Anti Gaming
Firewater
Balance Expert Join Date: 2002-12-12 Member: 10690Members, Constellation
Balance Expert Join Date: 2002-12-12 Member: 10690Members, Constellation
<a href='http://www.mavav.org/' target='_blank'>http://www.mavav.org/</a>
<span style='color:red'>Sirus: Due to the amount of people who are not reading posts, I want to remind everyone that the above link is a hoax. Feel free to discuss anti-gaming, but don't bother to try and discredit MAVAV as it's a joke/hoax site. In addition, in the discussion forum we are very serious about individuals not reading all replies (see stickied post). I am being lenient for now, but please understand, I will enforce the rule and temp ban if you do not heed my warning.</span>
Read and discuss.
<span style='color:red'>Sirus: Due to the amount of people who are not reading posts, I want to remind everyone that the above link is a hoax. Feel free to discuss anti-gaming, but don't bother to try and discredit MAVAV as it's a joke/hoax site. In addition, in the discussion forum we are very serious about individuals not reading all replies (see stickied post). I am being lenient for now, but please understand, I will enforce the rule and temp ban if you do not heed my warning.</span>
Read and discuss.
Comments
MAMT. (Mothers against masterbating teens). No really. What is next? Video gaming should be regulated by the parents, like tv. It is pretty darn easy to just pull a kid off a pc/console. Putting blame soley in the hands of video games is like saying "its fires fault for burning me, not because I stuck my hand in the flame". But I digress, alot of my viewpoints are stereotypical and there are probably real(rare) cases where video games do cause severe damage... but then again so does chafing oneself privately in the bathroom.
Its strange... but this topic burns[pun] me more then any other politcal debate.
My ****, i've made so many friends and even an irl girlfriend through NS, DoD, and halo lan parties. Since i was 7 me and my friends have always been into gaming and spent hours just chilling with golden eye or street fighter. Maybe i should have gone out side and played with matches like other kids, but i prefered gaming. And also, how the hell do they know the latter part (sadness over thier lives), i doubt most of these soccer moms have a child over the age of 28.
Being a devoted gamer myself, i consider MAVAV complete and utter ****.
They didn't bother to respond.
Lets start a new site, Sensible People Against MAVAV. SPAMAVAV.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Symptom: Poor school grades
A typical report card by a troubled video game player:
Computer Education Excellent
English Poor<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The reason why I always got straight A's at english was because of the gaming. (english is not my first language)
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->E3: The Evil Entertainment Expo<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hehehehe
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Splinter Cell: How-To Kill<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How to kill... hmz shoot someone! yeah I learned that from gaming! And now I know how to break someones neck! just by watching!
Hey, you can learn to play tennis by watching TV, can't you?
These sort of organisations/sites are really amazing, however...
People Against Utter Stupidity doesn't make for a good acronym, however...
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->tainted with online "clans"<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
...because clans make us evil people. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Unfortunately, the potentially greatest part of the site is...well...
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->All articles are currently offline due for editing. Thank you for your patience.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Also, isn't the middle-age-ish mothers the ones who put in the 'most screen-hours per day'? I think something along these lines was the case...
There's also a surprising amount of "new reseach" I've never heard of used to back these claims up. Most intriguing of all, how they managed to follow a group of gamers who grew up with games THROGHOUT THEIR LIVES and conclude that they were miserable. Wide-spread gaming has not even been around that long.
Ironically enough, most cartoons tend to 'teach' that "when you shoot someone with a gun, not much happens"?
Look out for 'Mothers Against Pseudo-Violence in Cartoons'...
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->There's also a surprising amount of "new reseach" I've never heard of used to back these claims up.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's because the research is OMGWTHSECRAT!
You know, if you're going to create a website dedicated to bad-mouthing video games and its supposedly negative effects on a child's intelligence and development, you should at least use proper grammar. It makes the idiocy slightly less painful to read.
I got tipped off by the fact that they had no mailing address. Not even a PO box.
<img src='http://prodtn.cafepress.com/3/5257193_B_tn.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
The claims they make are pure insanity. It doesn't matter what the object is, if you stick your child in front of that object, thinking the object will do your job for you, you're going to hurt the kid's development. Obviously, there are far better choices than putting a 6 year old in front of Q3A. I mean, for god's sake!
