Response on the Seminar

Honestly, my perspective was completely thrown for a loop after this seminar. I play/have been involved in alot of these games and these type of scenarios, and it was really interesting for me to see what others, who weren't involved in these types of games or situations at all, had to say about all of this. I really hadn't realized that looking in from the outside is much different than actually playing these games. When i play these games, i really don't even think about the repercussions, or really anything about self demonstration, through this... It's just interesting to see that others think that i may be defining myself or a new personality of some sort while playing these types of games. I'm really just doing the whole thing for entertainment, and it really acts sometimes as an escape for me from all my daily stresses that come from class, homework, work, etc. I really thought it was interesting reading the two most recent articles because i really didn't know people were taking these things THAT seriously. I mean, granted, there are always going to be people who push the limits of video games and the video game culture; there are always going to be people that push the limits in any society, just look at modern-day. There are crooks, thieves, rapists, murderers; all these people know the law i'm sure, but they still wish to push it, test the limits, and see what happens. These same kinds of people exist in video games, exist in these HUD or MMORPG worlds, and really don't have nearly as an effect as they do in real life. There really isn't a law in these games or cultures, there's just kinda an assumed set of morals and values that each gamer abides by; because of this, it's nearly impossible to define what is "right" and what is "wrong" in these cultures. I was honestly shocked by the rapist article, because i felt like the person was taking the whole idea pretty damn seriously, especially because it's a surreal world, and in essence, nothing happened to their human self.

I guess what my whole point about these games and these experiences is that video gaming, HUDing, MMORPGing, Second Life, whatever you want to call it... these things were originally created for one purpose; to entertain. Isn't that what they're doing for most people anyways? There are always going to be people that take it too far, which is completely understandable. But the essence of a video game is entertainment. Second Life entertains by letting people be strippers, drug dealers, doctors, lawyers, whatever they want; things they might not be able to achieve in real life. Isn't that entertainment? These other games or HUDs allow people to control a character, an avatar, an extension of themselves. When they commit a crime on their avatar, for example, do they really feel the pain and remorse that they would if they were to commit the same thing in real life? Honestly, i don't think video game developers are trying to convey that. I think they're just trying to entertain.