Političke implikacije (video-)igara

[ridiculus]

Stavljajte ovde sve što ima veze sa rasnim, rodnim, političkim, etičkim ili pravnim pitanjima. Razlog je taj što takva tematika ima šire značenje i možda interesuje ljude koji nemaju sklonost ka igranju (ali imaju ka političkim raspravama ).

(Zašto ja, koji odigram 3-4 igara godišnje poslednjih nekoliko godina, moram da otvaram nove teme i organizujem haos? Pa ja sam Chaotic Neutral! Chaotic, čujete! Nisam Lawful! Stvarno...nisam!   )

[neomedjeni]

Ako se sećaš Zelaznijevih Hronika Ambera, Merlin u jednoj  od knjiga s čuđenjem primećuje kako je Haos zapravo znatno organizovaniji od Reda, tj. Ambera. Možda se tu krije odgovor na tvoje pitanje. 


Hm, evo, pada mi na pamet jedna stara dilema obrađena u PoE. Ako je neko žrtva užasnog zločina koji ga je obeležio i imate priliku da izbrišete njegovo sećanje na taj događaj, pružajući mu šansu za novi život, da li treba to da učinite? Ili nam iskustva koja smo proživeli/preživeli neotuđivo pripadaju i niko nema prava da nam ih bez pitanja oduzima, ma koliko bolna bila? Uprkos tome što će nam život sa tim sećanjima verovatno biti pakao?

[ridiculus]

Meni je na umu bio ovaj novi Swords & Soldiers kada sam otvorio temu. Nisam ga igrao, pošto je samo za WiiU, ali gledao sam trejler i malo gejmpleja i čitao neke prikaze. Jedna "strana" u ovoj, praktično real-time strategiji, su Persijanci. Druga su Vikinzi. Treća su demoni, ali to nije bitno za ovu raspravu, čak i da se njihovi potomci osete uvredjenim. Prva igra je imala i Asteke i Carsku Kinu. Sad, u svetlu skorašnjih rasprava o Witcheru i nedostatku obojenih manjina u njemu, pitam se kako bi reagovali potomci nekih od ovih naroda na karikiranje njihovih kulturnih odlika? Ima li smisla postaviti takvo pitanje? Meni su ove igre vrlo zabavne, duhovite i nimalo me ne inspirišu da gledam na druge kulture sa predubedjenjem. Na kraju krajeva, čovek može da se smeje i sam sebi, i onda svaka priča o "stereotipisanju" drugih pada u vodu.

A za Haos...čuj, ima istine u tome što zboriš. Tj. Merlin.

Inače - da odgovorim na tvoje pitanje - ne bih se usudio da zadirem u ičija sećanja. Oh, možda bih sa nekim sebičnim ciljevima - ne mogu da jemčim suprotno, jer niko ne zna kako bi se poneo u ekstremnim situacijama - ali nikako ne u ime nekog morala. Jer to se obično izjalovi.

[neomedjeni]

U igri su Obsidianovci imali drugačije viđenje situacije. Odnosno, jedini način da se njena priča završi "srećno" je da joj se izbriše sećanje. Interesovao me je taj detalj pa sam se vraćao tom kvestu i odigrao ga na nekoliko načina. Svaki put kad bih joj vratio pamćenje, loše bi se završio.


S druge stane, ovo pitanje je tesno povezano sa glavnom pričom igre i na generalnom planu njihova vizija, odnosno "dobar" način da završiš igru je drugačija. Tako da verujem da oni ne veruju kako postoji definitivan, kategoričan odgovor na ovo pitanje.


Hm, vezano za tvoju priču o Swords&Soldiers, da li uopšte postoji način u strateškim igrama (pretpostavljam da je u pitanju strateška igra) da udahneš malo duha/šarma/nečeg trećeg rasama ili narodima koje se u njoj pojavljuju ako ne posegneš za generalizacijom, pa i karikiranjem? Potomci Vikinga bi, recimo, imali pravo da se osete uvređenim ako su njihovi preci predstavljeni kao krvožedni bersekeri naklonjeni neistorijskim rogatim šlemovima kad bi se iz nekog razloga moglo smatrati da je cilj igre vređanje ili podsmevanje istima (Vikinzima, ne šlemovima). Ali ako nema zle namere, onda bismo prešli na teren sitničarenja, što je trenutak u kom bi svako normalan odmahnuo rukom i skrenuo levo. Ili desno, svejedno.

[ridiculus]

Dakle, sam dizajn igre (PoE) bi me naterao da pogazim svoja ubedjenja u ime uspeha! Nepravda!!!

Ne znam što sam se sada ovog setio, ali ajde. Film Dark City nam nudi dilemu: da li sećanja odredjuju ličnost? Na prvi pogled odgovor u filmu je ne. Ali, posle nešto razmišljanja, shvatio sam da to ne mora biti konačni odgovor, čak ni u ograničenom i režiranom fiktivnom svetu filma. Moguć (i "pravi", po meni) odgovor je: telo pamti dublje i duže od mozga.

Naravno, sve zavisi od konteksta, i možda je "uspešan kraj" u igračkom smislu, neuspešan u karakternom, i možda Stubovi večnosti suptilno postavljaju tu razliku. A možda, opet, ne. Ne znam, nisam igrao.

U vezi rasnih i kulturnih reprezentacija: čuj, ono što je tebi i meni normalno, nekome... Ne bi me čudilo da se javi neko ko nije predstavljen (neko afričkog porekla, recimo), pa počne da se jada kako to da nijedna afrička kultura nije u igri, a demoni jesu...

[neomedjeni]

Hm, zapravo se ne sećam ničega o Dark Cityju, ali prošlo je mnogo mnogo vremena od gledanja tog filma. Verovatno sam bio premlad za tako nešto.

Naravno, sve zavisi od konteksta, i možda je "uspešan kraj" u igračkom smislu, neuspešan u karakternom, i možda Stubovi večnosti suptilno postavljaju tu razliku. A možda, opet, ne. Ne znam, nisam igrao.

Ne na kraju do kog sam ja došao, ali nije nemoguća varijanta. PoE definitivno ima mnogo različitih završnica.

