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Post by Declan Tribal on Apr 18, 2007 12:40:59 GMT
I'm willing to bet that Mr. Thompson had his innocence taken away by some random dude dressed as Pac Man, hence his grudge against video games =P
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Post by captainkitsune on Apr 18, 2007 15:26:04 GMT
^^^^^ haha, reminds me of that Ctrl Alt Del comic In other news, Jack freakin' Thompson is already using the VT shooting to his advantage and pushing his crusade to ban all video games, by claiming video games caused the shooting. We barely knew who the shooter was by the time he was saying this, and he still jumped at the chance to say it. In particular, he named GTA, Doom, and "other murder simulators". What a moron. He barely has any credibility anymore, he's been sued for slander and trying to interfere with the First Amendment, he's pretty much about to lose his right to deal with law and whatnot, and he's well-known and hated by everyone on the internet {particularly for trying to sue Penny Arcade, IGN, and other game sites, and for harrassing Scott Ramsoomair}, yet he still goes and does this. I swear, he'll blame anything on games--I bet if he had the chance to, he'd blame the Holocaust, Jesus' crucification, and the extinction of the dinosaurs on video games. >_< And what's worse is that now Dr. Phil is becoming the next Thompson. He went on Larry King and started ranting about how video games are warping everyone's minds, talking about them like they're the most disgusting, evil invention in history. Why do these people ALWAYS have to immediately use a serious tragedy to push their anti-games agendas? i agree sooo much with that. There isn't ANY evidence that video games are related to unfortunate events like that shooting. They're just spineless morons who live off of peoples tragidies, and those are the true animals, not us gamers T.T I played a helluva lotta "mature" games when i was like 15, did i turn into a murderer? no, i cant even bring myself to kill a fly Its just a shame that they look for the easisest way to solve societys problems, if you're gonna kill someone you'll do it, regardless of playing games, these people have big problems that a game didnt cause. and Dr Phil is a moron, i remember reading some very incriminating stuff on him, so hes not the saint everyone makes him out to be. I remeber when columbine happened they were blaming music for them doing that "ROCK IS EVIL!" or so. Arghhhgjlsd so frustrating ~_~
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Post by Declan Tribal on Apr 18, 2007 15:33:12 GMT
The logic that videogames are the cause of violence is faulty. People have been killing one another for millenia, and I don't recall World War 2 starting because Hitler played too much Doom and then decided to go on a huge kill frenzy against the Jews.
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Post by LancerZero on Apr 18, 2007 16:16:04 GMT
Jack Thompson is a well-intentioned, but poorly-informed, antagonistic, egomaniacal . . . uh, person. I don't agree with a thing he says. I'm with you, CapKitKat - almost all the games I've ever played on the computer were violent. Before I got a computer, I used to watch military documentaries, play soldier with toy guns with my friends out in the woods, and build armies out of legos. I also used to draw guns, fighters, things blowing up, etc . . . and I was a loner until somewhere around the middle of high school. EXACTLY the kind of person that Jack Thompson would point to and say, "Look! Beware, for there is a future killer!"
Except, I'm not. I've never gotten into so much as a fistfight in my life, and though I do enjoy virtual violence, I abhor real-life violence. It's got nothing to do with video games. Rather, I think a report I heard on NPR is closer to the mark: for the most part, these types of killers are "all-or-nothing" people, who feel they have nothing to lose - people who want to end their existence, and take as many others as possible with them. These are the people who base their entire sense of self-worth on something fleeting, and when that thing is taken, that dream dashed . . . they feel helpless.
Different people react differently to that kind of situation. Some people turn inward, becoming sad loners, perhaps even committing suicide. Some people re-invent themselves, learn how to move on and function in society. Others turn outward, seeking to control and/or dominate others. And still others are a combination of the first and last group . . . people who want to prove to the world that they matter in the final equation, that THEY are in ultimate control. Like this guy, who chained the doors of the Norris building shut. And these people are cold, calculating . . . they know they're going to die, and that's what they want. "Suicide by police", it's called, where someone tries to provoke police officers into fatally shooting them. Or, like this guy, committing suicide just before the cops can reach him, thus in his twisted mind proving that even the final decision of his life's fate is his own.
Not to say that's the only thing, or that only that sort of person commits these kinds of acts of violence. But unrealistic self-expectations are MUCH more of a contributing factor than something as silly as video games.
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Post by ajcrescent on Apr 18, 2007 20:37:45 GMT
I find it hilarious that no one thinks to blame the president. America's leaders have been using horrifying acts of violence to solve problems, often going so far as attacking countries for no apparent reason, espcecially during the years following 9/11, yet the first things everyone blames when something goes wrong are pixels and polygons on a TV or computer screen, and a rocker who in real life is nowhere near as psychotic as he is onstage and probably doesn't even believe his own song's messages. Rather than blaming the oil-stealing monkey in the White House who once proclaimed he's a "war prez-dint", and still refuses to pull the troops out of Iraq two or three years after they've determined there were absolutely no WMDs hidden there.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2007 8:46:42 GMT
On a lighter note, bunnies rock.
