Anti-war protest in America's Army

"Protestors suck: get a real job, and build yourself up to a point where you CAN make a difference: nobody cares what a bunch of unemployed smelly college kids have to say.

This guy though... This guy is so lazy he doesn't even have to leave the confines of his own home to make his little statement which I can appreciate. Kudos to him for being insignificant AND out of the way."

Since when does being a professor at a college equate to being an unemployed college kid?

Also, this guy isn't insignificant or out of the way at all. This is a game funded by the taxpayer-funded U.S. military as a recruiting aid. A taxpayer is trying to do his part to disrupt what he sees as faulty recruting. The guy seems well within his rights. Presumably if enough people did this and it caught on, it'd be an interesting form of civil disobedience. By being the lond protester of this sort, he's not really any different from a guy sitting on the corner by himself with an anti-war protest sign.

This guy protesting in a virtual space isn't any more pathetic than the military using a video game to recruit soldiers.

And I apologize for my earlier free speech argument. As a free speech absolutist, I sometimes make the mistake of projecting an idealistic worldview about such things onto the Internet, which is a far more democratic medium than, say, magazines. But that doesn't make if fully democratic. I stand corrected. Thanks to those who pointed out the fallacy of my thinking.

A bunch of people are saying this isn't an effective way of protest because people won't notice...stop and think for a moment, what are you discussing right now? Obviously he did get his message across.

Also, many soldiers i've talked to who've come back from Iraq are fine with the protesters, many have said that's one of the reasons they fought, to safeguard that right.

Loser

How could a college PREFESSOR do something so stupid and childish like that, what the hell is he even trying to accomplish anyway?

Sure he can do it...


until he gets a life. Then he has to come to grips with the fact that logical people protest with their votes.

This is not an effective way to protest because you are going to infuriate more people against you and your cause rather than turn heads towards you for what you want.

A good protest is one in which people sympathize with the protestor, not one in which the protestor must annoy and therefor gather hatred towards themselves from the very people they are trying to change the minds of.

i have played that game plenty of times, and still do every now and then...i really like it. its pretty well made i think.

but anyway...whatever your views are on the war, i agree that he will probably have no effect whatsoever.

yes, its sad that people have to die, and an interesting idea, but the fact is this is a game and people are playing it for fun(and they MIGHT be interested in military as the game is meant to help), but just let them play their games.

[shrugs]

i dont know, its a game meant to be realistic, but its not real, so like...eh, i dont know.

Let him speak. As soon as “protest free zones” start getting declared we are all doomed.

The whole girlscout thing is a dumb comparison. This is like a woman who runs through a basketball court naked while the game is going on to raise awareness for date rape. It's just silly and waste of her time and the people enjoying the games time. No one is going to care about some guy yelling out "Regginald Vanderslootch the Third!" between all the "OMGWTFBBQ! I PWN3D NOOB! O RLY!" chatter. But he can feel free to pretend he is making a difference. Hell, he can spend all his time jumping in and out of games to protest, especially if it keeps his stupid ass from voting. he he.

"A good protest is one in which people sympathize with the protestor, not one in which the protestor" ~ Mullinator

No it isn't you moron! Do you even understand the purpose of a protest?! Godamn you are stupid. This proffessor is awesome!

The game was created and is run on funding provided by taxpayers. He has a constitutional right to protest. Furthermore, I think it's good that he's protesting in such a manner.

This game is used as a recruiting tool for the U.S. Army. War is not a game.

He's obviously doing it in a valid forum, as Salon is covering it, we're seeing it here on Joystiq, and some of you guys are just 'sooo mwad!' you need to act like a game like 'America's Army' is the wrong place to do it...

Are you nuts? "Gaming is my getaway, stop covering politics in my gaming" is essentially saying 'I have my head in the sand.' This is an EXCELLENT way to reach people who could care less, or at least act like it, judging by some of these comment. Sorry to bother you during that game put out by the government to get you amped about the army! Think that's inconvenient? Think about how inconvenient it is to wind up dead - I think you can suck it up and handle it when you hear some guy is protesting the war, it's so little an incovenience compared to actually fighting in the war.