U vezi rasnih i kulturnih reprezentacija: čuj, ono što je tebi i meni normalno, nekome... Ne bi me čudilo da se javi neko ko nije predstavljen (neko afričkog porekla, recimo), pa počne da se jada kako to da nijedna afrička kultura nije u igri, a demoni jesu...

Naravno, neko će uvek da se buni zbog nečega. Ne verujem da na planeti postoji umetničko delo koje ne bi izazvalo nečije nezadovoljstvo. Svodi se na pitanje koje si već postavio -  da li je to nezadovoljstvo opravdano i ko i kako to meri.

[ridiculus]

U svetlu poslednjih dogadjaja:

belgijski ministar o tome zašto teroristi vole plejstejšn 4

[ridiculus]

Nije u pitanju video-igra, ali implikacije su iste:

Nekoliko zaposlenih dobilo otkaz zbog igranja Cards Against Humanity.

[ridiculus]

Kad sam već oživeo temu...

Deca nekadašnjeg angolskog pobunjenika Jonasa Savimbija tuže Activision zbog upotrebe njegovog lika u igri Call of Duty: Black Ops II, i traže milion evra odštete. (Članak u Gardijanu.)

[Meho Krljic]

Grand Theft Auto and the airbrushing of history

By rewriting key elements of the LA riots, GTA San Andreas distorts history
At the climax of Rockstar's 2004 game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, there is a riot in the fictional city of Los Santos.

These riots are heavily based on the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which followed the acquittal of four LAPD police officers for the beating of taxi driver Rodney King, and yet in their version of historical events the writers at Rockstar preclude actual history. One of the most politically and socially significant moments in 20th-century America, the culmination of centuries of black oppression at the hands of the white establishment, is made apolitical and asocial.
Tracing the roots of a riot
To understand the extent to which the studio's writers airbrush complexity from their depiction of contemporary LA, you have to go back to the early 20th century.
    By the outbreak of World War II, thousands of migrants had arrived in Los Angeles, looking for work in the city's many munitions and aircraft factories. In response, LA building contractors purchased swathes of undeveloped land in areas such as Compton and Huntington Park, with the aim of providing affordable housing for the new workers. Fearing an influx of migrants, especially after 1948, when the Supreme Court ruled it was not legal to discriminate against property buyers based on skin colour, much of Compton's white population fled to the northern reaches of Los Angeles, selling even more land to developers in the process. By the early 1960s, the population of Compton had been transformed, with more than 40% of the city's residents now either black or Hispanic.

Neighbouring city Watts had also seen the arrival of thousands of African-Americans during the second migration, and in response had constructed several housing projects, including Nickerson Gardens and Jordan Downs, areas that, by the 1960s, were almost 100% black.

Racial tensions had intensified in Los Angeles since the passing of Proposition 14 in 1964, a legislation that effectively overturned the Supreme Court ruling made almost 20 years prior, once again making it legal to discriminate against prospective property buyers based on race. The passing of Prop 14, along with the arrest of Marquette Frye, sparked rioting in Watts in 1965 during which 34 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured. Afterwards, the McCone Commission determined the riots had roots in the low living standards of LA's black communities, including poor-quality housing and limited access to schools. However, despite Los Angeles boasting, by the late 1960s, the largest black population of any city in the US, little legislative action was taken to improve its black neighbourhoods and the city's racial divide became wider.
So when the jury on the Rodney King trial returned its verdict, the residents of South Central LA, who gathered in protest on the steps of Simi Valley courthouse, were reacting not to a single injustice, or some apolitical controversy, but to decades of social and legislative prejudice. From the separation of building plots in Compton and the ghettoisation of Watts throughout the 20th century, to the continued segregation of school and housing districts, the 1992 Los Angeles riots were the result of several dark decades in American history. And to understand them fully, or represent them responsibly, the weight of that history must be accepted.
Letting the system off the hook
In the game, the riots begin when corrupt police officer Frank Tenpenny is acquitted of murder and drug trafficking. But Tenpenny is black. And in making him so, Rockstar excludes from its version of the LA riots any examination of historical racial tension.

Rather than investigate or engage with the true circumstances of the LA riots, the game's writers can simply fabricate their own, cleaner narrative; rather than implicate the white establishment, Grand Theft Auto's creators can isolate the riots as a black issue involving and perpetrated by black characters. In an act of rewriting of history so blunt and tactless only game critics could miss it, Rockstar doesn't attempt to justify the white system – it tries to extricate it from implication entirely.

More surreptitiously, the nature of Tenpenny's crime is altered. His position as a police officer still gives him enough standing to be acquitted, and it's this standing that he has abused in order to deal drugs and have people killed. To that extent, he is an indictment of the system. But the crime that sparked the real-life LA riots was committed not by a criminal against another criminal, but by police officers, acting in an official capacity, against a citizen who hadn't even been formally arrested.
Of the 344 people killed in Baltimore in 2015, 93% were black. By the end of the year, only 30% of the city's homicides were solved. At the same time, sentencing for drug crimes remains heavily biased against African-Americans. Possession of one gram of crack, the smokable form of cocaine more popular among African-Americans, carries the same sentence as possession of 18 grams of the powder form of cocaine more often used by white people. Given this context it's important to note that, rather than simply a police officer and a representative of the system who has abused his position and assailed a citizen, Tenpenny is a drug dealer and a murderer. Instead of committing abuses of power that highlight flaws in the political, public-facing system, Tenpenny commits crimes that, as far as America's legislative response goes, are native to a fringe subsection of society: black society.

However, the abuse suffered by Rodney King came from white police officers. And by reversing history once again, Rockstar removes from blame the white establishment and recontextualises the LA riots as a black problem for black people. Like the ghettoised LA districts of Watts and Compton, the riots in San Andreas are isolated from broader politics and society.
Avoiding difficult questions
At the end of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, after Tenpenny is killed (by the game's black protagonist, CJ), the riots simply cease. Rather than being resolved by legislation, social reform or any action whatsoever from the political system, the LA riots in San Andreas are a product of and a problem for two black criminals. No broader racial or political context exists before the riots. No political change is needed to end or prevent them reoccurring. What in reality represented a convergence of myriad social and political ills is isolated as a squabble over drug money and gang murders between two black crooks.

