people in the western suburbs of Sydney (say around 2003-2004) who think that, in a game we were playing, where we were the americans, decided that it was ok to burst into a building and kill people in their sleep on the grounds that they were probably muslim terrorists. I find the whole thing distasteful. And what if they turned out to be jews? Is killing someone because they are a jew a war crime, yet killing someone for being a muslim be perfectly acceptable? There is a slippery road here that the Germans headed down before WWII. People should remember and learn otherwise they might as well put a poster of Goebbels up on the wall. You say that it is OK to kill people in their sleep. I think what makes one side the good guys is that they do not go around killing people in their sleep.
Was this RPG people or non gamers in a hypothetical situation? If it is friends, did you discuss your point of view? The social politics of going with the group consensus can bring strange outcomes, especially with hindsight.
Every now and then I look back on a gaming session and wonder abut the slippery slope of “convenience” in achieving ones goals. I guess I probably don’t analyse my life the way I do my gaming.
hi Hugh,
I think it was a serious case of people letting real life politics into their role playing. And unfortunately role-playing themselves. So I think that some serious lines were crossed. I think I have a reasonable grasp of the whole consciousness things and understand well enough the difference between a fantasy situation and a real life situation.