Ok, may I try to break it down here?

[______________Eowyyn]

Alright, again, personally, I don't agree with this story-line. It too-closely resembles a tragic day in current US history. Now mind you...the key word in that statement is "CURRENT".

I'm an American. I feel for every single nation that has been struck with the grief and pain that terrorism causes. I really do. But it seems to me (and I could be off-base on this), the only people that are complaining about the story-line are Americans. The only people that are *for* the story-line are non-Americans. I guess all you non-Americans (and I don't like to generalize) might understand this if you had something this traumatic happen to *your* country RECENTLY, and someone decided to write a "story-line in a MMORPG" about it. Don't you think that would re-open semi-closed wounds for you? Don't you think it would make some people remember something they were trying very hard to forget?

I'll be honest...if this part of the story happened even a year after 9-11, I would be OK with it. I really would be. But, like Drabin said, Time heals all wounds. And it has only been 4 months for Americans. (Which I'd like to add, are the bulk of players in AO)

Perhaps I made no sense to you. Perhaps I just needed to rant. I'm not sure. But what I do know is that sometimes things need to be rethought. Sometimes they need to be changed. Why? Because it would be a sensitive thing to do. Perhaps we all need to learn a bit more about sensitivity.


Derritch - 84 Trader
Nanodood - 87 NT

[_____________Kirrana]

erm

might understand this if you had something this traumatic happen to *your* country RECENTLY

do you watch the news at all, do you have any idea what happens each day outside your own country. You think america is the only country that faces terrorist acts ? America has been producing films and games based on events in other countries around the world where lives have been lost they did not seem to care then.

How do you think the Somalian's feel about black hawk down in which 1,000 of there people where killed ? It was Osama Bin Laden who trained about supported these people but its ok to have this film.

How do you think Iseral felt when Counter Strike was out.

How do you think people who have been killed in crime related shootings feel about GTA 3


You think FC suddenly came up with this story line just after the events in america. Nope if you have the manual turn to page 38 a letter from Mr Ross talks about the clans as being terrorists. This was way before the events in america, they are not just cashing in ( unlike many america films) on recent events. The storyline was planned for months the clans where commiting acts of terror before a amnesty was in effect. Did you not run around shooting at people in game while wars where going on in other countries did you really care then.

Dont forget its been 4 months for america but wars and acts of terror are still going on in the world does this mean we should never have wars in games in films or ever show acts of terror.

Please dont take my posts as if i dont care about the events, I do but i also care about the other events which go on around the world. Maybe we do need to be a bit more sensitivity in dealing with events but before you moan about other countries you should first start with your own.

[Chartan]

OK, lets pull it apart again then...

Let see, this big multi-planet corporation, that has admittedly sent people down to mine notum, who didnt really care that thousands upon thousands died down there, this corporation that was deliberately set up to be the evil part in this game.

Is this the corporation you say is america?????????


And furthermore...

All we have heard about Ross is that he plays chess all day long in his office. He doesnt seem to care that war is going on every day. He hardly lifts a finger to solve the conflict that he knows and plans for is coming.

Is this how you see the President of the United States of America????????

Shame on you!

[____________Sllaagor]

Actually, I'm an American, and their plot device doesn't offend me in the slightest. In fact, I'm amused.

Omni-Tek could easily be a parallel for the U.S. ... after all, the government, both parties, is OWNED by big business (corporations) who have almost unlimited legal power with none of the responsibility. They then form "special interest groups" to "lobby" (read: throw money at) Congress until the laws they want are passed or the ones they don't are tossed aside.

The U.S. corporations abuse the people of other countries by working them in sweat shops for a pittance and then selling their products at 1000% markup. The richer get richer, the poorer, get poorer. No wonder we've been attacked by terrorists. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

Our President is in office because HE BOUGHT HIS WAY THERE. (IMO)
He is a walking, talking corporate big-money spokesman.
The last election was disgusting in the extreme, for many reasons.

There are many things broken in the U.S. ... civil rights are disappearing at a rapid rate, alcohol and tobacco are legal, marijuana is not, Christian "fundamentalists" (read: fanatics) are attempting to legislate morality, our schools are going to ****, people are starving, actors and sports players get paid millions while teachers get paid squat ... I can go on and on.

