Columns Bearing My Ravings:
Is There a Practical Ceiling to Game Development Advances? (01-26-99)
Computer Gaming entering the Societal Mainstream? (12-30-98)

Other People's Worthy Ravings Given a Home Here:
Everything I Need to Know in Life I Learned From StarCraft by Smoke'n'MirrorZ

Other Writings by ZOAS:
Incarceration Writings

Ravings by Year:
All 1998 Ravings

• November 14th, 1998 - Brood War beta 1.04 patch thoughts
• November 16th, 1998 - Rants about the "Ultimate Patch" suggestions
• November 18th, 1998 - Childishness and egotism. Oh, and Balance issues.
• November 21st, 1998 - Brood War 1.05 beta patch, Decline of the BW Beta
• December 5th, 1998 - Decline of the Brood War beta, Irritation at People STILL Getting the Name Wrong
• December 9th, 1998 - Spoiled by Brood War, or "Why I'm not playing PGL Season 4"
• December 9th, 1998 - Impatience on battle.net, the Underused, Misunderstood Medic

All 1999 Ravings

• January 9th, 1999 - Signs You're Not Ready for the Brood War Ladder
• January 11th, 1999 - Addendum to Signs You're Not Ready for the Brood War Ladder
• January 12th, 1999 - Side Effects of Hack Publicity (or: What's worse, hackers or paranoia?)
• January 22nd, 1999 - Reminiscences of a StarCraft Beta Tester (or: You wanna see imbalance?)
• February 14th, 1999 - Love in the War Room (or: If people fear change, why do they demand it?)
• February 25th, 1999 - Guest Raving by Smoke'n'MirrorZ: Signs of Diablo II Pre-release Addiction
• March 15th, 1999 - Whiny Paranoiacs and Screwing With Latency Prematurely (or: How to Piss off ZOAS on Battle.net)
• April 1st, 1999 - Mini-Raving: SC.org's April Fools Prank
• April 4th, 1999 - Response to DrLazardo's (of SC.org) Response to my April Fools Prank Raving
• June 21st, 1999 - Lameness on Battle.net (or: ZOAS's Day o' Frustration)
• September 14th, 1999 - The Results of Listening to Alanis Morrisette While Reading the Battle.net Forums
• November 15th, 1999 - 3dfx's Voodoo 4 & 5: My Analysis

2002 Ravings:

July 23rd, 2002 - World of Warcraft's Retail: Day One (A speculative fiction on what we may have to deal with in a couple of years, tongue planted firmly in cheek)

As I was roaming around through some nice grassy plains near the main Orc encampment, I happened upon an Orc who was fighting a large gnat. The gnat seemed to be getting the better end of the exchange, as the Orc didn't seem to have mastered yet which part of his large axe that his hands go around. After watching for a bit more, I stepped in and dispatched the offending insect with a minor cantrip, rescuing the hapless young Orc. I mentally ticked off another mark on my list of boons that the God Nooblar was accumulating from me.

Noticing the shocked look on the Orc's face, I hailed him.

Pirailus says, 'Greetings, L0rdGayOrc.'

For some reason, when the utterance of his name passed over my lips, I felt a twitch in my cheek.

L0rdGayOrc shouts, 'HI! DEWD, YOU R0CK! OMFG! LEVEL 37! U WORK FOR BLZIZARD?'

Pirailus says, 'Lower your voice, my friend. We are facing one another, there is no need to shout. My ears may not be a large as yours, but they hear just fine.'

(This wasn't entirely true. He seemed to be addressing something somewhere over my left shoulder, but I let it pass. After all, that gnat did land some telling blows to his head.)

L0rdGayOrc says, 'oh, sorry about that. capslock was on. U work for blizzard? How u get so high?'

Pirailus sighs.

Pirailus says, 'No, I'm not a Blizzard employee. I was a beta tester, and they let a few of us keep our beta characters and just stripped us of equipment.'

