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August 29, 2005
Topic for Discussion - Moral Responsibility of Developers?
"Given [our] power to influence, we need to look at the issue of an artist's social responsibility. I believe we have no responsibility to cure social ills or renew faith in humanity, to uplift the spirits of society or even express our inner being. We have only one responsibility: to tell the truth."
-- Robert McKee, Story
The above quote was originally talking about screenwriting, but it could be applied to any creative medium, including games. "Truth" here doesn't mean that everything must be factual (it certainly isn't in most of the stuff that comes from Hollywood). Rather, it means that whatever the work is saying about the world or humanity, whatever fundamental truth of life the artist is trying to convey to the audience, that this meaning is true in the opinion of the author.
To the extent that games teach the player skills and (to a lesser extent) morality -- whether the developer means it to or not -- would you agree or disagree with McKee's quote above, and why?
Posted by IanSchreiber at August 29, 2005 12:35 PM | Discuss this post on our forums
Comments
I assume that McKee said that in order to keep the author accountable. If that would be the reasoning, then I disagree. Ever heard of playing Devil's Advocate? My dad always "debated" in this matter. He will argue the exact opposite of the discussion, only to agree with you when it is all said and done. I'm sure authors have used this method in movie scripts and novels. The same could be said for computer games. Rockstar Games is more than likely an example of that. To play a game that leads to being a kingpin in crime, I'm sure the developers aren't saying, "Now that we taught you how to do it, take a shot. This is the only way". Alot of games I play, I wouldn't do in real life, even if I had Bill Gates' money. I'm sure Rockstar Games wouldn't want me to do that either. However, in a computer game scenerio, I can harmlessly pretend. Entertainment doesn't always have to resemble truth, but it has to be entertaining.
Posted by: Stanzabar at August 29, 2005 08:41 PM