Eating Our Friends RG talked about this...

"Walt Disney's Jack Sparrow Anyone?"

~Time Lord~

 

The XXX is an example of something someone wanted and made a lot of the same kind of arguments of immersion, RP, freedom.. being ground breaking etc etc that are made to justify cannibalism. Strictly speaking it has nothing to do with this except to illustrate that it's ok to have lines you don't cross and indeed some lines shouldn't be crossed.

Honestly I can think of a few things far worse I could use as examples we would all know would NEVER be placed in-game but I prefer using an example that has come and gone that someone actually suggested.

To answer your own question.. some people would rather see the 50 Legolas AFK than be eaten by other players. Not everyone wants to be victim of cannibalism. But this is another "I want/don't want" argument.

Players need choices.. and one of the big challenges I see is the player's choice to pay ransom on body parts. With current thinking.. anyone with enough gold can prevent you from harvesting their body.. never mind using it for anything. Already you have the challenge of stagnant supply. Alternative? Harvesting NPCs perhaps?

Now to clarify my position a little bit. I'm less concerned about how the whole cannibalism thing effects the players who want it.. than I am about how it effects players who want nothing to do with it. Harvesting from NPCs negates a lot of that as you'd never have unwilling PC victims.. in theory you wouldn't with ransom either but again.. that causes supply problems. Unfortunately, you have to whole body part trophies issue which also plays a factor as it requires harvesting from PCs.

 

A note on Jack.. they never show him actually eat the toe. He only nibbled the toe nail. Still gross.. but ultimately the worst of it in that movie is implied. No one is shown engaging in the consumption of body parts. Nor is the audience required to participate in acting it out.

 

In Skyrim, Oblivion and I think Morrowind as well (AAA, widely-published games) Lycanthropy and Vampirism require feeding from corpses to maintain your condition. Getting caught in plain sight would immediately alert authorities and the crime cannot be paid off.

Most certainly cannibalism should be seen as taboo in the game, but don't leave out the feature altogether when the option itself allows players to challenge the virtues and learn what being "good" is. I mean, part of the definition of play is to push boundaries so that you understand where those boundaries lie.

Also, it's not a Richard Garriott game if there are no corpses that have been ritualistically drawn-&-quartered

 

Strictly speaking vampirism required drinking from a living person.

 

Without the living person's consent

 

Except that living person is an NPC rather than a PC.

One of the biggest problems I have in referring to ES is that it's a single player game. If the same were true here I'd have a lot less to complain about.

 

In our game of SotA, I am sure that whatever actual action or animation that the Avatar does in the act of eating will not include Blood nor gnawing on anything, so I see no real reason it would be offensive to any watching unless they do use their imagination.
~Time Lord~

 

It's the idea and act people find offensive. Gore factor is secondary.

 

Mom! "Bowen Bloodgood Says He Doesn't Like Mickey!
~Time Lord~

 

As a matter of fact.. I'm not overly found of him as a character. I find him about as amusing as well.. cannibalism. Come to think of it.. I'm not overly found of most Disney characters. lol Donald is ok. I suppose I'm more of a Looney Tunes guy myself..

 

Given your name........Prime Rib is on the menu.

It adds a little light hearted fun to the game particularly within the PvP community. If you find it offensive, don't read the thread.

 

On The Contrary Envy / Midian, "This Thread is For Everyone to Voice Their Opinion and as Loud and Proud as They Can, Because it Effects Everyone" !
If you find it offensive, don't read the thread. (quote) Envy / Midian

"Ok, Looney Toons it is Then!"
~Time Lord~

 

My aspirations may be a little ambitious for Episode 1 but I would really like to see this deeply addressed if implemented. I think that if you are caught doing terrible things like this + putting nuts in baked goods it really should be your Avatar's @#% unless you are powerful enough to deal with the consequences and then there will always be someone or something out there to take you to task. I think it should be possible just like I think ganking, stealing and barricading other people in their homes with water barrels should be possible. Do I want people to be griefed with that? No.

I appreciate a system where people don't do the wrong thing because they don't not because they can't. Some people don't want to give others the chance not to do wrong and that's them. It's painful sharing a world with fearful people sometimes. Remember when we thought everyone was a terrorist? Oh wait.

That being said, I am hoping to have to keep my experiments in the dark arts in the lowest level of the DiFumarate keep lest someone see the lengths I am really willing to go to in order to extract my elixir. I want to have to import all kinds of forbidden chemicals and pray that guards or other avatars never notice various herbs on my ledger. This whole thing goes beyond this "toxic behavior" some rail seem to rail against. I can only guess at what is being said. It isn't just about eating your avatar even though we make light of it.

 

People talk like without desecration of corpses and eating the dead they won't have the chance to be evil. How shallow must the game be I wonder if you're afraid you can't be evil without being able to eat your neighbor?

As far as "if you're offended don't read the thread" may as well say "just close your eyes and hope it'll go away while we make sure it gets into the game so you can be offended while you play". If there was something YOU didn't want.. wouldn't you make your case? Some of us are here saying "we don't want this" but we're not coming in here and saying "because we don't want it.. you should shut up and go away". That isn't how things work.

 

I just see it as harmless amusement that will really be restricted to the PvP community. It doesn't break the game, you don't have to take part in it if you don't want to.........once again I fail to see the argument.

 

I do hope that this thread is not seen as some sort of vote, "One way Or Another". I believe that it is however, a subject that may be not as world threatening as we may believe. RG & DS are having this argument and we may not be seeing the same thing as they are, yet if they have not found all the edges of the subject, we are searching them out as well here in this thread. I am certain that this is no issue that RG & DS would not have placed safe guards in place from grief.

"This is not like the issue of our house not having enough windows or the correct wall paper to meet our approval in value"
"It's about a game mechanism existing"

If the Walt Disney and Looney Toons can do it, "in a rated (G) cartoon", then why should this be considered a taboo for our game of (Toons) animated Characters and Avatars to the point of being "banned from being a part of the game"?

"Safe Guards Are the Easy Issues"
The really tough issue, is why not include it?
~Time Lord~

 

Those who find something offensive rarely consider it harmless. It's one of those things you'll have to agree to disagree. May as well debate politics. It would be just as productive.

This is an issue directly tied to PvP. PvP being something the devs want everyone to be able to try out. There will be mechanisms in place to encourage everyone to try out and like it or not what happens in PvP reverberates throughout the game.

On top of all this people want to expand into areas like crafting and magic from décor to alchemy. All with the expectation that it won't effect anyone who doesn't want to be effected by it? Being able to sell "special meat" on vendors? Just how is it does one expect to accomplish all this without getting others involved?

The more features/uses you add the more deeply intertwined everything becomes. You'd be creating a demand in the economy for which you then need a supply. Restricted to the PvP community?

So is the idea that if you want to avoid contact with cannibalism you have to avoid PvP entirely? That's a pretty big chunk of the game outside the story isn't it?

So what if I want to play a necromancer who isn't involved in PvP? Should an entire school of magic be PvP only? So if I train up in death magic I'm permanently flagged for PvP or else the skill is useless? I have to be flagged for PvP to craft with body parts or use them in alchemy? Do I also have to be flagged for PvP to look at what your vendor has for sale?

All stuff you guys need to work out if players are going to have the option to opt out of all things cannibal.