Laying the blame squarely at Rockstar's door might seem unfair. Games generally refuse to involve themselves with history and politics – the disclaimer at the beginning of each Assassin's Creed, explaining that the games are "inspired" by history and developed by a team of multiple religious faiths is a sugar-coated way to defend the series' stubborn, apolitical writing. It's ridiculous, also, that the World War II aesthetic is considered stale when games generally refuse to address the complex social problems behind the conflict. For the sake of selling to as many people, assumedly teenagers, as possible, games sidestep confronting complicated subject matter. San Andreas is not singularly guilty, but considering Rockstar's continued boasts about plausible open worlds and sharp satire, its exorcising of history is more plainly visible.
Primarily, the heightened rags-to-riches story of San Andreas demonstrates Rockstar's total misunderstanding – or perhaps straight ignorance – of the people, place and time it is supposedly representing. Secondarily, they vindicate the social systems that in reality lead to social paralysis. Within just 50 in-game days, CJ amasses a business empire comprising a casino, a record label and a car dealership – in less than two months, he goes from living in federal housing in one of Los Santos' ghettos to being a multimillionaire. Similarly, the game is filled with things to do: across San Andreas, players encounter a litany of missions, side-missions, challenges, secrets and activities. This is a world laden with opportunity. Contrary to the real lives of black people in South Central Los Angeles, whose ability to progress out of poverty is either tacitly or explicitly denied by the white system, CJ experiences hyper-mobility, exploring a world where he can not only become ultra-rich, ultra-fast, but where nothing is ever denied.

"Just say no!" insisted Nancy Reagan, as part of her infamous campaign against the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. And it's that kind of parental condescension, spoken self-satisfyingly, and without proper consideration of the American ghetto, that San Andreas echoes. "Get after it!" the game tells its young black protagonist. "White people can do it, so why can't you?" And when rioting breaks out: "It's your fault, so you fix it."

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, both black marginalisation and the LA riots occur without any interposition from the white system, which remains blameless – despite volumes of history and research concluding the opposite, the game tacitly implies that the problems in black, urban America come from within.

[дејан]

РТС вс видео игре - исправио сам линкове за јутјуб (који су ишли ка целој емсији на онај део који се тиче теме)
срамотно су исекли овакву жену!!!

Medijska zloupotreba sagovornika
LJILJANA GAVRILOVIC·FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016
#RTS #videoigre #moralnapanika #zavisnost #zloupotrebasagovornika
U petak 8. februara, u okviru Beogradke hronike, pušten je prilog o video-igrama (ponovljen u Jutarnjem programu 9. februara)(https://youtu.be/6o7ZkazHZZo?t=35m32s). Ja sam bila gost čije su izjave snimljene, montirane i puštene u etar, posle čega mi ljudi se obraćaju sa "komšinice, jeste vi to na televiziji pričali o zavisnosti od igrica?", što mi naravno svaki put izazove napad besa. Jer sam ja, takođe naravno, za istu televiziju dala potpuno oprečnu izjavu.
Priča ide otprilike ovako: mlada novinarka dolazi na prethodno dogovoreni sastanak i pita"'Oćete vi da pricate o zavisnosti od igrica?", na šta ja odgovorim jedino moguće: "Takva zavisnost ne postoji". Onda ona kaže: "Ali znate da ima onih koji se igraju 16 sati dnevno?" i dobije odgovor: "Znam, i ja se ponekad igram 16, pa i 20 sati dnevno. Ali ponekad i čitam 20 sati dnevno (nisam joj rekla da ima dana kada toliko radim, bilo bi to suviše za nju). Zašto je problem igrati se, a nije problem čitati 16 ili 20 sati?" Moje pitanje ostalo bez odgovora.
Novinarka onda kaže da ona o "igricama" ništa ne zna, ali da je pročitala neke tekstove na Internetu. Prevedeno to znači: pročitala je nekoliko medijskih priloga, koje su radili novinari koji o tome ne znaju ništa, koliko ni ona. Do rezultata ozbiljnih istraživanja nije ni mogla da dođe, jer se ona objavljuju u naučnim časopisima, kojima ne-naučnici po pravilu nemaju pristup. Doduše, ima naokolo mnogo knjiga i nekih otvorenih časopisa o gejmingu, ali to prvo traži ozbiljno prekopavanje po literaturi, a zatim i mnogo vremena za čitanje - obe stvari očigledno prezahtevne za pripremanje priloga.
Onda je ekipa snimila moju izjavu i vizuelni prilog: ja u Azerotu (bio mi je potpuno urnebesan zahtev da "radim nešto", jer je letenje - na mom omiljenom zmaju, koga sam jurila više od godinu dana - dosadno. Pandan tome u RL bi bio da mi kažu kako bih mogla da napravim stoj na rukama, ili da dubim na glavi, jer je to što samo sedim i pričam "dosadno"). 
Montirani prilog (https://youtu.be/6o7ZkazHZZo?t=35m32s) je završio samo sa par mojih rečenica, od kojih je jedna presečena na pola (konstatacija da je - po statistikama - vreme za igranje u najvećoj meri oduzeto od vremena do tada provođenog pred televizorom, i da je to jedan od ozbiljnih razloga za odijum prema igranju u medijima), jer je sve ono što se nije uklapalo u novinarkino viđenje igara i igranja - izbačeno. Naime, iako o igrama ne zna ništa, ona ima vrlo čvrsto definisano mišljenje o njima i to što ja mislim (na osnovu relevantnih istraživanja,  ne samo mojih) drugačije, nikako ne može da utiče na konačan ishod.
Tako je nastao prilog koji, uprkos svom mom trudu, i dalje širi - za medije potpuno uobičajenu - negativnu ocenu video igara/igranja (a samim tim i igrača), i ponavlja sve predrasude o igrama koje se u svetu (doduše, i tamo polako) prevazilaze. 
Pri tom, potpisana sam kao etnolog i KULTUROLOG (!??!, da li treba da kažem koliko sam uvređena?), bez pominjanja institucija u kojima radim. Naravno: pominjanje EI SANU i Filozofskog fakulteta bi, kod "običnih" gledalaca kojima je prilog namenjen, dalo dodatnu težinu mojim izjavama, ma koliko one okrnjene bile i - nije se želelo rizikovati. Tako sam ja (zlo)upotrebljena u klasičnom medijskom širenju moralne panike povodom igara/igranja, iako je to u potpunosti u suprotnosti sa onim što radim i što govorim stalno, pa i za tu emisiju.
Naravno da sam zvala urednicu (bez odgovora) i poslala joj protestni mail (bez odgovora). Jedini način da kažem javnosti da ne stojim iza tog priloga je ovaj. Ma koliko imao manji domet od RTS-a, sa kojim sam završila svaku saradnju.

