160°

Why we need to play as the Taliban

If done well, the Taliban option can give gamers a whole new sense of respect for the men and women fighting them in real life.

r0gueZA4978d ago

LOL, interesting take on the heated topic!
Kudos

DavidMacDougall4978d ago

This topic was boring as soon as this shit started.

HSx94978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

lol the author says the Taliban are hard working men? Are you seriously trying to make a joke here? The Taliban are pure evil, and they are hated all over middle east, they're main focus is to over run countries who are weak, the author should go read and stop being an idiot.

Taliban are like United States Gangsters, except the taliban got more fire power and don't fu** around.

UP4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

Also do not forget the Taliban are scumbags and use women, children, and innocent civilians as bombs and shields. They are scumbags. I honestly have to desire to play as them in a story mode. I would be ok with multiplayer as long as you do not do the for-mentioned things I listed.

Eidit: why the disagree the Tailban are scumbags. What are they honorable people to you or what. They do use Women and children and other innocent civilians as bombs and shields.

Edit: you did not just call me more evil then the tailban did you? are you saying that I use children and women as bombs to blow up my enemy. I know there are good people in the area they are just put down by the evil ones. GTFO.

Eamon4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

HSx9 and UP, you both are worse than Fox News.

You're probably more evil than the Taliban, mate. Cuz they are really religious conservative people.

Sure, they have a lot of flaws and stuff that makes the West look down on them but they are not evil and they simply fighting for their land and country.

Don't forget, America are the invaders and occupiers. But anyway, the war will end soon and it will be just like how Russia left Afghanistan.

darren_poolies4978d ago

@ HSx9 and UP

'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter'

mastiffchild4978d ago

Did no one else watch any of the way pre-war documentaries about the Taliban's regime? As a governing force they were terrifying to my, very tolerant, eyes. I think it's VERY understandable for westerners with little to no knowege of the hardline religious tenets of people like the Taliban to see them as purely evil because they were a non elected regime forcing their laws and ways upon large expanses of their populace resulting in women starving if they had no men folk to go to the shops for them and getting publicly stoned, often by relatives if they dared to venture out alone themselves. Shar'ian law(sorry about the misspelling)is not something I'd ever agree with and even lessa so without your whole nation WANTING to follow it but, sadly, it doesn't allow any tolerance of other beliefs which left the atrocities done in it's name an everyday certainty for as long as it existed out there. It's one case where I feel something needed to be done for the people suffering at the hands of a sect they never signed up to.

Thing is, as it's a religious(or so we're led to believe but who's to say there aren't monetary greeds behind a lot of these things these days with those believing the doctrine being the ones doing the dirty work?)stance, they were never going to negotiate more freedoms for those not believing their interpretation of Islam and force became, even before 9/11, a more likely outcome if we wanted some hope for large swathes of Afghans, no?

"Evil" is a nasty word and not one I'd use even here. Sre, their acts have been called evil and some certainly are but it doesn't make all those involved evil at all-some can be put down to a hardline belief system but in today's world any religious sect must allow for people not to share their views and this is the root of all the hatred and trouble being found in that part of the world today, imho. Had the Taliban allowed for Christians, different sects of Muslims and so on to follow their beliefs there would have been some hope for talking out there but as it was I saw no other outcome. In the UK I'm certain people would be allowed to follow their beliefs as long as the law of the land wasn't broken but when the law of the land is SO religion based it doesn't allow for tolerance and this is where the two mindsets can never be aligned.

Gamers won't, btw,even think about the plight of whioever they play as which is what made this a non issue from the very start.

itivino4978d ago

Eamon, really? Calling people worse than terrorists is a pretty loaded charge. You think by making moral equivalencies you are all high and better than everyone - you just don't have the balls to take a side.

Those guys would kill you and your family in a second if they had the chance just for not being a Muslim. They hate women, brainwash kids to blow up civilians, and they've made it their life purpose to kill all infidels. If you aren't willing to call that evil, then maybe you should go try living with them?

Philoctetes4978d ago

It makes me sad that people are unwilling or unable to recognize real evil when they see it. The Taliban absolutely qualifies.

