Should the developers and publishers be responsibilized by the effect of their games on the players?

I think people should blame themselves if they are allowing a piece of media to dictate their emotions to any significant/detrimental degree. They should also blame themselves for being bad at games rather than blaming controls or whatever, but that's a separate issue.

Do you really want "Trigger Warning" plastered all over everything for every little thing that could possibly upset someone?

ugh

If publishers are liable then the Beatles are as well for helter skelter

That is a possibility.

But I feel that the best action for now is more in the lines of what @ripelivejam said. The game companies should feel responsible, and the players should be watchful.

Uh.. no. This "trigger warning!" society is fucking stupid.

It is:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/responsibilized

With the release of the second episode they put a bunch of suicide hotline / advice contact details on their website, so they're obviously aware that the story content could be a trigger.

Here: http://lifeisstrange.com/talk/

"Warning! Game may cause you to think. And we think that might be bad. ERROR!"

I don't think you can have any sort of meaningful artistic expression without potentially touching on incredibly dark and disturbing subjects. Creators should feel a huge responsibility to address these subjects with tact, intelligence and good grace and not simply exploit them because they can. But the fine line between exploitation and a drastic exploration of fucked-up themes is so subjective that finding it has to be the responsibility of the creator and not the recipients. The latter simply have to assess what they want to engage with and what they can handle.

A modern, media savy human has to be able to cope with footage of death camps, decapitations, sexual assaults, murders, suicides and so much more. Not to speak of atrocities you'll eventually personally witness most likely. I know I have and it doesn't even compare to the (admittedly shocking) first exposure via media. As for your personal situation: I can't advise anything on so little information but I'm not a huge fan of "white lies", especially not when they can be exposed by a quick google search anyway.

Heavens to Betsy No.

No you should be responsible for what media you consume.

Developers shouldn't feel any responsibility for how people react to their content. The same goes for musicians, artists, etc. Humans can interpret media and art in very bizarre and often illogical ways, even things that you wouldn't consider normally offensive could set somebody off. People need to take responsibility for their own feelings, and not lash out at others or cast blame when they react badly to something. This is an integral part of being an adult.

You can't complain about getting your feelings hurt when games usually come with age ratings that explicitly tell you whether or not the game deals with certain subjects that might offend you.

No. Games are not different than any other media.

There's nothing wrong with a game generally outlining what's covered in it content-wise. The ESRB already does a fair amount of that. Adding "Suicide" to the list of "Drug References/Cartoon Violence/Whatever isn't much of a stretch. But after that, an artist should feel no responsibility to how their work affects a viewer.

The second the artist hesitates in their expression based on the values or reactions of someone else, is the second that art is destroyed.

Also, if you think your cousin is that on the edge, you might consider not straight up lying to her. That kind of betrayal from a family member can be much more disheartening than any depiction of anything in a work of fiction.

@jeust: Nope, not a word.

@belegorm: It's definitely not a common word, but there are ~3000 hits for it on Google, so some people are using it.

God those "Trigger warnings are bad" comments are disgusting. Don't take me wrong: I think it's more complicated than just adding them everywhere and I personnaly don't want them.

But really, have you no freaking empathy? I have friends that are rape victims and two people commited suicide in my family. The last thing you want is to have memories like these comes back to you when you try to have a nice time with a videogame.

I don't think trigger warnings are necesseraly the solution, but acting like you're a piece of shit for wanting them is so short-sighted and disgusting.

To answer the main question: it's hard to go for a black and white answer here. I think developpers should have the right to put whatever they want in their games, but they do have the responsibility to do the best they can. Obviously, the value of a shocking scene is in the eye of the beholder, so it's impossible for me to answer clearly. I do value criticisism on how games handle these subjects, as they helps think about how to tackle them with intelligence.

@teaoverlord: I see over 7k results on google, now this word is more than twice as legitimate!

Seriously though, if you're in school try using it on any paper and see how that goes. Is responsibilized (which btw brings up spellcheck in my browser), using a actual structure for common English words? Totally. That said, not every common structure in English is used on every word. Similar to how we don't say "mouses," we say "mice." Also try saying "responsibilized" out loud... you quickly want to find a better, less tongue-twistery word. Which is probably why it hasn't come into usage as an English word, and isn't in Webster or Oxford.

