A couple of weeks back, I thought it would be a good idea to send off an article for The Escapist weekly issues, on the topic "The Front", yet sadly, I was out of time to send the query (so much, in fact, that they already had all their articles), but the article was written anyways. So what I ask of you Escapists is to read the article and tell me what is good or bad about it, how it can be improved and what areas are fine, as to improve my writing skills, and ultimately, my chances at seeing one of my articles published.
Thanks again everyone, and if you think it goes against any moderations, feel free to report it.
Over The Top?
How long has it been from now? 20 years? More? It has in fact been 36 exact years since the major exponent of war games, the FPS (First Person Shooter) has existed. And ask anyone from those times that got their first ?experience? with a virtual gun, and they?ll probably tell you, like the oblivious grandfather tells the bored grandson about his war experience, the amount of excitement, the incomparable rush of adrenaline that surged through them when they came to terms with the fact that they were there to do or die, fighting for their lives. Although, on one of the cases, those lives can be restored by simply sliding another quarter into the arcade machine coin slot.
I doubt that anyone that has the same amount of unrelenting fun as me playing a proper good deathmatch on, say, Call of Duty, will have these thoughts cross through their mind: We?re playing war. We?re playing with war. Mankind?s greatest atrocity commited has simply become a game. Whilst I?m here pretending to be a soldier, a real soldier is elsewhere, fighting for his life, just as I am fighting for mine in the game. He could die. He could live. But I don?t know about this, and I just lost my kill streak so I better start getting back in the mood and cussing at my team.
Yes, these thoughts one day crossed my mind, and I couldn?t sleep well that night. Thinking, simply, how many millions die in war. What if we were at war? I?d have to see my friends and my beloved go, march in file and rank, towards a close to certain death. And inside, don?t we all feel the same unsettling uneasiness creeping up on us when the virtual showdown is about to begin?
Thoughts rush, the avatars run, the weapons are locked and loaded, grenades and shrapnel fly, bullets rip apart air and flesh alike, and all through the battlefield, all through the internet, thousands of virtual humans are slaughtered. No one truly wins, as we are all at least killed once. But it doesn?t matter, because death becomes merely a momentarily annoyance, when, seconds later, you are ready to do it all over again. To feel the rush. To feel the excitement. To feel that, around that corner, there is an enemy ready to kill or die by you.
As technology advances in the real world, so it does in the virtual world. We find more, and more sophisticated ways of killing, in the shape of a new gun or piece of deadly equipment. And most of the time we don?t realize, what if we used the same gun, the same grenade, the same flamethrower, the same rocket launcher on a real person? In fact, what if you used it on a friend, something you?ve done so many times in the game, and seemed so harmless back then? It?s because we don?t realize the extent of the subliminal effect that this has on our brains, in our conduct.
Based on this, it would be fair to argue that the human being is pro-slaughter by nature, as it seems that playing a war game gives rise to feelings not too different from those that usually end up victorious in a conflict. A feeling of such tremendous superiority that we go to extents such as the already more than known and overused gesture of tea bagging. However, this feeling of superiority comes miliseconds after you an initial relief, because, thank whatever God is listening, it?s all over.
Why do we get these feelings when doing something so trivial, so narrow-minded as playing a game? What impulses us to virtually confront others? To search for more, different ways of getting out victorious with a positive kill to death ratio? To experiment with different weapons, perks, accesories until we find one that suits our way of killing? I think that, more than because the human being is a natural, inborn killer, it?s because when, face with such a situation, we are dominated by one, the one primal impulse by which, ultimately, every human being is dominated by, the one that guides our actions in every second of every minute of every hour of every day of our lives.
This primal instinct is that of survival. When sent to war for the first time, a soldier doesn?t know how to react. He will tremble, shake in fear and uncertainty, thinking ahead of the incoming battle, of how much is at stake, how much could be lost. But also how much could be won. All the thoughts on how to behave seem bad, but ultimately, it?s up to him to stay alive in No Man?s Land. Strangely enough, that is how I felt on my first time playing an FPS. But of course, being my first time, my friends completely beat me to it. But it was just a game, and after a good two hours of deathmatching, we went for dinner and left the Xbox on, ready to resume the war after the gears had been properly oiled (and the salad had a lot of oil).