"I'm a parent, and I refused to be intelligent, so I didn't realize that I should learn the content of something before I let my child use it... I'm sueing!"
You might as well say, "Really, officer, I didn't KNOW that room was full of starving lions when I put my son in there! I just <i>trusted</i> corporate America to make sure that it wasn't."
All these sites are nothing but a diversion meant to disguise the pure and simple fact that there have been fundemental failures in parenting. And it makes me sick. And we <b>do</b> need a site to explain our side of the story.
The most important thing is: if someone actually does make a pro-gaming site, you can't just call them retards and be the end of it. It has to be dignified, and rise above their blinded hatred. Anything less would only prove their point that gamers are savages.
*edit* Irregardless of the site in question's fiction ^_^ *edit*
I never implied that. Using gender in an example does not imply a gender cast on the argument as a whole, and frankly, I'm a tad insulted to be accused of it.
These slags are probably addicted to chocolate that makes them become phat heffers and then they read their 40something mags and try to recapture their youth through the Atkins diet and end up eating **** food that makes them depressed and spending a fortune on gyms that they don't friggen well need.
If anyone makes the website then I propose myself as editor and co-writer. I might even be able to host it on the CitadelUtopia webspace.
---
On a brighter note, I was explaining to a non-gamer how much goes into making computer games insofaras a Dev team being split into smaller teams that work on different elements of a gale from the concept to QA testing, much like a film production team, and they were:
(choose your description)
amazed
astounded
impressed
naked
gobsmacked
a smacktard
moist
at the end of the explanation.
Let us spread the word of gaming*
* I hate the term 'videogames'. It makes it sound like games haven't evolved since pong.
P.S. We should call the site:
Quintessentially United Against the Keen to Exaggerate
LIKE ALMOST EVERY MAPPER IN THE WORLD <!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif' /><!--endemo--> MARPS = MURDER <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I never implied that. Using gender in an example does not imply a gender cast on the argument as a whole, and frankly, I'm a tad insulted to be accused of it. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually I was referring to that site rob.. and I DO want you to make a site for us gamers. :-) Male and Female.
I never implied that. Using gender in an example does not imply a gender cast on the argument as a whole, and frankly, I'm a tad insulted to be accused of it. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Actually I was referring to that site rob.. and I DO want you to make a site for us gamers. :-) Male and Female. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ah, bad day at the office, forgive my snapping.
If the gaming industry was more like the oil industry groups like MAVAV wouldn't exist.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Proposal: Being a gamer, I was aware of the debates going on between the government/media and the videogame industry. And with all the current media attention surrounding the super violent videogame Grand Theft Auto 3. So I decided to jump in as the hero and take advantage of the whole situation.
<b>MAVAV.org (Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence) was put up as hoax/parody/satire organization, which seems to be concerned about "the nations newest growing threat: videogame addiction and violence", which I tried to compare to the more serious issues of social and mental distress, drug and alcohol abuse and violent behavior. </b>
There are obviously more serious issues going on in people's lives, so I hoped all my biased ranting about videogames would annoy and frustrate many visitors.
Design: MAVAV is composed of four major pages. The Homepage, Articles, Resources, and Awareness. The design and layout of the site was all planned out and very intentional. I wanted this semi-professional look with tabbed and color coded pages. I also made use of some other commonly used design layout tricks. I did not want a super corporate look. The homemade look gave MAVAV.org that motherly touch. I also made the cool MAVAV logo.
Homepage: My homepage was used to grab the attention of the visitor. Shock them with a quick, brief and completely absurd explanation as to what the MAVAV organization is all about. I mixed the homepage with a bit of real news in the "News In Brief" section, which worked to confuse the visitor into thinking MAVAV might actually be a legit organization. Confusion is cool.
Articles: I never intended to complete these articles. This section was used primarily to display funny and outrageous headlines, a strategy inspired by The Onion. A lot of visitors bought my article titles and couldn't wait for them to go up. Visitors found "E3: Evil Electronic Expo" especially funny.
