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Message: <blockquote data-quote="roguerouge" data-source="post: 4054327" data-attributes="member: 13855">In answer to several arguments above...Do you believe that your identity is at least partly determined by your thoughts, emotions, desires, fears and fantasies? Or do you believe that crafting a fantasy ceases to be outside the "real world" the moment that you perform it in front of others? If so, then you agree with me that your imaginings in game both reflect ONE aspect of you and shape you in complex and small ways over (a great deal of) time, as well as those with whom you interact. These changes become non-trivial with extreme subject matter, such as that posted by the OP, and through the build-up over time of a great many of these imaginings.And, as my girlfriend, krissbeth, pointed out, they do use role-playing quite frequently in therapy.So, yes, I think your pleasures are political and reveal something about you. I think that's an entirely obvious and non-shocking stance to take. First, what's "entertaining" or "enjoyable" varies widely over time and culture. For example, Seinfeld doesn't translate well to the Australian outback or to Egyptian television because it depends on very specific cultural mores. Second, I think that any look at the last 40 years in America would acknowledge that the inherent politics of pleasure became more overt, in the areas of gender, sexual identity, and repression, for example. Heck, Victorians regarded pleasure as political.  I agree with people who argue that embracing pleasures considered "wrong" can be liberating or cathartic, although I may disagree with them in individual cases. But, no, I don't understand people who argue that publicly shared thoughts, emotions, desires, fears and fantasies neither reveal anything about them nor shape themselves or their audiences in the slightest way. So, yes, I think that the fact that you enjoy watching cricket reveals something about you as a person. Obviously, something in the game's culture or rules appeals to you--perhaps something about the virtues of teamwork, patience, individual excellence; or an appreciation for grace under pressure; or nostalgia for British empire, whatever. Your pleasure in it reveals something about you. I'm not making a literalist argument, however. I teach classes on horror, and the appeal of facing death in that genre is a complex one (and just one of the pleasures). I'm not going into that in depth here, mainly because I don't need to. The case put forward by Alzrius, however, is not similarly complex to my mind. And, for the record, I never stated that I believed that all fantasizing about evil will cause you to mimic the events that you fantasized about. That's simplistic and you should be suspicious of someone trying to sell you that snake oil. In some cases, such as those outlined above, one real world impact would be a decline in empathy, which has a ripple effect in your life and those lives you come in contact with. Which was why I would either leave a game that required me to "enjoy" sexual slavery or recommend therapy. I would regard it as a sign that they lived a life that was both damaged and damaging.Finally, Elf Witch asked about looting and related her own dislike for real world examples of it. Well, talk to your DM about setting up a campaign in which he doesn't force your character to loot to survive as they level up. It's an easy hack, frankly, with the addition of a sponsor or sponsoring organization to your campaign. Alternatively, other kinds of narrative provide for ways to make survivalist behavior perfectly justified. Perhaps you'll make an enjoyable activity even more enjoyable without having to take a step to justify these actions. You may grow even more close with your characters. The same goes for the violence argument: either the narrative should justify it and you should have ways to resolve some events nonviolently.</blockquote>

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