The Political Game: Dangerous times for gamers
by Dennis McCauley 
{ May 4th 2007 at 12:00PM }
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:
You can draw a picture of your school.
You can sketch it in charcoal or paint it in bright pastels or subdued watercolors. You can take an artsy black-and-white photograph of your school or a high-pixel color shot with the sunset in the background. Frame it, crop it for a web page or iron it onto the front of a t-shirt. But whatever you do, however you choose to express yourself, do not recreate your school building within a video game.
That's the lesson coming out of Texas, and it's a hard one for 17-year-old Paul Hwang, a senior at Clements High in Fort Bend. By all accounts a decent kid, Hwang was adept enough with Counter-Strike's built-in level design tools to map his school. His handiwork is quite detailed and rather impressive. Joystiq, in fact, posted some screenshots of his level design yesterday.
But Hwang ran afoul of school authorities and, for a time, the law, when he shared the map with school buds for online CS matches. A parent recognized the school being used as a backdrop for the shoot 'em up and sounded the alarm. In short order, Hwang's home was searched by local police and the senior, due to graduate in a few short weeks, found himself transferred to an alternative education facility and barred from attending his own graduation ceremony.
Now it's true that Hwang could have used a bit more discretion in his choice of settings. As it turned out, the young man and his Counter-Strike map inadvertently steered into a perfect storm of school shooting paranoia. We're less than three weeks past the Virginia Tech rampage, after all. School officials and parents are understandably edgy. To ratchet up the anxiety just a bit more, game-hatin' Florida attorney Jack Thompson was given air time to push his agenda on Fox News while the Virginia Tech incident was still going on; he fingered Counter-Strike. Never mind that Hardball host Chris Matthews showed Thompson's nonsense for what it was a few days later. Thompson's negative spin on Counter-Strike was already out there: mass murder simulator.
Yet another sorry element may be at play: Hwang's ethnicity. Like Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung Hui, Hwang is Asian. Was that the tipping point that led school authorities to take such harsh action against an otherwise good student? You'd like to think it wasn't, but the local Chinese community is concerned about the issue and has raised questions. At least one Chinese-American resident said he fears a Virginia Tech backlash against Asian students.
The local police, at least, seemed to get it. Summoned by school authorities, they searched Hwang's bedroom and examined his computer. Satisfied that Paul had committed no crime and was not a threat, they opted not to file charges. Even members of the school board were concerned about Hwang's treatment. A special meeting was called to review the discipline meted out to the boy, but several gutless board members torpedoed the effort by skipping the meeting. Without enough of the school board assembled to raise a quorum, Hwang's punishment will stand. Barring court order, that is. His family has hired a lawyer.
The bottom line here, however, is bigger than Paul Hwang, bigger than his map, bigger than Counter-Strike. It is this: these can be dangerous times to be a gamer. When authority figures use the games one plays as the yardstick to decide who's a threat and who's not, something's broken.
Dennis McCauley is the Political Editor for the Entertainment Consumers Association (www.theeca.com), tracks the political side of video games at GamePolitics.com and writes about games for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Opinions expressed in The Political Game are his own. Reach him at
You can sketch it in charcoal or paint it in bright pastels or subdued watercolors. You can take an artsy black-and-white photograph of your school or a high-pixel color shot with the sunset in the background. Frame it, crop it for a web page or iron it onto the front of a t-shirt. But whatever you do, however you choose to express yourself, do not recreate your school building within a video game.
That's the lesson coming out of Texas, and it's a hard one for 17-year-old Paul Hwang, a senior at Clements High in Fort Bend. By all accounts a decent kid, Hwang was adept enough with Counter-Strike's built-in level design tools to map his school. His handiwork is quite detailed and rather impressive. Joystiq, in fact, posted some screenshots of his level design yesterday.
Gallery: Clements High maps
But Hwang ran afoul of school authorities and, for a time, the law, when he shared the map with school buds for online CS matches. A parent recognized the school being used as a backdrop for the shoot 'em up and sounded the alarm. In short order, Hwang's home was searched by local police and the senior, due to graduate in a few short weeks, found himself transferred to an alternative education facility and barred from attending his own graduation ceremony.
