thoughtfulWoman arrested after virtual murderThe 43-year-old piano teacher became so angry about a divorce from her online husband that she logged on to the MapleStory computer game with his password and deleted his digital persona.
It has prompted a debate among online gamers and bloggers about whether virtual offences should be punished in the real world.
This one discusses virtual murder.
Netherlands Teen Sentenced for Stealing Virtual Goods
Stealing virtual goods is a crime, according to a ruling handed down by a judge in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, this week.
This one considers virtual theft.
A Rape in Cyberspace
How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society
First published in The Village Voice, December 23, 1993
They say he raped them that night. They say he did it with a cunning little doll, fashioned in their image and imbued with the power to make them do whatever he desired. They say that by manipulating the doll he forced them to have sex with him, and with each other, and to do horrible, brutal things to their own bodies. And though I wasn't there that night, I think I can assure you that what they say is true, because it all happened right in the living room -- right there amid the well-stocked bookcases and the sofas and the fireplace -- of a house I came for a time to think of as my second home.
Rape in Role Playing Games
This topic has come up elsewhere, and I thought that it deserved a thread of it's own. Several women have mentioned either having had their female characters raped or knowing other people whose female characters were raped. I have no idea how common the experience actually is, but it's come up enough to make me think that it's an issue to be considered. What do people think about this sort of thing? Rape is something that happens in the real world, but it can be traumatic even by proxy. Does it make a difference if the violence is committed by an npc or by a pc?
These two consider virtual rape.
Now, this bundle of articles raises some fascinating issues.
- People tend to identify strongly with things they consider "theirs." Depriving someone of "their" stuff upsets them, and is often considered wrong by civilized societies.
- Some issues, such as sexuality, are very delicate and it is easy to cause lasting mental damage even on a hypothetical and verbal level.
- A great many entertainments rely on allowing people to pretend to do things they would not ordinarily do in real life, such as stealing a base in baseball or killing orcs and looting their corpses in a roleplaying game.
If we acknowledge that virtual actions can have real consequences, both positive and negative, then we should be responsible for our virtual actions as we are for our material actions; the cases become more legitimate on the grounds that virtual crimes cause real harm.
If we deny that virtual actions can have real consequences, and consider them to be "just pretend," then the cases lose their validity; only material actions should have consequences in the real world, because only they matter.
How then do we relate these concepts to the observable fact that almost all online games, which are tremendously popular, involve vast amounts of virtual killing, stealing, lying, and other acts that would be considered reprehensible in the real world?
Furthermore, do virtual acts of baseness release pressure and make it easier for people to maintain their civility in the real world -- or do they essentially amount to practicing baseness with the effect of making it easier for people to be violent or deceitful in the real world? Can one totally segregate pretend action from real experience, or does one tend to become what one practices in any way?
Discuss.
October 29 2008, 04:45:59 UTC 12 years ago
I would not continue to play in an rpg if the GM allowed or caused my character to be raped without my prior consent. I would stop playing and leave the room.
However if consent is given by the player, the truth is, many players feel no duress at all from such circumstances.
October 29 2008, 05:45:58 UTC 12 years ago
... but because he'd lost everything in his pockets.
October 30 2008, 02:34:29 UTC 12 years ago