Facebook has removed a virtual reality shoot-em-up experience from a tech demo at a top American conservative conference after recieving criticism for being "tone deaf" following last week's deadly school shooting in Florida. The social network has a presence at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) conference in Maryland, this week, including a booth running a demo of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. This demo included a first-person shooting game.
People on Twitter have criticised Facebook for running this demo so soon after the deadly shooting attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.
The game, Bullet Train, was just one of a number of standard Oculus games/demos that Facebook has included at public events. In fact, Bullet Train has been around since 2015, and the team that made it released a full game called Robo Recall, funded by Oculus:
The game will be an Oculus exclusive — that company is funding its development — and the five-to-ten-person team that created Bullet Train has ballooned into a full 15 person team at Epic in order to turn this into a real game with a release date in "early 2017." It will include a number of graphical jumps from Bullet Train, and this benefits Epic in other ways as well.
Yet, Facebook still tried to distance itself from the original demo:
The demo for the game, called "Bullet Train," is being developed by a third-party game-maker, not Oculus, the company said.
Why is Facebook at CPAC? Probably as part of an ongoing effort to placate conservatives angry at the platform.
This comes a few months after the Puerto Rico hurricane VR debacle.
Also at The Guardian and The Hill.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:09AM (8 children)
Just some examples of snowflakes being oh-so-offended by the microaggression of having a shoot-em-up game present in a certain location. This is justified because offense is given and not taken; they were forced to be oversensitive little wimps. For the oversensitive conservatives, this makes them all too similar to the 'SJWs' they criticize. For anyone else offended by this, they're just as moronic as usual.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:19AM (7 children)
Have you all EVER.
BEEN INSIDE.
COOOOONTOWN?!!YYYYEEEAHHHH?!
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:47AM (6 children)
A sickening crack was heard. The sound, which had never been heard before until now, continued without end as the man rapidly brought down his fists of justice upon the sow's face...
A man - a champion - reclaimed his freedom that day.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:23AM (4 children)
This guy routinely gets modded as "spam". But, he is truly perverse. He seems to epitomize the term "misogynist". Maybe the staff should capture his IP address, and turn his posts over to some police force with jurisdiction? Yeah, I'm aware that the hateful little shit probably only comes out of his mama's basement when she lures him with cheetos. Still, I can't help wondering how many women he has assaulted when he does come out. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that he's from Cleveland. http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-criminals-that-prove-cleveland-is-the-serial-killer-capital-of-america.php [toptenz.net]
(Yeah, you can read the link - toptenz dot net - it's a clickbait site. Don't allow scripts, and block ads, the site is alright - my computer is fine
disconnected
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:33AM (1 child)
I don't think we have any plans to collect IP addresses ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jOqOlETcRU [youtube.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday February 25 2018, @09:45AM
If the administrators turn everything over to my FBI, there will be a full & prompt investigation. I'm joking, obviously I'm joking. It's no joke. My FBI is VERY WEAK & INEFFECTIVE because they're busy with the so-called Russia investigation. They're supposed to be working for me, instead they're "investigating" me & my people. Big reason why all those children -- 17 children, as everyone knows -- were killed in Parkland!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:41AM
Nah, I don't think so. [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by unauthorized on Sunday February 25 2018, @03:38PM
It is obviously a troll. Someone sufficiently retarded to be that obstinate wouldn't be able to pull off proper punctuation.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:26PM
With a jolt the man woke up. Never had his dreams been so dark. He thought back to recent events trying to figure out why such disturbing imagery was floating around his head. Being a reporter he frequently would read and view all sorts of need, but he paused when he recalled his visit to Graceland. He was covering the NRA rally and he started to recall some of the conversation s he'd overheard. One from a dick farmer who put down his animals with his bare hands, a true psychopath. He'd barely understood any of it as he was also near a man going on about his crazy ex-wife. Seems the NRA events truly are good indicators of mental illness. The man drifted back to sleep a little less sure of himself after seeing how darkness can enter the mind.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:09AM (17 children)
You wouldn't normally have a gaming company at CPAC, or criticize a VR first person shooter for basically existing. But that's what happens when Facebook gets thrown into the mix.
This is basically just a way to shame Facebook for being involved with CPAC.