[Meho Krljic]

Heh, ja sam čak i gledao ovu emisiju ali mi se mozak automatski isključio kada je čuo sintagmu "onlajn igrica". 

[Mme Chauchat]

РТС вс видео игре - исправио сам линкове за јутјуб (који су ишли ка целој емсији на онај део који се тиче теме)
срамотно су исекли овакву жену!!!

To je naravno THE Ljiljana Gavrilović Između ostalog prva osoba koja je kod nas u akademskom kontekstu pisala o fanfikšnu. (Bar da ja znam. A nije da nisam tražila.)

[дејан]

РТС вс видео игре - исправио сам линкове за јутјуб (који су ишли ка целој емсији на онај део који се тиче теме)
срамотно су исекли овакву жену!!!

To je naravno THE Ljiljana Gavrilović Između ostalog prva osoba koja je kod nas u akademskom kontekstu pisala o fanfikšnu. (Bar da ja znam. A nije da nisam tražila.)

знаш ли, да ли се некако може доћи до ње?

[Mme Chauchat]

To, priznajem, nisam probala, ali ovde imaš kontakt http://www.f.bg.ac.rs/sr-lat/etnologija_antropologija/zaposleni_od?IDZ=738 a dosta tekstova može se naći na http://www.anthroserbia.org/ pa samo napred.

[дејан]

фала!

[Meho Krljic]

Ovo nije baš implikacija per se, ali...

Donald Trump Tweets A Terrible Campaign Ad That Rips Off Mass Effect

[Meho Krljic]

1979 Revolution: Black Friday: The Kotaku Review

[Meho Krljic]

Evo i Jurogejmerovog prikaza iste igre koja, da podsetim, za temu ima iransku revoluciju iz 1979. godine:




1979 Revolution review

[дејан]

ццц само старци морају да раде овде

Ooooh, kontroverza:


Paradox Pulls Stellaris Mod That Makes All The Characters White

Ooooh, kontroverza se nastavlja:


Paradox, this is why we need to talk about your mods


Pošto je jasno da devet od deset čitalaca neće kliknuti ni na jedan od linkova, ali će možda po inerciji nastaviti da čitaju ovo što ja pišem, evo jednog sažetka ove kontroverze a koja je zanimljiva ne čak ni toliko u pogledu ukazivanja da, ako ljudima date priliku za to, neki od njih će biti otvoreni rasisti - pa missim, nije da to ne znamo - koliko u tome da podseća da živimo u vremenu distribuiranog autorstva i da pitanja ko je odgovoran/ kriv/ zaslužan za to što je određeno delo (koje više nije ni delo koliko usluga) ovakvo ili onakvo zapravo nemaju tako lak odgovor.

Dakle, sažetak:

Originalno, kontroverza je ispala oko toga što je jedan od modova za Stellaris bio uklonjen sa Steama, od strane Paradoxa koji kontrolišu modove na Steamu vezane za svoje igre, a uklonjen je jer je modifikacija koju je unosio u igru bila ta da svi Zemljani imaju evropska imena i evropski (aka kavkaski) izgled. Dakle, ništa Arapi, ništa dalekoistočni ili ekvatorijalnoafrički ili latinoamerički portreti ili imena.

E, sad, modovi su tipično produkt rada amatera, samih igrača koji koriste alatke stavljene im na raspolaganje od strane autora igre (i ponekad druge alatke) da modifikuju igru na razne načine i poslednjih godina mnogi na PC scenu orijentisani developeri pružaju podršku za modovanje igara (dakle, prave alatke i ponekad daju i dokumentaciju) jer shvataju da ovo vodi produženoj prodaji igre. Svi srećni, jelte, autori igre uživaju produženu prodaju i povišenu reputaciju, moderi imaju prilike da se vežbaju u pravljenju igara a publika ima nonstop dotok besplatnog novog sadržaja za igru koju su jednom kupili - od kojeg je 99% smeće, naravno, ali onih 1% često ume da bude vredno uloženog vremena (ne zaboravimo da su i Team Fortress i Counter Strike započeli život kao modovi). Štaviše, Fallout 4 u junu dobija podršku za modove i na konzolama.

E, sad, pitanje od milijun dolara je šta se dešava kada moderi prave problematične sadržaje. Istorijski, tipično se ne dešava ništa jer je PC scena decentralizovana i ne postoji jedno telo koje bi vršilo nadzor nad modovima i imalo autoritet i tehničku mogućnost da problematične sadržaje ukloni, to jest, a ovo je u stvari bitna distinkcija, onemogući njihovu distribuciju odnosno onemogući igračima zainteresovanim za takav sadržaj da do njega dođu. Tako da smo godinama uživali* u nude modovima za Tomb Raider a sigurno je bilo i ljudi koji su uživali u modovima koji su u Quake i Doom dodavali nacističke simbole i takoto.

Međutim, sa centralizacijom PC igranja oko Steama, i Steamovim entuzijazmom da centralizuje i distribuciju modova, stvari se menjaju. Namera je svakako dobra, umesto da se ti neki novi i neiskusni PC igrači privučeni PC igranju lakoćom korišćenja Steama sad potucaju kojekakvim Nexusima i ModDBovima i dršću da li će se nekako zajebati i instalirati malware dok samo pokušavaju da Lari Kroft skinu top i šorcić, Steam im daje srazmerno lak način da modove brauzuju i instaliraju, a istovremeno i autorima igre mogućnost da nadziru šta se sve tu nudi i potencijalno problematične sadržaje sijeku u korenu. Naravno, to i dalje ne znači da autori imaju kontrolu nad tim što se distribuira drugde, ali znači da će proverbijalni mali Perica morati malčice da se oznoji kopajući po internetu da bi u svoj Fallout ugradio kukaste krstove i drugu nacističku ikonografiju jer putem Steama to neće moći da prođe. No pasaran i te fore.