Now we know how a recruit feels like. But how does the war veteran feel? He is a completely different case. He still goes through the same feelings of despair and fear as the inexperienced rookie. He, on the other hand, knows how to dominate these feelings, how to set them aside, as he knows they will only lead to his death. Hestitation has the same effect when playing a war game. When you?re being shot at by different angles, you?re not thinking about how nice it would be to simply jump out of all of this, be back home, on the sofa, just relaxing without fear that the next bullet could take your life. Because you already are. And right now, all that matters is shooting all of these threats down, then run away before more come (at least that?s how I play).
This is a formality by now. The reason why we keep making and playing these games is because they, like any other game, induce us in an alternate reality, were we have chosen to take part of the conflict. Just like the war veteran goes back every time, so does the avid FPS professional, to have more of whatever they, as an individual gain from war. It is undeniable that, for all its horrors and the physical and moral destruction war is capable of causing; humans are as attracted to it as they are repelled from it by its many facets. Yet again, one of humanities? many shames. However, when the down side of war is taken out of the mix, we feel that the experience is no longer anything to be worried about. No one suffers, every one has a good time, and all in all, it is harmless.
By creating in us the tensions and emotions that a soldier feels in battle, I believe that game developers have found the master key to unlock the basest and most stimulating corner of the pleasure centers in our brains. The experience of engaging in a one-to-one conflict with our deepest fears, as well as the opportunity of walking to hell?s gates and back again. And again. And again. And again, until you eventually ragequit or the game ends your misery.
And if they continue to use the master formula of ?you against a bunch of dudes? in every game, it will surely always feel as grand as ever. We will continue to play, to wage war, to go over the top once again. Fearless. Guns blazing. Trusting that the bullets won?t find you (which ultimately depends on the difficulty level). And if someone writes your name on the bullet, you are ready to do it all over again. Because there is nothing more stimulating than escaping the cold, prying fingers of death time after time, to finally reach one goal. But of course, it will never be as great for you as it will be for the unkown soldier, which has escaped his grave once again. He will have accomplished his mission, liberated his country, or stopped the war. You will have a really good kill to death ratio.
And just to get it again, both you and the soldier will go over the top again.
Under the nickname Serranth, Antoni writes, composes, deliberates, fights, rocks, snipes and never gives up. He can be reached at his email [email protected]
How long has it been from now? 20 years? More? It has in fact been 36 exact years since the major exponent of war games, the FPS (First Person Shooter) has existed. And ask anyone from those times that got their first ?experience? with a virtual gun, and they?ll probably tell you, like the oblivious grandfather tells the bored grandson about his war experience, the amount of excitement, the incomparable rush of adrenaline that surged through them when they came to terms with the fact that they were there to do or die, fighting for their lives. Although, on one of the cases, those lives can be restored by simply sliding another quarter into the arcade machine coin slot.
I doubt that anyone that has the same amount of unrelenting fun as me playing a proper good deathmatch on, say, Call of Duty, will have these thoughts cross through their mind: We?re playing war. We?re playing with war. Mankind?s greatest atrocity commited has simply become a game. Whilst I?m here pretending to be a soldier, a real soldier is elsewhere, fighting for his life, just as I am fighting for mine in the game. He could die. He could live. But I don?t know about this, and I just lost my kill streak so I better start getting back in the mood and cussing at my team.
Yes, these thoughts one day crossed my mind, and I couldn?t sleep well that night. Thinking, simply, how many millions die in war. What if we were at war? I?d have to see my friends and my beloved go, march in file and rank, towards a close to certain death. And inside, don?t we all feel the same unsettling uneasiness creeping up on us when the virtual showdown is about to begin?
Thoughts rush, the avatars run, the weapons are locked and loaded, grenades and shrapnel fly, bullets rip apart air and flesh alike, and all through the battlefield, all through the internet, thousands of virtual humans are slaughtered. No one truly wins, as we are all at least killed once. But it doesn?t matter, because death becomes merely a momentarily annoyance, when, seconds later, you are ready to do it all over again. To feel the rush. To feel the excitement. To feel that, around that corner, there is an enemy ready to kill or die by you.
