Comments on: Happiness Is A Warm MG42

By: Kong

Kong — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:09:05 +0000

Damn I am still too stupid to figure out how to quote right. My post above should have contained qoutes from RealHorrorshow.

By: Kong

Kong — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:07:03 +0000

“Don’t mention the war” Fawlty Towers

You mean well, but as a German I cannot thank you for trying to save the Wehrmachts honour. My Granddad served in WWII from its very beginning in the east as frontschwein feldwebel. He couldn’t tell me, due to a russian bullet through his lung, which ended his career in ’44, but it is highly probable that he knew about the concentration camps. They were simply erverywhere in the country, every major town in Germany and occupied countries had a camp. Auschwitz was simply one of the biggest. My Granddad must have seen and smelled some of the smoke rising and he sure knew what that special kind of smoke came from, with his experiences of seeing people burn.
Death camps like the one in Hadamar for example had the purpose of destroying “unworthy life” and political enemies of the Reich long before 1939. A death camp in a densely populated area. Nobody knew?

The Wehrmacht was involved in many war crimes, the Nazis did not have to rely on the SS alone.

That the German people did not know about the death camps is one of the lies that enabled the western allies to rearm West Germany again against the communist threat.

Yes, the Third Reich is a major subject in school in Germany. Was at my time at least.

It is simplifying to characterize Wehrmacht in games as bloodthirsty villains – but it is something I can live with. Pretty good actually, I love to shoot se krauts once in a while.

Back on subject: whoever won a fierce street brawl knows the feeling of triumph. Pain and shame come later.

By: A-Scale

A-Scale — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:00:19 +0000

I argue that 3-7 (excepting 4 perhaps) on that list of yours is reserved for idiots and loons, sociopathic people who would end up mass murderers if there were no tangible consequences of it.

So if you don’t mind killing someone evil, or if you don’t sympathize with a member of the SS, or if you agree with the cause of a war, or if you are not squeamish about gore, you are a sociopathic murderer? I’m no fan of gore, but I’ll shoot someone guilty of genocide any day of the week. And twice on Sunday!

By: Fumarole

Fumarole — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:28:10 +0000

My girlfriend’s grandfather served in the Pacific and has related to me many of his experiences there. Not once has he said anything in detail about being in combat, though he did show me his two Purple Hearts. Somehow I very much doubt he’d use the word fun to describe what happened there.

By: D

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:35:22 +0000

With most respect to you, I completely understand why it’s fun to look back at, but what some people are arguing here is that being shot at is an entertaining passtime. (For instance, It can also be fun to look back at a job interview.)
While I can easily see that dangerous situations, or situations where you have to kill, are extremely exilarating, I think it’s a huge disconnect from reality to call it “fun.” I have never been in war and have said so in these comments, but I do know a little about what happens to the brain in stress situations. If you prefer to talk about real experiences, I’ll gladly shut up and listen :)

By: cullnean

cullnean — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:36:30 +0000

er i may have got that the wrong way round lol

By: cullnean

cullnean — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:31:29 +0000

Put your hand up if you have been to war or a warzone

i have and when you talk about it with hindsight yes those scrapes and near misses were fun when retold, heck i find job interviews worse then crossing the kuwait/iraq border, in fact the former was a rush.

By: D

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:57:08 +0000

@A-Scale
I argue that 3-7 (excepting 4 perhaps) on that list of yours is reserved for idiots and loons, sociopathic people who would end up mass murderers if there were no tangible consequences of it.

Killing is only ever a “need to do” response, never a “want,” despite however calmly you are trained to do it.
–
And oh yes theres no question that war is thrilling, and that winning is thrilling. But I think of fun as ‘something I’d prefer to do to pass my time,’ and I don’t think war satisfies that requirement for anyone.

By: thefanciestofpants

thefanciestofpants — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:07:57 +0000

@Jeremy; To be fair, the fallout world is something of a bountiful garden compared to the state of everything in The Road.

But yeah, it IS an interesting contrast. Great book, highly, highly recommended.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:20:28 +0000

Bah, link fail! It’s Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:19:52 +0000

I’d like to point out the contrast between Fallout 3 and Cormac McCarthy’s After reading the book, I’m surprised that anyone ever talks to you in Fallout.

By: A-Scale

A-Scale — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:23:59 +0000

I doubt I will. I don’t think the U.S. will start drafting any time soon, and I’m certainly not going to join. I’m not suggesting that war IS fun, just that it CAN BE fun under the right circumstances. Your argument from the getgo was that anyone who enjoyed war must be a loon, a child, or a retard. I’m simply suggesting how someone might enjoy a war, not that it is fun for most people or most of the time.