L0rdGayOrc says, 'oh, that's k3wl. I bet u know where all the good items are anyway.'

L0rdGayOrc says, 'I just started playing, I got WOW today! I'm an Orc!'

Pirailus says, 'Ahh, thank you for informing me. With your large ears, green skin, and strips of dried bacon hanging out of your beltpouch, I mistook you for a pixie. Thank you for saving me such embarrassment.'

L0rdGayOrc says, 'WTF? LOL.'

L0rdGayOrc says, 'Hey dewd since you're so high level and know all the k3wl stuff, can you rush me up to like 30th level?'

Pirailus says, 'Ah. No. You'd find it much more fun to adventure and learn the world yourself, and would get more benefit from it (My inner monologue retorted, 'So would the gnats.') that way.'

L0rdGayOrc says, 'DEWD! PLS!? C'mon, don't be an ass.'

Pirailus says, '...'

Deciding that the blows to his head from that dastardly gnat must still be affecting this young and naive orc, I turned my back and began to depart. A sudden sense of peril caused me to pause and look back over my shoulder - I saw that the orc was brandishing his axe at me in what I presumed he intended as a threatening manner.

L0rdGayOrc says, 'U ass! I'll PK ur bithc ass!'

Pirailus sighs.

Pirailus makes some casting motions, some sound effects and a particle-laden spell effect transpire.

Pirailus says, 'Now, don't EVER let me see your face in Dalaran.'

L0rdGayOrc says, 'Baaaaa.'

Sound off and express your opinion on this Raving, past Ravings, or anything else marginally related to the site on yggdrasil.net's own discussion forum.

2001 Ravings:

November 28th, 2001 - RuneWords That Aren't in the Game, But Should Be

Having run almost entirely out of any creativity or useful and interesting original content for the web site, I enlisted the help of a friend, Bianca "Bunny" Thornton (Currently a double-major in Comp Sci and Theoretical Physics at USC, avid gamer, admitted "Blizzard whore" and part-time internet nude chat model). Special Agent Bunny was tasked with the infiltration of Blizzard North's fortress-like offices - a task she easily accomplished. Bunny brought out of nerf-central special super-secret intelligence data on RuneWords that Blizzard North considered using in the 1.10 D2X patch before they got drunk at a strip bar and decided the game didn't really need any more RuneWords. So, without further ado, here are some RuneWords that aren't in the game, but they bloody well should be (with a bonus Crafting Recipe that was omitted because they were afraid of being sued):

Casanova
ChamBer
Cham (32) + Ber (30)
2 socket body armor

• Cannot be frozen
• Damage reduced by 8%
• 20% chance Natalya will invite you for some private "martial arts" lessons

Mantra
OhmOhmOhm
Ohm (27) + Ohm (27) + Ohm (27)
3 socket shields (Paladin Only)

• +15% Max Cold Resistance
• +5 to Prayer
• +2 to Redemption
• +1 to Salvation
• Your Paladin seems to be constantly humming and chanting
• Identify Tomes now appear as "Hymnals"

Soothsayer
EldIst
Eld (2) + Ist (24)
2 socket staves

• +30% Better Chance of Finding Magical Items
• +75% Damage vs. Undead, +50 Attack Rating vs. Undead
• 20% Slower Run/Walk Speed
• Character avatar looks like Deckard Cain

LazyBones
NefOrt
Nef (4) + Ort (9)
2 socket melee weapons

• Knockback
• +1-50 Lightning Damage
• Infinite Stamina
• Mercenary run speed doubled

Concordance
JahSur
Jah (31) + Sur (29)
2 socket missile weapons

• Ignores Target Defense
• Hit blinds target
• 100% chance of conversion

Harness
PulLum
Pul (21) + Lum (17)
2 socket shields

• +30% Defense
• +10 Energy
• 20% Chance to cast Level 6 Poison Nova when hit
• 10% Chance to cast Level 3 Attract on attack
• 2% Chance per second for character to exclaim "Get over here!"

