Elinda wrote:
From a gaming stand-point the combat, the action, the speed, the controls, the goals can all be basically the same whether we're killing hookers, orcs or bunny rabbits. I don't find offense in it killing innocents in virtual worlds, but I'm not an abuse survivor so i can't really pass judgement on the feelings of those who are.
What's interesting to me about this is that I feel varying levels of guilt based on the context of the game. The more immersive the game, the harder time I have killing innocents.
So something like GTA or Postal, which are just mayhem in a box, no guilt. Something like EQ or WoW or DA, big guilt.
I don't know if that means that the world building, social aspect of those games tends to keep my id in line with socially acceptable behavior, or if my ego engages more and I stamp my personality onto the character I've created, or both in some degree. Reading trade chat in WoW, I can say that this is not a universal tendency, whatever it is.