Arachnophobia

[Koshok]

I just wanted to start a thread to discuss spiders. Many people don't mind spiders, while others despise them. It seems like spiders in games are about as ubiquitous as rats. Yet, I find the inclusion of giant spiders a more curious topic because of arachnophobia that many gaming audiences express.
Many games that include spiders and which have modding support often see mods which remove spiders from the game. Skyrim has a mod to change the spiders into bears, while Torchlight 2 has a mod to remove them from the game entirely.
I personally don't have arachnophobia, so to me it seems a bit odd to remove such a large part of the atmosphere. Are there many people who can't stand even the graphical representation of a spider? Or is it more of a comfort thing, more akin to simply not wanting to see spiders?
I personally am the kind of person who can push my discomforts aside in a fictional world, but I also don't have any strong phobias. So I wanted to hear other peoples' opinions on the matter.

 

[Rawne1980]

I don't mind spiders in a game.

I do cringe a bit when I see real ones or realistic ones on TV/film.

I despise them in real life.

It's a relatively recent thing as well. To cut a long story short, out on ops when I was in the army (I was 23 at the time) and we had 45 minutes to kill. I decided to take a nap in the shade under the 4 tonner that was transporting us.

Woke up from a thud on my chest, looked down and very nearly emptied my bowels in terror.

Fucking Camel Spider staring right fucking at me.

Ugliest bastard thing i've ever seen.

Haven't liked Spiders since.

 

[yeti585]

I don't really mind them. I try not to kill them though ("fish are friends, not food"). I did witness a rather large one get taken out by a blast of "Brakleen" spray though. Two taps of the trigger, four steps, and a barrel-roll. And, that was one of the spiders I was going to leave in place.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I cannot even stand to look at them. In DA2, the fights where the spiders descend on you (especially the giant ones), I have to look away and hope my NPCs can figure out how to win the fight without me. In Skyrim, they're all mudcrabs. I have outright refused to buy games because of the inclusion of spiders as an enemy type. They're bloody terrifying, and I am sick of seeing them.

 

[xmbts]

I have arachnophobia and I love spiders in my games, for one if they manage to creep me out I like that, and also there's being able to murder their stupid spider faces.

But IRL I don't really have a problem with seeing them, it's only once they come into contact with me I start having muscle convulsions and panic attacks. <.>

 

[Sacman]

I have arachnophobia and I love spiders in my games, for one if they manage to creep me out I like that, and also there's being able to murder their stupid spider faces.

But IRL I don't really have a problem with seeing them, it's only once they come into contact with me I start having muscle convulsions and panic attacks. <.>

Bah... even a better reason to kill all of those damned Brown Recluse spiders you seem to be collecting in your class...<.<

Also, I'm sure you went down on all of those spiders in Skyrim... just beating them to death with a battle axe...<.<

OT: Don;t really care about spiders... don;t really scare me or anything, but I'll certainly kill one of it steps on me... don;t really wanna be bit...<.<

 

[xmbts]

I have arachnophobia and I love spiders in my games, for one if they manage to creep me out I like that, and also there's being able to murder their stupid spider faces.

But IRL I don't really have a problem with seeing them, it's only once they come into contact with me I start having muscle convulsions and panic attacks. <.>

Bah... even a better reason to kill all of those damned Brown Recluse spiders you seem to be collecting in your class...<.<

Also, I'm sure you went down on all of those spiders in Skyrim... just beating them to death with a battle axe...<.<

OT: Don;t really care about spiders... don;t really scare me or anything, but I'll certainly kill one of it steps on me... don;t really wanna be bit...<.<

Class?

Go down on?

You say weird things. <.>

 

[Quaxar]

I have arachnophobia and I love spiders in my games, for one if they manage to creep me out I like that, and also there's being able to murder their stupid spider faces.

For some reason this reminds me of a guy on the official GW2 forums asking if the underwater parts of the game had sharks because he was apparently so terrified of them that he couldn't even stand digital images of them. I don't know exactly why I'm reminded though.

Also, as a biologist spiders are fascinating animals but I wouldn't like them to drop on my face regardless. On the other hand, I don't think I'd like anything to surprise-drop on my face.

 

[Koshok]

I don't mind spiders in a game.

I do cringe a bit when I see real ones or realistic ones on TV/film.

I despise them in real life.

It's a relatively recent thing as well. To cut a long story short, out on ops when I was in the army (I was 23 at the time) and we had 45 minutes to kill. I decided to take a nap in the shade under the 4 tonner that was transporting us.

Woke up from a thud on my chest, looked down and very nearly emptied my bowels in terror.

Fucking Camel Spider staring right fucking at me.

Ugliest bastard thing i've ever seen.

Haven't liked Spiders since.

As soon as you said "army," I knew it would be followed by a camel spider. Never been in the military myself, but I've heard from other soldiers that camel spiders are some of the worst. I can understand unease after a run-in with one of them.

I cannot even stand to look at them. In DA2, the fights where the spiders descend on you (especially the giant ones), I have to look away and hope my NPCs can figure out how to win the fight without me. In Skyrim, they're all mudcrabs. I have outright refused to buy games because of the inclusion of spiders as an enemy type. They're bloody terrifying, and I am sick of seeing them.

Any particular reason? Or is it more that you don't like how they move, or look?

 

[Sacman]

I have arachnophobia and I love spiders in my games, for one if they manage to creep me out I like that, and also there's being able to murder their stupid spider faces.

But IRL I don't really have a problem with seeing them, it's only once they come into contact with me I start having muscle convulsions and panic attacks. <.>

Bah... even a better reason to kill all of those damned Brown Recluse spiders you seem to be collecting in your class...<.<

Also, I'm sure you went down on all of those spiders in Skyrim... just beating them to death with a battle axe...<.<

OT: Don;t really care about spiders... don;t really scare me or anything, but I'll certainly kill one of it steps on me... don;t really wanna be bit...<.<

Class?

