Just a quick reply (so much for the last word lol). They were not all I could find, they were the result of some relatively short research into the topic. "Causality remains unproven" is not equal to "mechanism does not exist". Like with the stats on Japan, it makes perfect sense that the impact of this game would be concealed up by thousands of other factors. I make the case that it still exists, and therefore, developing/playing/hosting this game is bad.
so much for the last word lol
I got you covered.
The thing with the causality is this. They did find factors contributing to those crimes. Hard links. Not suspected links. Proven links of causality.
So you have a thing where you can easily find factors contributing to it, without any doubts.
And you have a suspected contributing factor where for decades people were actively trying to prove a link, but could not, what can be the conclusion to this? You need to consider both together. Active search without result for one factor and unquestioned results for a lot of other factors. If they could identify and blame the other factors, why not that one factor?
My conclusion is, that this factor is just not contributing. It might even be slightly negative, based on my own experiences with video games.
The science consensus is the same, but they phrase it as causality unproven. Remains unproven is even stronger, since it hints that they tried several times.
One can of course be of the opinion that those games are somehow bad. But the activists did not stop at giving the game a bad rating and maybe a concerned comment. Or better yet, ignoring the game and let it simmer in oblivion with all the other incest games with questionable plot devices. They faked evidence. They riled up a mob - with lies. They bullied credit card companies. They bullied game platforms. In the name of fighting fictional content with unproven bad consequences they justfied doing all those things. I believe that is a severe non fictional problem.
I definitely disagree, and I think that games like this do play a factor in how people view SA, and I think that it is fair for people to share their opinions on platforms hosting questionable content. But I see that you don't agree, and, while I wish you'd change your mind, I know I can't make you. Thanks anyways though.
Oh, you could change my mind. Bring forth sound arguments. Not wishful thinking. Games with bad things in it that might be a bad influence have been around for a long time. So I expect hard data backing up those sound arguments.
The possibility of bad influence is recognised by the fact that those games are adults only. And those adults can and unfortunately do those bad things all by themselves without ever playing a video game.
Of course it is ok to share opinions. But what those activists did was a bit more than that and with a bit of lying and harassment. And I am not ok with either of that. No matter their noble intentions. It especially infuriates me, when people do bad things because they act righteous.