E, sad, da revidiramo: čovek je napravio mod koji nije ni hardkor porno ni nekakav agresivni rasizam, dakle ne poziva na mržnje i istrebljenja niti eksplicitno poriče vrednost rasama osim kavkaske, ali jeste mod koji uklanja druge rase i sasvim je jasno da je utemeljen na ideji belog suprematizma. U teoriji, Paradox su učinili pravu stvar što su ga uklonili, pogotovo jer se samo radi o tome da su ga učinili nedostupnim na jednom mestu koje mogu da kontrolišu - na Steamu - a mod je dostupan na drugim mestima širom interneta. Dakle, nije ovo primer nekakve surove cenzure, već samo proverbijalnog čišćenja ispred svog praga. I ti neki igrači koji hoće - i dalje mogu. Samo moraju da se blago potrude.

Međutim, ovaj potez je izazvao brojne reakcije igrača koji smatraju da Paradox ovde prelazi preko (zamišljene) granice na kojoj bi trebalo da se završava njihova odgovornost i da odrasli ljudi imaju, jelte, puno pravo da imaju pristup ovakvom modu pogotovo jer slični modovi koji čine zemaljsku populaciju kompletno afričkom ili azijskom nisu uklanjani. Naravno, iz perspektive Šveđana, evropski rasizam je opasniji od afrocentričnog ili dalekoistočnog, pogotovo u igri gde je velika većina igrača ipak sa zapada. No, zanimljivo je da su Paradox kasnije rekli da je mod uklonjen ne zbog njegovog imanentnog sadržaja već zbog komentara koji su na Steamu ostavljani na njega a koji možemo da zamislimo da su bili orgija white power hajfajvovanja između dečurlije i malo odraslijih "pravih" nacista (pogotovo onih koji počinju rečenicu sa "nisam rasista ali...").

Fer. Možda. U svakom slučaju, mod je u međuvremenu ponov postavljen na Steam pod drugim imenom i njegov autor sada pažljivo moderira komentare da izbegne ekstreman govor i zapaljive retorike tako da Paradox smatraju da nema potrebe da više reaguju.

S druge strane, Kris Bret, Jurogejmerov autor u gorelinkovanom tekstu veli da je ovde distinkcija koju Paradox pokušava da napravi veštačka: autor moda ima na Steamu linkove za svoj jutjub kanal i poziva korisnike Steama da ga pogledaju, a tamo onda ima višeminutne ekspozee o tome da je potrebno zaštititi evropsku kulturu od migranata, da se oni razmnožavaju mnogo brže nego pravi Evropljani, da je to problem itd. Dakle, ako dobro shvatam, ne poziva na nasilje prema migrantima, napade na ljude ili imovinu, nije gus steper ili nešto tako ali jeste jedan meki subbrejvikovski evropski nacionalista/ rasista.

I sad, dobro, nek priča šta oće samo dok nikog ne napada, slobodna zemlja, slobodni ljudi, ceo fazon, ali, kaže Kris Bret, obaveza Paradoxa kao moderatora baze modova za svoju igru na Steamu bi bila da ukloni nekoga ko, makar i odvojen linkom koji vodi van Steama u suptini propagira rasističke teze.

Pitanje od milijun kruna je svakako: da li je? Samo zato što Paradox ima moć da moderira bazu modova na Steamu, da li treba da se bavi ideološkim monitoringom koji zahteva odlazak na druge sajtove i dubinskije istraživanje sadržaja koje tamo pohranjuje čovek čiji mod možda a možda i ne reflektuje ideologiju tog sadržaja? Jer, šta ako isti lik napravi drugi mod koji, recimo, usporava protok vremena u igri da bi igrač imao više vremena za strategiju? Dakle, čisto tehnički mod, ideološki neutralan, ali i dalje je tu link za njegov Jutjub kanal? Da li i to treba da bude uklonjeno?

Teška su to pitanja i ko zna koje je najpametnije rešenje. Ja sigurno ne, pa ja nisam ni termodinamiku položio.









* A kad kažem "uživali", mislim "bili bledunjavo svesni njihovog postojanja ali se nikada nismo cimali oko daunloudovanja i instaliranja"

[ridiculus]

Zahvaljujemo starcima! 


Imam osećaj da se "političke implikacije..." osećaju getoizirano kada ih smestimo na jedan topik, pa žele da se prošire svugde i vladaju svim topicima... 

[Meho Krljic]

Meni je najveća politička implikacija ovde ona o distribuiranom autorstvu. Po tome su igre relativno jedinstvene u popularnoj kulturi.

[Meho Krljic]

     Beat Cop Is A Cop Game About Difficult Decisions

[Meho Krljic]

Keith Burgun je dizajnirao igre koje verovatno nikada niste igrali, ali evo njegovog relativno zapaljivog ali detaljno argumentovanog teksta o kulturi nasilja u kojoj živimo i kako je ona reflektovana u igrama.


Feminists/social progressives: stop making excuses for violence glorification

[neomedjeni]

Ja bi radije da virtuelno raznesem nekom švabi/krimosu/vanzemaljcu glavu nego da čitam ovaj tekst. Da li sam ja žrtva kulture nasilja? Da li je kasno za mene?

[Meho Krljic]

Nisi ti samo žrtva već i počinitelj, što komplikuje problem. Ali, srećom, ni za koga nije jasno.

[ridiculus]

On je pravnik, lako će se izvući! A šta da radi običan svet? 


Ma, ja sam samo pročitao naslov do pola... 

[neomedjeni]

Nisi ti samo žrtva već i počinitelj, što komplikuje problem. Ali, srećom, ni za koga nije jasno.

Imao sam nesrećno detinjstvo, nikad mi nije uspelo da nađem legendarnu Zagorovu epizodu Klanac bele smrti, što je ostavilo neizbrisive traume na mojoj mladoj ličnosti u formiranju.


I moram da primetim da nije lepo da me nazivate počiniocem bez odgovarajuće sudske odluke, druže Meho. Humanista poput vas bi morao uvek da ima na umu kako smo svi, uključujući i one koji su priznali svoje grehe, nevini dok ne budemo proglašeni krivim.


A često i nakon toga...

[Meho Krljic]

Saudi revives fatwa on 'Zionism-promoting' Pokemon 



Pokemon Go may be taking the world by storm but don't try hunting for Pikachu, Pidgey or Rattata in Saudi Arabia, as clerics there have renewed a 15-year-old ban on the game.