Go down on?

You say weird things. <.>

I didn;t say anything about class...<.<

and go down has more than one meaning, I don;t see how what I'm saying is weird...<.<

 

[xmbts]

Bah... even a better reason to kill all of those damned Brown Recluse spiders you seem to be collecting in your class...<.<

And nobody uses any other meaning.

I have arachnophobia and I love spiders in my games, for one if they manage to creep me out I like that, and also there's being able to murder their stupid spider faces.

For some reason this reminds me of a guy on the official GW2 forums asking if the underwater parts of the game had sharks because he was apparently so terrified of them that he couldn't even stand digital images of them. I don't know exactly why I'm reminded though.

Also, as a biologist spiders are fascinating animals but I wouldn't like them to drop on my face regardless. On the other hand, I don't think I'd like anything to surprise-drop on my face.

I avoid killing them out of pacifism but I have serious issues if they touch me. xD

 

[Aris Khandr]

Any particular reason? Or is it more that you don't like how they move, or look?

Move, look, exist. All three are completely intolerable.

 

[Private Custard]

I think I'm OK with the large hairy ones that people often keep as pets (various tarantulas), they just seem so much more docile.

But the British house spider, FUUUUUUUUCKKK!

Spoiler: These leggy bastards

They move waaay too fast for my liking, and they always turn up in your bedroom, just as you're getting comfy. I always seem to spot them out of the corner of my eye. They have to die!

Oh well, at least I don't have to deal with horrors such as the Sydney funnelweb!!

 

[Sacman]

Bah... even a better reason to kill all of those damned Brown Recluse spiders you seem to be collecting in your class...<.<

And nobody uses any other meaning.

Oh didn;t even notice that... slip of the tongue... since I just got out of class...<.<

But I meant house!

Well, maybe on your side of the country... -3-

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Yeah, I'm arachnophobic. I can't freaking stand spiders... though I've taken on sort of a fascination with them. "Know your enemy" I guess.

Thankfully, I live in an area of the United States where we don't have much in the way of large or dangerous spiders. Most of what we get are small and harmless house spiders of various sorts. We have Wolf Spiders, but they tend to stay in the woods and I don't really see them too often. Unfortunately, where my house is located, I do see funnel-web grass spiders pretty commonly. As far as I'm aware, they're the second largest type of spider native to my state. Here's a video of one, put in spoilers so as to not freak out anyone who doesn't want to see it.

Spoiler

The only type of spider that doesn't bother me, like... at all... is the Daring Jumping Spider. We get tons of these around here. They're pretty small, they're harmless, and I honestly don't find them to be particularly creepy. They move pretty slowly, and it's kinda fun to watch the little ones hop around. Apparently from what I've read about them they actually make pretty good pet spiders since they're generally pretty friendly and curious toward humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phidippus_audax

 

[Ryotknife]

I usually dont mind spiders in games even though I have an intense fear of them in real life. The exception seems to be Skyrim, those spiders are so creepy it gets my blood pumping.

Im just glad they are also the weakest enemies so i can snipe them from afar.

 

[Xan Krieger]

Spiders scare the crap out of me. In Skyrim I always switch to third person to kill them and even then it's from a distance with a fireball. In Unreal 2 I always used excessive firepower (explosive shotgun shells), even on the weakest ones. In Dragon Age Origins I surprisingly don't have a problem. Doom 3 caused me to jump away from my computer when you push a button and a trite comes down right in front of you.

In real life I get my mother to kill them, this made more embaressing by me being 6'4" and about 200lbs and being afraid of something that could sit on a nickel.

 

[Ryotknife]

Spiders scare the crap out of me. In Skyrim I always switch to third person to kill them and even then it's from a distance with a fireball. In Unreal 2 I always used excessive firepower (explosive shotgun shells), even on the weakest ones. In Dragon Age Origins I surprisingly don't have a problem. Doom 3 caused me to jump away from my computer when you push a button and a trite comes down right in front of you.

In real life I get my mother to kill them, this made more embaressing by me being 6'4" and about 200lbs and being afraid of something that could sit on a nickel.

pff

Real (scared) men use a 5 foot long sword to kill the spider....while wearing armor.

Ive been known to release a bug bomb just to kill one spider, especially if that spider is somewhere in my car. I dont want it surprising me while im driving because otherwise lives are in danger.

...and i just realized that this might cause health complications down the road as im constantly using poisons.

 

[Heronblade]

Yeah, I'll crush any dangerous spiders I see for the sake of safety, but don't mind the others one bit so long as they aren't building webs all over my property.

I've actually been rather mystified about why arachnophobia is so common. Then again, I feel the same way about most phobias concerning other species, so I may be biased.

 

[Heronblade]

Spiders scare the crap out of me. In Skyrim I always switch to third person to kill them and even then it's from a distance with a fireball. In Unreal 2 I always used excessive firepower (explosive shotgun shells), even on the weakest ones. In Dragon Age Origins I surprisingly don't have a problem. Doom 3 caused me to jump away from my computer when you push a button and a trite comes down right in front of you.

In real life I get my mother to kill them, this made more embaressing by me being 6'4" and about 200lbs and being afraid of something that could sit on a nickel.

pff

Real (scared) men use a 5 foot long sword to kill the spider....while wearing armor.

Ive been known to release a bug bomb just to kill one spider, especially if that spider is somewhere in my car. I dont want it surprising me while im driving because otherwise lives are in danger.

...and i just realized that this might cause health complications down the road as im constantly using poisons.

Are you aware that the more people use toxins in that fashion, the less effective they will be in the long run? Please save it for serious issues.