Warshame: Cyberpunk Nightmare & Collective Punishment

Below is a post I wrote on the Warframe Forums. It took Digital Extremes (DE) about 15 minutes to censor and remove it. If this was my 15 minutes of fame I’ll take it :)

I am ashamed to admit that with more than 800 days in I could not stop playing Warframe, I am just too addicted at this point :| The rest of my promises I can and will keep.

On the other hand I am happy that I am not alone with my sentiments. Unfortunately unlike smarter people I did not take a drink of water, did not go outside, and did not touch some grass before starting to rant and rave. Must be those Eastern European genes ;) Regardless, I do stand by my comments but kudos to Upper Echelon Gamers for expressing the problem I wanted to point out more eloquently.

See my deleted post below the embedded video. I also included some of my Warframe pictures related to the topic at hand for your viewing pleasure at the end of this post.

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DE,

Games and gaming, including Warframe have been my refuge from all the craziness going on in this world in the last couple of years. Since the war started in Ukraine my escapism switched into overdrive. When not playing I am in a general state of depression, I sleep bad, I have dreams about war, all the bad stuff. I am absolutely shocked and disgusted by what is happening in Ukraine and my heart is in constant pain for all the refugees and casualties of war.

Adding insult to injury I never thought that I will get to live and experience the cyberpunk dystopia I read about in sci-fi books in my formative years where corporations made the societal decisions instead of statesman. I was obviously wrong.

With that prelude let me get to my point.

I am absolutely astonished and disgusted by DE's decision to deny innocent Belarusian and Russian Warframe players a chance to escape the harsh reality they are facing caused by their leadership.

If DE said in a statement that they cannot support players in these countries because of the financial restrictions placed on them that would be one thing but in their statement they say:

Additionally, we have made the decision to further support victims of war by suspending all payment options in the Russia and Belarus regions, including Platinum and Bundles offered through our first-party partners, the in-game Warframe Market, and those directly available through Warframe.com.

Reference:
IMPORTANT UPDATE - Digital Extremes’ ongoing support for Ukraine
https://www.warframe.com/news/important-update

It is wrong on so many levels that instead of going on a long rant I'll just put my grievances in a list:

[ ] It is one of the most cruel pieces of virtue signaling I have ever seen in my life.

[ ] It is collective punishment:

Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member of that group, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends and neighbors of the perpetrator. Because individuals who are not responsible for the wrong acts are targeted, collective punishment is not compatible with the basic principle of individual responsibility. The punished group may often have no direct association with the perpetrator other than living in the same area and can not be assumed to exercise control over the perpetrator's actions. Collective punishment is prohibited by treaty in both international and non-international armed conflicts, more specifically Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol II.

Reference:
Collective punishment - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_punishment

[ ] I do understand the good intentions but quoting Nora:

"You know what they say: 'The road to good intentions be paved with hell.'"

[ ] It is absolutely counterproductive and instead of what I think it is intended to do -- show support, solidarity, and a desire for peace -- it just pits people against each other.

Before I go two personal notes:

I do not want a make a big deal about it but I cannot resist mentioning it: as a resident of Hungary, a country neighbouring Ukraine, I believe I have a lot more at stake and things to worry about than DE. As a private citizen I would absolutely take sides on the leadership of the countries involved in this war -- I do strongly support Ukrainian independence -- but I would never resort to taking sides between the innocent civilians of these countries.
Just so you, DE, can try what you are doing on for size. What if I blamed all of you and all the citizens of Canada with supporting a dictatorial regime when your prime minister basically declared martial law against your fellow countrymen recently without actually being at war? You probably would not like it and think it was unjust. I do not but I hope you catch my drift.

And with that said I will stop playing Warframe, recommending it to my friends, let alone paying for Warframe content until DE shows some compassion and revises their statement on innocent Belarusian and Russian Warframe players. I understand not going against the flow and do not and cannot ask them to go out of their way to support Warframe players in these countries but I absolutely cannot stand for this sowing of division, especially in one of my favorite games. If DE cannot properly support these players because of issues beyond their control just say so. Feel free to pick sides and pass judgement on the leadership of the warring countries but not on their people.

I'll watch this space to see if DE revises their statement to be fair and factual and if so then, and only then may I consider returning to one of my favorite games, if ever.

I know I put my over 800 login days old Warframe account in jeopardy with this post but I must raise my voice in the face of such blatant injustice.

Feel free to censor this post, lock comments, delete my account, whatever. But know that if you decide to do so you will be proving my point.

In hope of peace, living together without prejudice, and freedom of speech,
Zim

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