Scavenger
BerRal
Ber (30) + Ral (8)
2 socket headgear

• Damage Reduced by 8%
• +35% Fire Resistance
• +100% Better Chance of Finding Magical Items when opening barrels/chests/urns/etc.
• Special - Magic Find Chance checked when opening barrels/chests/urns/etc.

Dance
FalKo
Fal (19) + Ko (18)
2 socket melee weapons

• +10 Strength
• +10 Dexterity
• 30% Faster Run/Walk Speed
• 30% Increased Attack Speed
• 20% Chance on kill of any superunique or act boss of playing the secret Diablo II Techno Song

Blitzkrieg
LoKo
Lo (28) + Ko (18)
2 socket headgear (Barbarian only)

• +5 to Max. Resist Lightning
• +10 Dex
• +2 to Frenzy
• +2 to Berserk
• -50% Defense

37334H@X0R
LoSur
Lo (28) + Sur (29)
2 socket weapons

• 20% Chance of Deadly Strike
• 20% Chance of Hit Blinds Target
• Regenerate Life -5
• Causes Random messages to be posted, such as:
  "Why am I dying?"
  "Anyone got the trade hack?"
  "Power overwhelming!"
  "Can anyone give me the WP for Cold Plains? I'm only level 87!"
  "Hey, I can tell u how to dupe items! Just gimme ur acct/pass and ill show u!"
• 15% chance to drop all gear on death.

Sanrio
HelLo
Hel (15) + Lo (28)
2 socket headgear

• -15% Requirements
• +5 to Max. Resist Lightning
• Character randomly attracts small animals (bunnies, squirrels, turtles, etc.) who look cute but are otherwise useless (this effect doubled for Druids)
• Any time a character kills a superunique, act boss, or another player, the death animation is replayed several times from multiple angles
• Character avatar appears to have unusually large eyes, pointed ears, and cat-like furry ears

Lisp
MalIth
Mal (23) + Ith (6)
2 socket headgear

• Reduce Magic Damage by 7
• 15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
• Any time your character speaks (keypad 1-7) monsters within 15 yards are momentarily stunned while they try to figure out what you just said
• All character speech sounds like the voice actor had marbles in their mouth (Druids are thus entirely unintelligble)

Agitation
HelVexMal
Hel (15) + Vex (26) + Mal (23)
3 socket weapons

• -20% Requirements
• 7% Mana Leech
• Prevent Monster Healing
• Unlocks secret "town battle" mode in the game - all town NPCs can now be attacked - but beware, they fight back
• Deckard Cain is aggressive, and his character avatar is altered to be wearing gleaming white robes, his eyes glow red, and his mouseover text now reads "Cain the White"

Special Crafting Recipe - The One Ring
Gul (25) + Um (22) + 1 Stone of Jordan transmuted in the Horadric Cube
Result: new ring labelled simply "One"

• +5 to Max Poison Resist
• +15% Resist All
• +5 to Fade (and grants skill to non-Assassins)
• +5 to Cloak of Shadows (and grants skill to non-Assassins)
• -10 Light Radius
• 10% Chance each minute your character will say "My Precious..."

Revenge
ZodZodZod
Zod (33) + Zod (33) + Zod (33)
3 socket body armor

• All character equipment is Indestructible
• Character (and any hirelings/summons) garbed entirely in black
• 95% Physical Damage Reduction
• +20% Max All Resistances
• +100 All Resistances
• +100 Strengh
• +100 Dexterity
• +100 Vitality
• +100 Energy
• Infinite Stamina
• 33-50% Chance the character randomly exclaims "Kneel before ZOD!" upon encountering any NPC, superunique, act boss, or another player

Special thanks to Strauss and Weblar of Honorable Players for a considerable amount of help on some of these funny RuneWord ideas.

Got a funny RuneWord idea? E-mail ZOAS with your suggestion, and if it's funny, it'll be added here, with the submitter noted.

Sound off and express your opinion on this Raving, past Ravings, or anything else marginally related to the site on yggdrasil.net's own discussion forum.

