Playable Taliban Won't "Push Too Hard" in Medal of Honor

[Kal'Shen Ra]

How many people were killed by spanish inquisition today? If a family member of yours had just been killed by the Taliban I bet you wouldn't write that post. How do you think the families and friends of Dr Karen Woo ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7932055/Killed-in-cold-blood-the-British-doctor-who-went-to-help-in-Afghanistan.html ) are going to feel when they see a games company making money out selling a game where you play her murderers

How is that in any way different from the murder of two adults and two children just outside Washington D.C.(http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/08/07/maryland.arrests/index.html?npt=NP1#fbid=GLJWL3h9myV&wom=false)?! Or any other murder? Shouldn't Rockstar publicly apologise for the GTA game series??

If the "taliban" side of the multiplayer is downgraded or the enemy AI in the SP missions seems dumber than usual, this game will be dead at release. And so will be the Medal of Honor franchise. I already stoped playing the beta because of the CtDs I had while playing as a taliban. And I will cancel my preorder and wait for some reviews before commiting any money.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

Either way, I'm sure the Russians are happy not to be involved in digital terror schemes again.

 

[cainx10a]

More importantly why would someone play a DICE game?

.... What?

That is the stupidest comment I have heard all day.

OP: I think it's refreshing to get some actual factions in a game, instead of just "Russians" and "Americans"

Pretty sure that's what he was going for

Although, I really doubt Dice as in the dev team is unknown considering their works on the Battlefield Series on both PC and consoles (hell, they have been at it since the PS2 :s)

 

[Vilcus]

If games can be banned or receive flak because people lost loved ones in the wars they depict, then I demand that every game with guns in it be removed from existance, because my friend was shot and killed in a random shooting about 5 years ago.

Honestly, I can understand you being upset about losing a loved one, but going on a rage because someone wants to make a game about the event (not specific people, but an event) then they need to take a chill pill. Now if they took the likenesses of those who were lost, and have them die as they died in real life, then I could fully understand the game being scrapped.

But to get more on topic, I think it will be interesting to play as the taliban. I wonder if they'll have different weapons, because I always find it weird when they guerrillas are using the same hyper advanced lazer sight autmatic weapon as the fully equipped professional army, but I digress.

 

[ArmorArmadillo]

Bull. Crap. They are obviously pushing for controversy and it's completely tasteless. Here's an idea, how about you try and make a mark by making an original game.

Or, if you really want to be controversial, make "Afghani Heroin Dealers" a playable faction, since they form a huge bulk of the forces in Afghanistan.

Or, here's an idea, why not make a made up war, since the actual war is nothing but window dressing to make room for a multiplayer arena in which emotionally stunted teenagers can hurl homophobic epithets while joylessly watching their rank climb.

 

[KiKiweaky]

Aye I'd love if more first person shooters allowed you to be naughty, playing as one of makarov's me slaughtering people in an airport did make me feel a little bit dirty. It was only a game so pshhh who cares really. I mean you can't really get much worse than that airport scene, if content is what they are worried about.

And yes some people will obviously decline to play as them, because of what they represent. But you have to remember its just a game, you arent controling this person... or are you O.O

 

[bjj hero]

How is this any more harmful than being dressed as a nazi in any amount of WWII shooters?

I also love how we're talking about the evils of the Taliban now. Go watch Rambo 3. The Taliban are the fucking good guys, fighting along side Rambo.

Does anyone else remember when they were freedom fighters to be supported, trying to free their land from oppressive Commies? Even with their unique views on womens lib.

 

[DazBurger]

Because something is occuring now doesnt make it any more horrific than anything which has happened in the past be it the reign of the nazis or as far back as the christian crusades or the spanish inquisition.

I think including the taliban as playable is good. Personally I'd find it distasteful, but I had to think about it. And in doing so it made me rethink the use of 'real' baddies in other media and games.

Provoking thought is not the same as 'bad'.

How many people were killed by spanish inquisition today? If a family member of yours had just been killed by the Taliban I bet you wouldn't write that post. How do you think the families and friends of Dr Karen Woo ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7932055/Killed-in-cold-blood-the-British-doctor-who-went-to-help-in-Afghanistan.html ) are going to feel when they see a games company making money out selling a game where you play her murderers

Sorry mate.. But BOO HOO!

The taliban have killed others than her, and coalition forces have killed more talibans, than the taliban themselves have, several times over.

And because a war ended 60 years ago.. Its less bad?


Boo hoo... Boo hoo indeed...

 

[Motiv_]

Speaking as "one of those Marines", I'd like to put my opinion down on the matter.

