Germany to ease regulations on Nazi symbols in video games.

Baby steps but progress is progress.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-08-09-germany-relaxes-stance-on-nazi-symbols-in-video-games

Am not sure it's progress.
Especially as you have a Trump avatar.

Oh well.

Ive never really cared about it much
A german cross... a german cross, be it the iron one or the swastika
Although censorship should never exist in any form other than keepin secrets so those are some good news

Wouldn't mind to have some historical accuracy tbh.

Some of the insignia give character and life to a unit without making a political statement OFC, not loads of SS symbols all over the thing.

Not like we don't already run into SS clan people or people who LARP as SS dudes in games anyways.

Well. Nothing had changed in general. It is just a kind of a signal.
In the past there was already a chance to release a game with swastikas but Publisher would have to fight in front of german courts to prove that video games are art. Till today no publisher tried such a fight and now with the changed "FSK control" (our german protection of young gamers/people) publisher could try a release a game with ns symbols as long as they can convince the FSK and the german courts that their game is kind of art. They have just lowered the barrier for games to work with ns symbols.

Butthurt about usage of Nazi symbols in legit historical simulations for entertainment purposes is highly overrated. If a historical scenario is being portrayed in video games, movies, theaters, real life ww2 simulations, nobody is entitled to get butthurt. Still don't like it? Leave, gg out, don't watch/play, etc. but, ffs, let the people enjoy the experience to the fullest historical accuracy.

Butthurt about usage of Nazi symbols in legit historical simulations for entertainment purposes is highly overrated. If a historical scenario is being portrayed in video games, movies, theaters, real life ww2 simulations, nobody is entitled to get butthurt. Still don't like it? Leave, gg out, don't watch/play, etc. but, ffs, let the people enjoy the experience to the fullest historical accuracy.

100% agree. I mean, going out on the streets and (ab)using this type of symbols etc. should always be prohibited... but seriously, leave video games just as they are in that regard as long as it isn't disturbing content. Movies in Germany are allowed to use them as well.

100% agree. I mean, going out on the streets and (ab)using this type of symbols etc. should always be prohibited... but seriously, leave video games just as they are in that regard as long as it isn't disturbing content. Movies in Germany are allowed to use them as well.

+1 to both of you

Well. Nothing had changed in general. It is just a kind of a signal.
In the past there was already a chance to release a game with swastikas but Publisher would have to fight in front of german courts to prove that video games are art. Till today no publisher tried such a fight and now with the changed "FSK control" (our german protection of young gamers/people) publisher could try a release a game with ns symbols as long as they can convince the FSK and the german courts that their game is kind of art. They have just lowered the barrier for games to work with ns symbols.

Right, the FSK control is the problem though. I think rewriting your history or pretending it didn't happen is sort of Orwellian. Why stop at Swastikas? What about the families of veterans who died fighting those wars yet we still allow German and US/UK kids to kill each other in games. Who draws the line in the sand? Who decides where it is drawn and where it stops? Seems like a slippery slope.

I thought Aerafield and Daddy-g were right on, especially "100% agree. I mean, going out on the streets and (ab)using this type of symbols etc. should always be prohibited... but seriously, leave video games just as they are"

100% agree. I mean, going out on the streets and (ab)using this type of symbols etc. should always be prohibited... but seriously, leave video games just as they are in that regard as long as it isn't disturbing content. Movies in Germany are allowed to use them as well.

The likelihood that little Helmut is going to become a NS just because OKW is OP is badly overrated.......

Right, the FSK control is the problem though. I think rewriting your history or pretending it didn't happen is sort of Orwellian. Why stop at Swastikas? What about the families of veterans who died fighting those wars yet we still allow German and US/UK kids to kill each other in games. Who draws the line in the sand? Who decides where it is drawn and where it stops? Seems like a slippery slope.

