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Rubaiyats of Lote-Tree

Freedom without Responsibility?

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by
Lote-Tree
, 03-10-2010 at 04:38 PM (2796 Views)
Imagining Freedom without Responsibility?

Where weak don't stand in the way of the
strong?

Where the best are not bound by any ethics, laws or rules?

Welcome to Rapture!

This is the premise of the Comptuer Game "BioShock".




There is something quite disturbing about this game because it's asks the player to make Ethical decisions.

quote from wiki :

BioShock is set during 1960, in Rapture, a fictional underwater dystopian city.[32][34] The history of Rapture is learned by the player through audio recordings as he explores the city. Rapture was envisioned by the Randian business magnate Andrew Ryan, who wanted to create a laissez-faire state to escape increasingly oppressive political, economic, and religious authority on land. The city was secretly built in 1946 on a mid-Atlantic seabed, utilizing submarine volcanoes to provide geothermal power.[35] Scientific progress flourished in Rapture, leading to rapid developments in engineering and biotechnology thanks in part to the brilliant scientists that Ryan brought to the city. One such advancement was ADAM, stem cells harvested from a previously unknown species of sea slug, which were discovered by Dr. Bridgette Tenenbaum to have the ability to regenerate damaged tissue and rewrite the human genome. Tenenbaum joined with businessman and mobster Frank Fontaine to create the plasmid industry, which offered superhuman physical enhancements to its customers. Tenenbaum found that ADAM could be mass-produced by implanting the slugs in the stomachs of young girls ("Little Sisters"), taken from orphanages founded by Fontaine.
It's not just in this game but many games are coming out where Ethics are put in the hands of the player. Good and Evil in games is becoming just mere expressions in one's interest.

I wonder what sort of society will come of it when games so much blur the boundary between what is Good and what is evil?

What say you?
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  1. TheFifthElement's Avatar
    I think it's good to get people thinking about ethics. Good and evil are silly two-dimensional concepts which bear little relation to reality. People have done terrible things in the name of 'good' and sometimes well intentioned acts of 'goodness' can have terrible consequences. And yes there are people that do bad things, but what does 'evil' really mean? I'm not sure it really exists. Unless you're talking about David Cameron. David Cameron is evil
  2. Buh4Bee's Avatar
    Skip it and play World of Warcraft 3? Who wants to play a video game about ethics. You play video games to let off steam, No?
  3. OrphanPip's Avatar
    Bioshock was a crazy fun game, haven't had a chance to play the sequel yet T_T
  4. Lote-Tree's Avatar
    I think it's good to get people thinking about ethics.
    It's not about Thinking. In games you act it out.

    In game like "Saint's Row" you can beat women to death while they beg for mercy.

    In "Grand Theft Auto" you can run pedestrians with your car.

    and sometimes well intentioned acts of 'goodness' can have terrible consequences.
    That is not fault of Goodness but rather our inability to see the Future consequences.

    but what does 'evil' really mean?
    Murdering your children for the fun of it?

    I'm not sure it really exists.
    If Exists you mean that there is a Throbbing Evil Orb out there in the Universe that sends out malicious thoughts to human beings to kill others - then no.

    Good and Evil are concepts are only applicable to ourselves because we have made them up. There is nothing good or bad only Thinking makes it so ;-)

    "We have the Power of Description" and we succumb to it :-)

    Skip it and play World of Warcraft 3?
    I love to but I don't like paying monthly subscriptions.

    Who wants to play a video game about ethics.
    The question was in video games ethics is put into the hands of the player.

    You play video games to let off steam, No?
    That too. Quake and Halo 3 does this really well. But there are others that engage you in a story...and that is interesting too....like reading a good book...

    Bioshock was a crazy fun game, haven't had a chance to play the sequel yet T_T
    I am playing the first Bioshock...it's a disturbing game...but very immersing...