Many of you probably heard about this already and it seems like 99% of people are okay with this game being removed.

I wanted to discuss why do we let other type of violence slide (Murder, torture, genocide, terrorism) but sexual violence is an instant NOPE?

You can literally nuke a whole town in F3 or kill a heap of civvies in MW2 / GTA games.
Are we just not ready yet or will it never have a place in video games?

Similar situation with the school shooter sim. Why did everyone get mad at that game?

If the line in the sand is killing innocent people, then why did MW2 not get pulled off the shelves or F3 not get an AO rating?
If the problem is partaking an active role in the violence, then what about the R* game Manhunt?
Is it just sex that's the issue here?

My question is, why is rape or sexual violence a line that we can't cross in video games?

Rape appears in movies and books and probably did appear in some games too. Is the interactive aspect what pushes it over the edge of acceptable? What if a game just had a rape mechanic not crucial to the game?

Quote from: FatherlyNick on March 08, 2019, 04:07:38 AM

My question is, why is rape or sexual violence a line that we can't cross in video games?

Already crossed, it's just that Steam doesn't allow them on their platform or at least not openly, because they don't want to associate themselves with such games.

Quote from: FatherlyNick on March 08, 2019, 04:07:38 AM

Rape appears in movies and books and probably did appear in some games too. Is the interactive aspect what pushes it over the edge of acceptable?

Interactive aspect is what makes games games, if you make games without interactivity, only rape, how it's different from porn?

On 1: I can understand Steam - this is definitely something you want to keep away from kids. But in the media discussing this, all I see are people going all out against this particular game and its depiction of rape, their issue is that this game exists regardless what platform it will sell on. I know Illusion has several titles where non-consensual acts can be performed, but why this level of outrage?

On 2: I should have phrased this more completely. What I mean is that you can have rape in a game but not be an active participant. Say for example there is a Rape [Yes] ; [No] prompt. If you pick Yes - the game can fade to black, play some SFX and later tell you that you have committed a terrible crime Karma--. So while there is interactivity, the act itself is concealed and implied.

Partly due to conditioning, partly due to the era we live it.

For the most part, rape has never been an aspect of mainstream games, whereas mass murder has been a part of games for years now (which drew controversy in the 00s). This can also be observed in other mediums, such as the original Psycho drawing criticism for showing an unmarried couple in the same bed and that woman in her bra, but by the sequels this was no longer taboo.

It’s also worth mentioning that the era of “#MeToo” and frequent school shootings is not the time to be setting these precedents. Would Infinity Ward have been able to get away with “No Russian” right after 9/11? Probably not. Regardless, a game about a school shooter seems in poor taste even if it wasn’t such a common tragedy as it is.

The fact that the outrage is coming from younger millennials rather than older conservatives likely also is what swayed valve. I think they recognize the hypocrisy though, which is why they seemed encouraging to the developers in their message.

obviously, you're allowed to put whatever objectionable content you want in your game, because it's your game and your art

but steam is allowed to host whatever games they want on their platform

that's pretty much the end of the discussion

The West has a cultural fascination and love of violence. Slashers, war films, super heroes, Avatar, and even Disney: what do they have in common? Even if it isn't explicitly shown, or overtly bloody, we popularly prefer our fights to be physical. Guns, bare-knuckle brawls, knives, pushes, and torches. Despite this, there have still been controversies around violence in video games. MW2 did still make appearances in the news, Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton had their attempt at regulating the industry in response to GTA IV. Sexual violence has always been a touchy subject, and in the post-#MeToo world it's a taboo. There's never been a place for it to get footing in our culture, and unless something horrible happens it never will.

Now here's a question, if there was a game with a story that needed a single rape scene to move the plot and invoke an emotional response in the player; would that be okay?

bear in mind that there are already several games like this, the most notable recent one might be red dead redemption 2

i haven't really seen more than the usual degree of controversy for that game, so it doesn't seem like you're not allowed to depict rape in video games--but once you start implementing rape in such a way where it's meant to be a fun thing to do in your game, i think that's when it starts becoming a problem for most people

the best thing you can say about rape day is that it tests the limits of what people will allow themselves to do in order to have fun in a video game, but i highly doubt the creators had that in mind during the game's development, and they're probably just stupid edgelords