November 18th, 2001 - The Top 10 List for Knowing That You Play Entirely Too Much Diablo 2

grim_acid responded to one of my troll/advertisement posts for my first Raving item for today with a "Top 10" list that was so good, I felt it deserved it's own entry, rather than simply just being included into the MF list below. Those of you who enjoy this list, should probably check out the Signs of Diablo II Pre-release Addiction (linked above) as well. So, submitted by grim_acid, but originally posted by Barrin, here, not necessarily in order, is the "Top 10" List for Knowing That You Play Entirely Too Much Diablo 2:

1. You demand payment from your employer in SOJ's.
2. Your personal work file at your job contains numerous sick days due to the "Meph Runs" and a chronic case of "Bloody Foot Heels."
3. You immediately cast Firewall when your little cousin drops by to show you her new "Pygmy Doll."
4. On your next date you buy a kinky outfit for your girlfriend so that you can roleplay "Slap me and call me Andariel"....
5. You ask people for directions in terms of waypoints.
6. You are considering asking the Rogue Merc. in Act 1 to a romantic date in "the Caves."
7. You measure time in increments of Meph Runs.
8. The Sun becomes an Ancient Legend told to frighten the young.
9. You begin to notice that your neighbors dog who constantly dookies in your yard shouts "Rakanishu" while running away from you...
10. Your proudest moment arrives when you get the cover of Money Magazine for starting a Billion dollar a year E-bay Diablo Empire...
11. Coincidentally, your parents call to wish you "Happy Birthday" every time you find a grandfather..
12. Please excuse the numerical inaccuracy of my top ten list but it has been socketed for your enjoyment with a 20% enhanced jewel.

Sound off and express your opinion on this Raving, past Ravings, or anything else marginally related to the site on yggdrasil.net's own discussion forum.

November 18th, 2001 - Signs You've Been Doing Too Many MF Runs

Hey Diablo II Expansion players! Are you concerned that perhaps you've been spending too much time on battle.net hunting items? Have your relatives been acting weird lately? Or perhaps you're a hapless friend, family member, or significant other, and you're getting worried, because you have to offer your girlfriend a Stone of Jordan for sex? Then you should consult this handy list, and see if you or your loved one shows any signs that they've been doing too many MF runs:

