistake had been made they just waded deeper into the mud.

This is the truth.

As for the topic itself - The PEGI/ESRB rating is sufficient.

If it's not, a bare minimum of research should suffice.

Genuine advice: If you're looking for something specific (Or rather, how to avoid it), there's Tvtropes. Just go to the work's page and search the specific trope giving you issues. Of course, that's not a fail proof method, but it's by far the best one I can think of, since it offers the most comprehensive breakdown of what any given creative work is made out of.

Soap box mode engage - Only other advice I can give is to remember that fiction is fiction. Rarely, if ever, is it an attack on you personally.

If you make a mistake in buying something that upsets you - Turn it off, go return it, buy something better. Horrible things happen and no one likes being reminded of those things in any way. But lingering on it and making your problems everyone else's concern isn't a solution. Expecting the world to cater to your tastes and protect you from any and all emotional triggers is just plain unrealistic.

 

[MatParker116]

When has someone ever been seriously inconvenienced by a spoiler warning or trigger warning? I mean really, at best it's a sentence you can skim over in seconds.

I think it comes down to a combination of three things:
1. People acting hard on the internet, scoffing at people being concerned about "some words, or a picture."
2. People taking the jokes and horror stories about trigger warnings passed around as gospel, and lose common sense.
3. People taking the concept of trigger warnings not as a warning about content contained, but as a form of censorship, and flipping out because oh nooooooooooo censorship (even though its not censoring any topics, its simply warning they will be discussed/shown/mentioned).

Problem is there overuse by certain sections of the internet and those same people demanding them on every little thing has caused those situations from extremists on the other side.

 

[PurplePonyArcade]

Opinions, opinions, everyone is entitled to their own. In my opinion trigger warnings are among the absolute dumbest things to come out of the already ungodly, horribly low standards of social media and politics and anyone who takes them seriously has a scary level of delusion that should be considered not fit for normal daily life.