As technology advances in the real world, so it does in the virtual world. We find more, and more sophisticated ways of killing, in the shape of a new gun or piece of deadly equipment. And most of the time we don?t realize, what if we used the same gun, the same grenade, the same flamethrower, the same rocket launcher on a real person? In fact, what if you used it on a friend, something you?ve done so many times in the game, and seemed so harmless back then? It?s because we don?t realize the extent of the subliminal effect that this has on our brains, in our conduct.
Based on this, it would be fair to argue that the human being is pro-slaughter by nature, as it seems that playing a war game gives rise to feelings not too different from those that usually end up victorious in a conflict. A feeling of such tremendous superiority that we go to extents such as the already more than known and overused gesture of tea bagging. However, this feeling of superiority comes miliseconds after you an initial relief, because, thank whatever God is listening, it?s all over.
Why do we get these feelings when doing something so trivial, so narrow-minded as playing a game? What impulses us to virtually confront others? To search for more, different ways of getting out victorious with a positive kill to death ratio? To experiment with different weapons, perks, accesories until we find one that suits our way of killing? I think that, more than because the human being is a natural, inborn killer, it?s because when, face with such a situation, we are dominated by one, the one primal impulse by which, ultimately, every human being is dominated by, the one that guides our actions in every second of every minute of every hour of every day of our lives.
This primal instinct is that of survival. When sent to war for the first time, a soldier doesn?t know how to react. He will tremble, shake in fear and uncertainty, thinking ahead of the incoming battle, of how much is at stake, how much could be lost. But also how much could be won. All the thoughts on how to behave seem bad, but ultimately, it?s up to him to stay alive in No Man?s Land. Strangely enough, that is how I felt on my first time playing an FPS. But of course, being my first time, my friends completely beat me to it. But it was just a game, and after a good two hours of deathmatching, we went for dinner and left the Xbox on, ready to resume the war after the gears had been properly oiled (and the salad had a lot of oil).
Now we know how a recruit feels like. But how does the war veteran feel? He is a completely different case. He still goes through the same feelings of despair and fear as the inexperienced rookie. He, on the other hand, knows how to dominate these feelings, how to set them aside, as he knows they will only lead to his death. Hestitation has the same effect when playing a war game. When you?re being shot at by different angles, you?re not thinking about how nice it would be to simply jump out of all of this, be back home, on the sofa, just relaxing without fear that the next bullet could take your life. Because you already are. And right now, all that matters is shooting all of these threats down, then run away before more come (at least that?s how I play).
This is a formality by now. The reason why we keep making and playing these games is because they, like any other game, induce us in an alternate reality, were we have chosen to take part of the conflict. Just like the war veteran goes back every time, so does the avid FPS professional, to have more of whatever they, as an individual gain from war. It is undeniable that, for all its horrors and the physical and moral destruction war is capable of causing; humans are as attracted to it as they are repelled from it by its many facets. Yet again, one of humanities? many shames. However, when the down side of war is taken out of the mix, we feel that the experience is no longer anything to be worried about. No one suffers, every one has a good time, and all in all, it is harmless.
By creating in us the tensions and emotions that a soldier feels in battle, I believe that game developers have found the master key to unlock the basest and most stimulating corner of the pleasure centers in our brains. The experience of engaging in a one-to-one conflict with our deepest fears, as well as the opportunity of walking to hell?s gates and back again. And again. And again. And again, until you eventually ragequit or the game ends your misery.
And if they continue to use the master formula of ?you against a bunch of dudes? in every game, it will surely always feel as grand as ever. We will continue to play, to wage war, to go over the top once again. Fearless. Guns blazing. Trusting that the bullets won?t find you (which ultimately depends on the difficulty level). And if someone writes your name on the bullet, you are ready to do it all over again. Because there is nothing more stimulating than escaping the cold, prying fingers of death time after time, to finally reach one goal. But of course, it will never be as great for you as it will be for the unkown soldier, which has escaped his grave once again. He will have accomplished his mission, liberated his country, or stopped the war. You will have a really good kill to death ratio.
And just to get it again, both you and the soldier will go over the top again.
Under the nickname Serranth, Antoni writes, composes, deliberates, fights, rocks, snipes and never gives up. He can be reached at his email [email protected]
Thanks again everyone, and if you think it goes against any moderations, feel free to report it.
That pic made my day