botan9386: On the new releases page there is currently "Resident Evil 3" next to "Nymphomaniac - Sex Addict", does it make sense to censor only one of these games?
It does not, in either case, when there is no sensible reason to do it, and what
could be such a reason? The invasion of a protectionist mindset, not for the protection of groups and individuals from media, violent, cozy but at heart very political or otherwise, adults being put into a position of children, they are getting told by
other adults what
they can and should consume, and which it is they are not based on the judgment of a set of individuals, who should not assume the roles of gatekeepers and censorship organs. This is the worst thing to do I am able to imagine, because these people are in no way legitimized to do it.
The rational rule and guiding question to inform it, should be: Is all of its content legal in the country it is sold? If it is not - even if it is in other countries, they should not care about and tolerate censorship for peoples living in mature societies, where adults are deemed to know what is and isn't appropriate on a personal level, without being dictated what it is - much less to block people from making legal purchases for content, they are otherwise entitled to buy for reason of age and being adult.
botan9386: Well, what if you were able to censor NSA through your account and I was able to censor RE3 through mine, is this good for the store?
In a sane world you could mod anything you don't like out of titles, or others in, but in the current environment removal or change of characters is a crime - because options are only good, if it is for one side, but not for others. This is the world guiding decisions, not to allow certain types of content in - perfectly acceptable before, from murder to group rape, to extreme perversions, yes - this is present in titles on GOG, while it is no longer tolerable now?
In a sane world people able to make such decisions should stop and think, what they are doing before they act, maybe out of fear to become victimized by groups in general opposed to this content, and they can wield their destructive raids relatively easy where on this planet they are, affecting directly GOG and their customers, if this was part of the change of heart.
In a sane world, such people would become unheard instead of listened to and acted upon their every demands, because this is all but good in consequence what they are doing in the name of children, the saddest excuse of them all or in the names of others, most of these have no
right to raise their voices for.
Yes, this is very much political, yes, this is very much also just about games and which ones are good and holy and entitled to be added to the halls of Good Old Games, and which are not any longer or only censored - if it must be and no other pretext or rule can be found to deny it. If this is how it is going to be, I sincerly hope GOG will finally budge, add the ignore function and adult filters, and let people rave and shout, they are not going to grow revenue and profits.
If someone reading this doesn't make the connection between destructive tendencies and people asking - but censorship is okay for one and not the other, as long as it suits your personal ideas and agenda and moral while others should get hidden and further marginalized and put out of sight - I would answer, no, either its
both or none at all, and if it isn't both
but one [kind of game/content], this is as wrong and should not be done, out of principle and the decency to respect the intellect of adult human beings, perfectly able to think and decide for themselves - particularly when options are offered to do so, no need to lecture and to force views on others by any means possible.
To summarize: Be consistent, in the decision making, give us options to filter all titles and don't ever allow censored or altered games on your store at all, because you are withholding content from paying customers.
DO the Good thing, instead, GOG! Provide a flow of games and content of all kinds, and in the quantity you are able to handle them, and see this as your only duty. Leave the patronicization and infantilization to activits, and politicians, but don't participate in it yourself - otherwise, one day soon, there will not be much left for review and add or preserve.
Thanks for reading and not deleting this, as it might be politically charged which is inevitable and ironic, when it is really about games and censorship, or allowance and denial of games, dicated by current day politics, while it is about games on GOG and prevention of doing damage to an otherwise open-minded store and bastion of DRM-freeness and preservation.
Censored and butchered titles are not worthy of preserving, other than as symbolic witnesses for dark times in which double-speak is commonplace. Times, Orwell would have been equally horrified to have to witness and live through, as may have been the case in his own.