Facebook might actually see $2 billion or more value from its acquisition of Oculus (they will need to get many millions of people buying the cheaper headsets [techradar.com] and provide a platform with a lot of 360-degree content). But it could be a long and stupid road to that point.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:34AM (1 child)
He slammed and he punched until a cracking sound was heard. The cracking soon turned into smashing, as a hard component within the toy had caved inwards...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:36AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW-BU6keEUw [youtube.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:35AM (13 children)
A man could be seen strapped to a thick metal bar. This man was no ordinary man; he was a Soyllectual. One arm of the enigmatic machine forced the Soyllectual's mouth open, and then a tube was inserted down his throat. A mysterious liquid passed through the tube and into the Soyllectual's stomach, filling his body with goodness. Content. Beautiful Content. Stellar Content. Consume it all! Consume all the Content, you insolent Soyllectuals! Get pregnant! Get pregnant!! Get pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:41AM (12 children)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kppx4bzfAaE [youtube.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:08AM (11 children)
The thing I find most amusing is that these folks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kppx4bzfAaE [youtube.com]
actually have *better* rhyming skills than this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW-BU6keEUw [youtube.com]
Which doesn't surprise me even a little.
Regardless, it goes a little bit like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjJvBarVRss [youtube.com]
And it goes a little bit like that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX9FXinBkbg [youtube.com]
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:53AM (10 children)
I'm just gonna have to assume all of the videos linked above are rickrolls.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:00AM (9 children)
If that's what you choose to believe, then by all means, do so. It's no skin off my nose.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:10AM (8 children)
Except that it means that SoylentNews is dead. This sickness is enough to disgust and drive away the most dedicated Soylentil. We need a deletion mod. If two Soylentils agree, the post disappears. Maybe three, or four, or some other number. But there are things that should not be here, at all, ever. Or we, and Ethanol_fueled, are tainted forever by them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:20AM (1 child)
Please create a -5000 'moron' mod, for goodness sake!
My kingdon for a 'moron' mod!
(Score: 2, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday February 25 2018, @09:25AM
"Kingdon," I love the sound of that one! Reince used to call me the King when he was kidding around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @10:27AM
Bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!
Kissy, kissy baby!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:30PM
Is this really just some pissing match between you and EF about who is the better troll? Cause answer is EF, these violent fantasies are hardly worthy of troll, like yo mama homes at a roast, or poop jokes at the dirty comedian awards.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday February 26 2018, @01:29AM (3 children)
I agree - we should be deleting these posts. They serve no purpose other than to drive readers away from the site.
However, the site has repeatedly held itself up as a bastion for the 1st Amendment, and has repeatedly stated that it will never delete a post.
We have a problem. The 1st Amendment wasn't written with trolls in mind. It's a fine ideal, however deserves scrutiny in this context. Of course, soylentnews isn't the government, so can do whatever it likes with the posts on this site. Perhaps it's time for a poll (no ACs) to determine whether obvious troll content should be deleted? What's the difference between blocking an IP before the post and deleting after the post?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Monday February 26 2018, @05:59AM (2 children)
I disagree. Trolls, cranks, dickheads and morons are *especially* the demographic for the First Amendment.
This is because their speech (as this discussion is making obvious) contains descriptions and expression that just about everyone finds offensive, annoying, childish, etc., etc., etc.
If we don't protect *unpopular* speech, we weaken the foundation for protecting other speech. Contrariwise, when we support all forms of expression, we keep that foundation strong, protecting *all of us* against the use of censorship, criminalization of expression and other authoritarian mechanisms of control.
That said, you are absolutely correct, SoylentNews is not a government entity and, as such, is not bound by the strictures of the First Amendment. Fortunately (IMHO), the management has decided that it prefers freedom and liberty over order and avoiding offense.
Myself, I read each and every one of those hateful, disgusting posts. Does the content offend me? Offend is too strong a term. Rather it saddens me that someone feels the need to express such hateful and nasty stuff, either because they wish to attract attention to themselves (in which case, this whole conversation is giving him exactly what he wants -- perhaps you might want to consider that possibility), or they actually hold these views. If this person does hold such views, they are obviously disturbed and, quite possibly, a danger to others.
If the former is true, don't give this asshole what he wants -- attention. "Don't feed the trolls" is cliched, but like most cliches, it's also true.