• You know what the abbreviations/acryonyms "MF" "SOJ" "ED" "R/W" and so forth mean, without thinking.
• Instead of smoke breaks you take MF breaks. (Thanks Khadgar)
• You think the best reason to play a Barbarian is Find Item.
• You know who Thott, Jarulf, Oneko, and Apocalpse_Demon are.
• You know what "Bone Wall Farming" was. (Thanks Lithium)
• You've been late to work because you just wanted to make "one more run . . ."
• Your Mercs are all equipped with Elite Unique or Set items.
• Your Merc can tank Lister in Hell and take him down 1 on 1.
• Your Merc has more MF% than most "amateur" MFers.
• People on your friends list have gotten messages like "LewtDood (*MFingMofo) whispers: Your friend MFingMofo entered a Diablo II Lord of Destruction Game called Eric89."
• ... and then "... Eric90." before they even join a channel, or a game.
• You've randomly blurted out, "She must have had high MF" in response to something in a conversation your roommate was having with his girlfriend. (Thanks, Khadgar)
• You know exactly who Eldritch, Pindleskin, Snapchip Shatter, Frozenstein, and Thresh Socket are.
• ... and where to find them.
• ... and their base monster types.
• ... and what the highest possible treasure classes they can drop are (bonus points if you can provide the percentage chance of their dropping a specific item given 420% MF - in under a minute 30).
• You're annoyed when you still haven't found that Exceptional Unique item that a friend of yours wants for their character after 3 days of trying.
• You need eight ACCOUNTS for all your mules.
• You know all the best places and monsters to drop certain items types, and can tell someone else from memory.
• Upon sight of an item, you can quote its relative trade value in SOJs, and/or how much it sells for on ebay.
• You can identify nearly all the notable set and unique items in the game, unidentified, on sight, just from their item type/name.
• You've timed how long on average it takes you to do your Mephisto/Pindleskin/Baal run.
• ... and it's a figure in seconds, not minutes.
• You know the only two monsters in the game that could drop the Constricting Ring - IF it wasn't disabled.
• You've made stupidly disadvantageous trades for 1 more Ist rune so you can get 30% more MF on your Oculus/Gull Dagger/Ali Baba.
• You've leveled your 80+ character from doing just Pindleskin runs.
• More than once.
• This week.
• You can make it to Durance 3 from the waypoint in Durance 2, kill Mephisto, collect the drop, check all the chests, baskets, stashes, and armor racks, make it back to town, get healed, and ID your items before most people can even FIND the Durance 3 entrance.
• You don't even bother with the stashes, chests, baskets, and armor racks, because you could kill Mephisto again in the time that takes.
• You're disappointed because you've found your 5th Natalya's Mark this week, but still haven't found a damn Windforce.
• You've calculated the relative drop rarity vs. quality given considerations of run times to decide if it's better to do 7 Pindleskin runs or 1 Mephisto run.
• You've actually given serious thought to doing regular MF runs to sell the items on ebay for a decent income, instead of work.
• You actually make more than most minimum wage full-time jobs monthly from sales of your "spare" items on ebay.
• You have successfully completed multiple Isenhart's Sets. (Thanks TigerPrawnMaster)
• You point out the fact to your roommate that you don't need to eat, and a human being can last 5 days without food. (Thanks TigerPrawnMaster)
• You need to take a #2, but prairie dog it, because you're certain you'll get a Windforce the next run. (Thanks TigerPrawnMaster)
• You go to church and pray for items... (Thanks TigerPrawnMaster)
• Your skin turns pale white and the light burns. (Thanks TigerPrawnMaster)
• A 49% War Traveler's drop and yours is better. (Thanks Stone_Cult)
• Your optical cordless mouse runs out of batteries every two days due to MF runs. (Thanks gball)
• When the Realm is down, you sit at your computer and try repeatedly until the Realm is back up. (Thanks Khadgar)
• You've received an "F" in English for writing an essay on "The Strategies of MFing." (Thanks Khadgar)
• When you "catch up" with friends, you inquire as to what each of you have found recently MFing. (Thanks Khadgar)
• You wear T-shirts that say, "Got MF?" (Thanks Khadgar)
• You're currently kicking yourself because you realized that in the time it took you to read this raving, you could have done several "MF runs" and possibly found that Windforce. (Thanks BraMinder)
• When you walk down the alleyway, you check all the garbage tins for magic items. (Thanks Acid)
• You accidentally slay your girlfriend, coincidentally named Sarina. (Thanks Snildo)
• Your friends in school talk about Hannibal Lecter, and you think they´re talking about Baal runs. Don't those stupid noobs know it's Lister? (Thanks Snildo)
• You could just SWEAR that Mephisto taunts you by saying "My best items have escaped you! Ahahahaha!" (Thanks Shizuka)

Got a funny "too many MF runs" example yourself? E-mail ZOAS with your suggestion or example, and if it's funny, it'll be added here, with the submitter noted.

Sound off and express your opinion on this Raving, past Ravings, or anything else marginally related to the site on yggdrasil.net's own discussion forum.

September 21st, 2001 - Gaming and the September 11th Terrorist Acts

Let me preface this raving by saying that the terrible acts that terrorists took against this country (The US of A!) last Tuesday are terrible, horrid things, and they're unforgivable. I know that a LOT of people have been hurt by this, and that the grief and the pain are going to be with the people of this country for a very long time. I very much understand taking steps to lessen people's pain/grief, and a desire from the gaming community (at least on the business side of things) to not offend people. However, some things are simply too damned much. If I happen to offend you in this raving, then excuse me for having an opinion.

