Real Games in Life
The trouble with the real world versus video games is there is no real consequences. In the real world if someone runs over my dog there is no real consequence. Nothing equivalent anyways. I can't just shoot them, that is a bit much, but what can I do. Sure they can buy me another dog maybe if they are the type, but that dog is not the same as the dog they killed now is it. It is sort of but not quite like if I shoot your child, I can maybe give you another child, but it is not the same child now is it. I am not trying to say that dogs are as valuable as children, or that they are not, it is just that you can not replace a living thing with another living thing and have it be the same.
If you break my TV, or I break your snow shovel or something like that, compensation is quite simple, buy a new snow shovel of equal or better value, and maybe compensate by offering to help shovel your step or something, or help install the TV, you get the picture. Simple clean and really not that hard to deal with. If you steal my stuff, and I know it, I should be able to go to your house, and demand it back, if you do not give me satisfaction, well I can just steal it back, and maybe some of your stuff as well for compensation. Yea I can go to the authorities, but unless they are particularly bored that evening, and you have all the paperwork done for them, they will be of no use. So maybe I go there, and attempt to take my shit back, and you are like no way, this is my shit, and we get into an argument. If it leads to violence, well that is a different thing. There are a bunch of other things I can do, but the truth is, if I suspect you are going to be less than amicable about the exchange, I might bring some friends with tools, just to be sure you are more compliant. This will lead maybe to a feud, but that is how things go, or maybe not, that is how they used to go, now it is all in the courts, which rarely work for anyone.
In video games I would just kill you, take my shit and walk away, because neither of us are real, and we do not care about anything anyways. You can always start over, but what if you could not. What if once your character died that was it, you could not play that character again. Well you could have another character, but that means starting over with no stats and character build, and well you get the picture. Some people invest a lot in their character, and well, if they could not just reboot the character, well they might think twice about the consequences of their actions even in video games. There would have to be more diplomatic solutions to disputes, we might have to agree to terms, and see if we could talk it out, make a trade, that sort of thing. This is a dynamic that is lacking in video games. Get rid of the restart, the reload, and you might find games are automatically more realistic even with out all the immersion mods. Think about a game like Skyrim, if you put 20 hours into building your character through the first few levels and then get killed because you carelessly dispatched someone else, who you did not know personally, but they had connections to the thieves guild, well those assassins might just be more significant, especially if they acted like real assassins not just damage sponges. What if they poisoned your wine, or came for you while you were sleeping, that sort of thing. You see where this could be headed. A video game that had real consequence, especially one that was played online, and maybe that character you just killed thinking you were some type of bad ass had lots of friends, and they came after you, you might have to think twice about what you did. Maybe that is the same as real life. If you ran over my dog, and I sent my friends to your house late at night to kill your dog, and left his body on your doorstep for your children to see first thing in the morning while they were headed off to school, maybe you might think twice about hitting dogs just because it is a little less convenient for you to slow down a little.
If you break my TV, or I break your snow shovel or something like that, compensation is quite simple, buy a new snow shovel of equal or better value, and maybe compensate by offering to help shovel your step or something, or help install the TV, you get the picture. Simple clean and really not that hard to deal with. If you steal my stuff, and I know it, I should be able to go to your house, and demand it back, if you do not give me satisfaction, well I can just steal it back, and maybe some of your stuff as well for compensation. Yea I can go to the authorities, but unless they are particularly bored that evening, and you have all the paperwork done for them, they will be of no use. So maybe I go there, and attempt to take my shit back, and you are like no way, this is my shit, and we get into an argument. If it leads to violence, well that is a different thing. There are a bunch of other things I can do, but the truth is, if I suspect you are going to be less than amicable about the exchange, I might bring some friends with tools, just to be sure you are more compliant. This will lead maybe to a feud, but that is how things go, or maybe not, that is how they used to go, now it is all in the courts, which rarely work for anyone.
In video games I would just kill you, take my shit and walk away, because neither of us are real, and we do not care about anything anyways. You can always start over, but what if you could not. What if once your character died that was it, you could not play that character again. Well you could have another character, but that means starting over with no stats and character build, and well you get the picture. Some people invest a lot in their character, and well, if they could not just reboot the character, well they might think twice about the consequences of their actions even in video games. There would have to be more diplomatic solutions to disputes, we might have to agree to terms, and see if we could talk it out, make a trade, that sort of thing. This is a dynamic that is lacking in video games. Get rid of the restart, the reload, and you might find games are automatically more realistic even with out all the immersion mods. Think about a game like Skyrim, if you put 20 hours into building your character through the first few levels and then get killed because you carelessly dispatched someone else, who you did not know personally, but they had connections to the thieves guild, well those assassins might just be more significant, especially if they acted like real assassins not just damage sponges. What if they poisoned your wine, or came for you while you were sleeping, that sort of thing. You see where this could be headed. A video game that had real consequence, especially one that was played online, and maybe that character you just killed thinking you were some type of bad ass had lots of friends, and they came after you, you might have to think twice about what you did. Maybe that is the same as real life. If you ran over my dog, and I sent my friends to your house late at night to kill your dog, and left his body on your doorstep for your children to see first thing in the morning while they were headed off to school, maybe you might think twice about hitting dogs just because it is a little less convenient for you to slow down a little.
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