NYPunkster4978d ago

The more people talk about it the more free press MoH will get.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

dinkeldinkse4978d ago

Unless HSx9 and UP are Stalin and Hitler, Eamon made one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard.

darren_poolies4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

You can call many people evil such as the Taliban, Hitler, Stalin etc. but no one is truly evil because they are only doing what they believe or believed was right. Now in no way am I defending their actions as I despise them for what they did but you have to look at it from another point of view and think why they did what they did. They thought they were doing good so does that make them pure evil? Doing what they thought was right?

barom4978d ago

I actually do wish someone would make a game that sheds some bad light on US. It seems every war game glorifies America's military force and its killings and in doing so also cuts down the respect for other countries. If only people could view the USA from the outside for one moment to realize that the US is the cause for a lot of shitty stuff too.

Cevapi884978d ago

first of all, if any of you think that al qaeda=taliban...you are seriously misinformed....the taliban arent trying to overrun any countries...their rise came from the invasion of afghanistan in the 80's by the USSR...the taliban used guerilla warfare to fight the Soviets with money and arms supplied by the US...what you need to understand is that was the cold war, the ultimate goal was to make the Soviets lose...millions upon millions of dollars were spent on weaponry....the moment the war ended and the soviets pulled out....all that money vanished....the US stopped supplying weapons and left a weak decentralised country fend for itself....a power vacuum needed to be filled....and guess who gained that power....the ones with the guns...nothing was done to rebuild afghanistan....no money came to build schools, set up a strong government....i find it funny that people are surprised when they realize that the US had a lot to do with the taliban taking over afghanistan....and this is not iraq...most of these men are husbands and fathers fighting due to the loss of family members from US forces...most are just common village men who have been raised to live like there ancestors have for centuries...the real taliban are those that grew through the fall-out of the Cold-war...those are the men that need to be taken care of in order for there to peace in that country and that sadly looks like will never happen....the US really has another vietnam on their hands

AAACE54978d ago

... something about trying to get us to see the other side. For us to understand why they are fighting us!

Either way, I don't care! It doesn't change the fact that soldiers are dying over there and most people just want our troops out of there! It's kinda hard to consider this a war, because in a war, you usually can identify your enemy! What we have is a bunch of people moving along the civilians and setting traps!

It's like that old saying... "You can't kill, what you can't see!"

barom4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

It's actually quite different and pretty much the opposite. The article is actually trying to address the critics who thinks its wrong to allow you to play as a terrorist.

Author's idea? Make a Taliban mission made where the Taliban are portrayed as angry terrorist crazies so that we can appreciate the efforts of American troops.

Eamon4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

People misinterpret when I said "You're probably more evil."

I meant that the Taliban are not "evil" in the sense you making it out to be. They believe they are doing good and righteous actions and fighting a worthy cause.

And wtf, they aren't terrorists. Do you even know what the word means? Seems, just because the media uses that word all time the time these days everyone is throwing it around.

They are insurgents fighting on their homeland.

And guys, read Cevapi88's nice little essay above.

coolman2294977d ago

Wow, can't you guys stop hating? The Taliban are terrorists. They are bad guys. Can't you people get over it? I guess this is no use because this site is a nest for idiots

@UP I agree all the way

+ Show (13) more repliesLast reply 4977d ago
sandip7874978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

how would multiplayer work without the taliban side... US army vs US army? US army vs zombies? US army vs spartans? what would people have there in place of taliban? the author delves into this topic too deep. it isnt about having a new perspective on war. its to have 2 fucking teams fighting against each other

Playerz84978d ago

Lol, what an anti-american quote.

badz1494978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

I don't think that any of us, gamers are in "need to" play as taliban, even as the us army, british army, russian or even anything! we just play as what the game offers but why do we have to come through all these BS propaganda?! IT'S A FVCKING GAME! as long as it doesn't take a piss of any religion, or maybe country also (to a certain extent) then I'm ok with it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4977d ago
yewles14978d ago

"If done well, that Taliban option can give gamers a whole new sense of respect for the men and women fighting them in real life. That would be an enormous accomplishment for anything. In any media."

Somehow, I doubt that's what the devs have in mind.

-Alpha4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

Exactly what I'm thinking. In fact, it's the controversy as playing as them that I think they are hoping will help generate the attention for this game. Because really, Halo Reach and Black Ops are going to dominate over MoH.

Soldierone4978d ago

Sales wise? Yep. Quality wise? Nope.

Its not even EA that is using it. Its Fox using it, its journalists making stories like this using it. EA has never even done anything with it, they send a comment here and there, but nothing like they did with Dante's Inferno.