Now it's true that Hwang could have used a bit more discretion in his choice of settings. As it turned out, the young man and his Counter-Strike map inadvertently steered into a perfect storm of school shooting paranoia. We're less than three weeks past the Virginia Tech rampage, after all. School officials and parents are understandably edgy. To ratchet up the anxiety just a bit more, game-hatin' Florida attorney Jack Thompson was given air time to push his agenda on Fox News while the Virginia Tech incident was still going on; he fingered Counter-Strike. Never mind that Hardball host Chris Matthews showed Thompson's nonsense for what it was a few days later. Thompson's negative spin on Counter-Strike was already out there: mass murder simulator.
Yet another sorry element may be at play: Hwang's ethnicity. Like Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung Hui, Hwang is Asian. Was that the tipping point that led school authorities to take such harsh action against an otherwise good student? You'd like to think it wasn't, but the local Chinese community is concerned about the issue and has raised questions. At least one Chinese-American resident said he fears a Virginia Tech backlash against Asian students.
The local police, at least, seemed to get it. Summoned by school authorities, they searched Hwang's bedroom and examined his computer. Satisfied that Paul had committed no crime and was not a threat, they opted not to file charges. Even members of the school board were concerned about Hwang's treatment. A special meeting was called to review the discipline meted out to the boy, but several gutless board members torpedoed the effort by skipping the meeting. Without enough of the school board assembled to raise a quorum, Hwang's punishment will stand. Barring court order, that is. His family has hired a lawyer.
The bottom line here, however, is bigger than Paul Hwang, bigger than his map, bigger than Counter-Strike. It is this: these can be dangerous times to be a gamer. When authority figures use the games one plays as the yardstick to decide who's a threat and who's not, something's broken.
Dennis McCauley is the Political Editor for the Entertainment Consumers Association (www.theeca.com), tracks the political side of video games at GamePolitics.com and writes about games for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Opinions expressed in The Political Game are his own. Reach him at
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
warren @ May 4th 2007 12:07PM
value should pay the kid for the map and add it to Halflife 2 deathmatch
The Crowing One @ May 4th 2007 12:13PM
Has it been confirmed that the map is, actually, a number of years old, or was that just rampant rumor?
Paul @ May 4th 2007 12:09PM
Like it or not (I dont) high school and college students have very few rights on campus - simply by attending you are ceeding many/all of your rights to the administration.
I think that the police handled the madness correctly - they investigated, found he wasnt a threat, moved on. That is their job and they did it to a T.
The school on the other hand needs hold the police in higher regard. They are not doing so because they do not want to appear to be in the wrong - though they CLEARLY are.
Its the fact that people like JT have too much power that brings us to where we are.
C.A. @ May 4th 2007 12:16PM
I don't see how this will stand. The sad part is that taking this garbage to court may be too slow if he graduates this year. Schools want to be protective and that's understandable, nobody wants there to be school shootings. This is going too far though, they need to find a balance between having proper security and not losing their minds and violating student's rights. It's just sad.
tituspullo @ May 4th 2007 12:19PM
Some common scence on both sides would help here. You make a CS map of your school and expect what to happen when it's found out when it's distributed all over the place? Then you have the school, typical over reaction. But you can't blame them in some ways. What if students used this as a simulator to practice for a columbine/VT tech style massacre? Then everyone would be demanding the school admits head on a pole if he found this out and did nothing. They guy should have known better and school should get some experts in gaming to explain what this really might be, sometimes it’s just a game.
HotShotX @ May 4th 2007 12:20PM
"Has it been confirmed that the map is, actually, a number of years old, or was that just rampant rumor?"
TCO, I read that the map is actually only 2 months old, still 5 weeks older than the VT massacre, but far enough that he wasn't using bad judgment/taste in making the map.
~HotShotX
ck @ May 4th 2007 12:21PM
I see your point, Paul, but to me if the authorities are right in raiding Hwang's home, shouldn't they have also searched the kids' homes he was playing with also? The patriot act comes to mind when these things happen and the police get involved in searching a harmless student's house - and how obscenely unjust it is. And I can't help but think race was a factor, too. If this kid was white - would we be talking about this issue?
But the lesson is true from the post - we all have to be on our guard about what we read, write, play and see. Which is the complete opposite of what this country has been founded on. It's almost like Jack Thompson has reached McCarthy-like levels of insanity (without the power, however) and a lot of Americans are buying into these alleged threats to our national security.