The General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars reaffirmed a 2001 ban on the game, according to Reuters, following the release of a new highly popular augmented reality version of the game, in which players use their smartphones to gather virtual Pokemon.
While fatwa no. 21,758 makes no mention of the latest iteration of game, it does list many sinful aspects of Pokemon.
Firstly, the game is seen as a form of gambling, which itself is forbidden. Secondly, it encourages belief in Darwin's theory of evolution, and thirdly, the fatwa says, the symbols used in the game promote the Shinto religion of Japan, Christianity, Freemasonry and "global Zionism."
"The symbols and logos of devious religions and organizations are used [including] the six-pointed star: You rarely find a card that does not contain such a star. It is associated with Judaism, the logo and sign of the State of Israel, and the first symbol of the Masonry organizations in the world," the ruling says.

Other countries are also not in favor of Pokemon Go. In Egypt, Hamdi Bakheet, a member of the committee of defense and national security told parliament that the game was being used for espionage by the country's enemies, Al-Jazeera reported.
"Pokemon Go is the latest tool used by spy agencies in the intel war, a cunning despicable app that tries to infiltrate our communities in the most innocent way under the pretext of entertainment. But all they really want is to spy on people and the state," he said.

One of the busiest

#Pokemon spots in #dubai The fountain Dubai mall #PokemonGO @PokemonGoDXB @PokemonUAE pic.twitter.com/gGGMIGLaUw
— Nayef Khatib (@nayefk7) July 18, 2016

In United Arab Emirates, a fatwa was also issued in 2001 claiming that Pokemon promotes gambling, according to the BBC. However it seems that the rules are not so strictly enforced now, as users are tweeting their favorite hunting grounds.
 

When

#pokemongo meets #reallife #pokemon #israel #kotel #jerusalem #photooftheday #picofth... https://t.co/d54yu84892 pic.twitter.com/19GkTZJDua
— Todd Rosenblatt (@RosenblattTodd) July 10, 2016There are no such bans in Israel, where Pokemon have been spotted everywhere, from the Western Wall to the President's Residence.

[Krsta Klatić Klaja]

GRAĐANI BIH ZBOG IGRE "POKEMON GO" ULAZE U MINSKA POLJA!

http://fenjer.ba/gradani-bih-zbog-igre-pokemon-go-ulaze-u-minska-polja/

[ALEKSIJE D.]

Eto Meho koliko su igrice štetne a ti ovde navlačiš narod. I još kada ti mučeni Stanislav kaže, ti odmah digao graju. A ljudi ginu zbog Pokemona, bem ti život!

[Meho Krljic]

To je kao da se kaže da ginu zbog fudbala a ne zato što su porodično & socijalno zapuštene jedinke koje su evoluirale u navijače pa dosegle konačnu formu u obliku huligana.

[Meho Krljic]

Ovo nije striktno vezano za video igre, ali se radi o tekstu napisanom od strane prominentne autorke u polju gejming publicistike a o slučaju koji je vezan za osobu prominentnu u Gamergate ratu i docnijim svinjarijama. Meni, čoveku od - od juče - punih i punokrvnih 45 godina je i dalje potreban ozbiljan kognitivni napor da se setim da tviter zapravo nije tamo neka zajebancija za osnovnoškolsku decu i da taj servis ima ozbiljnog, pravog uticaja na ljudske živote. Ali eto. Milo Yiannopoulos je pre neki dan benovan sa tvitera jer je po ko zna koji put orkestrirao kampanju mržnje, uvreda i pretnji protiv osobe na tviteru, ovog puta protiv crne glumice u Ghostbusters, Leslie Jones. Leigh Alexander meditira nad time i uslužno ukazuje da se ne radi samo o "slobodi govora" da se vređa žena slanjem slika majmuna i montaža na kojima je njeno lice prekriveno muškim, jelte, semenom, već i o sasvim uredno koordiniranoj kampanji defamacije time što su prikazivani skrinšotovi lažnih (antisemitskih, naravno) tvitova koje Jonesova nikada nije napisala, u pokušaju da se ona moralno naruži. Ako je potrebno to da kažem: alt-right struja u savremenoj zapadnoj politici je veoma sklona laganju i izmišljanju uz svest da se u opštem cunamiju informacija kojem su svi izloženi često te lažne informacije primaju bez potrebne kritičke svesti i laži umeju da postanu potentno oruđe u ućutkivanju različitih glasova.




Milo Yiannopoulos: Twitter banning one man won't undo his poisonous legacy



Korisna dodatna pojašnjenja:


https://twitter.com/GlennF/status/755814873662038016


Edit: A evo i malo Gonzo žurnalizma vezanog za sve ovo:


I'm With The Banned

[Father Jape]

Ja sam ga zamišljao do pre minut kao overweight Amerikanca, no ispada da je u pitanju lepuškasti Britanac:

As a self-identified homosexual, "cultural libertarian",[5] and "free speech fundamentalist", he is a vocal critic of third wave feminism,[6] Islam, social justice theory, political correctness, and other movements and ideologies he perceives to be authoritarian and regressive.

[Meho Krljic]

lepuškasti Britanac:

Tj. Grk sa britanskim pasošem 

[neomedjeni]

To u startu objašnjava homoseksualnost i opsednutost pravom na slobodu govora. 

[Father Jape]

Sad ga slušam, zvuči kao Englez koji neko vreme živi u Americi.

I katolik je!

[Meho Krljic]

Martin Škreli je rešio da postane priznat Street Fighter igrač, mada naravno ne zna ni kako se zove Daigo Umehara... Čovek je trol sveckog ranga, to je sigurno.

