Bravo! This is a battle that has been going on for long. And people trying to silence aart, expressions or thoughts on the premise of "it hurts someone somewhere" are (maybe unwillingly) destroying a moral principle that created our civilization and allowed us to advance. It is time to stop them, not with weapons, but with words like the ones you wrote.
Arachnophobe here. I've been accused of teleporting when seeing a spider, I have such a strong reaction. Yet I play all your games, and many others that have spiders, giant and otherwise. Would an option to substitute a different monster be nice? Sure. Is it necessary? Nope. Would I be likely to go to the trouble of contacting a software developer and working out a patch to do so? Nope.
Re: the serial killer dilemma--There always have been, and always will be, bad things that happen. But a person is responsible for the inside of their own head. It is not the fault of the person that the bad thing happened--but how they decide to deal with it IS their responsibility. By making one's reactions the responsibility of others, one is essentially agreeing to being a victim even though there is no victimization happening, and acting as though one is not responsible for one's self. Does the person having the problem deserve sympathy? Yes. Do they deserve having their every negative reaction catered to? No.
Once again, great article. I am a Xennial and the current thinking around art and hurt feelings was the first face slap informing me that I was no longer young and "with it." It's truly a generational gap that seems at present unbridgeable. The principle of freedom of expression and the old adage "sticks and stones" is truly (and sadly) an old-timer's perspective. Being an educator, it is quite clear that "kids these days" have vastly differing ideals. It will be interesting to see where subsequent generations will take us.
Your best point was in saying you didn't have to remove your serial killer art. Letting the person know she was heard was enough. Sincere listening covers a multitude of grievance.
As a severe arachnophobe who has played every game you've made since about Exile 2 or thereabouts I hope the GIFTS continue doing their thing until the heat-death of the universe.
Art is hardly ever actually destroyed though, is it?
eg Advance Australia Fair (the national anthem) has several versions. The original version contains 'Australian sons, let us rejoice' and newer versions change this to 'Australians all, let us rejoice'. The original Advance Australia Fair still exists - the words are on Wikipedia! It's just not sung at schools and sporting events.
It's hard to believe this needs to be said. But it does.
Not that you need it, but you have earned a lot of my respect with this blog post, sir.
Bravo! This is a battle that has been going on for long. And people trying to silence aart, expressions or thoughts on the premise of "it hurts someone somewhere" are (maybe unwillingly) destroying a moral principle that created our civilization and allowed us to advance. It is time to stop them, not with weapons, but with words like the ones you wrote.
Arachnophobe here. I've been accused of teleporting when seeing a spider, I have such a strong reaction. Yet I play all your games, and many others that have spiders, giant and otherwise. Would an option to substitute a different monster be nice? Sure. Is it necessary? Nope. Would I be likely to go to the trouble of contacting a software developer and working out a patch to do so? Nope.
Re: the serial killer dilemma--There always have been, and always will be, bad things that happen. But a person is responsible for the inside of their own head. It is not the fault of the person that the bad thing happened--but how they decide to deal with it IS their responsibility. By making one's reactions the responsibility of others, one is essentially agreeing to being a victim even though there is no victimization happening, and acting as though one is not responsible for one's self. Does the person having the problem deserve sympathy? Yes. Do they deserve having their every negative reaction catered to? No.
Once again, great article. I am a Xennial and the current thinking around art and hurt feelings was the first face slap informing me that I was no longer young and "with it." It's truly a generational gap that seems at present unbridgeable. The principle of freedom of expression and the old adage "sticks and stones" is truly (and sadly) an old-timer's perspective. Being an educator, it is quite clear that "kids these days" have vastly differing ideals. It will be interesting to see where subsequent generations will take us.
Your best point was in saying you didn't have to remove your serial killer art. Letting the person know she was heard was enough. Sincere listening covers a multitude of grievance.
As a severe arachnophobe who has played every game you've made since about Exile 2 or thereabouts I hope the GIFTS continue doing their thing until the heat-death of the universe.
Art is hardly ever actually destroyed though, is it?
eg Advance Australia Fair (the national anthem) has several versions. The original version contains 'Australian sons, let us rejoice' and newer versions change this to 'Australians all, let us rejoice'. The original Advance Australia Fair still exists - the words are on Wikipedia! It's just not sung at schools and sporting events.