Jon @ May 4th 2007 12:23PM
Hah I took my SAT there, it looks really good. That sucks that he can't go to his own graduation but honestly with how stupid people are these days, what do you expect? Its like every time there is some type of tragedy, there is nothing but racism left over. Its going from Middle Eastern to Asians now.
Zertoss @ May 4th 2007 12:23PM
Scary times being a gamer. You never know when someone is going to flip out and finger you for something when you've done nothing wrong. And thanks to all the press coverage, many people have already labeled Paul Hwang and others like him as terrorists.
I'm surprised PETA hasn't taken anyone to court for playing Pokemon.
Paul @ May 4th 2007 12:27PM
Ck -
That is a tough call - remember that you use the term "harmless student" - the police did not know this to be a "harmless student."
The act of searching ones home based on something they create is not new nor is it a violations of ones' civil liberties. The act of arresting or restricting those creations IS, but a simple investigation with a warrant or a request to search is the duty of LE
Dave @ May 4th 2007 12:30PM
I find it ironic that the one screenshot shows a banner that reads, "Let Freedom Ring for All People!" I guess they just put it up because they liked the pretty colors.
vorpyl @ May 4th 2007 12:35PM
I've played Counter-Strike on maps made of my high school, then my college when I went there, my friend's private school, and even a map of a now better known school with a bad stigma in Colorado (I didn't know about the last one until after I played it). I've never had the desire to take any of the action to real life.
It may be a scary thought... but schools just make EXCELLENT layouts for FPS games.
I know, when I play video games, there SHOULD be NO consequences in real life from what I do in that game. I know if I go do what I do in video games in real life, I'll be hurting others, as well as face consequences. I've never had the urge to hurt another person because of a game...
(Strangely enough I've had the urge to stomp on turtles and kick their shell at brick walls to try to break them looking for mushrooms and coins... hmm, maybe video games are bad for turtles.)
Dennis Bonilla @ May 4th 2007 12:35PM
Damn, this is exactly the kind of talent that would benefit my Modeling and Simulation company.
BPM @ May 4th 2007 12:37PM
It really is quite sad...
Although I've never done it, I've heard that modelling schools in game engines is a pretty common thing. It's a real world location that a student is familiar with. And for this reason, it seems to actually be an assignment in some classes, from what I've heard.
Plus, there's the fact that Hwang had the map made well before the VT shooting.
It's a sad world we live in nowadays. Almost seems like you have to be afraid of your own shadow...
Finite @ May 4th 2007 12:38PM
With all due respect, I don't understand what the author is trying to get at here?
"When authority figures use the games one plays as the yardstick to decide who's a threat and who's not, something's broken."
With the possible exception of the last portion, where a school reviewing of his punishment was not given (it should have been), I don't see what went wrong here...
This man recreated his school in a realistic video game where the point is to kill your enemies (were custom models used as well? If so, that's another sad strike). Then he shared it(!) and actually used it in hostage/bomb settings! Entirely stupid acts when combined. It was a perfectly just act to investigate this upon realizing what he had done and, until it was proven he hadn't meant any harm, remove him from the school. It's bad luck that this happened so close to his graduation, but that's the way things went down.
He created something involving his school with an implication of violence at the school caused by he and his friends.. If he had written a book of fiction (or even a movie) where an insane student (played by him) snapped and went through the halls of a his school shooting people, or planting bombs inside it, the book would have been treated the same way. He would have been removed until, in that case, a physciatrist found he was of no danger to those around him.
Any minority would have been treated the same in this case, especially if he showed previous signs of being either antisocial (many high school students do) or just generally closed off. If he was black, then the black community would have the same "concerns."
I'm as much of a gamer as the next guy, but you have to realize, gaming is an interative medium, it's precieved as being different from reading print or watching movies, which are traditionally rather passive mediums.
Oh well.. I'm sure few agree with me here, but this is how I feel about this situation. Just because I play games doesn't mean I'm blind to outside views. The kid should have known.
minus_273 @ May 4th 2007 12:42PM
Seriously dont confuse M rated games with other games
I doubt anyone cared if there was a mario world map of a school. The thing here is the map was made where people go aorund shooting each other. Key here shooting. Kid makes a map of his school where people shoot eachother. that should freak out people and rightly so.
ck @ May 4th 2007 12:42PM
Paul - that makes sense.
