As Dr. Stewart says “the debate about the short and long-term psychological effects of video game violence on players’ aggression levels is long-standing ongoing debate, and no closer to a resolution than when it began.” I believe that the effects vary on the individual level. It is very possible that people who are already aggressive, naturally gravitate towards aggressive video games. Most of the things I do in video games, I would not dream of doing in real life. The reason for this is because video games are simply not real. They are a virtual reality, and an escape from your lived reality. Most of the video games I have played over my lifetime involve violence, which is something I do not condone in real life. However, it can be fun in the right context; especially when you win and advance in the game.
In the context of GW2, I did not enjoy using violence because it mostly ended in my opponent dying. At the beginning of the game I had to kill many animals such as spiders for no reason other than they were a nuisance for the residents of that particular dwelling. I definitely did not enjoy fighting the centaurs, but it was do or die. If you did not kill them, they would kill you and you would not advance in the game. However, they had every right to be angry as my character’s species had taken their land from them. If I am fighting someone “bad” in a game it is easier to justify it, but in real life I do not think I have the right to serve justice through the form of violence.
Additionally, there was a part of the game where I broke into a man’s home because I believed he committed treason. That is not something I would do in real life nor would I participate in the trial by combat that ensued as it is not a legitimate form of justice. For the most part it does not matter to me what I do in video games, but I do believe we have to draw the line somewhere. This prompt made me think of the discussion we had in class surrounding dolls that you could rape. I would not commit such an act in a video game, much less in real life. I think your intentions play an important role in the acts that you commit. The criminal justice system agrees, which is why we have the mens rea aspect of crimes.