Soldierone4978d ago

Why wouldnt it? After all this is all the trailers are set out to be. If you ever watch interviews or even talk with the devs behind the story and entire game you see they have a true respect for our soldiers, and they are setting out to show people why soldiers are so great.

Is it the goal in multiplayer? No, but there is a thing most COD players dont know exists....its called a single player STORY!

badz1494978d ago

but it's mainly the western media who are hot on EA's tail regarding this! we've been playing as terrorist for ages but why suddenly it's an issue when they changed the term "terrorist" -> "taliban"? both are still just pixels on screen to me! are these retarded people really think that a game as an entertainment media can really be like terrorist trainer or something?? stupid people are stupid!

tunaks14978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

In COD4 American soldiers also get killed. Just accept that some will be offended and get on with it, not everyone needs to be praising or condemning the game. The buzz around the Taliban being playable reminds me too much of the fake protests that EA set up for Dante's Inferno.

Sharingan_no_Kakashi4978d ago

EA themselves is creating the controversy.

skip2mylou4978d ago

except they arent look at the No Russian mission in MW2, they raised controversy and after like 2 months it released everyone forgot about it. this isnt EA making contraversy its idiotic douches who think that they are heroes for saying crap that doesnt affect anything, why didnt they have any problems with WW2 games or Vietnam games hell they have no problem with Resident Evil games, Resisitance games or any other games

Sharingan_no_Kakashi4978d ago

The no russian was controversy because it crossed the line a let you be a terrorist. While being a Taliban soldier in mp may cause controversy it shouldnt be anywhere near as controversial as it is. Those old WW2 games didnt have missions that let you be a terrorist. RE5 DID get controversy. And why would anyone complain about Resistance? Do you know what the term controversy means?

skip2mylou4978d ago (Edited 4978d ago )

i never said no russian never created Controversy, I said after 2 months all talk about it pretty much died, yes only RE5 got controversy but it was for a little bit too Resistance made controversy because it used a holy church in England were it was blown up but all talks about it died after sony apologized but they didnt remove the game from shelves, i think you need to go and look for other topics to talk about because i know controversy means. WW2 makes you look at terriorist if you look at it from other perspectives like the families who were raped killed tortured and kicked out of their homes. YOU on the other hand need to go and look at peoples comments because you overreacted

mastiffchild4978d ago

"No Russian" became gratuitous and tasteless the moment it asked you if you wanted to bother playing it. It wasn't needed for the story and could have been better done in another way imho as it offered nothing that couldn't have been told better another way, offered no challenge in gameplay terms and if you know why you couldn't just kill Makarov at the time I'd love the secret shared! Apart from anything else it wasn't convincing which adds even further to the thought that it was there(and remember the very FIRST teaser for MW2 was from that part of the game so they def wanted it noticed by the media, imho)purely to generate column inches of outrage for Acti.

IDK about MoH because, being honest, you have to have two sides in competitive MP and they did the normal thing of using the two sides from a part of the SP. I don't think that much thought went into it and to suggest it's there to encourage deeper thought about the plight of the Taliban is plain daft to me. Great big storm in a tiny, teeny, pinkie raising teacup. We need to stop reading things into games when it isn't there and no disrespect was ever meant to anyone at all-two sides are a vital part of competitive MP, these were a faction in the game and that's about it. Move along, no?

Soldierone4978d ago

Corrections need to be said here.

-You didnt play as a terrorist. Anyone that says otherwise didnt PLAY the game, or didn't pay attention to the story at all. You were an operative getting in behind enemy lines and finding the bigger truth to it all.

-You didnt have to kill anyone. In fact IW said 90 percent of the testers didnt even shoot a bullet during that scene. It was a dramatic scene, you not shooting only helped the story which has a spoiler alert.

-Movies do this crap ALL THE TIME! Yes there have been stories where the good guy is playing the bad guy and even kills people. Yes there are movies that show things much worse than this. Its common in media. Get over it, ITS JUST A GAME.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4978d ago
djmindz4978d ago

i don't get whats all the fuss about, first of all we already had a game were you could play as an terrorist "insurgent" vs US marine core

its called Insurgency its a HL 2 mod it has maps of iraq pakistan and afghanistan nobody said anything about the game and it was released in 2007 when USA was already fighting iraq & afghanistan this Medal Of Honor damage has to stop

Dead_Cell4978d ago

It's just a character skin, EA isn't exactly asking you to be-head somebody here.