Resources: This was the SHOCKER. <b>All the content on this page is completely false, full of fake facts I made up, mixed with a bit of over exaggerated stereotypes. I tried to offend different genre-groups within the gaming community (but not specific games) hoping to get a more widespread reaction. I was actually worried that this page looked too real, so I decided to add in my much-hated Report Card. I was so sure my report card would present MAVAV as a fake, but I was wrong.</b>
Awareness: This page was used to help MAVAV spread awareness, and it served its purpose well. I designed two banners for people serious (and not so serious) about MAVAV to freely display on their websites. But what happened was far better. People used my banners as their signature picture on forums which lead to much more exposure than your typical blog and homepage banner! These are a few defaced MAVAV web banners people were using.
Dirty Work: I initially brought up the topic of MAVAV in four popular computing and gaming forums. From there, everything spread on its own. I was able to track referrers for one full week without any tampering (linking) from high traffic media sites. The majority of referrals were coming from people who got a message from their friends about MAVAV, I'm guessing through chat, instant messaging and e-mail. Gaming forums were the second most popular referrers.
Responses: I received over 1,500 e-mail responses in the first week. Only a dozen of them were sent in by people who "knew" it was a hoax. The majority of the responses were sent in by gamers AND parents, arguing a similar view on the issue: "bad parenting is to blame, not videogames." I received a lot of arguments about my facts and the report card on the Resource page, regardless of my outrageous claims. People were signing their letters with their name, school/education, and GPA scores, which I thought was interesting.
I knowingly used my real name, address, and phone in my whois domain name report. Many people called and I gladly responded with a scripted "I was hired to register and setup this domain. I am in no way affiliated with MAVAV" message. But I did not expect people to go out and start hunting me down (read below) on the web. A lot of newbs also thought they were elite hackers because they knew how to whois a domain. Congrats guys!<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Here, I dug up some interesting websites.
<a href='http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html' target='_blank'>Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts ...</a>
<a href='http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/11/18/17748407.cfm' target='_blank'>Violent Video Games : Training to Kill</a>
<a href='http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/provocations/videogames/index.html' target='_blank'>PBS You Decide: Video Game Violence</a>
Note about the PBS website You Decide, it's one of my favorites, they'll ask you a yes or no question about a subject. Depending on your answer, it will give you different evidence (always against your answer, so that it makes you think about whether you really believe it or not). Try it out : )
It's not as serious in this situation, but I would advise you to read the above posts, if you did, you would have known that the website is a hoax.
Let that be our new discussion then. Hate sites in general! Yes.
-edit-
I don't believe the facts of game's affect on children and adults alike are up for discussion. It has been well documented (I did a research project on this in High School) that performing acts of violence, whether virtually or actually, decencitizes you to doing more of the acts. It's basic human nature - the difference between a green recruit and a hardened veteran.
Though, I do believe that the technical "know-how" of how to kill somebody is pretty instinctual. In fact, if anything, games would be teaching our youth in quite the opposite direction: "It surely takes 3 rockets to kill someone, not just a hard smack on the back of the head."
What debate is left is to decide what to do with this knowledge. Do we aimlessly play the blame game, and force the extinction of video games, their makers, and anyone who would play them illegally? Do we educate parents to make sure to NOT let their kids play games alone, for hours un-end? Do we ignore it?
*edit*
Well it is their fault for not teaching children the difference between right and wrong. You can not blame it soley upon the video game(s) and the people who make said video games.
There is one thing that I do agree with though. Video games are an escape, at least for me. I enjoy playing because while I am playing as a skulk/fade/onos/hydralisk/whatever else. I do not have to pay attention to the real world. I can just lose myself in said game and be there. Which is why I love books as well. Losing ones self in something they love to do is a passion all of us have, and I do not see the logic in destorying one of those passions.
The bottom line is, videogames offer social interaction that does not require any social skills; the roles that you play in-game are overt, as are the proxys that you use to relate to other people. IN real life, things are more subtle, there is an art to relating to people. That's probably why people who get obsessed with videogames end up as social introverts; they've never become attuned to the subtleties of real-world interaction.
I'll post a link to the paper if anyone wants to have a look at it, cirtique it or something, it's about 9 pages.
EDIT: <a href='http://www.seniorbreakfast.net/hosted/legionnaired/finalPaper.pdf' target='_blank'>linkeh</a>
I got tipped off by the fact that they had no mailing address. Not even a PO box. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Whoop. I feel happier.. and a lil dirty.
Going out on a limb here, but I think that people who would consider an imaginary place to be their real home have more wrong upstairs than an addiction to videogames.