Taliban removed from Medal of Honor mulitplayer

[F-14 Ace]

http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/...laints/19657173

I don't get why people are making such a big deal out of being able to play as the Taliban faction in the new Medal of Honor game's mulitplayer.  I mean, in a lot of WWII games you can play as the Nazis or Japanese in multiplayer.  One side is the good guys and one side is the bad guys.  That's how these games work.  Apparently a lot of people made a huge fuss about it though.  I just don't see what the big deal is.  Being able to play as the bad guys in Multiplayer is nothing new.

[Malte279]

I suppose the difference in this case is that the fighting is still going on. I daresay that if the development had been so far during WW2 there wouldn't have been a computer game in which kids at home could have played the "Krauts" while their daddies were storming Omaha beach for real at the same time. With the benefit of hindsight and some distance in time it is easier to make such games though it is sometimes a bit disturbing that the games often reduce WW2 to just that (a game) failing to give any mention whatsoever to the dreadful atrocities committed during the war. I know it is not supposed to be the topic of these games but given the lack of awareness of history (German tourists in the US keep being seriously asked how Hitler is doing by people who haven't realized that there has been a rather fundamental change of government over here a while ago) it would not be harmful to add at least a little historical background apart from military and technical facts to it.
When flying a German plane in a WW2 flying simulator you can keep in mind that it was very likely at least in part built by forced laborers from eastern European countries who slave labored to death by the millions, when sinking allied ships with a German submarine in a game you might want to keep in mind that one of the materials used for isolation in some of said submarines was the cut hair of Jews murdered in German death camps. I don't mean to spoil such games for you (and I am playing such games myself) but one should not blind out such background information totally.
Anyway, I'm getting of topic.
One of the most recent games which is causing a lot of discussion over here is a game in which the player can either play a citizen of eastern Germany trying to escape from the GDR via the death zone border or else play one of the guardsmen trying to stop that citizen (which means killing him or her in most cases).

[DarkWolf91]

I believe Malte is correct in thinking that the issue is still too sensitive for it to be treated with objectivity. I know AAFES straight up refused to stock the game here on base. Just imagine a mother's reaction to her child playing as a Taliban member, killing US troops, while every day she's been wringing her hands anxiously, wondering whether or not her deployed spouse will be coming home.

I mean, it's not something I have a problem with personally, being an amateur game designer and probably an apathetic intellectual (though I will continue to deny that), but I understand why it's a sticky issue.