My reactions the day of the terrorist strikes were probably atypical. I'd been through some pretty major crises and a tragedy or two pretty recently myself, and I'm still recovering from those, so seeing the images and hearing the sounds of my country being under terrorist attack hit kind of numbly. I'd finally made it into "life must go on mode" and that was still my state of mind when I saw all the horrific imagery on CNN Headline News. What does all this have to do with this raving? Well, during that day, after about 4 hours of continuous TV coverage, and hearing various experts and people start espousing their opinions on things, one thought occurred to me in big mental neon letters: Someone is going to blame video games for this.

Sometimes, I really hate being right. It didn't take long - it was just a day or two later, and the console and PC games we gamers love were already being blamed, and the gaming community was being affected. Dr. Bob Arnot, in this MSNBC News article blamed PC flight simulator games (no specific title is mentioned, but the finger is aimed at Microsoft Flight Simulator) for helping the terrorists learn to pilot Boeing 767s. Yes, you read that right - a member of the so-called professional news media, and a man holding a doctorate, is placing some of the responsibility for the airliner attacks at the feet of a PC game.

Microsoft has since decided to remove the World Trade Center towers from Flight Simulator. This is one decision I'm ok with, if primarily for their reason for the change. MS Flight Sim has in recent versions tried to be as accurate and as detailed as is reasonably popular with the recreation of real-world locations and landmarks in the game. Since the skyline of New York is now changed by the damage to the towers, altering the game to reflect the changes is an OK reaction. Some of the other reactions going on in the gaming industry strike me as simply too reactionary, however. Is the gaming industry so scared of all the bad press games have already gotten with people who know very little about what they're talking about blaming things like the Columbine High massacre on first person shooters?

Some examples of the ways the gaming community has been affected/is reacting:

• JoWooD Productions has postponed the release of World War III Black Gold, "until further notice." The game was originally scheduled for release on September 24. Further, they report the game's name has been shortened to WW3 Black Gold
• Westwood Studio's Red Alert II has been pulled from store shelves from many stores, starting with Wal-Mart, and proceeding to other national retailers like Staples. Why? Because the game has an opening sequence showing the destruction of New York. There have been reports that Electronic Arts will be distributing a version of the game with different, "more sensitive" boxes in hopes to continue selling the game.
• Tom Clancy’s Rogue Spear: Black Thorn will be postponed from it's scheduled October 9th release date, to an as-yet-undetermined time. Why?

  While Tom Clancy’s Rogue Spear: Black Thorn features a very strong moral component and realistic portrayal of the fight against terrorism, Ubi Soft has decided to delay the release of the game and modify the content to avoid stirring emotions unnecessarily and unwillingly offending the public.

• Publisher Arush Entertainment is evaluating a game in development that features legendary video game character Duke Nukem blasting his way through New York. The game is being reviewed for possible offensive scenes, such as depictions of the now-toppled World Trade Center, the company said. The game's logo and a clip of highlights were removed from Arush's site because they contained images of the World Trade Center.
• Metal Gear Solid X for the Microsoft Xbox, and Metal Gear Solid 2 for the Sony PlayStation 2 may be affected by the terrorist acts, and may be delayed, or not released at all.
• Electronic Arts' Majestic was suspended for several days in light of the tragedy.
• Staples has pulled the following games from their store shelves: Red Alert 2, SWAT 2/3, Rogue Spear Platinum Pack, Crimson Skies, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Professional Edition, Microsoft Flight Simulator 98, Half Life, Counter Strike (Retail Edition).

The above are just some of the effects that have been seen in the gaming industry/community because of the terrorist attacks on this nation last Tuesday. Just as there are reactions to this event all over the world, there are worldwide reactions in the gaming industry as well. An anonymous official at a British video game firm said that, "For (the) next couple of years, games makers will stay away from creating games that involve planes going right into any buildings or violence in New York." Kean Marden, London-based analyst at UBS Warburg said, "Games makers will deal with it in appropriate sensitivity ... They will probably delay releases of violent games for now."