I don't necessarily agree with the other comments on this post that the kid was stupid to have built a level based on his high school. I mean, if you were 17 or 18, you would think it would be cool to recreate something familiar (I always wanted to recreate my small town in the Duke Nukem engine). So you cannot blame the kid for being stupid. It's just that there's so many ways for someone to plan out an attack other than creating a level. And if someone was planning an attack, I think they would be smart enough to not make any of their plans public. So it's like you can't avoid this situation no matter how many houses are raided. I guess I really don't mind the police raiding the kid's home, I just wish they would go on more solid evidence than just a video game level.
Terot @ May 4th 2007 12:45PM
I went to a small college, around 2,700 students, but even there the students far outnumbered the staff that was on campus at any given time. We had a dedicated police force on campus but there were no more than 25 officers. I would often joke to people that the students could annex the university as there were more of us than them, police and facility. I fear for college students that are growing up in the new world. Will comments like this get them arrested? Thrown out of school? Where is it that we will drawl the line between the value of perceived security and actual civil liberties? I say perceived security because that is what we do as Americans, we don’t actually secure ourselves, we just make it look like that way.
I fear for the day when designers are censored for their game ideas.
Satan Is My Motor @ May 4th 2007 12:46PM
I think throwing down the race card is pretty premature. Would we be talking about this if he was white? Absolutely. Historically in America, white people are the main perpetrators of mass murder and serial killing.
HotShotX @ May 4th 2007 12:46PM
Finite,
The issue in this article isn't that he made the map, and that it was investigated by the police, all that is justified.
The issue here is that after he was barred from graduation as punishment, and he was later found innocent, those who sentenced him decided to avoid the hearing that was held to review the case and allow him to attend graduation.
At this rate, he will miss graduation because a few cowardly board members cannot admit they made a mistake in labelling and punishing him after he was determined NOT to be a threat.
Again, I don't fault the board to looking into the situation, I fault them for not backing down and clearing him when they should have.
~HotShotX
Stabface Pro @ May 4th 2007 12:49PM
When I was a kid we'd play Golvelius and Rastan for six hours straight on the Master System and then go in the backyard and beat the shit out of each other. See? Violence IS caused by videogames. Case closed.
Roger @ May 4th 2007 12:49PM
well im not stupid enought to do crimes so they can't do nothing to me. what are they gonna do? arrest me on behave that im a gamer. but back to the matter. i think with this map...well it may look nice and make me want to look not shoot, but jack can use this against us with his "a create your own enviorment in a murder simulator. with all the oh hell i never swear but ive had enough! that dumb fuck of a lawyer is gonna use this as fodder along with ever other fucking this some of the idiots who thought it was "funny" to piss him off. ITS NOT FUNNY! he might be a retarded asshole but he is still a lawyer and a bunch of soccer moms are gonna rally and then where are we gonna be!?!? i mean for the love of christ! i guess joystiq is right we are screwed.
Malky @ May 4th 2007 12:52PM
"until it was proven he hadn't meant any harm, remove him from the school"
That's not the way it works. Remember a little thing called "Innocent until proven guilty"? We don't punish people because we don't know that they aren't threat.
Making a map of your school, even for a shooter game, does not imply that you have any inclination towards violence. You compare the creation of this map to the writing of a book about shooting people, but the analogy has a weak point: Books are not inherently violent. Shooters are. If someone were to write a book about shooting people at their high school, they would be choosing to display violence, which would then indicate some sort of inclination towards violence. However, one cannot make that choice when creating a map for a shooter, so he did not choose to create violence. He just created a familiar setting to play in.
Satan Is My Motor @ May 4th 2007 12:56PM
With every generation there's been a "root of all evil." For the longest time it's been music. I remember in the 80s and early 90s it was Heavy Metal. Because of "satanic" themes and whatnot, any kid who was out of line or murdered someone did so because of the music he listened to. It was completely ridiculous and there was a huge constraint put on in the form of the PMRC but it didn't stop Heavy Metal from existing and this moron of a lawyer won't stop games from existing in their current form either. At least he better not, or this country has gone the way of over-the-top political correctness that people in other countries complain about!
