Poll: Would you emigrate to another country if gaming was banned/outlawed

[StBishop]

I was just thinking about the supreme court hearing and the possible effects that could be felt if gaming were simply banned outright.

I realise that this is a (hopefully) ridiculous proposal but what if it happened?

What if, only in your country, gaming was banned. Not just buying, but playing, making, everything.

For the sake of keeping the variables to a minimum, assume that all game companies found a loop hole that allowed them to relocate their companies legally to Antarctica or something but they had 12 months or so to move their hardware and staff etc, and this was a negligable cost, so we can assume the gaming industry remains profitable and continues as normal all of your favourite companies (dev and publisher) remain and all your least favourite too.

So would you leave?
Would you stay and game illegally? (Assume there are ways to detect this and the penalty is harsh)
Would you stay and quit gaming?
Would you simply go on holiday all the time (for example you live on the border of two countries and can easily go to the next town over to game)?

What would you do?

 

[Miles000]

I'd move to New Zealand.

They also have better gun laws than here.
Gaming and guns...... I'm happy.

[sub]Actually, I might move there anyway.[/sub]

 

[LCH1988]

I'd move from the U.S., and although I don't in any way believe I personally could make a difference with such actions, I'd take whatever actions I could in an attempt to get gaming re-instated as a legal form of entertainment.

 

[ZiggyE]

[sub]Actually, I might move there anyway.[/sub]

Speaking as a New Zealander, I wouldn't come anytime soon, our Government has no money.

 

[Saelune]

No. I would stay. I would denounce the American Government for going against what our country is founded on, and I would break the law in defiance of a wrongful law.
Just as I remain here despite equal rights being suppressed, and why I stay despite all the other wrongs that happen. If everyone just up and left, progress would never be made. Gay Marriage is legal in New York now finally. But had all the gays left New York, it never would have happened. We stayed, we fought, now we get married in one more state.

 

[Minigrinch]

Personally, I would move, even though it seems over what would be a minor issue to some people, its one of my favourite forms of entertainment, and we all know banning one thing tends to be a slippery slope in politics anyway.

 

[brumley53]

I already kind of want to leave Australia. Only problem is I don't know where I would move to...

 

[RADlTZ]

Completly ban video games? There would be riots, endless riots. Not just form gamers (and there would be a lot of us causing chaos) but from others opposing such a ban on the basis of defending ideals of freedom. Even laws that push towards a ban on games or otherwise infringe significantly on our glorious passtime would be met with rage, and it would only take a little bit of organisation to start protests.

[sub]Actually, I might move there anyway.[/sub]

Speaking as a New Zealander, I wouldn't come anytime soon, our Government has no money.

In Australia our government wastes money on short term solutions to long term problems (both major political partys) At least New Zealand seems like a good place to go one youve built up money elsewhere, in Sydney people are slaving away their entire lives to pay off impossible housing costs. There should be more to life than paying debts.

 

[StBishop]

No. I would stay. I would denounce the American Government for going against what our country is founded on, and I would break the law in defiance of a wrongful law.
Just as I remain here despite equal rights being suppressed, and why I stay despite all the other wrongs that happen. If everyone just up and left, progress would never be made. Gay Marriage is legal in New York now finally. But had all the gays left New York, it never would have happened. We stayed, we fought, now we get married in one more state.

Fair point. I think it's interesting that I'd leave over gaming being made illegal but I'm still here despite a number of laws that I disagree with (although to be honest, they don't directyl affect me regularly, if at all.).

I can certainly see what you mean on the same sex marriage front, it doesn't exist in any form in Australia and unfortunately the party most likely to institute it (the current government) is actively opposed to it. The opposition on the other hand thinks it's against God, but their leader also thinks that Climate Change is an elaborate hoax. I'm not kidding.

The worst bit, he is the leader of my local MP's party -.- I like her but he's a bit ridiculous.

I already kind of want to leave Australia. Only problem is I don't know where I would move to...

You could try the UK, so long as you're not a student. That's where I'll be heading after we've got a family.

 

[Grell Sutcliff]

I'd move even though if that happened in America all consoles and games already in your hands are exempt from that law it has to do with this thing they came up with originally applied to people with the drinking age it was like 18 and a person was 19 when they raised the legal drinking age to 21 but that person still got to drink while underaged so if you already have the system and the game there is nothing they can do about it if you can prove you owned it before the law that made it illegal was passed. I'm still moving away though
if that law doesn't apply to games please correct me.

 

[StBishop]

I'd move even though if that happened in America all consoles and games already in your hands are exempt from that law it has to do with this thing they came up with originally applied to people with the drinking age it was like 18 and a person was 19 when they raised the legal drinking age to 21 but that person still got to drink while underaged so if you already have the system and the game there is nothing they can do about it if you can prove you owned it before the law that made it illegal was passed. I'm still moving away though
if that law doesn't apply to games please correct me.

