Point taken--although it's not as simple as that of course.
I'm more against violence than gore--in real life--while in games it's reversed, but I but I still oppose both
Just not enough not to play--violence in games dates back to space invaders. And my main objection relates to how the violence is presented: I find the challenges in a game like UT fun, but I don't think it's "wow cool!" when someone meets death. And that's how I hear kids talking about it, which sickens me, and that's how the game does present it. Some weird macho thing I guess--and it's movies and the rest of culture too, I am aware.
Of course, opposing violence in games is one factor, not my whole stance in regards to games. I have a black sense of humor, as should already be clear
And taking some of what happens in UT as overdone parody makes it more acceptable. "FENDER BENDER!"--now how serious is that to be taken? By adults at least--not very.
I also applaud the green hologram effects in UT 2003/04 that make every "death" into a simulation. That doesn't reduce gore--that happens anyway if you choose, and then they could have just made the bodies fade or vanish when your back is turned. Rather, it reduces the violence itself. It goes nicely with the unlimited-lives rule, and with the idea that UT is a sport rather than a war.
As for the inevitable question of how violent games affect people... sure they do, as do movies and everything else. Thus, I wouldn't let my kids play UT, and would teach them that killing is a sad thing, not a fun thing. But I'm a big boy now myself
And UT2004 is a great game behind the surface violence.
So I'll add another little tip: my settings for minimum violence in UT. Even if that doesn't fit your personal tastes, it also helps make the game palatable to family members who see you play!
1. No Gore of course. (I wish 2k4 had a mutator like the old UT one, "Disintegration," which removed even the bodies falling over, and replaced them with a cool energy effect.)
2. Use Bot Roster and set the bots (and you) to be all robots--literally. This removes the pain screams--one of the most offensive violence effects in my book. It also counts out some of the sillier sexist stereotypes--although UT has already improved since the first UT in that regard.
3. No Taunts--or at least, no Auto-Taunts. That shuts the bots up just fine for single-player.
4. If you also wish to reduce the gleeful TALK of death, turn Announcements off and set HUD fonts at the smallest.
Your grandmother may still balk at the sound of machine-gun fire, but it's a start
In mixed company I also often set up games using only energy-weapons--not the more-realistic bullets and rockets.
This is not just to avoid getting flak (?) from relatives--it also softens a statement I don't wish to make: that violence IS fun. I have no problem with enjoying UT, but there's a lot of it that I don't think the world needs me to be promoting. I enjoy UT in spite of those things.
And yes, I'll turn gore on sometimes and use a random mix of characters for the sheer absurdity of it. It bothers me that I'm not as offended by it as I was at first, but that's what it means to be desensitized. It doesn't make me enjoy real-life gore--or even movie gore--but I do feel I have lost something small but real, and that's a shame.
On the flip-side, I have gained the ability to laugh with friends at my bots driving over one another. Life is full of little trade-offs
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