Ethics of Video Games

[Anabelle]

So my friend was at the bookstore and found this book called The Philosophy of World of Warcraft and it poses some interesting questions. He only read a few bits from it but it was very interesting and comical.

For console games:

- Is it ethical to kill video game characters who aren't control by a human will?

- Is it wrong to steal in a video game?

For MMORPGs:

- Is it ethical to kill another player online when you know that the player you are killing is control by another human will?

- Is it wrong to steal in a video game where the property you are stealing is that of another human?

- Is it possible to own things in a video game?


Opinions?

[Google Bot]

You cant kill something that isnt really alive... unless the argument is that it's wrong to have the intention to kill anything

[A Dream Is A Wish (Old)]

In my opinion, if you think these things are a big deal, then you should probably be thinking novels and television/movies that have killing and violence in them is a big deal. Is it wrong for the actors playing the characters to pretend to kill one another? Is it wrong to sympathize with a character who kills other people even for "good" reasons?

It's fantasy. It's not real. I've never desired to kill anything (except bugs and spiders) in real life, but I've killed tons of things in video games. And I've been killed in WoW by other players on the opposing side before. I do not feel offended and like those people wish to actually kill me in real life.

Think about it . . . . In Mario games for instance, you jump on Goomba's heads and kill them. Is that really a dangerous concept or extremely innocent? Because if I had a five year old who wanted to play a Mario game, I don't think I would be freaking out and saying,"Stop jumping on those Goomba's heads! That's violent" or anything.

[Biased]

I DONT think it's unethical to kill in video games. It doesnt turn you into a killer in real life and doesnt mean you're crazy or violet.

Killing/shooting games can just be for fun, or can help people release stress without physically harming anyone.

Killing in a game isnt real killing and you shouldnt feel badly about it

[Fatal Rewind]

Jun 11, 2010 11:51:27 GMT -5 Biased said:

I DONT think it's unethical to kill in video games. It doesnt turn you into a killer in real life and doesnt mean you're crazy or violet.

Yeah, God forbid if it were ever to turn gamers into a flower ;D

For the young kids, they don't truly understand death anyway, so that doesn't matter, really. I mean, try watching Roadrunner cartoons as an adult now and see if you look at them the same as when you were a kid, which I doubt you will: they're very violent! Coyote constantly trying to have the Roadrunner killed by dropping anvils on him, him falling hundreds of feet off cliffs to what's supposed to be his death, etc. Watching those didn't turn us into killers either.

I don't know about the stealing parts in games nowdays though, I can't really comment. Depends on how real it seems I guess, but I'd have to play one of them first before being able to judge on it.

[The Mrs.]

I really dont think it's wrong to kill the "bad guys" in games. But if you're talking about MMORPGs when people just kill other "humans" for no reason, I think that could be a sign of too much repressed rage.

However, I dont think it's something you should feel guilty over. You didnt kill a real person. You killed a game character.

[A Dream Is A Wish (Old)]

Jun 12, 2010 8:23:01 GMT -5 The Mrs. said:

I really dont think it's wrong to kill the "bad guys" in games. But if you're talking about MMORPGs when people just kill other "humans" for no reason, I think that could be a sign of too much repressed rage.

However, I dont think it's something you should feel guilty over. You didnt kill a real person. You killed a game character.

Or it's a sign that you just want to be challenged. Computer generated enemies never compare to the ones controlled by humans. They are much harder to beat.

Like, for instance, fighting games . . . . . I can pound on all the buttons of any fighting game randomly pretty much and beat ALL of the computer controlled enemies in a day. On the other hand if I want to beat humans, I can practice and practice day in and day out and still not beat someone who is not even that good at the game.

I tend not to be very competitive when it comes to video games, so I don't usually like to play fighting games or do things that involve human opponents. I usually only do those things when the people around me want to do them.

It has very little to do with how angry or how much rage I happen to have at the time. In fact, most people with a lot of anger or rage hate to fight human opponents because they are such a challenge. You need patience and a willingness to lose over and over again to be able to do it. Otherwise you can't learn about what ways you suck at the game and get better at it. It's more about how much the person appreciates a challenge.