Originally by: Hanso Sparxx

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Originally by: Caroll Yanaki

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Originally by: Sir Carnage

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Edited by: Sir Carnage on 18/11/2009 08:00:24

Originally by: Ladani

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are pirates sociopaths or can they indeed be identified as psychopaths? that is the question that I have pondering for a while today as I was sitting in my hulk mining in on of plentiful belts of Sankkasen

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Guess what, Eve is a video game. The only difference is that in Eve you are more able to define your own role than in any other game that I can remember playing. Yes, it is exceptionally imersive. The consequences of your and other people's actions have a much more profound impact on your game play experience thanks to the fact that you can indeed lose things. Be it ships, modules, or even your pod, implants and skills.

Eve is harsh. It's more realistic than a wisp floating back to a fully geared body. Playing a thief, swashbuckler, or any other theft based class in a typical game just means you get objects from a successful(based on chance/dice roll) attempt. Other players do not lose anything in this exchange. Obviously Eve is different. For one person to steal something somebody else has to have it stolen. Suddenly these theft based classes have significance to you because their actions actually affect your game play. Now, all of the sudden, you see moral/ethical(not the same thing, but we'll leave that for another time) issues with this style of play. Why? Is there somehow a difference between one game's theft and another? Personally, I don't think there is. The difference is how you are effected by it.

If, after having read this, you still feel the same way maybe you should stop, take a step back, and see if maybe you have a bit too much of yourself invested in this video game. Maybe that sort of investment of time, energy, and emotion could better be used somewhere else. Let the game be a game. A place where you go to relax and enjoy the experience. Invest the rest in yourself and those around you.

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And yet again we are facing pure and quite explainable human behavior in our actions and in the actions of others in this game.
Yet again you are making a reasonable and sane choices.
You choose what role to play.
Schiller has a very famous expression: "The man is a real man only when he plays."
It's not a casual expression, I believe.

A player said, early in this topic, that he would never do this and this in RL.
Why? Because your basic instincts, desires, will, choices and deeds, are restrained well within your society's laws and orders.
Yet, you log into this extremely immersible game and you... make a descent choice what do you want to be?
Why be a good guy?
Why be a bad guy?
Why this role exactly?
Because you choose.
And the choice... as Freud would say... is anything but accidental.
There is nothing accidental when you make a choice.
Maybe you are not a bad guy in RL. But deep down inside... you want to be?

"It's the choice that binds us, drive us, etc."
Agent Smith, The Matrix

Think about it.

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I would never play a game that acutally hurt a person in real life in any way what so ever.

I have yet to see how stealing/scamming/blowing stuff up has actually hurt someone in real life.

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