So if someone wants to point the finger at the U.S., please do!

Don't get me wrong, I love this country, but it is breaking, and no one seems to care enough to get up and do something about it. Most of us are peons to one corp or another for our daily bread, they go home and ignore their children (and then later wonder why their kids have no respect for them) sit in front of the television drinking a Bud Light and marveling at how well off they are. They put blinders on, only see what they want to see, the ultimate hypocrites.

All Americans should remember: No empire (and yes, we are one, just economically instead of physically) has ever stood the test of time. We will break under our own idiocity. It's inevitable.

(WHEW! Sorry about the rant, but it's been bothering me lately.)

Bottom line: This is a game. If you don't like the story, if it offends you, don't play. It's your money, after all.

[____________Sllaagor]

Originally posted by Nanodood
But what I do know is that sometimes things need to be rethought. Sometimes they need to be changed. Why? Because it would be a sensitive thing to do. Perhaps we all need to learn a bit more about sensitivity.

Sensitivity can too easily slide over into stupidity. Just like political correctness.

I feel for the victims and their families, but this is a GAME. A game about war, anarchy between two factions, both of whom think THEY are in the right. Of COURSE it will include terrorism. Is it insulting that they used some of the same words as G. W. Bush to describe similar events? Not to me.

I see no need to change the storyline. There are some fanatic terrorists holding Sabulum that are a threat to both the Clans and OT. They need to be rooted out, in a war against terrorism. Like the real war against terrorism, it will probably be a never-ending battle. There will always be fanatics willing to die for a cause, any cause, that they believe in. No amount of sensitivity or political correctness will change that basic fact. Period.

[_______________Rhase]

*Straightens up after leaning over so far to the left to read some of the posts*

Hehe

[____________Sllaagor]

Heh heh heh!

[_____________govinda]

If you think the creaters of the game world aren't trying to comment on American politics with the setting and storyline, you're fooling yourself. It's no coincidence that this quote is on their site:

"There ought to be limits to freedom."
-George W. Bush, Former President of the United States of America


I just started playing recently and I have to say the "war on terrorism" storyline makes the game MORE interesting and worthwhile for me and will hopefully draw people into thinking about the virtual political environment and its relation to the real. If this game gets a few otherwise oblivious powergaming kids to start thinking about politics in this country and the world then I say it's all for the good. Not everyone wants their entertainment to be completely escapist and devoid of meaning or content or challenging issues.

There is also the point I've seen brought up already on these boards that terrorism has been around a long time, to suggest that only now is it off-limits to address issues of terrorism in a video game is disrespectful to all the victims of terrorism before September 11. I have the deepest sympathy for anyone who lost friends or family, and if they or anyone else were so upset by the AO storyline would I understand completely if they don't want to continue playing. Still, I don't think it should be a taboo subject, and I don't think its disrespectful to the victims for FC to make political commentary on the event in the form of a storyline for a virtual online world if they choose to.

And yes, I am an American.



And by the way Rhase, you don't have to be a leftist to realize that BOTH major political parties are in the pocket of the corporate contributors who put them where they are.

[_______________Rhase]

Gosh, I guess you be right!

Btw, you don't actually have to have a sense of humor to tell when someone is being silly.

[______________Windie]

I think i like you Rhase... If only I knew who you were, I'd shower you in riches!!!

[Zharatziel]

or big4ss bombs...

but hey, at least a cloned story is better then no story

I wonder what the leader of the dust brigades name is..

[______________Saruzi]

Storyline - Can we actualy discuss the storyline at hand and not a line from real life? I brought this up another time, but Americans seem all sad and united from the 9-11 attacks, but if the situation was worse off, like an actualy war, and an entire major city was leveled, what would we do as Americans (for those who are). Some might say I'm insensitive, true in a way. I heal very quick emotionaly. I do not see the need to linger on things I can't change (why am i playin AO then?). My dog died, best dog ever. People thought I didn't love the dog because the next day I was normal again. That was crap. Truth is, most Americans are so over protected that a murder in their own town will set them into prolonged fear. During 9-11 and after my Mother was really upset. I couldn't say anything about it to her, though she lost no one, but now she is concerned about who is going to win the SuperBowl, not the Osama hunt. I'm sure if she came online to play this game she wouldn't care and would relish the fact she could stop terrorists, if not in her own backyard, then in the virtual world where you are learning: terrorists are bad for everyone.