I agree with you, but she wouldn't google it. I believe we should protect a person when he/she is too sentitive to deal with an idea with relative ease, if possible, until the person is healthy enough to face it in a way that works to her advantage.

No

@belegorm: I agree it's not standard English and I probably wouldn't use it, but that's different from not being a word.

Google recognizes it as a proper word.

And besides, this is a side discussion, it's not the focus of the thread. You understand what I want to express with that word, so if it is or not an official english word is not the point of the topic created.

WARNING

PRODUCT CONTAINS ART

ART HAS BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE CATHARSIS, COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND ABSTRACT CONTEMPLATION

USE AT OWN RISK

No, and it's refreshing to see most people would agree. Personal accountability for media consumption is incredibly important in this or any related scenario, or it could set a dangerous precedent of misplaced liability otherwise.

No, we need to get away from this constant sense of intellectual siege and emotional distress so many people eagerly display when confronting the messy nature of the world.

You're responsible for yourself. If you start to dislike something, either persevere or stop doing it. Simple. Feeling emotionally upset almost never does any actual damage to you.

No, people should be held accountable for their own actions, and not pass the buck to videogames or any other media.

The problem is media & art are often interpreted in ways its creators didn't expect or predict. If creators were responsible for everything caused by their works, the creators of the Bible, the Koran, and... just about any holy text, really, would be burning in hell.

@burgavo: I think the OP means something else. Not like "Kid plays GTA then beats up other kid and calls him racist slur" but rather "This game made me feel depressed after finishing it because of what happened".

Some people might have negative reactions to a scene in a game, or a movie, or a book or a show. But it's easy to get that information. Every game that comes out gets a rating and a host of reviews. If there's sexual elements (like say a rape scene) in a game (book/movie/etc) that might make people uncomfortable, then it's easy to find out. It's usually in the rating on the box/store page or mentioned in a review.

I liken it to comedians. If you go to see a comedian but there are topics that you hate comedians joking about, it's up to you to find out if that comedian is going to joke about them or not.

I was glad to see that huge green bar when I clicked submit with my "No" vote. I'm not going to say "people need to get a thicker skin" or "stop being so sensitive" or anything like that. What I will say is, people that have hot-button issues that for whatever reason affect them in a stronger way than is normal should know that the universe owes them nothing, and it absolutely shouldn't and won't bend over backwards because of their unusual sensibilities. I mean if it wasn't that way, you literally couldn't discuss or create anything because somebody, somewhere will get upset.

I think if something upsets someone that much that a piece of fiction or a casual discussion can "trigger" them (god I hate that word now), the onus is on them to get help with THEIR issue, work through it and reach a place where those feelings are able to be dealt with internally or openly and calmly discussed without making those around them tread on eggshells or censor themselves. Not many people ask me about the scars on my wrist, but those that do get a laugh and me saying something like "I was a bit of an idiot when I was 14 - yes, even more so than now believe it or not!" and I'll reassure them I don't mind them asking and talk about it if they want to know more but let's be honest, teenage depression is a bit of a boring topic of conversation.

OP: Don't fucking treat your depressed cousin like a child by lying to them, especially such a dumb lie that will insult their intelligence when it's inevitably found out. Nobody, regardless of their state of mind, appreciates that.

No.

Just with every other piece of art/literature/etc. people should be responsible for themselves. If we start going down this road, eventually everything will be censored and no one in their right minds should want that.

If you really feel your cousin could become unhinged because of this game, tell her not to play it and probably explain to her why you feel she shouldn't.

Fuck no, there is a thing called personal responsibility. For fuck sake, when did that fucking die?

@fear_the_booboo said:

Yep. Stuff like that just makes me not want to participate in the discussion.

@conmulligan Thank you for the support, really. That nobody even tried to answer me just show how most don't care about how other can feel and just want to say anything they want.

@krullban What a childish answer. You don't know how people can react to something, you have no idea what they lived before, why would you say that to anybody.

Responsibilized is a pretty great word.

What? No.

Unless it can be misconstrued as vaguely sexist. I don't understand why, but that seems to be the rule.