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Post by Allen on Apr 19, 2007 13:08:31 GMT
indeed, but they become agitated when poked persistently
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Post by Robshi on Apr 19, 2007 14:07:29 GMT
Bunnies are also cute, as are squirrels. I see plenty of rabbits and squirrels on my campus...
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Post by LancerZero on Apr 19, 2007 15:49:16 GMT
As much as I disagree with Bush's policies and his (and his administration's) handling of, well . . . everything, I really don't think what you just said makes much sense, AJ. As idiotic as Bush is, I don't think he's actually inspired wanton acts of personal violence, even on the scale of the massacre at Virginia Tech. Hell, about the only thing I could see Bush inspiring is doing nothing - and doing it badly. =P
EDIT: lol, I'm still copying the Meandering Moogle . . . it's up to 170 pages in Word now, over 66,000 words . . . and I'm only just barely halfway through page 15 of the topic! XD Not only that, I'm just about to get to Fiona's story, and I know that alone is about 40 pages worth of text. =P
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Post by ajcrescent on Apr 19, 2007 16:44:59 GMT
I didn't say he did inspire it. I'm pointing out how no one blames him when bad things happen, but they blame absolutely stupid things like Marilyn Manson and video games. One group actually blamed FF and Pokemon for a number of school shootings--FF because Barret and Vincent have guns, and Pokemon simply because they hate Pokemon. Then there were the Toronto police who tried to convince parents and teens alike to stay far away from SC2, since they were "certain" it caused gang beatings {yet they suspiciously never mentioned GTA, Urban Reign, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, etc}. But that's another story for another time.
And as pointed out in Bowling for Columbine, everything people blame for tragedies in America have virtually no effect on the youth of other countries. For example, goth music originated in Germany, and German teens love goth and heavy metal music as much as American teens do, but Germany crime rate is pretty low. Almost every violent game is from Japan, the Japanese play way more games than we do, and they are exposed to more violence in media from an earlier age, but Japan has one of the lowest crime rates on Earth. People often blame movies, but lots of countries with low crime rates have the exact same movies we have.
My main point is, people should stop blaming the least likely things. VT's tragedy didn't happen because the killer played too many video games.
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Post by Wilson on Apr 19, 2007 17:07:54 GMT
So... you're saying that he's not to blame, but people should be blaming him anyhow?
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Post by ajcrescent on Apr 19, 2007 17:15:26 GMT
I never said that either. Please don't put words into my mouth. I said it's strange that no one ever blames him, a guy who is seen using violence to solve problems on a regular basis. What he and his group does is far more horrendous than any video game or Manson song could ever get, yet no one ever blames him, and I simply wonder why that is.
I also think people should think about the fact Dec brought up. People have been killing each other since before Jesus was even born. Nowadays, people just blame whatever's new and frightening to them. It happened with comic books, it happened with Elvis, now it's happening with our favourite stuff.
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Post by Declan Tribal on Apr 19, 2007 20:04:23 GMT
Seems you're a bit confused there, bud. A kid went insane and gunned down some of his classmates. Now, you're saying that the President, despite his, uh... intellect, should be held accountable for such a tragedy, as he "uses violence to solve problems on a regular basis" as you put it. So by that logic, should he also be held responsible for gang shootings, bank robberies and domestic violence, too?
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Post by ajcrescent on Apr 19, 2007 20:15:02 GMT
I NEVER SAID THAT ONCE! I said IT'S FUNNY NO ONE BLAMES HIM CONSIDERING ALL THE OTHER LESS LIKELY CRAP THEY BLAME, and that somehow translates into "let's all blame him"? Please, everyone, understand it this time, because I'm not explaining it again. >_<
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2007 20:18:16 GMT
Can we PLEASE get back to the topic of BUNNIES! X3
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Post by ajcrescent on Apr 19, 2007 20:22:14 GMT
Good idea X3
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Post by LancerZero on Apr 19, 2007 20:36:46 GMT
One last thing before we return to the topic of bunnies: AJ, it's just like speaking loudly or slowly in an effort to make someone who speaks no English understand your words. So if someone doesn't understand your point, putting it in caps isn't going to make it any clearer. It only makes you look, frankly, like you're throwing something of a tantrum. I understand what you were saying now, but it's because of the fact that you finally explained it, not because you increased the percentage of your explanation that was in capitol letters.
There is something cuter than bunnies . . . baby bunnies!
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Post by Declan Tribal on Apr 19, 2007 20:42:51 GMT
Screw bunnies, have a fox instead! :D
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Post by ajcrescent on Apr 19, 2007 20:55:30 GMT
Screw the rules, I have bunnies!
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Post by Robshi on Apr 19, 2007 21:23:17 GMT
I've seen some baby bunnies! They are so cute! ;D But I still think squirrels are the cutest!
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