If the latter is true, I suppose it's better that such a scumbag be posting that drivel here than actually out in the streets looking to do violence to others. If it were possible (but things like Tor make identification quite difficult), it might be worthwhile to identify such individuals and report them to relevant authorities.
If we decide that deleting of posts is okay, that gives precedent for a privileged group to delete posts -- which threatens to make this site a reflection of the specific views and predilections of that privileged group, rather than the freewheeling discussion site that we *choose* to visit.
I'd argue that our moderation system can (and does) handle this sort of thing pretty well. I've rarely read a discussion thread where this piece of shit's drivel hasn't already been modded to oblivion (it doesn't take much, as it's always an AC post) and if I find that it hasn't been, I'm happy to spare a mod point to do so.
There are quite a few folks (not all of whom post as AC either) who spew hateful rhetoric (sexism, white "superiority", religious/ethnic/melanin discrimination, demonization of those who disagree, etc.). Shall we delete their posts too? If so, where does it stop?
I understand and even sympathize with your frustration and disgust with Mr. "I hate women." However, I believe that censoring that asshole creates the risk that any or all of us could be censored. And that's not a risk I think we should take.
I'd certainly welcome your thoughts and reactions (although what I "welcome" is unimportant -- you have just as much right to express yourself as anyone else).
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Mykl on Monday February 26 2018, @11:38PM (1 child)
You're absolutely right - we invite ourselves to travel down a slippery slope when we decide to censor anything.
However, SN has already started that journey with the blocking of a certain author who liked to discuss the genitalia of a particular racial demographic and their preference for youthful sexual pursuit. SN also blocks posts that include the name of a particular book in the Bible. This series of posts will be a little trickier to filter, but I see no reason why Mr. "I hate women" should stay here when we have removed those others (who, frankly IMO, were far less offensive).
The alternative is that we can stand firm in our conviction to defend to the death the right of others to say anything, and admire the barren wasteland that SN will become as people give up on this hate and abandon the place.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday February 27 2018, @12:31AM
You make several good points. Thanks for sharing them.
While I think the moderation system is the best way to handle that sort of thing, you may well be correct that some folks may abandon the site.
It might even be that the same jackass(es) who were posting the stuff that's now filtered is(are) the one(s) posting the drivel du jour.
I'm unconvinced that deleting or filtering posts will make a difference in the long run, but it's not up to me.
Taking such actions could well be the goal of the scumbag(s) who are posting this garbage.
I also worry that deleting posts might end up stifling satire.
I guess we'll have to see what those with the power to make such decisions actually decide to do.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:10AM
You wouldn't normally have Facebook associated with Canadian Parliament [www.cpac.ca], either, yet here we seem to be. (I don't see anything about Facebook or VR games there, but I'm blocking scripts and ads, so it's not too surprising.)
(Score: 3, Touché) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:34AM (9 children)
Folks, the explanation is very simple. They couldn't have the shooting game because they weren't allowed to have their guns. That's right, #CPAC2018 [twitter.com] was a GUN-FREE ZONE. Sad! But I gave a tremendous, tremendous speech there. youtu.be/ixS9QoPs35M [youtu.be]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:36AM
It's virtual. But it's also reality.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by Captival on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:42AM (3 children)
Obviously any gathering of conservatives must be gun free. We all know what crazed nutjobs like you vile scum Liberals will try, given half a chance. Just ask Steve Scalise.
(Score: 4, Touché) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:57AM (1 child)
But the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Or a crowd of good guys with guns if one [nbcnews.com] or more [cnn.com] have to run away. 🔫💥🇺🇸
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:12AM
Bah, stopping bad guys with guns is easy. But how do you stop a bad guy with a video game if all you have is a gun!
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday February 25 2018, @08:31AM
Steve Scalise, braver than all of us. He had a more rough year -- last year -- than most of us. That is one way to lose weight. Not a good way. Not good at all.
Never Trump, I'm sure you remember the Never Trump folks. And maybe, probably, you are one. Let me tell you, there's not many left. So many came around. Even Lyin' Ted Cruz endorsed me. But 2016, it was bad. Very rough. I was invited to CPAC that year. But my campaign guys told me, don't go. Because they thought we'd run into so many protesters. From the Never Trump folks and from the alt-left. And if I'd gone, let me tell you, I could have stood in the middle of CPAC and shot someone, and I wouldn't have lost any votes -- not one. But I couldn't do that. Because it was a gun-free zone in 2016 too. So I stayed away.
