Should you be allowed to kill children in games?

[WestMountain]

I don't get why you wouldn't be able to kill children when most scientists or whatever says that the human mind can distinguish what is real or not..

Or is child-killing somehow worse than nuking a whole community (Fallout 3)and will make many youngsters into psychotic murderers who go on spontaneous school-massacres?

 

[Dora]

Personally, I don't care either way. But I don't see how, or why, killing children in a game is any different than killing anyone else in a game. If you're upset at the idea of blowing up a tot, you should get equally upset about running over hookers or innocent pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto, really harming anyone who isn't sprinting towards you with a gun, and yet everyone does it. I find that the idea that just because someone isn't an "adult" their lives are somehow worth or, or it's more of a tragedy if they die, is silly. It's like when books or games throw kids into the mix, and somehow everything is supposed to feel more tense just because a kid might get hurt or killed. Why doesn't an adult, someone who's already a contributing member of society, someone who has a family and friends as well, carry the same weight of emotion when under threat?

Maybe I'd feel differently if I were a mother, but I doubt it. It's not how I'd choose to play, and I'm not advocating infanticide in games, I'm just saying it doesn't bother me if other people do it. The idea that you can messily murder someone you pass on the street in a game but it's somehow suddenly OMG WRONG just because that someone is a child is ridiculous.

 

[HassEsser]

Yes, you should. [http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1171]

 

[Stublore]

Yes, HELL YES!

 

[The Stonker]

Yes,yes you should.
Why? Depends. If it's to advance the story then sure.
If it's for fun then well sure!

Btw. I hate kids.

 

[chickenlord]

yes i think it should be possibly most of the time, like if a game boasts that you can kill anyone and everyone in the game, kids should count. morally its up to you to choose...are you ok with killing a cute little defenseless child?

 

[monkey_man]

why isn'n it normal to kill children, but adults die after someone taps them on the shoulder, or says, hi!. i think it's ridiculous.
(also yay for bioshock)
also, thay are just pixels.. you shouldn't care about pixels..

Innocents, no. Anythign evil or such, yes.

never played gta? the innocents are the fun part of the game.. killing those annoying bike drivers, or those guys who yell at you... they should die..

Should be allowed to do anything in a video game.
It is not real, so I don't care.
You find the content of a video-game immoral? Simple solution: don't play it.

amen brotha!(cookie for reference)

 

[Chronologist]

I'd be fine with allowing children to die in video games... only if they talk like the Turrets from Portal when they die .

 

[lvl9000_woot]

Children are just people, like any of us, except uneducated and more annoying. So yes, they should be killed. It's not like you're fucking killing real people, anyways. ...

This^

...Also, I want, right now, for someone to tell me why killing a child is any more wrong than killing an adult. A virtual child, at that.

and this^

FFS, killing kids in games is just as bad as killing an adult. You're still ending a 'life' however since games are pushing for a more immersive experience, killing kids in games should make you feel bad. Personally, I don't kill them because they're either a non-killable NPC or I go looking for something to kill that'll be more of a challenge.

 

[astrav1]

It should be allowed.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

the only reason to add children to games is a simple one. Take mods that add more to fallout 3 or any to oblivion as good examples, It makes the world feel more natural.
Oblivion's lack of children was really odd and to me very noticeable, where did those adults come from did they spring immaculate from the earth itself?

Last century (I like saying that about my own youth) having children in a fantasy game was normal, having them killable was a no brainier - they were in the game you could interact with them (even if all they said was some snotty remake or "you look weird") they followed the rules of all NPS - you could kill them.

What happened in the intervening years where even having children in a game is something to be careful about much less having them as legitimate natural NPCs; except in Japanese games of course where ALL the characters seem to be under 20.

I think the answer is simple. Political correctness. Long long time ago we already managed to reach a funny social paradox where we keep saying how we are much more open society than few centuries ago while limiting other areas that were perfectly fine back then. It's like there is some arbitrary limit of freedoms available per person so when you grant one right you have to take away some other.

The question however was should children be killable in games, not just present. I still find it pointless if it does not serve as a plot device. In video games it hardly changes a context while in tabletop RPG if my character will kill a child i know that it will change how the character is seen by other's and wallows the Game Master to create situation that are appropriate reaction to my decisions.

The nineties are not a long time ago and children haven't been a neglected minority group ever. So not political correctness. The question was rhetorical anyway, the answer is a media focus on doing right by the children and the dangers to children that's been creeping up since the late sixties and currently reached a point where any portrayal of children has to be done carefully for fear of repercussion.