[____________Sllaagor]

I agree totally.

[_________TheCrippler]

.................................................. .................................................. .....................................WHAT?........ .........................................

[_____________govinda]

Sorry Rhase, I was off on a rant and didn't want to see what I thought what was an interesting post by Sllaagor dismissed by simply labeling him as a liberal.

I didn't realize til afterward that you probably meant it jokingly, and I had overreacted. I fall victim to taking myself too seriously at times when talking politics.

[____________Sllaagor]

... I'm not that easily dismissed! :-)

I suppose I could be called a liberal. I believe in personal freedom and responsibility for that freedom. I am pro-choice (on almost every issue).

I am all for the 2nd Amendment ... we have the right to bear arms. Aren't most liberals in favor of gun control? I was under the impression that the conservatives are against.

It also depends on the day, for me, as well. Usually I float in the middle (well, ok, middle-to-left) ... I try to look at situations and issues from the viewpoint of .. "well, what makes sense?" I don't just immediately go left.

What I've been puzzling over lately (ever since I joined the workforce, actually) ... is what happened to almost require that both parents in a family work? When did that come about? And why? What are the underlying reasons? Our government's tax policy? (*thud* as it lands heavily on the shoulders of the middle class (like me)) Inflation? The women's lib movement? (Which, in many ways, has disadvantaged women almost as much as it has 'uplifted' them, but that's another debate)

All it leads to is broken families, children being raised by caregivers instead of their parents ... people so intent on 'getting ahead' that they let their children languish and then wonder why the kids want nothing to do with them.

Let's kick this one around, I'm interested in viewpoints!

- Sllaagor
Clan Atrox Enforcer

[___________Mainspace]

Originally posted by Sllaagor
... I'm not that easily dismissed! :-)


What I've been puzzling over lately (ever since I joined the workforce, actually) ... is what happened to almost require that both parents in a family work? When did that come about? And why? What are the underlying reasons? Our government's tax policy? (*thud* as it lands heavily on the shoulders of the middle class (like me)) Inflation? The women's lib movement? (Which, in many ways, has disadvantaged women almost as much as it has 'uplifted' them, but that's another debate)

All it leads to is broken families, children being raised by caregivers instead of their parents ... people so intent on 'getting ahead' that they let their children languish and then wonder why the kids want nothing to do with them.

Let's kick this one around, I'm interested in viewpoints!

- Sllaagor
Clan Atrox Enforcer

Well, it's not really on topic in my opinion, but since you asked I have one word for you.

Capitalism

[____________Sllaagor]

Yeah, that's the word all right.

What is your preferred political philosophy? All of them seem to work on the drawing board, but are crippled by fatal flaws in the real world.

[___________Mainspace]

Originally posted by Sllaagor
Yeah, that's the word all right.

What is your preferred political philosophy? All of them seem to work on the drawing board, but are crippled by fatal flaws in the real world.

To tell you the truth, I think that they are all flawed. No one man or group of men can possibly represent the perfect union of humanity. Therefore they are all incorrect.

Political philosophy = Human programming.

All governments are in place to insure that the humanity below it follows certain guidlines and regulations. It's a system. I'm not to sure that humanity should be systemized.

So far eveything I have seen either breeds weakness or brutality, or worse, both. I would like to see humanity reach a point where it puts down it's political toys and grows up.

Anyhow, thats where I stand.

[____________Sllaagor]

... but I doubt that's likely in our time, or maybe ANY time.

Maybe if some aliens come down, wipe out a few cities, and tell us we are now their slaves, humanity will let all of the petty stuff go and band together, but even then ...

*sigh*

" ... of all these weird creatures that lock up their spirits, punch
holes in themselves, and live for their secrets ...."

- Subterranean Homesick Alien, Radiohead


No easy answers!

- Sllaagor
Clan Atrox Enforcer