Kajex @ May 4th 2007 12:59PM
@ Finite
By your reasoning, a movie like Die Hard would face similar backlash because it deals with a potentially realistic dangerous setting where man civilians could be found and be harmed. And the director, producers and entire cast should know better, that it might give a person ideas.
I respect that you can see several sides of the issue, but what you're referring to is a game setting based upon an actual location, and not an actual event, and the fact that it was designed on the basis that the game they were playing was NOT real- and the fact that the people who rushed to judgement on the matter didn't know any better. I'm sorry, but ignorance is never an excuse when it comes to this. A mistake was made here, and the LEAST they could have down was bit the bullet and say "yeah, we screwed up". But what the kid's getting instead is "yeah... well, not enough people showed up to admit their mistake, so... too bad."
Dan @ May 4th 2007 1:03PM
You know, this kind of ignorance is what makes me ageist. I'm sorry, but old people are phreaking stupid, and we should cull anyone over 35.
Thrawn @ May 4th 2007 1:05PM
Sue the school district, get a free ride to college, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Satan Is My Motor @ May 4th 2007 1:06PM
Whoa, slow down dude! I'm just around the corner from being 35 and I play FPSs like nobody's business! Maybe raise the age to 40...then we'll reconvene in several more years to renegotiate my existence.
elnino2783 @ May 4th 2007 8:20PM
I think there should be another rebellion like there was for the hd-dvd key.
People should make maps of tons of locations for Counterstrike, Second Life, and whatever.
Then they'd have to either suspend/expel everyone or grow the cajones to deal with the issue.
HotShotX @ May 4th 2007 1:13PM
"You know, this kind of ignorance is what makes me ageist. I'm sorry, but old people are phreaking stupid, and we should cull anyone over 35."
Now now, let's make a more elaborate system than that:
If you finish high school: Limit is 35.
Bachelor's Degree: Limit is 40.
Master's Degree: Limit is 50.
Doctorate Degree: Limit is 65.
~HotShotX
Satan Is My Motor @ May 4th 2007 1:17PM
Hot Shot -
That won't work. The lawyer boy would get to live too long.
HotShotX @ May 4th 2007 1:29PM
"Hot Shot -
That won't work. The lawyer boy would get to live too long."
Sorry, I was on the phone when I wrote that, I forgot to mention that this system only pertains to those in a field involving the heavy use of math or science.
~HotShotX
softgun @ May 4th 2007 1:31PM
Bottom line: I seriously doubt the school administration and parents would have reacted as vehemently as it did had the VT shootings not happened so recently. Would parents who saw the map have been concerned even without the VT tragedy? Yes. People haven't forgotten about Columbine. I'm also not sold on the race card either - I haven't heard reports that the first thing the parents asked upon seeing the map was, " Is the person who created this map Asian"? They saw a map of Clements' campus, set in a terrorist/counter terrorist setting, and this mixed with most parents' inherently vague understanding of videogames along with images of VT. I'm not sure at what point in time they discovered the map maker was Asian, and if that had any bearing on how the administration reacted, so this coule be multifacted. I don't think that race sparked the Clements incident, but perhaps added gasoline to the sparks. I still believe that the school has let ultimately let sensationalism and paranoia override logic given the outcome of the issue even though no charges were pressed by the police. Knee jerk reactions are normal after an incident like VT, but it's how you handle the aftermath of that reaction that makes you either a paranoid shill or a responsible rationalist.
Roddie @ May 4th 2007 1:29PM
Anywhere to download the map??
Lighttech @ May 4th 2007 1:34PM
(Domestic Media) Terrorists Win.
bgdc @ May 4th 2007 1:48PM
I'm sold on the race card. We're talking about a non-white in Texas. He's a pariah automatically for not being a Christian cracker. Spend a little time in Texas...racism is alive and thriving. While doing some work at a multibillion dollar company in Houston the head of security went on a crazy racist rant telling me all about the evil Jews in WWII; he assumed my German name meant I was on his side, so I didn't mention our passover dinners from childhood.
Zi11ion @ May 4th 2007 1:52PM
I bet you, that because of this, Paul will get hired as a mapper for a game. All of this publicity gets his name and skills out there. I sure hope he gets that chance, he deserves it.
