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So when I play a Call of Duty game, and my only input for how to resolve a situation is shooting someone, does that mean that Call of Duty isn't actually a game, that it's just political propaganda shoving a point of view down my throat?

Or, maybe, games can both? In fact, all games ARE both! Every game has things you can and cannot do. Every game has a point of view for what is "acceptable" in a given situation.  And what it determines is "acceptable" is based largely on the attitudes of the people who made it. 

I made a game with the point of view that being a billionaire IS, in fact, immoral. There are no ways to play my game where this point of view is not central to its design. If you refuse to give all of your money away, you get the Bad End. The fact that my game's point of view conflicts with your politics doesn't make it less of a game, anymore than Call of Duty conflicting with MY politics doesn't make IT less of a game. 

Not every game needs to align to your viewpoint. And if it makes you uncomfortable, you can stop! "Stop playing the game" is a perfectly reasonable response in this situation. There are games I've stopped playing because they pushed politics I found reprehensible; there's no reason you can't do the same.  I once read a very interesting article on someone who couldn't play Bioshock Infinite because it features a baptism, and it was against the player's religion to engage in something like that -- so they stopped! It's really that simple.

You're completely welcome to make your own billionaire simulator which acts how you want it to. Try it! Twine is free and very easy to use even if you have no programming experience. I guarantee that once you get a sense of what creating a game is like, it'll change your perspective on what a game "should" be. 

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I make games for a living.

That's literally what pays my bills.


And frankly, call of duty is a shit franchise.


The point of my comment is to give criticism.  That's accomplished.  You don't have to agree with the criticism or even change because of it.

I never like when a game locks you into a single choice or force you to do something.  That's why I primarily play sprawling rpg's with non linear story's and if it has multiple endings I'm all the happier.

That's why D&D still has a place in modern gaming.  Because the more flexible interaction between player and dm makes the gameplay more personal.


Limiting a player's options can be an incredible tool.

It can be used to force the player to feel an emotion or make a decision they would find difficult.

But when you artificially limit the options in a scope that wouldnt normally have such limits it distances the player from their virtual counterpart.  It injects a separation that is destructive to the narrative.

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