PAFTW

A follow-up on the previous post regarding Penny-Arcade and anti-game crusader Jack Thompson. Well, a group of GTA modders (how ironic) took up Jack at his word, and created and released a mod that matched what he wanted. Well..he welshed on his word...so the boys at PA gave 10k to the charity that would be chosen. Yeah. And for what those initials mean? Penny Arcade for the WIN. Forgive me, but that's a level of pwnage that I've never seen before.

But let me move the lens back a bit, and the whole idea that video games promote violence. They don't. All the numbers show that youth crime has been dropping over the last 10 years or so. Sure, there have been a number of high-profile cases, but quite frankly, a few incidents, however horrible, shouldn't be allowed to speak for the whole. I have my own opinions on those incidents, and I think that the fact that none have happened recently is a very important fact.

One thing that's usually overlooked by the knee-jerk attackers, is the value of community. If games were left to being singular non-social activities, that would be one thing. But in this day and age, they're not. They're more and more social activities. One with their own rules, and ways of habit. And if you don't follow the rules, you don't get rewarded. This is important and should not be overlooked. It teaches positive social behaviour. This is something that is NOT reflected in society at large.

Those that ignore the positive social connections inherent in gaming culture, quite frankly, are completly uninformed and have no place to say anything about it.