I think the question is being approached the wrong way. What makes children so special that they shouldn't obey the rules of a game world? Games, as I said earlier, have their own rules and playing within those rules is part of what makes a game fun. If you don't have to break immersion of force suspension of disbelief then why do it?*

Challenge is the other main part and that can be done as how do the rules apply to me and what are the consequences of them. In some games having children give no XP would be enough to stop players from killing them in earnest and can be explained simply as children haven't garnered enough skills and are too weak for you to learn anything from fighting them. others could have penalties weather as social interaction like annoying the guard\police faction lowering standing with the peasantry\citizens or gaining a social debuff like fallouts child-killer.

Killing a child can have a mild emotional impact in a story driven game and unlike MW2's airport level it could be short and to the point. Is agent 47 really a stone cold killer? How about a contract that turns out to be a child, do you press on or fall back?

Again simple atmosphere is another reason. The world has adults, ergo the world has children. If you want to go spraying bullets around in GTA not caring about civilians in the crossfire then maybe you'll think twice if some are children, or maybe not. Kite a mob into town in an RPG to let the guards handle it, risk civilians including children. It gives another aspect to decision making in games and it's one which is simple to understand and easy to see when thing are about to happen as children are easy to identify from other people. I don't kill critters in WoW as they are defenceless, I wouldn't kill children either; Some people would, but it does no harm so why restrict it?

The harm of children is seen often enough in films and TV and they usually claim to have handled things tastefully or for a reason so why can't gaming. *If immortal children doesn't even register with a player then it's probably because they are used to gaming current rules.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

Yes. It's absurd to be not allowed to do it.

"Oh yeah, do whatever you want - blow the entire planet up if you want to... except you're not actually allowed to even be mean to that kid over there who's been pulling up your flowers and making faces at you constantly"... yeah. Great immersion.

 

[Trogdor1138]

If it's for the story, yes. For example in Dragon Age you have that choice at one point, and that worked really well. But when it's just gunning down children for the sake of it, then it's just pointless and is controversial and violent for the sake of it.

Agreed with this, if it's something really necessary plot wise that adds to the game. If it's as in "oh look, children on the street that can be run over" then no, I don't want that at all and I've been playing games my whole life. To me there is a huge difference in killing adults and minors in gaming. As much as I've liked GTA games I'm still a bit "eh" about the killing of random pedestrians (they've made it optional luckily) and it can be fun when you're bored. But adding children to that would be completely useless and add nothing.

Especially since all the other violent games I've played are basically killing adults who are henchman/criminals etc. So I don't see why you'd even need kids unless you wanted to make a game based off a really bad serial killer or something. Which I would boycott immediately.

 

[Vergial]

They're all pixels. NOT REAL. So yes, I say it should be allowed.

God forbid you shoot the pixels.

They have feelings, y'know. /sarcasm

 

[Casual Shinji]

I see no reason for it.

Call me conservative, but there are some things I'd rather not see in a game. Killing kids for the heck of it is one of them. And lets get this straight; I'm not against kids dying in games. If it's a Lord of The Flies type game, fine. But randomly killing kids in a free-roaming game just doesn't sit too well with me.

And don't give me that "there just pixels" crap. If you really think like that then why the hell are you playing games in the first place? So you can see pixels moving around on screen?! I've heard many people say they dislike Elfenlied because of all the violence and dismemberment. But it's just a couple of lines and colors in motion; so what's the big deal?

If you look at animated media and can only see the means by which it was created, then why bother with it?

 

[joshuaayt]

If I'm playing an evil character in a world that is populated by children... WHY CAN I NOT KILL THEM?
Really, it's ridiculous. "Oh, man, am I a crazy, evil dude. I am practically eating civillians for lunches, which I use to recover energy from all of the murder I've been doing... Oh, hey little Timmy. Whoops! Hey, you dropped your wallet, little Timmy, here, take it back. There you go, now say hi to the folks... Oh, I killed them? Oh, Timmy, you rapscallion."
Why would an punk dripping in malevolence shy away from harming children? I just don't get it. Political correctness < immersion.

 

[Dott]

Yes.

End of story. Stop being whiny pricks about it.
It's just animated children.

 

[Something Amyss]

Because I err to the side of caution? Not much to say, because I don't have particularly strong feelings on the matter. I thought it over, but really, there isn't much for me to say on why.

I could go into my ambivalence, if you wish. I treat games as acts of fiction like any other form of fiction. While video games are painted as horrendous acts against humanity, I have read boks with graphic rape, seen kids abused on TV, and watched movies with heinous acts from murder to genocide. We always try and paint the newer, more shocking material as a gateway drug. It used to be novels. Then jazz and comic books. Then rock and TV. Now video games. Until proven otherwise, I assume these claims to be crap.

but on the other hand, I don't really WANT it there, either, so I end up with no particular strong feelings either way.

As for differences between killing kids and adults, I can do that later. I have to run now, and this post already took longer than I intended.