For the sake of argument we're assuming it doesn't apply in this situation.

They might have a buy back scheme (similar to what Australia had with firearms a few years back), or they might just storm the houses of known gamers and torch it/confiscate it all.

 

[Farther than stars]

I'd stay. I love gaming - with a passion, but I don't believe in running away from your troubles. Speaking of which, I think a country like that wouldn't allow you to go on holiday all too much (see also North Korea).
Speaking of which (again?), I'd be in the resistence before that bunch of dictatorial conservatives could say "any failure to oblige"; smuggling games, organising LAN-parties in sewers and putting posters with gaming icons over video camera lenses.
In short, I'd do what most rebels in Cuba are doing these days with their surpassing of Internet restrictions: form a very passive resistence concerning a subject of which the laws are pretty unenforceable.
I'm not kidding when I say they'll throw me in jail before I give up my fellow countrymen's civil liberties. It's not even about me gaming. It's more about giving other people a chance to enrich their lives through artistic media, which should be a human right (Have I mentioned I'm a big fan of F2P?).
Though let's not kid ourselves. A society in which the restictions on gaming are this kind of strict is a society in which we simply wouldn't have time for indulgences like this one. If I were part of a resistence in such a society, my time would probably be taken up harbouring fugitives and cutting barb wire in labour camps.
I'm interested why you chose this subject though. I've deduced by now that you're probably Australian, so do you think you'll be facing a tough decision soon?

Note: I think this kind of deserved a spot in the Gaming Forum.

Edit: I'm also wondering why, if two of us would stay, why only one of us voted in the poll? *looks at Saelune angrily for not using the right to vote, something for which I would apparently go to jail*

 

[Emurlahn]

Yes, I would.

Likelihood of it being necessary: negative, as I live in Scandinavia, and we are quite liberal on most things, except guns, which doesn't bother me, as I have a hunting license.

 

[Eccentric_Jon]

I'd be gone in a heartbeat. I've been gaming for 21 years & I don't intend to stop now...

 

[kasperbbs]

I would pirate games if there was no way to get them otherwise, assuming that steam wouldn't sell me games anymore. And if i moved then it wouldn't be just because of gaming, my country already sucks balls and that would be just another nail in the coffin.

 

[StBishop]

I'd stay. I love gaming - with a passion, but I don't believe in running away from your troubles. Speaking of which, I think a country like that wouldn't allow you to go on holiday all too much (see also North Korea).
Speaking of which (again?), I'd be in the resistence before that bunch of dictatorial conservatives could say "any failure to oblige"; smuggling games, organising LAN-parties in sewers and putting posters with gaming icons over video camera lenses.
In short, I'd do what most rebels in Cuba are doing these days with their surpassing of Internet restrictions: form a very passive resistence concerning a subject of which the laws are pretty unenforceable.
I'm not kidding when I say they'll throw me in jail before I give up my fellow countrymen's civil liberties. It's not even about me gaming. It's more about giving other people a chance to enrich their lives through artistic media, which should be a human right (Have I mentioned I'm a big fan of F2P?).
Though let's not kid ourselves. A society in which the restictions on gaming are this kind of strict is a society in which we simply wouldn't have time for indulgences like this one. If I were part of a resistence in such a society, my time would probably be taken up harbouring fugitives and cutting barb wire in labour camps.
I'm interested why you chose this subject though. I've deduced by now that you're probably Australian, so do you think you'll be facing a tough decision soon?

Note: I think this kind of deserved a spot in the Gaming Forum.

Edit: I'm also wondering why, if two of us would stay, why only one of us voted in the poll? *looks at Saelune angrily for not using the right to vote, something for which I would apparently go to jail*

Yes, I'm an Aussie. But, no I don't think this is likely to happen in Australia, we're actually making headway in getting an R18+ rating (fuck all movement is better than no movement) although the Internet filter ideas are shitty. As I said earlier, I plan or leaving Aus for a few years to live in the UK (visit my grandparents, auntie, and cousins, meet in-laws, and experience the culture) for a few years, but it's got nothing to do with gaming being banned.

 

[Toriver]

I'd stay. Gaming is, at its core, a luxury, not a need, and as much as I love gaming, I could probably move on if I had to. Of course, I would game illegally any chance I got, but it's not something worth abandoning my citizenship over. Now, if they actually did take away something I needed, then it would be a different story...

 

[StBishop]

I would pirate games if there was no way to get them otherwise, assuming that steam wouldn't sell me games anymore. And if i moved then it wouldn't be just because of gaming, my country already sucks balls and that would be just another nail in the coffin.

I know literally nothing about Lithuania, what sucks about it?

 

[Fooz]

I already kind of want to leave Australia. Only problem is I don't know where I would move to...

i wouldn't come to England anytime soon

O.T. hell yeah i would move, gaming is a huge part of my life

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I'd carry right on gaming illegally and untraceably.