#12

Fair point, didn’t stop Skyrim from making their DB and Molag Bal quests though hehe.
My hope is that Warhorse will stay true to the historical narrative, and sod the rest.

#13

I am not saying to avoid torture at all, if it would be useful for any quests or the story. I just don’t consider it necessary, although a torturing minigame still seems really a bit off to me.

1 Like
#14

~Faceplam~ Way to get political, now we will have an argument about what is torture, did it happen, and whose laws apply to what situation.

#15

Yes, this. Torture was used in medieval times, of course, but it was mainly during the Renaissance that people started getting really creative about it.

I’d say there’s a fine line between presenting the subject realistically and sensationalising it. It was a fact of life in those times, so it shouldn’t be left out altogether, but I don’t particularly want to play through long, detailed scenes of gruesome torture - particularly if I’m the one performing it. Save it for fairly extreme situations, at least (and definitely no minigames; if you’re going to include a subject like that it should at least be handled with respect).

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#16

good Idea! Master Executioner should be a proper RPG occupation as well as warrior or a thief. Exexutioners used to be fich and respected men, although they were feared also. U can train the art of torture to get better and better… I know its just a dream. They will not include this option into game.

#17

Respected? They usually were not permitted to have a house inside the city walls. They were rather looked down upon. Of course those who were about to get executed had to be on good terms with the executioner, because they could either make it swift or make their final moments very painful.

#18

They could always take a chapter out of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2’s book, and inform you of possible graphic scenes, and allow you to opt in and out of them before you even start the game. Then the people like me (who enjoy mature games that don’t tip-toe around controversial content) can be fully immersed and the people who don’t enjoy it don’t even have to see it. Perhaps instead of viewing a torture cutscene, the screen will go dark for them and the torture will be implied. :smiley: That’s my two-cents at least.

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#19

this game lets you murder almost anyone, yet if it lets you perform a torture, suddenly that’s not respectful or crosses the line?

lets be serious here. what is worse, chaining someone up in a dungeon then using a poker to scorch his sides? or hacking a child on the streets to death then hacking her mother and father to death when they come over to stop you?

obviously, the latter is far worse, yet for some reason no one has an issue about it.

lets transcend the knee jerk reactions. there is no reason warhorse cannot treat torture properly like any other “objectionable” content such as violence or nudity. in fact, it may be easier. remember, you are not playing a time traveler.

#20

For the sake of not starting a moral debate on this thread I’ll try to choose my words carefully. [quote=“213, post:19, topic:6216”]
yet for some reason no one has an issue about it
[/quote]It might be a little bit extreme to say people are okay with hacking a child or mother to death. Generally speaking it’s viewed as socially unacceptable to show someone defenseless being hurt. That’s the main reason why the topics of torture and the death of children (which is noticeably absent from the majority of games (eg. Skyrim, and Fallout where the kids are invincible) are so controversial in media (and I say media in general because it’s not very often that you see a child killed on screen during movies or television).

However, you have a valid point that murder is often represented in games, while other adult themes are absent. But you have to remember that it’s a fine line that a game developer or movie producer has to walk. In the process of justifying putting torture into the game because it’s a “mature game”, [quote=“213, post:8, topic:6216”]
i would like the game to pull no punches. if you can’t handle it. you shouldn’t be playing a mature rated game.
[/quote]
you’re also setting a precedent for games filled with other adult (and generally avoided topics) such as rape and for the sake of argumentative purposes, even pedophilia. I think it’s safe to assume (even though it does make an a** out of you and me :wink: ) that the general populace doesn’t necessarily want to see the majority of these topics, and therefore won’t buy a game that includes them. Which is why you don’t see a lot of edgy material in games. Media is a business, and you sell to the largest demographic; which typically are not sadists. :wink:

2 Likes
#21

Were they really respected though? Why did they wear the capes and had their houses outside of the city then?

#22

It should be in the game, but it doesn’t have to be visual, it could be implied.

#23

Im all in if we can water board someone… thats meant to be the most horrible form of torture possible

#24

Lets have a quick look at what the AAA mostly North American Games are doing:
Weather you want torture to be shown as implied or explicit its always sensible to have some perspective from the video game industry:

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

The Punisher(made by THQ who also made Saint’s Row)

GTA 5:

Skyrim:


I personally don’t care either way, but its there,its has a long (infamous) history in game and i have a feeling it will come up in future games as well.

#25
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#26

This game is about realism and choice. In my opinion, it should be in the game and it should be as realistic as possible. Let’s say we have a quest to get information from somebody. There could be the possibility to torture him, find out where he lives and threaten to torture his wife / children (thief approach?), or maybe just bribing him (bard approach?). It should be possible, but the player should always have the choice.

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#27

If it’s part of the story, then do it. If not, I don’t think there’s any need of bringing it in just for morbidity.

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#28

Fully agree with previous poster. If it (somehow) is part of the story, then put it in the game. Otherwise, just don’t

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#29

Haha well It doesn’t have to be like that. If anything it should just be a message explaining that there are advanced options to turn graphic content off. Then in the menu you could have:
Blood/Gore ON OFF
Nudity ON OFF
Graphic Scenes Including Torture etc. ON OFF

It would be really simple, and not intrusive, and on top of that the developers could monetize on both the “hardcore” and the “casual” (in respect to realism/ graphic content) players.

1 Like
#30

I think I’m with @213’s first comment. This game is meant to be for older audiences so why wouldn’t torture be in this game?

Another topic I want to hit on while in this thread is the idea that some people want the option to turn certain things on and off. I reiterate myself, the game is meant for mature audiences; if a player can’t handle language, fake nudity, and fake violence they probably shouldn’t be playing a game like this one.

#31

There is a huge difference, for the developer, between hacking up a random NPC on the street and explicit torture mini games. Swinging your sword at your opponent is just a basic gameplay system, the minimum requirement in a medieval combat game. Killing random innocent NPCs is just the player using that system how they please.
Torture mini games is the developer explicitly allowing the player to participate in sadistic behaviour, there is no benign purpose to a torture mini game. Obviously that is up to the developer but it is a moral question for them and will have an effect on ratings etc.

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