If you really believe in America, what it stands for, why people lose their lives over this place, this shouldn't bother you at all.

If you support this war, accept the fact that people are dying every day and show some respect by acknowledging it instead of saying "I don't want to think about it while I game." People dying is the OTHER half of you saying 'fighting for our freedom,' 'liberating millions,' etc.

It's always interesting to see how some people think it's OK to mourn a loss of a good soldier, but get mad at people who want to avoid getting them killed in the first place.

"No it isn't you moron! Do you even understand the purpose of a protest?! Godamn you are stupid. This proffessor is awesome!"

Well I will ignore your insults and assume you actually have an intelligent argument against mine for this next post:

He is protesting in Americas Army, hence it means he is trying to convince people playing Americas Army to support his views. Now, by causing intentional and constant disruptions to what is the core value of a multiplayer game he is going to begin gathering hatred towards his person, that is innevitable. Unfortunately for him due to the way human beings think this also means that those people who develop a hatred for his person will also be pushed away from his ideals rather than drawn towards them.

I fail to see how annoying people will convince people to join your cause. Would you agree that having 100 random people post nothing but "STOP THE IRAQ WAR" in every post here on Joystiq be counter-productive? It is the same concept I am arguing just taken to a different level.

"Joining the cause" is not the only point, mullinator: getting people to think about the reality of what this war is costing us is what I percieve the protest as. Again, if lives lost in Iraq mean anything to you, I'd say it's a small inconvenience to maybe hear about it every now and then in an online game.
You seem to believe in a 'Preach to the Choir' mentality, where the guy's protest would only be heard by people who agree with him. Not the point of the protest.

"Would you agree that having 100 random people post nothing but "STOP THE IRAQ WAR" in every post here on Joystiq be counter-productive?"

No, I don't agree. If 100 seperate people with 100 seperate IPs post 'stop the Iraq war' on Joystiq, it might annoy you, but it might also make you think, 'damn, that's a lot of people against this war, on a site with lots of people that like the same thing I like...'

I'd like to see people on every blog comment section start typing 'WHERE'S OSAMA?'

So Says "Tristan": "Then he has to come to grips with the fact that logical people protest with their votes."

Yes, many logical people vote when they are legally permitted to do so, but logical people are by no means limited to that means of protest (e.g., consider essayists, authors of books, and lawmakers) and voting is about much more than protest. You might want to try using some of that logic about which you have written.

"Has anyone thought that some of these soldiers would want their names to be remembered as heroes, not anti-war propaganda."

Two things,
1: You forgot a question mark
2: "Anti-war propaganda"? I think that the word propaganda is a bit extreme in this case. It's not really propaganda, he's staging a nice peaceful protest and there's nothing wrong with that.

And personally, I think that the whole war is being fueled by pro-war propaganda, it would be nice to see some anti-war propaganda for a change. The government goes on and on about how they're fighting for freedom and liberty and all the progress they're making, but really, I wouldn't trade the lives of 1200+ people for what has been accomplished today.
Sodiers killing other soldiers solves nothing. Murder is not the solution to today's problems.

I don't agree with the method...

...but I know what I'm doing in Warsong Gulch tonight!

POLITICAL GRIEFING IS THE NEW HOTNESS

Actually, these iraq war protesters need to get some perspective. A few thousand soldiers who gave their lives to liberate millions and keep us safe from terrorism is something to be celebrated. They should be honored, and not felt sorry for by whacky lefists.

i hope you get drafted and sent to iraq you toolbox.. be safe behind that screen you wannabe republican monkey

61. I don't agree with the method...

...but I know what I'm doing in Warsong Gulch tonight!

POLITICAL GRIEFING IS THE NEW HOTNESS

computer nerds ARE THE NEW HIOTNESS JUST WAIT TILL YOU CANT CONNECT TO THE INTERNETS BECAUSE AWLAHADBADJHAD JUST BOMBED YOUR ISP FTL!

to #31. This is the problem with the professor and people like yourself. The WTC were NOT tragedies, they were ATTACKS. The consequences were tragic to lose who lost their lives. The boxing day Tsunami's that was tragedy. It was not man made or caused. The WTC and the pentagon were the results of premeditated attacks. Unless of course you are part of the lunatic fringe that thinks its a conspiracy by our government to kill our own people, in which case your points have even less validity. It's fine to read off the names to honor the dead, however this professor's actions are NOT about honoring the dead but forwarding his point of view. He's entitled to his point of view but he is NOT entitled to taking other people's name if they have given their consent to be a part of his cause.

