Comments on: Jack Bauer Wouldn't Have These Issues

By: Odds and Ends before Christmas | Altitis

Odds and Ends before Christmas | Altitis — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:00:41 +0000

[...] – interesting political statement for the matter, and this one is too out of place in WoW, as Scott Jennings has pointed out), it’s a lot less shocking for this character than it would have been for an alliance [...]

By: Is Richard Bartle the new Jack Thompson? « Bio Break

Is Richard Bartle the new Jack Thompson? « Bio Break — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:16:16 +0000

[...] Jack Bauer Wouldn’t Have These Issues @ Broken Toys [...]

By: Channel Massive » Blog Archive » Episode 69 - Sixty Nine Dude

Channel Massive » Blog Archive » Episode 69 - Sixty Nine Dude — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:27:13 +0000

[...] not happy about virtual torture Neither is WoW’s favorite paladin Bartle Takes time to respond at Broken Toys Musical Interludes: 1 – Absurd Minds – The Cycle 2 – Absurd Minds – I feel Alive 3 – Absurd Minds – [...]

By: Bartle Questions Virtual Torture and the Lack of Choice in WoW's Quests | Wolfshead Online

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:10:24 +0000

[...] is precisely the same point that I made back in July in my original article that was somehow missed by Scott Jennings and others in the mainstream blogosphere. Except in the example that my article [...]

By: Xanthippe

Xanthippe — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:53:12 +0000

I said:
What is the difference between Richard’s objections and a PETA member’s objections to slaughtering animals?

Richard replied:
Well, animals aren’t sentient and people are.

It doesn’t matter in this example anyway – I’m against torture, but that doesn’t mean I’m against the depiction of it in MMOs or books or films. What I’m against is the depiction of it in a way that breaks the covenant between designer and player.
=========================

But it doesn’t break any covenant at all, other than the one that you believe to be present between yourself and the designer. The quest line is not necessary to play the game.

You depict your absolute anti-torture stance as the only correct moral stance that could possibly exist in a civilized society, and that is simply not the case, which is why I brought up the PETA thing.

I understand why you, Richard Bartle, do not share the PETA person’s objections to slaughtering animals.

I do not understand why you, Richard Bartle, believe that your anti-torture stance is the only correct moral stance. To my mind, it’s no more so nor less so than the PETA person’s belief.

WoW does not break “the covenant between designer and player” but that assumes that such a covenant is based upon absolute moral authority – meaning, moral authority that we all agree with. WoW does not have questlines involving the massacre of children, for example, or raping women – certainly things that do happen but never without condemnation (unlike torture under certain circumstances).

By: projectwhite » So anyway…

projectwhite » So anyway… — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:36:30 +0000

[...] the same institution as me. Two of his posts recently caught my eye, as they created a significant amount of internet [...]

By: Anonmous

Anonmous — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:12:00 +0000

Even when Blizzard doesn’t really screw things up, they manage to screw things up.

There’s a quest in Dragonblight where you kill a captured prisoner with poison. It’s the Forsaken who are doing it, so all well and good, but the person who gives you the quest (inexplicably) has a Jewish name and peppers her conversation with Yiddish. If Blizzard was going to make a character like that, was it really necessary to make that character a POISONER, which recalls about a thousand years of anti-semitism?

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:03:41 +0000

This guy says that torture violates the Geneva Convention. Yeah, in real life. There’s very important differences between real people and pixels that Bartle should know about.

But yeah, killing the dragon in The Nexus so she can’t get raped, that’s a real winner. When people ask why they need to kill her in general chat, that’s what people tell them.

By: Bjornstar

Bjornstar — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:39:49 +0000

So when are they going to put in the gay marriage quest? Do we have to wait until the next expansion? I can see it now…

Hail, ! My cart has broken down on my way to wed two male orcs in holy matrimony, could you take my holy book and stand in for me? I'll make it worth your while.

I can’t wait to see the uproar over that one.

By: Vivianne Draper

Vivianne Draper — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:15:04 +0000

Richard said “Playing Alliance…”

lol…

come to the dark side. you know you want to. we do torture right.