My take on all this? It's overly cautious, and all in all a mistake. It's bullshit, to phrase it very bluntly, to alter games, or pull them from shelves, because some religious terrorist zealots flew some airplanes into a couple of this nation's symbols of strength and freedom. I'm not alone in this opinion. Doug Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), which represents 90 percent of the entertainment software industry said, "Nobody would seriously suggest a video game has a role in this kind of tragedy."

Video games are NOT real. They're fantasy. They're escapism. If anything, the video game industry needs to find some intelligent counselors and psychiatrists and bring forth the idea that video games can be an excellent form of reacting to this, coping with it, and perhaps even confronting some of the fears out there. Why the hell are games like Rogue Spear and Counter-Strike, which deal with COUNTER-terrorism being pulled from shelves? Isn't Counter-terrorism exactly what millions of pissed off Americans are calling out for right now? I'm sorry, is it just me, or does this seem like exactly the opposite of the proper reaction?

Some of the games being affected/pulled just don't make much sense. Half-Life being pulled because of terrorist acts? Let me see here . . . Gordon Freeman battling X-Files like government agents and totally fantastic alien creatures . . . Oh, yeah, silly me, I see the connection to flying a few airliners into national landmarks right away now that I think about it. Ok, so you're going to say "but it's the mods for Half-Life that are the reason the game is being pulled." Yeah, and that makes pulling the actual game with nothing to do with the tragedy OK? Not in my book - and not in my country, dammit.

If nothing else, video games provide needed stress relief and escapism. I know that personally, many times I've had a little pent up anxiety and stress, and it was extremely satisfying to sit down and play a little Quake III Arena or Team Fortress Classic and I feel much better at having unwound and relaxed by blowing up clots of pixels controlled by other players. Again, I'm not alone in this thought: "Now more than ever people need escapism," said John Davison, editor and director of the Ziff-Davis Media Game Group. "Games provide a kind of all-engaging diversion that even movies cannot," he said.

Finally, when it all comes down to it, the thing that pisses me off the most about seeing all these reactions in the gaming industry/community is really a tie between two things. First, it seems like the game industry is running scared. They seem to be afraid of being associated with violence, blamed for bad things that happen by people who lash out and seek something to place blame on. Go back to Columbine and the lawsuits against game developers stemming from that. The second thing is that these reactions are, in small ways, letting the terrorists win. Why did they do what they did? Perhaps they want to scare us. Perhaps they want to make us change the way we live our lives, the way things work in this country. Oh dear, they've committed a horrible, atrocious act of destruction and terrorism - let's run out and try to shield ourselves from anything that might possibly remind us of what happened. While we're at it, why don't we alter our forms of entertainment and release? I remarked on the Honorable Players forums that I wondered what was next, are they going to start pulling the movie Independence Day because it depicts the destruction (oh, by totally fantastical aliens, but never mind that) of both New York and Washington D.C.? Wouldn't you know it, I was informed by one of the HP members that a TV station in Southwest Missouri had Independence Day scheduled for airing, but cancelled it due to the tragedy. *le sigh*

I'm calling it as I see it. Things have gone too far. I may be wrong, but I think yanking any possibly offensive references in almost any game (Someone mind telling me just what the hell is supposed to be offensive as regards this tragedy with Crimson Skies?), or yanking the games for containing possibly offensive references, is the wrong way to go. I'd say it would actually work to adverse affects, since it helps people avoid ways of dealing with the tragedy by removing things that might make them confront their feelings about it. I'm also very scared of where this might lead. First our video games (entertainment). . . what's next to be yanked from us? A lot of people are very fearful that many of our American Civil Liberties may be stepped on in (over)reaction to these attacks. It may be a little extremist or paranoid of a view, but I see the things happening to games as an early step down that road.

Sound off and express your opinion on this Raving, past Ravings, or anything else marginally related to the site on yggdrasil.net's own discussion forum.