Sharingan_no_Kakashi4978d ago

what the controversy is about do you?

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220°

EA Hopes to Use Generative AI to Drive Monetization and Make Development 30% More Efficient

Today Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson provided a look into his ideas for the use of generative AI in the company's development processes.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
thorstein40d ago

I wonder what the next buzz word they'll slap in front of AI to make it sound exciting next? "Generative" as if it's creating its own content. Lol.

Cacabunga39d ago

EA is already dying a painful death..

peppeaccardo39d ago

i have a better idea .. why the whole exec team doesn't get replaced by chat bots ?

just_looken40d ago

Though i agree the ai thing is already in other forms of media there have been ai translations/scripts/voice over and even full ai commercials aired on tv. Ubisoft has created a ai game creator story/vo/music except the building of the game

The new unreal engine has auto terrain creation tools

In the world of greed in which it is winning without any major blow back ai is our future.

everyone want's biden dead on the mic or a criminal instead of a woman and now we are getting ai everything because no one will stop watching/playing ai created media.

GamerRN39d ago

Maybe they should just focus on making good games?

Just a thought...

Kiryu199239d ago

Exactly EA are just pure evil. When they are beating Bank of America to be voted the worst company to work for that’s saying a lot

Good thing I don’t buy their games day one and wait for deep deep sale years after launch (the select few games I am actually interested in)

Gaming is making so much money yet the greed of these companies is never ending

CEO’s and people on board making millions yet cutting jobs to those who are actually making the products

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 39d ago
Knightofelemia40d ago (Edited 40d ago )

EA is still a shady shitty company even with or without the help of Skynet. All they will use AI for is new ways to milk loot boxes and come up with the same sports title with a different year on the label. They are one company I truly do hate with a passion. They single handedly ruined some great franchise with their death touch. ME, Dead Space, Alice Returns, Dante's Inferno.

Stuart575640d ago

EA layoffs followed by 'Generative AI to Drive Monetization'

I knew it. Wonder what AI salary looks like? Nothing.

ChasterMies39d ago

I having a feeling that most of the layoffs in the industry are based on the idea that AI will do the same job for less.

DarXyde39d ago

Very likely, yes.

Made worse by the fact that the execs aren't changing their compensations.

My deepest fear at this point is that we are now in the capitalism endgame.

At this point, we really should just burn AI to the ground. Executives cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
How are those people expected to support families if everything gets automated?

Barlos40d ago (Edited 40d ago )

And take away creativity, and people's jobs as we've been seeing. Got it.

No thanks. I want my games created by people, not AI.

CobraKai40d ago

Exactly. If or when games start becoming more AI than people, im done with gaming. AI and companies like EA can suck donkey d***k.

just_looken40d ago

Though i agree remember this is no ps3/360 era were we got up to 3 games in one generation from on developer like gears/halo/bioware/sony/ms

The people today are pro esg/sweet baby for the most part AAA gaming is imploding right now.

We should be stepping back re evaluate everything as a whole this year xmen 97 written/directed by a woman that is nuts and its also being made by a group reshaping bodies to be less sexual like wtf. A dam famous cartoon from the 90's is being rebuilt with millions spent to be worse in everyway.

Gaming/movies/tv shows made today are worse than what we had 7years ago ai won't change this but that ai is also being made by these groups so either way we are screwed.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Eonjay39d ago

Don't be of afraid of women. Sexy characters in games and movies still exist. Got my Stellar Blade on preorder!!! Everything all the time doesn't need to be sexual...that's stupid, childish and dull.

Chocoburger39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

EA doesn't want to lose their title of worst gaming company ever, always trying their best to remain the champs!
What's sad is that they have so much potential to be a decent publisher.

SSX Tricky / SSX 3
Def Jam Vendetta / Fight for New York
NBA Street
NFL Steet
Mirror's Edge
Bad Company
Burnout 3 / 4 / 5

Remember when EA used to be awesome? It's all over with now. Unpolished, if not out-right broken games these days. Endless monetization and gambling in their sports games, and let's not forget wasting hours of your life trying to unlock characters or equipment using "surprise boxes!"

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80°

EA And Sony Layoffs, Entertainment News And More Skewedcast

Gareth, Justin, and JoeyZ look at Layoff news for EA and Sony and reasons behind the downturn in the industry and more.