I find nothing offensive about this. After all, we play as the Nazis in WW2 games all the time, don't we? They did horrible, horrible things to people, not just Jews. But no one raised a stink when they became playable factions in games, now did we.

What DOES offend me, is DICE's position, "It's just a game."

Now, look here, Dice. If you're going to make a game about a conflict that isn't even over, and you're going to portray the Americans as the god given saviors of said country [Which we're not, by the way], then the least you can do is show some respect. It drives me mad when people bring up these scenes in games, which are obviously in very poor taste, and others retort with "Oh, it's just a game".

What's so great about controversy? Why does every developer seek to create it? It annoys me.

 

[bjj hero]

*snip*

You sir, have a fantastic name.

 

[bjj hero]

*snip*

You sir, have a fantastic name.

Thankyou, its a superhero i invented to fight the evil 'Baron Depleted Seratonin'. True story.

A fantastic name with an interesting anecdote no less...

 

[Tom Phoenix]

I must say, I am extremely disappointed by Liu's stance that it's "just a game". Such statements undermine the integrity of the medium and confirm the stance that games are nothing more then toys for children.

If games are ever to grow as an art form, they need to be prepared and willing to tackle controversial subjects. Afterall, some of the best movies, books, paintings etc. were those that covered the darker sides of humanity (Maus, Schindler's List, Grave of the Fireflies, All Quiet on the Western Front, To Kill a Mockingbird...). I think Daniel Floyd (the author of Extra Credit put it best in one of his videos:

Thank fuck. No, cop-out Iraqistani insurgents, no "unnamed generic superpower that can pose a threat to the good ol' US of A" and thank christ they didn't just go with "Uh, Russia did it".

I mean fuck, we've been playing as soldiers fighting in WWII both for and against a genocidal regime that destroyed astronomical numbers of lives. The Taliban, while certainly despicable, isn't as bad as that even if they'd like to be. I'm not saying that evil works on a sliding scale, but how is this any worse than us shooting at (or playing as) the Nazis? WWII games and other media have been churned out so much that people seem to have started seeing this whole "Hitler" thing as just some long-ago fairytale of good Vs. Evil, even though it was only a lifetime ago (which in the grand scheme of things, really isn't that long ago. Chances are we have all met someone who was negatively effected by it, the most destructive conflict in our history.

So will someone please explain to me why suddenly this whole "Taliban" thing is meant to raise eyebrows when we've already seen hundreds of games that make the player actively take part in other real-life conflicts? Fuck, we've even seen games based on Vietnam, which was an extremely controversial conflict. How come we seem to think nowadays that Time+ tragedy = "OK to make a game of it"? Will it be ok to portray the conflict in the middle east in games without changing all the names to fictional ones ten years after it ends?

Whatever my opinion on the game may be, I'm glad that DICE are just saying "yeah, it's the Taliban, no biggie" because to suddenly get worked up about it NOW would be retarded.

The sad thing is, there actually hasn't been a game where one could play a German soldier in a singleplayer campaign. The German Front Mod singleplayer demo [http://www.ubertastic.com/index.php?topic=1865.0] is about as closest as we have ever gotten to a potrayal of the war from a German viewpoint.

The thing that a lot of people don't seem to understand is that, for the sake of historical accuracy and respect for the horrible events that happened, it is important to allow people to experience how the opposite side accepted and reacted to such things. If we omit their view point just beacuse some people aren't willing to accept the fact that there are two sides to the same coin, then we are honestly no better than the opposite side that we criticise (at least in that regard).

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Well. Who eles can the US fight with out being considered offensive?

Nazis? Germany doest like it when people talk about them.
Russia? Leave them alone.
Japan? Lets not tread there again.
Britain? No more heros friends.
PMC? Yes thats nice and boring.

 

[Callate]

Well, in fairness, it is only a game. But also, how do you make a single-player Taliban campaign that is neither a painful and possibly racist backdrop of dark-skinned Muslim stereotypes nor something that might be interpreted as sympathetic to the kind of people who intentionally blow up civilians? It's not the sort of controversy I would be eager to court as a game developer.

 

[punkrocker27]

snip snap doop dap

Hey that's exactly what I had in mind! Nah I kid. But I'm not sure how far developers would be willing to go with all the backstory stuff in a shooter game. I mean, it looks like an interesting idea on paper but just seems...goofy to play, in my opinion. Like would a game that realistic also include all the humanitarian work as well? If so it'd be extremely boring. They'd have to make it the first FPSMMO (ugh) set in Afghanistan. It also depends alot on whether this medium is ready to sympathize with joining the Taliban. Does seem a little far-fetched. Also, if there are any Taliban recruits out there who decided they "just didn't believe" anymore, then they certainly aren't alive enough anymore for us to be able to hear about them.