I wouldn't chide people mocking "Trigger Warning" because, at the end of the day, there are a lot of entitled little shits running around thinking that because something can make them feel bad, it "triggers" them. However that's not what a Trigger Warning is for. A Trigger Warning is there for people suffering with PTSD due to whatever trauma they've experienced. It's most often seen in victims of sexual assault and war veterans. Essentially, it's a viewer's discretion guide for people who don't want flashbacks, essentially. I have an uncle who served in Vietnam, and he was triggered by camouflage in a Wal-Mart. It was some really scary shit and I don't wish that kind of thing on anybody.

Should games or art in general carry trigger warnings? Probably not. The responsibility for dealing with your bullshit is on you, nobody else. Society doesn't move or adjust itself for your comfort. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can protect yourself against situations like I described above.

It's up to the consumer to avoid things. But I totally get what you mean. For as much good the added perspective a game or other media can grant, it's very possible not everyone is ready for it. And there is no way to know until it's too late.

I think, as someone who has recognized her state and the message the game brings, it might be up to you to be there to talk about it. Don't neccessarily hide the message, but be ready to help her deal with it. It's more managable if one of you is ready rather than waiting for a freak occurence later in life right?

I have no idea why people are against letting people know what type of content they're going to be viewing beforehand. It just helps people make decisions about whether or not they want to view the content or not.

Yes, lets shelter the world. Just tell your cousin that some harsh shit might come up in the game.

@jesus_phish: Oh, okay. I would still say no though.

I get people might not want to be confronted by certain things in their chosen form of entertainment, and then it might pay to actually inform yourself before hand, but if creators have to starrt self censoring their creativity to avoid anything that might be considered offensive or uncomfortable to someone, pretty soon nothing will be allowed.

If for instance a rape scene in a movie or game makes you uncomfortable, chances are that's what the makers intended. I agree there is something to be said for it being done in good taste versus it being done for pure shock value, but even then that's the creators prerogative, just like it is the consumers right to either purchase or not purchase said game or movie. If you don't like what they made vote with your wallet. Short from actual murder or injury, or going out of their way to insult or belittle people (and even this is a slippery slope) artist should be able to realise their vision without the risk of repraisal, legal or otherwise.

Most of the "big publisher AAA marquee titles" that come out these days are allready the most focusgrouped to death, least risky, bland and homogenised pieces of crap ever. Do we really want every thing else to turn into this as well?

We (or at least probably most of us) live in a free society and with that freedom comes the chance to be confronted with ugly nasty dirty things that you might not want to see or know about, it's the price you pay.

Ok i'll shut up now

You didn't ask a question to be answered. You just called a bunch of people disgusting and questioned their capacity for empathy based on some idle sentences.

It's a very destructive precedent to act under when you start judging folks whole cloth for dismissing ideas, especially ones that you yourself find specious.

Actually, there are many resources that already exist that can expose general content of a given game to a perspective player. Aside from reading reviews and looking at other media coverage, (as I said above) the ESRB has always listed things that a player (or their parents) may want to avoid.

For Life is Strange episode 1, they list:

Violence, Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs

and they have many more content descriptors that can be found here, if you're interested. For the folks decrying "trigger warnings" applied to games, it's just not really a discussion since it's been happening for years already.

Good news!

@fear_the_booboo: Trigger warning: I'm going to disagree with you

The second the responsibility of fixing or indulging somebody else's brokenness gets forced upon those around them is the second any sort of expression or individualism fails. Everybody has issues, and there's a pretty thick line between being sensitive to those issues and being held hostage by them that a whole lot of forum support crusades love to leapfrog over. You also seem to want to imply that anybody who disagrees doesn't have real problems. I can assure you that's not the case, it's just a matter of taking responsibility for oneself. Or maybe instead of the point counter for kills in every CoD we should include a trigger warning for anybody who's ever had anybody in their life die.

I really hoped "Lol that's not a word" would be an option and was the only reason I clicked on it. I will now take my leave.

No, treat her like a goddamn adult and tell her that the game has darker themes.

@skeletron@joshwent Sorry, I was quite angry and you're right. My point being that I feel that it is a lack of empathy to assume like some seem to do that trigger warning are just there because some people need a thicker skin. I still stand by it, and again I'm not "pro" trigger warning or anything, I just feel many people do not acknowledge the reason why trigger warning are asked by some in the first place.

Anyway, jumped the gun too fast and you put me back in place.