[Meho Krljic]

     Iran Becomes First Country To Ban Pokémon Go

[lilit]

     
http    [url=http://kotaku.com/iran-becomes-first-country-to-ban-pokemon-go-1784948633]Iran Becomes First Country To Ban Pokémon Go

mora da su fanovi olivera stouna umešali prste

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2016/07/hollywood_director_oliver_stone_brands_pokemon_go_surveillance_capitalism

[Father Jape]

Čitam nešto sadržaj časopisa Language in Society kad spazim ovo:


Playing out loud: Videogame references as resources in friend interaction for managing frames, epistemics, and group identity
Sylvia Sierra, Georgetown University, Department of Linguistics  Abstract
This study examines how friends in their mid-twenties appropriate texts from videogames they have played to serve particular functions in their everyday face-to-face conversations. Speakers use references to the videogames Papers, Please and The Oregon Trail to shift the epistemic territories of conversations when they encounter interactional dilemmas. These epistemic shifts simultaneously rekey formerly problematic talk (on topics like rent, money, and injuries) to lighter, humorous talk, reframing these issues as being part of a lived videogame experience. Overlapping game frames are laminated upon real-life frames, and are strengthened by embedded frames containing constructed dialogue. This study contributes to understanding how epistemic shifts relying on intertextual ties can shift frames during interactional dilemmas in everyday conversation, which is ultimately conducive to group identity construction. (Intertextuality, framing, epistemics, identity, interactional sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, humor, videogames)

[Meho Krljic]

Ovaj topik deluje kao pravo mesto za ovaj tekst:


'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' Neglects Humans in Its Bid for Transhumanism


There were black and white portraits hanging in the vestibule of the Human by Design conference. Within each baroque, gold leaf frame was a model sporting a futuristic, photoshopped prosthetic. They seemed well-suited to an event that was itself a sort of hybrid—part intellectual forum, part sales pitch. Courageous, CNN's "branded content" shop, had assembled the day of panels, guest speakers, and documentary-lite fare alongside Square Enix, to buoy promotion of the latter's upcoming game, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Academics weighed the implications of transhumanism. Futurist artists sketched out the idea of "cyborg" as a self-identifier. Most strikingly, presenters showed off the bleeding-edge prosthetics and body modifications that enable them to grip, walk, see, and hear—in some cases even beyond normal human ranges.
For Deus Ex's speculative fiction, that's the jumping off point for a cyberpunk dystopia where the enhancements that "Augs" possess threaten the rest of the population. This is the fulcrum around which any conversation about human augmentation pivots: whether it will prove to be a great equalizer, or simply widen the existing gaps between us. For a game called "Mankind Divided," that answer is probably self-evident.



When pressed any further on those inherent politics, though, Square Enix and developer Eidos Montreal have repeatedly begged off. "We're not trying to be preachy here, just holding up the mirror" goes one typical-sounding official statement, provided to Polygon. The reticence of those responsible for the game that prompted the conference in the first place makes an effort like the Human by Design seem cynical, an intellectual patina to protect the game underneath it from criticism.
Human by Design sought to strike a more hopeful chord, even if it still acknowledged the possibility that augmentation might one day be a source of conflict. Asem Hasna, a Syrian one-time paramedic who became a prosthetics technician after losing his leg, enthused about the need to bring do-it-yourself, 3D-printed prosthetics technology to victims in conflict areas. "Augmentation can return dignity and purpose," he said.
Fashion plays an outsize role in that, as it turns out. Joel Gibbard of Open Bionics—which partnered with the Deus Ex team to model a prosthetic arm after one the game's protagonist uses—made the case for customization succinctly. Most contemporary prosthetics, he pointed out, "are trying to replicate the look of human limbs. People find them ugly, people find them creepy," adding, "The experience [people] want from prosthetics is something more like buying a pair of shoes. They want to be able to go to the shop, or even look online, get something that fits really nicely, is comfortable, but also really fashionable." Hence all the runway-ready models, with their brightly colored artificial arms and high-heeled, vacuum-formed legs. In an ironic twist, attempting to mimic the tones and contours of human flesh puts prosthetics firmly in the uncanny valley. It's only when they're allowed to be completely conspicuous that they begin to look, for lack of a better word, natural—by matching the rest of the body in its capacity for self-expression.


Any fashion, of course, also has the potential to stratify people—to divide. And even as the presenters of the Human by Design conference were evangelizing on the potentials of tech-utopianism, old divides were never far. It began in the first panel, "Is Augmentation a Human Right" when the futurist Natasha Vita-More, extemporaneously listing medical conditions, reached for the archaic epithet "Mongoloid." Asked, later in the panel, if transhumanism was an entitlement, Vita-More gave the following answer: >"I don't like 'entitlement,' because what it means [is] that because I'm a white woman that I don't get to go to college, whereas someone who is of a minority gets to go and that just happened to both my niece and my nephew who are in medical school—they didn't get scholarships because they were white, and you wonder: so is that an issue there? I think that when we start dividing like 'black lives matter' or 'blue lives matter' or 'white lives matter,' all lives matter and for each individual you are your own person."In the audience, the sound of air being sucked through teeth briefly threatened to drown out the panel. Controversy has dogged Deus Ex since last summer, when it coined the phrase "mechanical apartheid" to describe its world where those with prosthetics are forcibly ghettoized. Even as the conference moved along, another battle was flaring up on Twitter, where one of the game's brand representatives was making a confused defense of its use of the phrase "Augs Lives Matter" in promotional material just the day prior. Speaking to Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, the game's executive artistic director, one gets the sense of a team genuinely aggrieved by the very idea that this all might rightly be interrogated for its shallow appropriation of the civil rights movement and Black Lives Matter.


As it happens, not two days before the Human by Design conference, a coalition of activists and organizers came together with a platform of demands under the Black Lives Matter name. Human by Design too, culminated in a manifesto of sorts, entitled "An Ethical Framework for Human Augmentation." It calls on those invested in the future of augmentation to "promote justice," and notes the moral imperative to ensure equitable access and protections for all peoples. But the last lines one might have encountered at the conference might have been the strangely confrontational ones on a sign exiting the theater: "The conversation is moving forward. Are you?" The question prompts another, equally rhetorical one: in the zeal for an augmented future, is there an eagerness now to leave inconvenient criticism, and inconvenient people, behind?


It won't do for the minds who make up the transhumanist scene's élite, or video game developers keen on sourcing their sci-fi conflicts from current affairs, to demur on this one. Reconciling the question would show them an underlying truth, which is that the best lessons of Human by Design are also the lessons of Black Lives Matter: our solutions just don't look right until we find contrast, and by first acknowledging disparity we can custom-build better ones. Specious apoliticism, on the other hand, and a laissez-faire trust that the benefits of technology will trickle down, seem a good way to a future like the one in Mankind Divided.Editor's note: In the interest of full disclosure, Motherboard is currently airing a season of our transhumanism show Humans+ that is sponsored by Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Square Enix was not involved in this story.

