EVE General Discussion

As far as I can tell, where ethics plays a role in the game is in one's interactions with one's corp-mates. For the most part, this doesn't happen in space. It happens over comms. It has do do with decisions like whether to fulfill one's end of commitments (whether to fuel the POS, or to help in a POCO defense, whether to steal corp loot, or to fulfill one's end of a bargain, etc.).

The stuff about ninja-salvaging or blowing up other people's ships, that's just like any competitive sport or board-game. Or, better yet, it's like those engineering robot competitions: You put together a decent machine. They do as well. You try to get the tactical jump on them. Somebody loses their equipment. No biggie. There's no more ethics in that than in a table-tennis or Monopoly match (as someone just said above).

Eve is a great sociological simulation. It has allowed me to 'meet' people with thought-patterns and social norms that are vastly outside of my daily experience. I love seeing fifteen different flags in Alliance. It's amazing. The economic simulation aspect has helped me understand things about a free market I never would have otherwise realized. It has also helped me notice a few things about my own character strengths and weaknesses.

But I don't think it has had any impact on my conception of right and wrong at all.

Gee, that's too bad, perhaps expected, but a shame none the less. Maybe if you upgrade to the 35$ membership at "Something Awful" they will start to help you with your posting. Alternatively you could jump out of the fish tank and into the ocean.
Best of luck whatever you choose to do.

Your assumption that it is immoral for children to starve to death surprises me. 80 years or 8 months, we all go out the same way. There is some life and then something else, who are we to say which is more "good".

And yet here you are: CSM and all. Let us know how your new job with Médecins Sans Frontières turns out.

No, more seriously: none of us can possibly know how much any of us give to charity or do for others. So we should probably cut each other some slack, ya?



It's not really an assumption. Pretty much any moral doctrine worth the name views the gratuitous suffering of innocent sentient beings (esp. people) as a pretty bad thing. That's kind of what 'bad' means on many accounts. If this really does surprise you I'd recommend you take an intro to ethics class at your local college and think about it for a bit. Or just go travel some place where people are decent to one another. For real dude. It's worth it.



On the other hand, this last idea is one you should toss on the scrapheap. About half of the world's problems are caused by nut-jobs who think that this is all a dress-rehearsal for pie in the sky (with or without the 73 raisins). We could sure use your help sorting out the world's problems. I know you won't try too hard to help if you don't think that reality is really real.

My 2 cents' worth. And now I'm off to the slums of Calcutta on my broomstick...

A counter argument to your position is that the "worlds" suffering is caused by a system which allows people to consume based on potential future production. If estimates for future production are inflated then current consumption will outpace our ability to replace material. The result of this is starvation and death for some and incredible wealth and control for others.

gra·tu·i·tous
/grəˈt(y)o͞oitəs/
Adjective
Uncalled for; lacking good reason; unwarranted.

Your statement assumes that there is a universal sentience that has control over the fate of people, and that "good" is an absolute. There is nothing more "pie in the sky" than this.

If you think niceness and decency are more common when people are starving then perhaps you should travel to a place where people are hungry. For real dude, its worth it.

But they're enemies. Because it's a conflict zone and they are not blue.

I don't, but then again I don't get all preachy about how other people are immoral in a video game.

The "self-made" are far less than 1% smart guy.

Still points north. vOv

... hangs head in shame... but will somehow manage to still enjoy winters in the BVI's...