220°

EA - Continuing to evolve our business and teams

EA CEO Andrew Wilson writes: "In this time of change, we expect these decisions to impact approximately 5 percent of our workforce. I understand this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and have made important contributions to our company. While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter."

LG_Fox_Brazil47d ago

All the big ones doing the same stuff. Terrible. I just hope that all these people are able to get a new job as soon as possible, God know that it is horrible to be left jobless when you have your kids or your parents depending on your financial help

Jin_Sakai47d ago (Edited 47d ago )

2024 so far.

Feb ’28 Electronic Arts (EA) 670 (5%)
Feb ’24 PlayStation 900 (8%)
Feb ’24 Vice Media Group Several hundred
Feb ’24 Buzzfeed 16%
Feb ’24 NowThis 26 (50%)
Feb ’24 Paramount Global 800 (3%)
Feb ’24 SiriusXM 160 (3%)
Feb ’24 Snapchat 10%
Jan ’24 TechCrunch 8 + subscription product
Jan ’24 U.K.’s Channel 4 200
Jan ’24 Business Insider 8%
Jan ’24 Microsoft Gaming 1,900
Jan ’24 Riot Games 530
Jan ’24 Sports Illustrated Possibly all
Jan ’24 YouTube 100
Jan ’24 Pitchfork (Conde Nast) Undisclosed
Jan ’24 Universal Music Group Hundreds
Jan ’24 Discord 17%
Jan ’24 NBC News 50-100
Jan ’24 Audible 5%
Jan ’24 Google Hundreds
Jan ’24 Amazon Hundreds
Jan ’24 Duolingo 10%
Jan ’24 VideoAmp 20%

DATA AS OF FEB. 28, 2024

outsider162447d ago

Is it possible maybe this whole ai thing is in play?

just_looken47d ago

Another long list that skips over UPS cutting 12,000 jobs those workers as we know work without ac low pay and old box trucks but that company had to cut 12k jobs do too loosing billions of dollars year 2 year.

https://edition.cnn.com/202...

The greed and lack of transparency/oversight is disgusting.

Ups are still making bang but not enough for a golden boat fleet.

Remember we all use ups at some time even stuff in our stores this is going to be a huge issue gong forward i know in my area they removed half the state ups stores northern half least population got some 3rd party running packages now from minivans.

Sonic188146d ago

When I explan this I get called a troll 🤔 like wtf

thorstein46d ago

@just_looken

UPS is a different story altogether.

They are paying the people doing the actual work/ earning the money more and eliminating management.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 46d ago
CrimsonWing6947d ago (Edited 47d ago )

You do realize around this time this happens all throughout many industries (not just the game industry), right? It has to do with taxes for these major companies, like tax subsidies for downsizing. You want to know a little secret? Around May or so you’ll see a spike in hiring…

It blows my mind that people are oblivious to corporate workings.

Andrew33647d ago

So over 25 huge companies cut jobs every year like this and it only got noticed this time?

CrimsonWing6947d ago (Edited 47d ago )

@Andrew336

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Google it up if you’re uninformed of how corporations work. Only gamers seem to live in a bubble and when they see things like crunch, acquisitions, and lay-offs they act like this is the only industry it happens to and how shocked they are about it.

Welcome to the real world, kid.

thorstein46d ago (Edited 46d ago )

EA CEO Wilson's total compensation was 20 million. Let's take away 19 million (I'm sure he can survive on 1 million.... somehow).

1 million is the salary of an in the chair developer @100,000 for 10 years.

He could earn 1 million a year.

And save the jobs of 15 in the chair devs for A DECADE (plus benefits) with ONE YEAR'S compensation.

RhinoGamer8847d ago

No Executive accountability or firings I see...

just_looken47d ago

Do not worry they will take over 40mill say sorry then get hired by playstation or xbox

blackblades46d ago

I heard Japan does it better, they do layoffs like what's happening with companies in the west. The higher ups also being agreeing to to lower there own salary. These MFs like jim and Phil isnt gonna do that they want that $

Sonic188147d ago

Like I said earlier, this is happening all around the gaming industry.

Petebloodyonion47d ago

The point I feel is problematic about all of this is that focusing on Owned Ip means more sequels, remasters and more of what was selling last year.

TheColbertinator47d ago

EA is certainly among the worst,if not the worst

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