Some moral questions by a German...

sordid · 08-17-06, 05:24 AM

First of all - if you find something I write offending, this might be due to my poor command of the English language. So when in doubt, before getting angry, simply ask what I actually meant.
I am a German citizen, born in 1975.
After this disclaimer now for my actual question:
Why do so many people here obviously enjoy taking the role of a German soldier during WWII and what are your feelings towards this rather delicate detail?
Having read this forum for the last few days almost excessively, I am absolutely sure that the vast majority of players here is aware of the German history, at least concerning the Third Reich.
When reading forums that deal with landbased warfare games, you easily get the impression that many people, especially Americans, would absolutely refuse to play as a German soldier. Now this is a pretty hard contrast to the enthusiasm I see in many fellow subcommanders here on this board.
I can imagine a few reasons for this.
Naval units, in opposite to army members, were never going toe to toe with their opponents. Hardly any visible blood, no guts flying around.
The navy was not corrupted by massacres against civilians, opposed to army soldiers.
But on the other hand, they were sinking ships full of civilians and their enormous success especially in the earlier days of the war was a pretty important factor why Hitler was able to maintain power that long and bring his wrath and destruction over the whole continent (and beyond), resulting in over 50,000,000 people dead and another 35,000,000 wounded - not to mention the tragedy of the Holocaust.
Now how do you justify playing as a member of the German navy to yourself?
Do you think the same way I do? In PC games, I personally don't care who is getting killed by whom since it's only a PC game and I am extremely fascinated by mastering the technical and navigational challenges as well as setting up traps for "enemy" escorts.
Or does anybody have a completely different approach towards this?
Well - I'm just curious!
Take care!

08-17-06, 05:24 AM	#1
sordid Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 14 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Some moral questions by a German... First of all - if you find something I write offending, this might be due to my poor command of the English language. So when in doubt, before getting angry, simply ask what I actually meant. I am a German citizen, born in 1975. After this disclaimer now for my actual question: Why do so many people here obviously enjoy taking the role of a German soldier during WWII and what are your feelings towards this rather delicate detail? Having read this forum for the last few days almost excessively, I am absolutely sure that the vast majority of players here is aware of the German history, at least concerning the Third Reich. When reading forums that deal with landbased warfare games, you easily get the impression that many people, especially Americans, would absolutely refuse to play as a German soldier. Now this is a pretty hard contrast to the enthusiasm I see in many fellow subcommanders here on this board. I can imagine a few reasons for this. Naval units, in opposite to army members, were never going toe to toe with their opponents. Hardly any visible blood, no guts flying around. The navy was not corrupted by massacres against civilians, opposed to army soldiers. But on the other hand, they were sinking ships full of civilians and their enormous success especially in the earlier days of the war was a pretty important factor why Hitler was able to maintain power that long and bring his wrath and destruction over the whole continent (and beyond), resulting in over 50,000,000 people dead and another 35,000,000 wounded - not to mention the tragedy of the Holocaust. Now how do you justify playing as a member of the German navy to yourself? Do you think the same way I do? In PC games, I personally don't care who is getting killed by whom since it's only a PC game and I am extremely fascinated by mastering the technical and navigational challenges as well as setting up traps for "enemy" escorts. Or does anybody have a completely different approach towards this? Well - I'm just curious! Take care!