RJ Ramblings (Patreon)

Oof, last week. Last week was rough. I probably was more angry during the last week than I've ever been in my life. 

I don't want to go into it too much, because it's pretty dark, but basically I found out that a family friend, my sister's best friend since she was a little girl, is actually a monster and did some really awful things. The kind of monster who goes to jail for a long time. So, I've been dealing with that, and worried about my sister, and trying to reconcile everything. It's been really hard, but things are starting to get back to normal now. 

Since we're on the topic of something somewhat serious today anyway, today will just be as serious post - because I've had a lot on my mind recently. The shooting in Buffalo really bothered me. They all bother me, but for this one, the killer streamed the attack onto Twitch and I happened to see a clip from it while I was scrolling through twitter, and it kinda messed me up, you know? It stuck there and I can't get it out. 

Just a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned on here that I was playing Far Cry 6. I actually stopped playing that game, because it was too graphic and violent for me. I had played all the previous Far Cry games, every single one of them, but something has shifted in my brain and I cannot handle seeing those images anymore. After seeing that clip from Buffalo, this is especially true. I can't play shooting games anymore. They feel like murder simulators to me. 

Now, I'm not going to say that video games cause people to become murderers. I don't think that at all. But I do think that if you consider your mind to be a sort of gauge, consuming violent images and playing violent games do push that gauge in a certain direction. And I think that game developers need to acknowledge that. 

Making a violent shooting game doesn't create violent shooters. But it could push a person in that direction. Call of Duty doesn't make you want to go shoot up a supermarket. But it does glorify guns and desensitizes you to seeing people get shot in the head. 

I know there are other takes on this, and I know that this is a sensitive issue. I don't really want to start an argument or anything, but that is what has been on my mind a lot these last couple of weeks. The responsibility a game dev has, not just to their players, but to society in general. 

Someone who wants less violence in the world should not be putting out violent content. 

When I started Come Home, one of the things that I tried to stick to was that all the characters in the game are overall good people. Sure, there are side characters like Terry or Mickey who are not good people, but all 20 love interests and especially the MC, I think are generally good people. The MC being a good person was very important to me. Just like any other violence in games, I think that adult game developers have a bit of a responsibility to put out content that pushes that mental gauge away from sexual violence, and not towards. I feel a responsibility to put good vibes and positivity into the world. To make games that introduce people to new ideas in a positive way. That's what Adrian, Ms. Welch, Mari's furry play, Bai, Tammy and Suzy's relationship - that's what all of that stuff is about really. Sort of introducing the concept of those ideas to people who might not be familiar to them in an open, positive way. 

I guess I'm gonna stop here. I could probably talk about the subject all day. And I know that some people are going to disagree and maybe get defensive about it. These are just my rambling thoughts. Love ya!