@ill Trooper

I would agree with you except for the fact that the exact reason I play video games is to escape from reality, so I can escape from hearing about all the doom and gloom about what is happening in the world right now. Why can't I have a moments peace with my hobby? A moment when I don't have to worry about what is happening in the world and don't have to be reminded about who was killed?

Can I not play video games anymore without having to deal with real life protests and problems in the world? I can almost guarantee now that I will be seeing this happening in other multiplayer games from now on and I don't like it one bit. I support what is being protested, what I don't support is the method being used.

I do know this, because people of all ranks in the military have said it: The level of disconnect between the Iraq war and the American public is demoralizing and disappointing. In past wars the public was forced to be part of the war effort, whether that involved rationing food and materials or getting drafted/having loved ones drafted. Today regular Americans have the opportunity to tune out the war, and they use it.

The fact that this man interrupts your little fantasy world by injecting some reality into it would be, I think, welcomed by those serving in the military. Real people are being blown to bits in Iraq and you probably don't care--that's how they feel. If you're complaining that their deaths, or a single sentence about their deaths, are ruining your leisure time and should be banned, you are seriously out of touch.

I must admit this new anti-war protest is very inventive and creative. The guy has a right to speak his mind even in a video game. However, it is sort of trivial to me to make anti-war comments in a video game because most people won't even take it seriously. Most people just want to play the game for fun, not to listen to some anti-war speech.

LOL, the art professor's just mad that he keeps getting owned all the time so he got frustrated and is now doing a typical fag move for attention. It's the same as spamming the chat after you die.

Great idea and full success as we can read here. Maybe he even saves one or two lives.

"He's entitled to his point of view but he is NOT entitled to taking other people's name if they have given their consent to be a part of his cause."

But I suppose the government is entitled to take other peoples LIVES for a war that is completely built on baldface lies, right?

The brave men and women in the US military are willing to put their lives on the line to protect our country, and all they ask is that we don't send them off to die without a good reason.

A good reason Iraq sure as hell ain't.

He should play Perfect Dark, I need some more achievements. Cannon fodder FTW.

You know, guys like this, though they think they have something to say, should remember that there's a time and place for all things. I personally believe that doing what he's doing in America's Army is not the place for what he's doing. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what kind of statement he's trying to make other than "You're a bad person because you play games that support American warfare." Well, I'll tell you what -- he's not doing anybody any sort of justice. Personally, if I go to war and die for my nation, if anybody uses my name to further their anti-war cause, it would be like spitting on my grave. I think we should have more anti-anti-war protesters. I'm sick of this liberal garbage -- which is exactly what this fellow is part of.

ok so first of all i would like to say that this is pretty creative and is a good way to get his opinion out...for all of you idiots who are telling this guy to get a life...maybe you should think about getting a life...i mean why are you all on this website anyway...you have no life...and for comment number 49...try to learn how to actually spell PROFESSOR before start criticizing him...

ok so first of all i would like to say that this is pretty creative and is a good way to get his opinion out...for all of you idiots who are telling this guy to get a life...maybe you should think about getting a life...i mean why are you all on this website anyway...you have no life...and for comment number 49...try to learn how to actually spell PROFESSOR before start criticizing him...

So this guy is protesting....I don't think its a big deal, I mean some people he'll piss off, some he'll humor, and others he'll get through to. Free speech is a great thing and however people choose to do it is their own thing...so good for him, he's made his point and that's all that matters!

I think it is a good idea. People playing these games need to realize that this is actually happening in the world. Don't get your panties bunched up because somebody isn't playing the video game how you want them to.

See you march in circles at some feable command and you all chant something silly for the mini-cam. What an activist for all the world to see. But did you lift a finger when they came after me? I'll bet Santa Clause bought your last pair of shoes.