That’s all very true, but there’s a reason I said that was a ‘degree’ of moral relativism I wasn’t comfortable with, rather than ‘moral relativism has absolutely no place in discussions of morality’. Circumstances absolutely have an impact on what I consider moral or not - that’s why I said there were situations in…

My premise is less ‘video game violence causes real life violence’ and more ‘encouraging violence toward real-life figures encourages the association of those figures with violence’, full stop.

‘we should not accept people’s attempts to justify violence if in fact they are wrong in that situation!’

“Encouraging violence against real life figures, no matter how fantastical the violence is, is wildly irresponsible in the same manner that shouting fire in a crowded theater is irresponsible’. Does that make you happier? Because - now that I’ve granted every single premise you’ve asked me to grant - the fundamental…

If you want to insist that morality shouldn’t factor into a discussion of murder, then fine: let’s approach the question purely from a consequentialist standpoint. What evidence, at all, do you have that the murder of a sitting US Supreme Court Justice would actually benefit the vulnerable classes you’re claiming to…

That distinction, then, would render my statement ‘any actions taken to improve the conditions of the vulnerable may be moral’, correct? Because if an action ‘must not be removed from consideration’, that implies that there may come a point in which it becomes moral*, and therefore morally desirable. In that case,…

So what is it that gives someone the moral right to murder someone, exactly? To avoid strawmen, let’s be specific: I don’t think we should be encouraging anyone to consider assassination against a political figure as their moral right. Is that a statement you disagree with? Because - as I understand your stance - so…

As a hypothetical construct, if you were to tell me that ‘x violence’ could absolutely guarantee ‘y outcome’, no, I wouldn’t be entirely opposed - though that starts to get us into ‘The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas’ territory, where you’re essentially asking if the happiness of some can be used to justify the misery…

I don’t believe running someone over with a steamroller can prevent the deaths of many women, any more than I believed George W Bush and Dick Cheney when they told me torturing detainees could prevent another terrorist attack.

I appreciate the nuanced response, so let me add a little more nuance to my own: I don’t actually believe violence is never an appropriate response, either - in certain cases, such as self-defense (actual self-defense, obviously, not ‘I don’t like the skin tone of that person walking through my neighborhood’…

Smug or not, I’d rather be run over by a steamroller than run someone else over with a steamroller, yes. 

That’s very often the case, true enough. But I’m not responsible for the moral decisions the ‘other side’ makes; I’m only responsible for my own.

You’re absolutely correct, this country was founded on violence and terrorism, and then built by multiple acts of wholesale genocide. That doesn’t mean I have to condone violence, terrorism, or wholesale genocide as acceptable moral solutions.

No. I’m sorry, I understand the frustration - I’m frustrated (and appalled, and horrified, and host of other feelings besides) as well - but no. Encouraging violence against real life figures, no matter how fantastical the violence is, is not morally acceptable. It’s just not.

True, but it’s not like ‘pay $70 for a AAA game’ or ‘play that AAA as part of your subscription’ are the only two options; there’s also ‘wait six months to a year and pick up that AAA game for $35 instead’. (Which, unless we’re talking about Microsoft first party games specifically, may be about the same time frame tha…

It definitely feels kind of arbitrary at times, like a post can’t just be ‘here are the games coming to GamePass in the next couple of weeks’: it has to be either ‘the best week GamePass has ever seen!’ or ‘that’s it, cancel your subscription, GamePass is worthless now’. And it’s a coin flip which one of those…

Which, to be fair, I feel like is kind of the strength and the weakness of 4 - it’s basically just ‘improved 3', but it doesn’t really add anything, either. (Gets my vote for ‘easily the coolest setting of any of the modern games’, though.)

Same; Elden Ring was actually a big ‘revelation’ for me, because I realized I just... wasn’t willing to pay sixty bucks for it on release, even though I was (and still am) looking forward to it quite a bit. There’s so much other stuff to play, I just can’t justify spending the money when I know I’ll be able to pick it…

I also think there’s just a lot of focus on AAA titles, and - for me, at least - a pretty small portion of my time with GamePass stuff is spent with AAA games. I realize the AAA titles make the headlines - hence all the ‘Starfield and Redfall moved to 2023: is GamePass DONE?’ takes when those delays were announced -…

Yeah, it would depend on how/why we were ranking them, but generally, I’d call it ‘middle of the pack’ rather than ‘worst of the modern games’, for sure. For me, it’s more noteworthy just for not really standing out in any given area: it’s neither the best, nor the worst, in gameplay, or setting, or narrative, or…