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johnschwarz's Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (PC)
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| [February 3, 2014 03:50:35 PM]
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This time playing was much different than the previous two sessions.
It was Monday in the game, and it's Monday in real life, so I decided to take this opportunity to role-play.
I approximated what I did in real life in the game.
CJ went to the grocery store, went to the gym, 'walked the dog', met with some friends, etc.
Like me the whole time CJ rode a bike. Granted I didn't steal my bike, but we still used the same mode of transportation and roughly took part in the same activities.
CJ had a few gang fights along the way and a couple of run-ins with the police, neither which I encountered, however I viewed these events as game-world side effects to the main goal - errands.
All of the immoral activities within the game were primarily unintentional.
As such they were almost a frustrating inconvenience rather than an immoral choice of action.
Within the framework of the game these moments are difficult to avoid.
When rolling down the street on a bike and quickly taking a corner it is easy to accidentally bump into a pedestrian.
Due to chance these pedestrians are sometimes cops or rival gang members, which usually ends in at least one death.
In real life I have more control and awareness so I avoid colliding with people, and would not murder someone.
Having the mechanics and controls work towards immoral acts I doubt was a designer's choice, rather my reckless playing.
The main point of this post is that I was allow to role-play myself in the situation of CJ.
I was attempting to put myself in the shoes of CJ. What if I was CJ and in his situation?
My mom just died and my neighborhood is messed up. I can't go on rampage missions every day.
Sometimes I need to take it slow and attend to the mundane. Even though I am trying to 'play it safe' and not start any trouble, I still wound up killing a few people.
I am not sure if this makes me empathize more with CJ's life as a representation of an underprivileged person.
I recognize CJ's world is one of fiction, loosely based in truth. I suppose if CJ, in real life, ran into a group of rival gang members on a BMX bike they would try to beat him up; likewise a police officer.
Seems like the consequences for the actions are realistic, but it being a game I don't consider them realistic because the world feels to far removed from reality.
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| [February 3, 2014 01:11:29 AM]
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Just spent a long time writing a post and I supposed my login timed out... ug.
I am going to paraphrase.
Within the moral framework of the game so far CJ has done no wrong. All of his actions are for the benefit of others. He kills crack dealers because they are selling crack to his neighbors and ruining the moral of his gang.
As a player I don't have a choice, so I must empathize with CJ while playing or probably put down the controller.
All of the people I kill on missions are killed for good reasons. They are bad people and I am doing a good by removing their presence. It is yet to be determined if I am replacing their presence with a more morally sound one, but maybe that's not the point - CJ is cleaning his neighborhood of crack, and even though some of the methods are violent, the good outweighs the bad and CJ is motivated by friendship and loyalty.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 3rd, 2014 at 01:13:09.
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| [January 27, 2014 04:56:57 PM]
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One of the early missions had CJ and his friend head out to cap the tags of a neighboring gang.
CJ recently returned from the East and is widely considered throughout his neighborhood an someone who deliberately left. He needs to regain his friends' trust. There are many motivators for this graffiti mission.
He slashes the graffiti for the greater good of his hood - the Grove Street gang will prove to not be push-overs and retain control of their space and their reputation. CJ will increase the trust of his friends, and they will think of him as less of a buster. Also he gains a needed $200. CJ's perspective of influence is not directed towards the whole of humanity or of the greater community, rather of his immediate community - the Grove Street gang. For the city graffiti is bad because it decreases property values by suggesting gang activity, and is considered an 'eyesore' to many. By tagging over the other gang's graffiti CJ is also promoting internal (city) violence and conflict, which is mostly an unproductive and negative thing. CJ is acting utilitarian to a limited perspective.
CJ wants his friends to trust him, so he does as they ask. Likewise if he asked them for a favor he would expect the same reaction. However these actions that he's asked to do are not ones that he would want to have done to him. CJ would not want one of his tags to be marked over, but he wants his friends to trust him and act on his word, so he does as they say. He's created a Kantian dilemma - he has to act a certain way to get his friends to act a certain way, but the actions he does is one he would not want to be done to him.
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johnschwarz's Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Monday 27 January, 2014
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