Satan Is My Motor @ May 4th 2007 1:53PM
I don't doubt that racism is thriving in Texas. I live in the Southeast and believe me - it definitely is here. Nonetheless, in this particular incident, I think the race card is silly. I don't think it matters one bit what race the kid is. Let's face it, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold immortalized this phenomenon even though it existed before them - what race where they?
Kerber @ May 4th 2007 1:57PM
Let's say I'm a school administrator who's worried about crazy kids going on a gun rampage.
My priority would not be to stop the dissimination of virtual maps of the school. Students already know their school layout pretty well; they spend every day there. And crazy kids don't need "mass murder simulators" to plan an attack.
The priority would be identifying and providing counseling for these potential murderers in the first place. This problem won't be solved by cracking down on violent video games; the whole idea is just silly.
These self-righteous morons are using kids like Hwang as scapegoats so they can pretend they've done something to solve a problem that's making everyone paranoid right now. In practice, this only perpetuates paranoia and causes more problems without even addressing the real issues.
In the end, what can we really do? What sends teens over the edge? Can we prevent that from happening? That should be the priority. Do people really think that the lack of a 3d map of the school will prevent a determined killer from going on a rampage? Stupid. Stupid.
DiRT @ May 4th 2007 1:58PM
The is the most irresponsible and poorly thought out article on the entire matter.
Dangerous to be a gamer? I doubt that had be built levels that resembled his school in a Super Mario Bros clone or recreated his teachers in Smackdown Vs Raw, they would've cared. The fact that he did it in an FPS does make a difference.
And calling it a question of race, when it clearly isn't, makes you a racist.
polly @ May 4th 2007 2:07PM
In a more reasoned world...
Parent: This kid recreated the school in an online shoot'em up game!
School Board: Great! We'll get him signed up for some scholarships for some game design shools.
Parent: It's going to be Virginia Tech all over again!
School Board: Please calm down. You're overreacting.
Parent: I'm going to the police!
Police: What can we do for you?
Parent: This kid made a map of the school for Counterstrike!
Police: Yeah, we have real crimes to deal with, so if you could just show yourself out, that would be great.
Jake @ May 4th 2007 2:10PM
Thousands of CS maps of schools have been made. He's the first I've heard of to get in trouble. Many schools have probably known about various maps. This particular school acted heavily on it.
On one hand, I agree in this day and age that he should be investigated for making that map. On the other hand, it is just a map for a game and the punishment is pretty harsh.
Sure, the game is a shooter, but that's what kids play. It is just a game. What I am scared of is that society is being led to believe that these aren't just games, and that they are dangerous and getting people killed. I mean, he has become a level 3 terrorist because the game is perceived as a threat to the school.
We need to be led with some common sense. I get scared when my leadership and authority figures take irrational courses of action and society seems to go along with it.
HotShotX @ May 4th 2007 2:10PM
"Police: Yeah, we have real crimes to deal with, so if you could just show yourself out, that would be great."
...and that last line has to be done in Lumberg's voice.
~HotShotX
sheppy @ May 4th 2007 2:33PM
Several key issues exist that people just got wrong here.
1. Klebold and Harris were big fans of Doom, yes. They made their own custom maps and hosted them on their website, yes. They did NOT make a map of their school. This is an ignorant urban myth and if it's one thing this incident teaches us, we should strive to seperate fact from fiction, not reiterate fiction to match what we perceive as fact.
2. Your average map maker STARTS with familiar settings. A small section of their town, a hospital, a church, an office building. This are the roots of most 3D artists. Familiar things. Nobody starts trying to make an uber realistic demon, or if they do, they often set themselves up for frustration, failure, and eventually giving it up.
3. Whether you agree or not, school layouts make great maps in multiplayer games. Want evidence? The Facility in Goldeneye has a layout very similar to a school I attended (it just had three more stories). What is the most popular Goldeneye map?
4. The VT shooter had nothing to do with gaming. Period. So the analogy between gaming and writing a violent book is hilarious in the fact that Cho was, in fact, a writer of disturbingly violent means. Here, take a look...
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0417071vtech1.html
So, in essence, we have a killer who wrote violent shit but did not play video games. Yet you're arguing there is more signs in the playing of video games and custom map creation than actually writing a story of violence. Perhaps the next step is to watch what students are buying large quantities of rubber duckies...