But people were talking about me. Because a couple of alt-left guys were there, badly damaging my trademark. They were passing out Russian flags with my name -- TRUMP -- in Fake Gold. The Russian flag, as everyone knows, is red, blue and white. 🇷🇺 Same colors as my campaign uses. And everyone knows I love gold -- who doesn't love gold? Maybe there's somebody. Trust me, there's nobody. You see TRUMP in gold, you know it's me. And these alt-left guys must have thought, conservatives are DUMB. And can't tell gold from Fake Gold. They weren't dumb, they could tell. Some people got fooled, not everybody. And those Fake Flags got rounded up. I wasn't there but I'm very proud of that. Although it got the so-called Russia investigation started.
I've spoken so many times at CPAC, the friends and the memories are VERY SPECIAL. And it was beautiful this year, I think we had 4 protesters. There was one guy, he booed me. So they took him out, very quickly. They were very nice to him, believe me.
And I said to the folks at CPAC, remember when I started running? Because I wasn’t a politician, fortunately. But I started running and people would say, “Are you sure he’s a conservative?” And I said to CPAC, I think now we've proved that I’m a conservative. And there was a HUGE round of applause. So, Never Trump? That's very 2016 of you. But you be you!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:49AM
A true visionary [youtube.com] saw you coming long ago, Donny Hairboy.
I think you'll find the themes quite familiar.
(Score: 4, Informative) by stretch611 on Sunday February 25 2018, @06:35AM (2 children)
You are correct.
It was so bad, that the NRA gave a presentation of an award to Ajit Pai... Yet, couldn't give him the actual award because it was a handmade long gun. (Story: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/02/nra-gives-ajit-pai-courage-award-and-gun-for-saving-the-internet/ [arstechnica.com] )
Pretty hypocritical... Being the stewards of no gun control, but refusing to let guns at their conference... Also with their attitude towards the video game.
However, it might just be trying to discredit their scapegoat du jour... after all, it wasn't access to guns that caused the Florida school shooting, it was Video Games [kotaku.com]
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @12:49PM (1 child)
The problem is never the availability of an object that can be abused, it's always the abject moral failure of the person misusing the object.
Clearly, video games, dancing, mental illness, foreigners, and city folks are all instruments of the devil that won't want Trump to lay the foundation for the golden path to allow Pence to be president. But once he is, the holy war will need all of the righteous to be well armed, you know. Ajit is just a tool at this point because he happens to be americanized and in a position of power. once his work is done he'll be comfortably discarded and he can do what he likes as long as he isn't in the way.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:36PM
I do wonder if such crazies as you pretend to be really exist. Maybe that's why they don't want better gun licensing, they know 90% of themselves or their friends will be denied, and probably 25% thrown right into Looney bins for being radicalized domestic terrorists. That's right, you crazy fucks are two steps away from being hillbilly Isis, and you getting thrown into a deep hole might be worth the police state fuckery we'll have to fight our way out of.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday February 25 2018, @02:05PM (2 children)
Facebook is singularly hapless when it comes to their corporate PR and image management, aren't they? First they want to censor wrongthink, then they back off. Then right after another tragic school shooting, they stage a demo of a VR 1st person shooter. Whoever manages their PR should be fired, because they do a terrible job and are pissing off everyone, and not in a principled, "we believe in doing the right thing no matter what" kind of way.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @03:19PM
Right, they should've staged the demonstration in a week without mass shootings... waitaminute.
I don't like defending Facebook, but with the frequency of school shootings and mass shootings in the US, it's literally impossible to do anything without it being "right after". According to the Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], there have already been 9 school shootings in 2018, three of them with fatalities.
Maybe they just should've staged the event in Canada or something.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday February 25 2018, @07:25PM
More like they staged a demo of everything available to play on Oculus. Only they did it at the "wrong place and wrong time".
If it was Comic Con instead of CPAC, I doubt anyone would have noticed or cared.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @11:06AM
... is the notion that Facebook has 'respect' for anyone.