Musings on the Battlefield

Millennials and the Absurdity of Video Game Violence.

Today I begin a new post series in which I will share with you some of my gaming experiences and how I believe they reflect our early, 21st-century American culture and society. Yes, I will also share my thoughts on the current debate regarding the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and gun violence in this country, as it relates to games which feature graphic gun violence like the Battlefield franchise (some may recall the controversy caused by the media over the fact that Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook murderer, was an avid "Combat Arms" player, I will address this and my thoughts on whether I believe that video games encourage gun violence in America).

I will also spend a considerable amount of space sharing with you tactics that I have used successfully and found to be very effective. Like, how to use a RHIB to destroy your opponent's position in Paracel Storm?

Today, however, I would like to tell you a story about something that happened to me recently while I was playing RUSH mode in Dawnbreaker.

I was glitching hard when I spawned and found I had no control over my movement. Two of my team who were on microphones noticed me. From the sound I thought they were both in their early teens. For a few seconds, they laughed and talked about my pathetic state. Then finally one of them said, "Hey look! I just put a bunch of slams on him so when he moves 'BOOM'." It was easily one of the funniest moments I have ever had playing the game. "Why would they want to see me blow up?" I asked myself, "It's absurd." But that's the point. They know it is absurd.

Over the past half-decade, I have had numerous opportunities as both a student and a teacher, to observe and interact with what many have called the "millennial generations," (I prefer the designation I-Gen+). This includes the age range of the young men who wished, not only to witness but, to effect my explosive demise.

What I learned from my experiences is that the millennials' approach to violence in video games often reveals their famous (or infamous) love of irony, in other words, the kids understand that the gaming world is fake and, therefore, seek ways to exaggerate that absurdity by exploiting the unreality of the gaming environment. For example, in the Hainan Resort map there is a multi-story hotel right in the middle of the battlefield. In the hotel is an elevator that leads to the rooftop.

Just last month, I witnessed a group of young players fit two quads in the elevator, take them to the top, and then drive them off roof. Why? Again, because it is funny as shit, but more importantly it is because they are trying to find the limits of the irony and absurdity within the virtual reality that they play.

Another example, but this time from BF3. I had just spawned on the beach of Operation Firestorm and was heading for Alpha when I noticed two of my team standing face to face like they were having a virtual conversation. Suddenly, one of them began to toss C4 on the other's head and upper torso, turning his compatriot into a virtual suicide bomber. Afterwards, both rushed off together, happy as clams, towards the front lines.

What do this and the other experiences indicate about the millennials and the way they perceive the violence they experience in video games like Battlefield 3 and 4? I believe it suggests that they are not only capable of recognizing the differences between the virtual reality of the game and the world outside, but to demonstrate that recognition, they intentionally amplify the unreality in harmony with their well-known, ironic pre-disposition.

Furthermore, I believe it reveals the media's claims of a direct link between violent video games and millennial violence as incomplete and representative of a misinformed bias towards games like the Battlefield and Grand Theft Auto franchises.