In video games there are politics just like there are in the real world. Anyone that’s played an online video game long enough will find that the politics in games is almost as bad if not worse than that of the real world. MMORPG’s are the worst in my opinion but there are other games that have them just as bad.

We’ve been in multiple guilds and clans through out our gaming history. We find people from all walks of life and enjoy the company of others. After a while though you tend to start to see events form that lead to friction among others. Leaders clash with members, member clash with one another and so on. After running our own guild for about a year we realized how hard it is to deal with so many people.

I think one of the best experiences of my gaming life was running my own clan. Having to deal with everyone on a personal basis every day can get quite tiresome. While I enjoyed it very much, there was a lot of burden that came with it too. The politics of who’s better than whom and what’s happening in the game really start to weight down on leaders.

Almost everyone can relate to feeling as if there are small groups inside of a clan. Certain people hang out and get along better than others. I find that taking everything with a light heart and just remembering to enjoy the game is the best way to deal with all gaming politics. When you stop caring about the needless drama and just focus on having fun in game you will really start to remember why you started playing.

With the release of GTA IV, lawmakers are working hard to stamp out parental-gaming rights. Here’s another column addressing pending video game legislation and I encourage everyone to comment.

As you can probably tell by my blog, I am a gaming parent who believes in freedom of choice, as well as personal, and parental responsibility. And as the gaming industry grows, we will likely see more lawmakers create feel-good legislation that essentially stamps out our parental rights.

It is the parents’ job to screen gaming content for our children – NOT the government.

Therefore, it is in my not-so-humble opinion that gamers, especially parental gamers, take the time to voice their opinions, so that they do not lose the right to purchase, and play, the games that adult gamers enjoy the most. 

- Mommy DX

Many people who actively stay informed on gaming industry news will know that store employees are usually first to surface a new rumor. Although Game Rant can confirm the rumor that Target will be pulling Manhunt 2 from their stores.

Manhunt 2 has a mature rating which Target actively carries. Although it had originally had an ‘AO’ rating its rating had been reversed. To read more in depth simply type in Manhunt 2 in our search bar or go to the ‘Gaming Politics’ category located in our sidebar.

Here is the official story: “Target strives to provide merchandise that will appeal to a wide variety of guests. We also want guests to be comfortable with the purchasing decisions they make at Target. All video games and computer software sold at Target currently carry ratings by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)–from early childhood through mature audiences. While Manhunt 2 was given a Mature rating by the ERSB, we received additional information that players can potentially view previously filtered content by altering the game code. As a result, we have decided not to carry the game.”

Game Rant is primarily focused around gaming industry politics and would like confirm the rumor. Return to Game Rant for more information on this Manhunt 2 ‘hoopla’ and more.

If you have already read our article about the Manhunt 2 controversy you may be pleased to hear that the ESRB will uphold the current ‘M’ rating on Manhunt 2.

Yesterday, Take-Two confirmed that with a hacked PlayStation Portable you could return the game to its ‘AO’ rating. Although the ESRB stated “…we do not believe these modifications fully restore the product to the version that originally received an AO rating, nor is this a matter of unlocking content.”

The ESRB noted that Rockstar’s “HotCoffee” incident was easily accessed by PC-gamers that the Manhunt 2 reversal used hardware and software hacks. They felt that Take-Two made it hard to get this content and it wasn’t intended like the ”HotCoffee” scandal.

The ESRB’s President Patricia Vance said, “Parents need to be vigilant about monitoring what their children are downloading on the Internet and ensure that they are not making unauthorized and oftentimes illegal modifications to software and hardware that remove the controls the industry has so diligently put in place for their own protection.”

So those who oppose Jack Thompson can sigh a breathe of relief. Many gamers feel that the parents should play the part of the ESRB and dictate whats played and what is not. This shows where the ESRB stands on the matter.

Return to Game Rant for the after math of the ESRB’s decision on the controversial decision. Also go to our “Gaming Politics” page where you can find ways to take action towards video game legislation.

If you are un-aware about the PSP work-around that allows your to view uncensored killings in Manhunt 2. Many groups are trying to take action to demand the ERSB reinstate the AO rating for Manhunt 2.

The PTC or Parents Television Council learned about the PSP hack and are demanding it to be reinstated. I would guess they want all versions to recieve the AO rating but Game Rant cant confirm that.

Heres what the PTC had to say to the ERSB:

Immediately reinstate the ‘Adults Only’ rating for this game. This action is consistent with ESRB precedent as demonstrated in the Grand Theft Auto controversy surrounding the ‘hot coffee’ content.

Immediately suspend all ESRB review or consideration of any other software published by Rockstar or Take-Two Interactive. Given the clear pattern of contempt by Rockstar and Take-Two, these firms have breached the trust of the entire video game rating system. In fact, to quote your words from the Grand Theft Auto matter, Rockstar has ’seriously undermined…the credibility and utility’ of the ratings system.

Immediately disclose the content that was allegedly removed by Rockstar from Manhunt 2 so that parents can have a clear understanding of exactly what remains on those games which potentially can be accessed by their children.

Game Rant cant confirm any statements coming back from the ERSB nor am I aware if they can change the rating once the title is released. Rockstar knew that everyone would be trying to find things like this so we are not sure how this came up. Game Rant cant confirm this “hot coffee” like trick.

Come back to Game Rant for more information if the ERSB will change the rating.

I went over to virginworlds.com today as I usually do and found this article about politics in MMO’s. I found this to be very interesting, and started to consider the issue myself. What I came to realize is that, while the author, Collin, states that “there’s more to success than just warring,” I believe that in an MMO, there won’t be any sense of politics without PvP. If you are not willing to fight against other characters for certains beliefs or items, then there will be very little sense of politics.

Harkening back to my days in Asheron’s Call, on the full PvP server even today I remember how intense the sense of politics were. There was one guild which far and away dominated all the others and for the vast majority of dungeons and mobs of any importance, they would block the entrances to dungeons or constantly farm certain mobs, preventing the weaker guilds from ever having the chance to get such things. This creates two different mindsets. One, you can join them (if they will let you) and reap the benefits, while alienating yourself from all the others and making yourself a target for everyone else, or you can stick with a smaller guild and “fight the good fight” making it extremely difficult to experience the game to the fullest.

As you will see in a lot of my future posts, I am an advocate for the Chronicles of Spellborn. Collin mentioned that there needs to be a scarcity of goods in order for there to be a real sense of politics. In Chronicles of Spellborn, this will be a very large aspect of the game. As there will be five houses, each with different beliefs and benefits, they will have the ability to gain control of “shards” which are land masses. These shards will contain certain goods that can only be found in specific areas (or so I have come to understand) forcing you to choose a side to fight for, and hopefully gain control over these goods, as you will be able to sell them to others or keep them for your house/guild to make and use for yourselves. With the way these houses work, it sounds as though guilds will be able to form strong alliances with other guilds of the same house and work together towards a common objective. As for the “rights, freedoms, and beliefs” you also talked about, this will all be bundled up within the house idea.

As for other games headed our way, I have very little idea how they plan to incorporate a stronger feeling of politics and its importance, but I know that if Chronicles of Spellborn comes through on their plans and pulls it off successfully, I believe that it will have the strongest political system we have seen to date. That said, I have not played Dark Age of Camelot, which looked like it had an impressive Realm vs. Realm system set up. Anyways, that’s my two gold on the topic.

~Kanthalos