Through my readings, it was explained that a monster is simply any
creature who has turned evil and who was once not known as such. The
reason why they call it IA monster is because it has an evil side. Once
it sees itself referred to as one, it will literally believe in that.
But, let's take that a little bit further. Suppose we had a creature
with five arms, two fingers on each hand, tendrils, and four feet, had
green slimy skin, etc etc. Would you call that creature a monster? Nope.
A human would say that because it is not a look that we are accustomed
to, but in their world, it might be their definition of fine beauty.
So it's how you look at something that you feel is best for the situation.
also, why are fantasy time frames set only in medieval and futuristic
time, but not in renaissance, new age, or present time? Why does it have
to be only two? I once asked that about a MUD and their answer was
because it would be boring and predictable, yet the answer must be a
little bit more detailed and someone must have figured that out when
they began fantasising.
On 12/15/2013 5:41 PM, dark wrote:
I disagree ulysses with your monster deffinition and with your idea
that including different in game monsters is just a way for us to
dress something up to vent our violent urges.
in the past it was necessary to kill wolves and other predators as a
matter of survival, heck there are still parts of britain where it is
necessary for farmers to kill foxes and badgers in order for their
animals to survive. That is part of that situation.
A wolf or a lion or a crocadile is not evil in and of themselves, they
obey their nature, unfortunately part of that conflicts with humans.
The same goes with zombies, malevlolent ghosts like poltergheists, and
monstrous beasts such as dinosaurs.
When we play a game we are interacting with a new situation and
environment and one we would not have in real life, be that
controlling a bio dome on the moon, playing poker and betting
thousands of dollars, or indeed traveling a zombi infested city. As
such we participate in the nature of that environment, and if it
includes zombiess mosnters etc, that's part of the world at that point
and we're not going to survive in that world without doing what must
be done the same way a poker player wouldn't survive without betting
money, none are reflections of real world actions or situation, they
are just elements of the games reality and only have relevence
according to that reality.
there is also then the fact that most intelligent fantasy creatures
such as goblins, vampires, orcs, intelligent malign aliens like the
Daleks, though possessing human intelligence lack the choice to act
other than in a malicious way. Doctor who indeed goes into quite a lot
of detail with this with the Daleks, they are a race of aliens
genetically bred and deliberately created by a psychotic geaneus to
hate anything and everything that is not a Dalek.
In a simialr sense, Trolls, Orcs and the other dark creatures in lord
of the rings are direct adjuncts to the will of Sauron. They have no
ability to act independently of his will and Tolkien even states that
they went off and died without him, ---- in fact Tolkien is very
careful to draw a distinction between the various groups of men such
as the Haradrim who were persuaded to fight on Sauron's side, and the
creatures such as orcs which were directly motivated by Sauron.
So, with various intelligent fantasy races there is a good arguemnet
that they are just as much an environmental force as natural predators.
Finally, as regards games where you actually kill humans, again as I
said before intention is the difference. I wouldn't condone a game
which basically had you do mindless slaughter or harming of innocent
people for no reason, but games that simulate say a war agaisnt an
oppressive enemy or fighting against a criminal gang you are just
again participating in that environment, and since it is a simulated
and entirely artificial it doesn't have a baring on what you would do
in reality.
This is a reason why in reality I am very anti war in the majority of
circumstances, when to protest against the War in Iraq etc, but am
quite content to play Gma tank commander. I don't hate! the enemy
tanks in Gma tank commander or considder that they are full of
soldiers with lives and desires and friends and families, ---- because
frankly speaking they're not! indeed, it'd be easy to imagine that all
the tanks in the game were just robots.
If however you really! asked me to blow up someone else with a tank,
---- well I would refuse, and I at least like to think unless it was
that one in a thousand occasion where there was! a good reason to kill
someone, I'd refuse even if my life was in danger though of course
having not been in the situation I've yet to find out if I have that
kind of courage, --- and I probably don't.
BEware the Grue!
dark.
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