[Meho Krljic]

Niantic responds to Senate inquiry into Pokémon Go privacy

[Meho Krljic]

Ko je pročitao moj nepristojno predugački osvrt na Deus Ex: Mankind Divided možda je i zapazio moje meditiranje o tome da igra ima problem ludonarativne disonance* u tretmanu svojih sociopolitičkih tema i da narativ o rasizmu, segregaciji, aparthejdu itd. nije u dovoljnom skladu sa onim što se u igri zaista vidi i dešava.

U prikazu Mafie III koji je za Eurogamer napisao odlični Edwin Evans-Thirlwell ima lepše napisana i jasnije obrazložena slična poenta koja ukazuje na još uvek nerazrešenu dilemu na strani autora AAA igara koji istovremeno pokušavaju da kreiraju igre čiji narativ se bavi ozbiljnim pitanjima kao što je diskriminacija ali čiji gejmplej za sada ne sme da pobegne od ideje fantazije o moći. Evo relevantnih pasusa:

White NPCs may not take kindly to Lincoln's presence in certain areas, it goes without saying. Police officers will pivot to eyeball you as you pass, muttering under their breath. Certain shopkeepers will call the authorities if you linger too long in the aisles.This isn't just a virtual city with a point to make about prejudice. It's a virtual city that is founded on prejudice - a setting that, for all its numbskull pedestrian behaviours and low-resolution assets, often genuinely looks and sounds like the product of decades of ethnic struggle and systematised abuse. The portrayal of social division isn't binary and overt, but intricate, entrenched and unresolved, bursting forth at every level of the representation. The script's ethnic slurs aren't deposited with a guilty flourish, as in many a "socially conscious" blockbuster, but are simply part of how characters of the era speak, a complex set of overlapping registers. There's even room for a little social comedy - the radio ad for the Royal Hotel in Downtown New Bordeaux, for example, voiced in plummy English with the British national anthem heaped on top for good measure.
If prejudice is everywhere in the world of Mafia 3, however, it's also seldom that impactful, beyond the engagingly acted cutscenes and wealth of incidental writing. The key problem is that the game has inherited its open-world design and mission structure from Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto: a soup of by-the-numbers fetchquests, outpost infiltration sequences and firefights that depends, above all, on the player enjoying more or less total freedom of movement and freedom from consequence.

This is a power fantasy at heart, a framework built to entertain rather than tap-dance across cultural fault lines or dig into the experience of discrimination. So while the cops may call you "boy" or "kid", they won't take umbrage when you careen along a street in your muscle car, side-swiping convertibles and knocking over traffic lights - anything short of pulling a gun or running somebody down is perfectly above board. At one point I stood on the hood of a station wagon in full view of several officers, throwing punches at the air to no reaction. You could argue that to cast an African-American in an empowered role that has been historically handed to white characters is constructive, but I think the effect is to bury New Bordeaux's artfully handled tensions and schisms, reducing a thoughtful representation to clusters of dots on the minimap.

*ponovljeno se izvinjavam što koristim ovaj pretenciozni izraz, ali on je odgovarajući u ovom kontekstu

[Meho Krljic]

How RimWorld's Code Defines Strict Gender Roles 

Pošto je ovo, prirodno, izazvalo kontroverzu i diskusiju, evo pregleda daljih događanja:

RimWorld's Queer Women Controversy, Explained

[Meho Krljic]

Nije toliko politička koliko socijalna implikacija, ali zanimljiva reportaža o britanskom savetniku za edukaciju koji je pre neki dan izjavio da Majnkreft kao nastavno sredstvo u učionicama predstavlja gimik koji valja redukovati:


http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-11-30-the-man-who-dared-call-educational-minecraft-a-gimmick

Naravno, čovek ima diskusije vredu poentu ali je istu spakovao u dosta kontroverznu formu koristeći frazu koju poznajemo od Donalda Trampa...

[Meho Krljic]

Met Lis artikuliše ono što smo svi ionako znali:

What Gamergate should have taught us about the 'alt-right'

[Meho Krljic]

OK, Bear With Me: What If Mario And Wario Are The Same Guy?

[Meho Krljic]

Eh, i ovo je neka politika:

Sex Game Removes Intense BDSM Scene Following Fan Feedback

[Meho Krljic]

Electronic Arts su i inače firma koja se ponosi svojim socijalno progresivnim stavovima, a i Mass Effect igre su već prilično komforno sadržale opcije za seksualno opštenje sa sopstvenim polom pa se moglo očekivati da će Mass Effect: Andromeda nastaviti u ovom smeru. Ali moglo se i očekivati da će - pošto kvalitet pisanja nažalost zaista nije na previsokom nivou u ovom serijalu a, videli smo, pogotovo u nanovijem nastavku - nešto od tog nastavljanja biti nezgrapno.

I, naravno, imamo na sceni mini-skandal u vezi transrodne osobe u Mass Effect Andromeda. Ovog puta buku ne dižu gamergateri ili konzervativniji igrači već, naprotiv, same trans osobe koje su zapanjene načinom na koji je lik u igri uveden. Naime, u prvoj konverzaciji sa protagonistom igre, ova žena na pitanje otkud da se odlučila da ide u daleki svemir i sve to, odgovara da je na zemlji bila Stiven, radila neinspirativan, dosadan posao i nije se osećala kao da je ona zaista ona. Tako da je sada Hejnli, i istražuje svemir i to je ono što ona jeste.

Deluje dobronamerno, svakako jeste, ali ovo u današnje vreme nije način na koji bi transrodna osoba govorila o sebi - otkrivanje "starog" imena (deadname u slengu) je maltene tabu a praktično se nikada ne događa pri upoznavanju sa osobom.

Nije ovo neki veliki skandal, jasno, ali ukazuje na nešto što sam ja odavno pokušavao da artikulišem - problem sa političkim temama u igrama vrlo često nije zbog samog političkog sadržaja već zbog nezgrapne forme kojom je posredovan a koja je naprosto deo i inače nezgrapne naracije u igrama. Treba popraviti kvalitet pisanja a ne "držati politiku dalje od moje zabave".