2 Forum Posts by "siegereaper"
At 11/18/13 11:58 AM, TomFulp wrote: Over the years, a number of highly offensive games and movies have been published on Newgrounds and despite the hatemail and being dropped by just about every ad company in existence, we held firm on a policy of anti-censorship. Today, however, I pulled a reversal on that policy and maybe it was a huge mistake or maybe it was the right thing to do, I'm sure there will be a variety of opinions on the matter.
It's not like we don't already slip on the censorship policy. We've removed racist and homophobic stuff (moreso than YouTube I would say) and we remove shovelware games built off common templates with zero passion.
This game, however, had a certain level of artfulness and craftsmanship to it. There was a visual and technical quality that revealed a serious level of effort and passion. It also had a political message I personally agree with; a statement on gun control and the problem of gun violence in the US. It attempted to demonstrate how things can play out differently with changes in our gun laws. It made you feel and it made you think.
It did so, however, in the context of the Sandy Hook massacre, recreating the event and putting you in the role of the shooter.
Newgrounds has faced harsh criticism in the past for standing firm on not censoring distasteful material, namely games about school shootings. All I can say is that this game took things to a new level in terms of the age of the victims and the realism of the terror they faced on that day.
I was personally contacted by Sandy Hook parents and they expressed their understanding of what the game was attempting to communicate, but also expressed the sadness and horror it made them feel, and their desire to have it removed. Today I'm choosing respect for the Sandy Hook parents over respect for NG's censorship policies.
Either decision on this matter puts a knot in my stomach. I'm of course interested in hearing thoughts on the matter, especially from artists on the site.
If I were to make that descision, I would've made a poll, because I'm on both sides. The Sandy Hook parents must feel miserable and horrified from the game seeing their children die, but then again I agree with the message the game sends and the game is pretty artistic and PiGPEN put a lot of effort in it. It's also the Internet, which means that there will be horrible stuff on it. However, I wanted to saythat it was your choice, not mine, and I completely respect your choice.
At 11/18/13 11:10 AM, Rome-forger wrote: Criminals are not fit to be parents. Children look to there parents as role models. If one or both of the parents are criminals then the child grows up to see crime as being cool or at lest alright to do. What should be no surprise these children grow up to be criminals as well.
If we sterilize these criminals and make it so that they can't have children then there crime spree will end with them and crime as a whole will drop.
Um, I was thinking maybe instead of sterilizing them, just put the children under government care and if the criminals are innocent or if they have changed, then they could get their children back. And if they commit another crime, their children should get sent away again.
