The Evil We Pretend to Do--Why?

[SilentScope001]

http://www.raphkoster.com/2005/12/30/the-evil-we-pretend-to-do/

 

Now, before you start screaming, I am NOT at all trying to claim that genocide in a game is bad. I do it all the time. I like it. We should keep it. Especially since if you kill a virtual being, he'll just respawn. So nothing bad is really happening. The End.

 

The main question is, Why? Why do we like killing virtual people? Why is it fun?

 

For me, it's the idea of having power and strength...and actually getting what you want. Er, I know that doesn't sound that great, but we are virtually powerless in real life, so that's about it.

[True_Avery]

I was going to say we have had a number of these threads, but then I realized those were months ago.

 

As was said in the other threads, not all people like these games. I still cannot play a Dark Side character in KOTOR to this day. I kill people in shooters though, but find more enjoyment out of it when they are not human.

 

It puts us into a world that we have control in. That we are the hero or villian in. Sometimes a person we wish we could be, sometimes someone who we would never be, but wish to indulge in what makes others so interested in that kind of life.

 

Also, it is not true death. Actually killing someone and a book/video game are much different. You can kill someone and they never come back. In a game, you can load your game and see that person and infinite amount of time, always alive and always dead until you load the game again, or turn back to the last page before they die.

 

I think we like it because it isn't real. Because reality is so very limiting mortality is everywhere. Sit on a couch and feel like a god for a few hours. Feel like what it could be to control a universe as you sit in a reality you have little control over.

[Totenkopf]

I think it has a lot to do with channeling our aggression into a relatively harmless pursuit. If you do so in the real world, massive troubles ensue. I think it's basically a safety valve for relieving internal stresses.

[TLM20]

I suppose a lot of us like the psychological reasoning behind it. The dominance we as a player have over games is very appealing to most. Although I honestly struggle to be 100% dark side in KOTOR1.... I remember the side quest with the hunter's wife on Tatooine, where you could steal some item off her and leave her stranded there helpless. I felt awful after I did that. I've only ever done it once.

 

But in terms of killing... I don't really get much hype off it in KOTOR unless there's loads of enemies, it seems to show off your character's ability. Maybe it's the pretence of being unstobbable that we like?