I thought Aerafield and Daddy-g were right on, especially "100% agree. I mean, going out on the streets and (ab)using this type of symbols etc. should always be prohibited... but seriously, leave video games just as they are"

We wont rewrite our history. We are always aware of this dark chapters.
But the problem is that our laws are very old. The NS symbol laws were formed back in the early days of the new german federal republic. It was allowed to use those forbidden signs and symbols for any kind of art or for historical work that wont spread the NS ideology. The laws should prevent any propaganda with those symbols.
So i think they are good laws and i wont miss them. But when they were written their were no video games.
All in all those old media laws werent adjusted for modern media. It is a process that has started 5~10 years ago. Now we got those kind of result anyone is trying to interpret as the end of the prohibition of ns symbols in video games. But with the new rules for the german "FSK control" games can try to use those symbols without getting in conflict with the german laws. It is an important step but no one should think that the new rules are "Carte blanche" for video games to use the symbols. In my option games like CoH WW2 or BF V wont get any permission to release an uncut version with ns symbols. But i think artistic games could get those permissions. At the end we have to wait for the first big publisher who will try to send in a new game with ns symbols. The result will show us what kind of a game will have a chance to get permission to use the banned signs.

The likelihood that little Helmut is going to become a NS just because OKW is OP is badly overrated.......

Well, the release of Israel DLC for Wargame had made me an antisemite for a while

Who draws the line in the sand? Who decides where it is drawn and where it stops? Seems like a slippery slope.

The lawmakers and the courts. As always.

The likelihood that little Helmut is going to become a NS just because OKW is OP is badly overrated.......

I haven't heard of many Germans going full nazi on streets just because they got to play uncensored South Park: Stick of Truth or any of the Wolfenstein games either.

I haven't heard of many Germans going full nazi on streets just because they got to play uncensored South Park: Stick of Truth or any of the Wolfenstein games either.

Just wait for the time this has come through, and then u might see us rollin, polish bois hatin, deutschland is invadin

Right, the FSK control is the problem though. I think rewriting your history or pretending it didn't happen is sort of Orwellian. Why stop at Swastikas? What about the families of veterans who died fighting those wars yet we still allow German and US/UK kids to kill each other in games. Who draws the line in the sand? Who decides where it is drawn and where it stops? Seems like a slippery slope.

I thought Aerafield and Daddy-g were right on, especially "100% agree. I mean, going out on the streets and (ab)using this type of symbols etc. should always be prohibited... but seriously, leave video games just as they are"

I've heard this line of argument quite a few times online from non germans and it's just so fundamentally wrong. History isn't rewritten. In certain cases trying to rewrite history will land you in jail. The nazi history is omnipresent in the public debate here in Germany. Your assumption about Germans blocking out history couldn't be more wrong. It's like saying the US is communist or saudi arabia a liberal country or switzerland a dictatorship. If you want an example of a country not shying away from confronting its history first country you think of should be Germany.

You're confusing two things. Nazi history and modern day right wing extremism as a topic is the opposite of a taboo here in Germany. There is still a certain sense of guilt present in German society and the general attitude is that national socialism has to be talked about regularly so it's not forgotten and mistakes won't be repeated etc etc.
You will hear this narrative all the time in Germany so it can get annoying (you can only watch so many documentaries about hitler, have so many remembrance days for nazi atrocities xyz and so on before it gets on your nerves) but most people generally agree with it.

The exertion of national socialism however is a massive taboo. To the extent that the more explicit forms are straight up ciminalized. (swastikas, hitler salute etc) If the party closest to national socialism ideologically (NPD) would gain significant followership it'd be banned in no time. The only reason it hasn't happened yet is that it's feared a ban would give modern day nazis argumentative leverage and the party is practically meaningless.

Imo CoH is different from movies or story driven video games like Wolfenstein in the sense that people identify a lot with the factions (which is retarded but they still do it). I'm not too keen on giving them the symbolic material to go with.

Nazi and germans its not the same nazi was unknown faction from moon and dead camps was polish ofcourse - result of german censorship