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0422071cho1.html
Snipehunter @ May 4th 2007 2:45PM
I have to admit that I find a number of the comments here incredibly depressing. I'm disappointed in America, right now. We're better than this.
At least, that's what I was raised to believe, but it's hard keep the torch of that belief burning when I see people here saying that what happened to this boy is his fault, or even "the obvious outcome." He wasn't stupid for making a map of his school, what's actually wrong with what he did?
A) It's protected speech and B) even if you argue he gave away his first amendment rights... it's STILL not a crime.
Are we so wrapped up in our fears that we're really willing to give up the freedoms to express ourselves? Are we really willing to trade being protected from a predatory government and irrational mobs for the "Safety" of having our homes searched and our lives thrown on our ears because we play games? How does that even give you people the safety you're obviously willing to trade away my freedoms for? You can't stop the psycho killers, don't you get it? That's what makes them so terrible and fearsome to us. They're random elements you cannot predict, cannot legislate away. All you can do if you try is rob yourself of rights and freedoms - only to discover years later when the next psycho goes off that it was all for naught.
You can google map the school. Unless the local government was equally paranoid, post 9/11, as the rest of you, you can get the blueprints for the school. It's a public building. If you live in that town, your tax dollars pay for that school. You have a right to know more about it... or to recreate its image for your own ends.
In other words, had this kid really been a threat - he didn't need to make the map in counterstrike, he could have practiced in the real thing or used plenty of other free maps that took FAR less effort to make. Games are not murder simulators.
Counterstrike is not a crime.
Wil @ May 4th 2007 2:55PM
When I was in high school, we created maps of the school for use with a wargame called Battlesuit. Later, we based roleplaying games in our home town, using maps of landmarks and whatnot. This is in no way something new, it's just that Counterstrike maps get more distribution than a hand drawn hex grid played by some wargame geeks. It doesn't mean it shouldn't be treated the same way - whether the map is of a real school, an imaginary school, or an imaginary place it's all just for a game. I mean, threats to Western civilization in the 20th and 21st century have ranged from dancing to music to the games that we play. Alarmists have to have something to get people alarmed about, right?
Spex @ May 4th 2007 2:59PM
I've never seen more bullshit in my life. This kid shouldn't be bared from his graduation. He should graduate top of his class! This map looks brilliant! He should be praised for his work, not punished! I had a High School Senior project that was revolved entirely around Source Engine and Half Life 2, etc. I presented it to my class and administration (that was part of the grade - presenting it) and all of them loved it! In fact they told me the work as excellent, I was really impressive, and I was defiantly going somewhere in life.
Now this kid, who's actually a much more talented mapper, builds something that looks rather stunning and should be considered an awesome portfolio piece, and suddenly he's practically a criminal! VALVE, if you're looking at this kid's work, get'em to work for your because for one, he needs it since apparently he won't be graduating any time soon. Two, he's very talented, and if you let this kid map for your games, it would be the ultimate smash in the face to his school board to be sucessful at the very thing that got him kicked out of school.
ManekiNeko @ May 4th 2007 2:57PM
See, the thing is that it's not just a video game. It's a first-person shooter where the object is to blast targets with grenades and rifles. Yes, video games get a bad rap, but let's be honest here. If this had been a (hypothetical) mod for Super Mario Sunshine or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, this never would have happened.
JR
ck @ May 4th 2007 3:05PM
"And calling it a question of race, when it clearly isn't, makes you a racist." - DiRT
I'm sorry, I fail to see your logic here. I was pointing out the sad coincidence that he was Asian. I'm merely asking a question. I don't think that qualifies as being a racist. Just because you can ignore the fact that he is Asian, doesn't mean there might be some racial issues involved. I'm not saying it's the main focal point of this whole mess, it's just another underlying issue.
Satan Is My Motor @ May 4th 2007 3:10PM
Sheppy,
No one said Klebold and Harris made maps of their school. My point was, regarding playing the race card (the implication that this kid was treated differently than a white kid would be because he is Asian like the VT shooter), that Klebold and Harris were white boys and they deified the phenomenon (of shooting up your school, not making maps). Hope that clarifies my statement. Everything else you said I can agree with.