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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 5575700" data-attributes="member: 2303">Agree with this. It is not that violent games fosters violence; it is that people who are attracted to violence like it in games as well as in the real world, while people who abhor violence shy away from it in games as well as in the real world. This means there is a connection between how violent people are and how much they like violence in games. But there is NO causality; it is not gaming that makes us violent. And for most people, who neither abhor nor particularly enjoy violence, there is no connection at all. A person can like or dislike violent games and it doesn't indicate anything about their violent tendencies.What games do is that they provide a healthy and harmless channel for violent impulses; instead of going out on the town to harass little old ladies, you enter a dungeon and kill orcs. We all have violent impulses, especially during puberty. Most cultures have ritualized ways of channeling this violence in positive ways (aka sports). RPGs is a way for us nerds to do the same.A major reason to play fantasy RPGs over historical ones is that you can depict bigotry, hatred, and whole species being evil (like orcs in some worlds) without referring to real-world conflicts. We can deal with these issues in a detached way that does not build prejudice against anyone in the real world. And by bringing these subjects up in a detached way, there is a chance for us to examine the behavior of our characters and the mores of the game world in a detached, neutral way. This can allow us to see and understand unpleasant parts of our own culture and of human nature in new ways. Only this should not be overdone - RPGs are entertainment, not proselytizing or moral education.</blockquote>

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