@Sunjammer said:

@ShaggE: Seems like I struck a nerve there. Defensive much?

But sure, I'll examine myself. I'm not perfectly rational about this shit as much as anyone. TBH I've probably tried to put words to something I can't properly articulate, so I'll moderate myself and try again:

Watching Vinny smash a random bystander's face in a car door is one thing, doing it myself is another. I find it physically uncomfortable to do that kind of shit. Is it funny to watch? Yep. Because it's fucking outlandish to me. It's dark humor on a level I can't personally execute. In the same way, since I started getting the feeling that Far Cry 3 has it "in" for animals, to be honest, I found it sort of darkly funny. My girlfriend asks what I'm playing and I answer it's an animal genocide simulator.

The argument that bothers me here, really, is the notion that hey guy, you kill people in games all the time, why does killing animals bug you so much, and I can't help but feel that animals are not even remotely in the same category. Perhaps I've simply become indoctrinated to think human beings are okay to maim because they're "us". It's like making racist jokes that concern your own race. It's okay then.

In the same breath, I felt physically ill in Splinter Cell Conviction when the game asked me to smack Grim around in that cutscene. I don't like the idea of punching a girl. Fallout 2, in Europe, didn't have kids in it. When I later heard the US version did, and had a "child killer" set of responses, my stomach churned a bit. In my broken little mind, kids and women are "not me", so it's not okay or funny to make violent, murderous jokes about them. I'm just not dude enough for that shit.

It does boil down to personal morality then. I apologize if I personally insulted you, that was stupidly defensive of me when I had my rhetoric challenged.

Maybe the question, in the end, is where player choice intersects the requirements of the gameplay. For instance, perhaps Far Cry 3 only really bugs me because it specifically asks me to kill animals I don't feel I should have to kill. You can't flip the coin any more ways than this; The crafting system in FC3 is pretty dumb. Can't sell shit because your wallet isn't big enough for the cash, guess it's time to run over some bull sharks in a speedboat! Gotta git that wallet upgrade!

So maybe it's the crafting system requiring me to do things that seem callous is what really bugs me. As for the hilarious killing of innocent bystanders, I'll leave that joke for you to enjoy.

But killing that turtle is going to stick with me for a while. Whoof.

you seem pretty judgement... are you religious?

@Bell_End: you seem pretty judgmental.

I am pretty sure you could make something useful out of human remains but that does not seem to be an option in this game lol

It's pretty funny that you can have issues with the morality of killing innocents and be dubbed a religious person.

I have laid waste to all living beings in my path.

Leave no orphans, must kill entire families.

@Sunjammer: Not defensive, just my snark meter going off the charts. I admit, I took serious umbrage to what I originally responded to, but I was just having fun with it after that. Didn't really help my case in hindsight, so I apologize for that.

I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding going on here. I don't do what I do in games because "oh ho ho, look at him bleed! Comedic gold!", unless the circumstances are ridiculous in the first place. I do it because it's almost therapeutic. I actually was fairly violent as a kid/teen, enough so that professional help was mandated, and violent media became my outlet. The virtual bystanders in games don't fight back, see, so I could free my mind, not worry about winning/losing, and get my rage out without destroying my life, and possibly others should things go too far. I've not harmed so much as a fly in 10 years since, and any desire to is gone after a little time using the citizens of *insert game location here* as pinatas.

As for Far Cry 3, I actually do see where you're coming from. Before I embraced the silliness of it all (hunting tapirs with grenades and rockets is hard to take seriously), I was actually a little put off by the skinning. It felt like the animators and artists put a little too much loving detail into those wads of flesh. Thankfully, the premise of a rich frat boy getting a tribal tattoo and becoming Rambo does a lot to offset the more grotesque imagery.

@ShaggE: I'll just take back what I said about what I thought doing something in a game meant for your soul. Haha. It's pretty ridiculous to look back at.

It's cool to discuss this stuff. Probably the first time I've ever spent real time thinking about it rather than just reacting to it.

@Sunjammer said:

@ShaggE: I'll just take back what I said about what I thought doing something in a game meant for your soul. Haha. It's pretty ridiculous to look back at.

It's cool to discuss this stuff. Probably the first time I've ever spent real time thinking about it rather than just reacting to it.

Hey, no worries, duder. Now, I *do* eat babies, but I fully accept that it's wrong. :P

I'd rather have it like this or in Skyrim where if you do kill animals in the game there's some level of compensation (either general loot with Skyrim or just skins in Far Cry3). At least if nothing else I can sell the stuff for more ammo unlike the previous Far Cry game where the animals were interesting to look at but useless in the game (and a waste of ammo when you decided to take them out).

You would almost have a point if this weren't just like every RPG ever made. You know, where you go around killing enemies (often random animals) for experience points, money, or whatever odd item they have shoved up in their innards. The only difference here is that these are based on real world animals. I'm looking at my shelf and there are at least a dozen games there that have wildlife to kill, and zero reason to get up in arms about it. The game gives you some pretty straight forward options to lessen the amount of animals you need to kill and skin (if you choose to do that at all), and once you have the upgrades there is no actual reason (other than self defense) to ever bother with it again.

I'm honestly not seeing the issue here, do you feel bad for Rakks, Skags, or Mudcrabs? Those are wildlife in their respective worlds too, lets not forget Skyrim's demand that you slaughter every dragon you come across (an endangered species) just so you can eat its soul and steal its bones.

If anyone wants some gameplay footage, here's the first mission on ultra settings! :)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TaxydFGt8Y

@Sunjammer said:

I shot a galapagos turtle in the face[...]

@GunstarRed said:

I went out of my way to snipe a Manta Ray.

These two comments really sold me on the hunting in this game, maybe that makes me a terrible human being....I don't know.

Sure killing rare and endangered animals is something that I would feel bad about if it were actually real. In the context of the game however, maybe it's a bit more acceptable.

You aren't some trophy hunter or poacher, you are a dude stranded on an island with little resources other than what you can gather from the environment. If I the difference between life and death is a couple extra bullets, well then shit, it's basically me or that deer.

Not so sure about the turtle though...

@Funkydupe said:

In this game you can truly learn to appreciate the beauty of nature... before you slaughter everyone and everything, burn the forests and otherwise turn it all to endless piles of death, ashes and goo.

The American dream. :D

I shoot anything that moves. Just wish you could use your gun in the village.

Murder them all and make bags of their skin you say? This sounds like a job for Ryan "face and neck" Davis

I felt bad killing a tiger today :( So beautiful, and now he's a fucking bag or something.. FYI he did not attack me, shot that dude to the face with my bow.

I don't care about what I kill in video games. I really don't care.

Starring DSP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL_QtSMEGimbxZ03QiwCiHrbAFkZvdNoTB&feature=player_detailpage&v=XevV1GN1RVk#t=281s

It is early in the game. The moment starting at 4:40 is a defining moment of his playthrough I'm sure.

I like the hunting so far but I've had a hell of a time finding any boars. Like, I'm still on the default ammo capacity because all of the boars have fucked off to live on their own Boar Island or something like that.

@Sploder said:

I SET A BEAR ON FIRE AND IT CHARGED ME AND I WAS ON FIRE THEN EVERYTHING WAS FIRE

Back of the box quote for Far Cry 3. 10/10.

I kinda like it, its a neat little diversion. Also lots of people were saying that its odd he still is grossed out every time, i dont think so as someone whos gutted a few deer its really no picnic.