Yes, I kindly asked everyone (not a specific person) to be more careful about this sensitive topic about triggers, as comparing it with other scenes like "Abdirak" is inappropiate, harmful and looks belittling other experiences and people, who got harmed by the unexpected scene of patch 6. This can evoke depressive episodes and flashbacks to those, reading here. I didn't mean to attack, but to ask, not to do this.
I agree with GrayGhost, trigger or triggerwarnings are not just about "feeling uncomfortable" or "discomfort" or "offended by" but mainly about ptsd to avoid them reliving a past trauma or people falling back into a mental illness, that's why there are experts for that.
EDIT: For all those who want to delve a little deeper into this topic, *why* some statements like the juxtaposition of "Patch 6" (which was called here as the "face animation") and scenes like the prepared and consensual Abdirak or the "possibility" of being able to kill goblin children, or an inflationary use of the term "trigger", are counterproductive, I have a short, general explanation here from a qualified psychologist who is the head of a center for trauma management, which has an interdisciplinary structure with psychologists, psychotherapists, doctors of psychiatry and psychotherapy and qualified social educators with many years of experience.
What are triggers?
In relation to human feelings, it is actually used in psychology for things that can trigger memories of traumatic experiences.
Triggers are so-called cues. They can cause people with unprocessed trauma to be flooded with the feelings that were stored in the traumatic situation. For example, when an assault victim or a victim of sexual violence walks across the street and suddenly, unexpectedly sees a person who looks similar to the perpetrator or sees a depiction of an assault or sexual assault in images and videos that is similar to the one they experienced.
Unfortunately, the term trigger is often used in an inflationary manner and, above all, no longer in the sense that victims can be protected from triggers. The disdain for individual terms does not serve to process traumatic events, but rather leads to a reactivation of the traumatic experience.
About the question, if trigger warnings are helpful:
If used seriously, such notices can protect those affected. Because as a person affected I am not suddenly confronted with information or a depiction, but can choose for myself whether I want to do this to myself or not. A warning should specifically protect against really serious depictions. Such a warning can be useful and protective, especially if something unexpected happens in an image or video that you were not prepared for beforehand.
So the opinion of the average player who knows they don't need one should probably be weighted a touch lighter. Trigger warnings aren't just about being uncomfortable, they're specifically about ptsd and I don't feel like the general public should be the dominant voice in discussion with regard to that.
You know, I agree with you a lot. It makes me uneasy as well. I guess the reason is that trigger warnings are often misunderstood. They are there to prevent PTSD of common triggers, often DV, V and SV. It is not about censoring, it is about preventing other players getting hurt. And remember again PTSD is not the same as being uncomfortable. It is anxiety attacks, again and again, for
weeks, not sleeping, going back over and over to a violent nightmare a person has experienced in real life. It takes time and even theraphy and medicine to get out of. An elaborate, unexpected scene showing real life SV or DV should have warnings. In any game.
For the record I am a horror game fan, I'm looking forward to playing all the scary games this fall. So it's not about just being sensitive. I do avoid games with extensive and graphic SV, like for instance Outlast. And I think Outlast could have described their warnings a bit more than they have done on Steam. Some games do that, and it is appriciated.
Hope it is not too off-topic.. I'm talking in a very general sense here!
Well said, couldn't have said it better.
