Cruelty to tamagotchis

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robodog

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I've heard a lot about people who try to torture Tamagotchis or to see how fast they can kill them. I don't get this. I'd like to get everyone's opinions on the subject.

Here's mine: It's wrong. There's just something about virtual pets that makes abusing them seem worse than doing the same thing to another object. Virtual Pets are designed for you to emphathise with them. They have personalities, likes and dislikes. They're as close to being alive as you're going to get in an artificial object. Because of this I don't view destroying a Tama or Furby in the same way I would a stuffed animal or action figure. With, say, a plush all you're doing is destroying a hunk of fabric. It never had a personality, it never moved or interacted with you, it's just a thing. But I think that virtual pets are more than just things. I don't like the idea of snuffing out the existance of something with a personality. Something I'm responsible for. Something that is meant to be a companion to me.

When Furbys were popular many people were taking them apart and using their parts for art projects. Some were okay with it. Others weren't. I wasn't. Destroying a perfectly functional virtual pet doesn't seem right.

I wasn't always like this. I've taken apart and destroyed virtual pets before, but I just can't bring myself to do it anymore. Not just because I'm destroying something with a personality and a life of it's own, but because someone, somewhere could get some use out of it. Even if you don't think of virtual pets as creatures worthy of respect, you have to admit it's wrong to destroy something that could make someone else happy.

So that's my opinion. What's yours?

 
In a word; disturbing.

I suppose the main people who do this sort of activity are sick, twisted people with no lives. Or just people that like suffering in the form of innocent pixels.

I agree with you completely, robodog.

 
I really dislkie the people who get an old toy out. (Tamas in particular) Then slam them to the ground.... Use a Hammer. Then I sit there if I did see someone and go, you just smashed X dollars.... Then they go so, it was fun.

I saw someone do it to a brick Digimon digivice and they almost started to cry.... Once I told them they could have sold it. (These people needed money too. They never smashed a toy again... Not to mention they find an old toy and ask me what they are worth. Sometimes offer them up to me for a few bucks. I haven't but I recommend what they do with them.

 
I agree with everyone above,

I would never in a million years smash, harm or kill a virtual pet [especially tamas] In my opinion i think it's wrong, stupid and just downright mean. A virtual pet is as good as any other living creature EG: Animals humans. I mean torturing a virtual pet is pretty much like torturing a real live pet! How would you feel if someone came along and started beating up your dog?? Exactly so why should people do it to tamas or other virtual pets?

 

Anyone who thinks it is 'fun' to smash a virtual pet of any kind obviously has no life, either that or that IS their life. So that's my opinion on cruelty to virtual pets and i hope that whoever is out there that enjoys killing virtual pets gives given a severe mental thrashing XD

 

Sakura-san123

 
I wouldn't go so far as to compare a Tamagotchi to a living creature like a dog. Even if you're one of those people who believes everything has a spirit I'd still think a dog would be higher up on the totem pole than an electronic critter like a Tamagotchi or Furby. But at some point as artificial intelligence advances we may come to a point where we may have to consider what constitutes being alive. It may not always be as simple as Flesh and blood=alive metal plastic and electricity=not alive. Of course we're nowhere near that point yet.

And I do want to point out that while I dislike harming Tamagotchis, Furbys, FurReal Friends and other physical in the real world virtual pets, I have no problem abusing creatures that only exist on a computer game such as the Norns of Creatures and the Sims. I don't care how complex people say norns are. They're just video game characters and I am notoriously bloodthirsty when it comes to video game characters. The only creatures I won't kill in a video game are dogs. Everything else is fair game. But that's just my opinion. Others surely disagree as the many flame wars over whether or not Norns were alive on usenet prove. I don't think of them as alive because they only exist on a computer screen. Unlike a Tama or Furby they don't exist in the real world. For me if I can't handle it and physically interact with it it's not real. Others don't have this criteria. It varies from person to person. Everyone has a right to their opinion.

 
I can't ever bring myself to intentionally harm a tamagotchi. I know it's just a "virtual" pet but I still feel that it's causing harm and abuse towards a pet/animal, and it's not in my nature to do that. It bothers me if they smash them too. Those cost MONEY. some people can't afford to buy those, or even find certain ones, and those ungreatful butt nuggets just sit there and destroy it. They have no appreciation for material items.

 
I wouldn't go so far as to compare a Tamagotchi to a living creature like a dog. Even if you're one of those people who believes everything has a spirit I'd still think a dog would be higher up on the totem pole than an electronic critter like a Tamagotchi or Furby. But at some point as artificial intelligence advances we may come to a point where we may have to consider what constitutes being alive. It may not always be as simple as Flesh and blood=alive metal plastic and electricity=not alive. Of course we're nowhere near that point yet.

This made me think about life in a whole new way, it only took a few seconds to read this to completely make my mind go "WHOA!" Thank you.

 
You're welcome.

It's strange but I never used to think this way until I started collecting and interacting with virtual pets. Before I'd see robots in movies and think that's while it's neat it has no more chance of actually ever existing than unicorns and dragons. Machines were just machines and that's all they'd ever be.

But interacting with virtual pets changed that. I actually found myself getting attached to these little mechanical creatures and my way of thinking changed. I mentioned that some believe that all things have spirits. Before I thought this was absurd, but now I kind of understand where they're coming from. Though we're still far away from things seen in movies like Star Wars or Short Circuit, we've still managed to create machines with personality. Machines that people can actually bond with. I find this both surprising and fascinating.

 
Hmmm, I have mixed opinions on this one..

Although I would never smash a Tamagotchi (They are getting quite exspensive), I don't really care if my Tamagotchi dies (or if I let him die); because afterall, they are only virtual pets.

 
Hmmm, I have mixed opinions on this one..

Although I would never smash a Tamagotchi (They are getting quite exspensive), I don't really care if my Tamagotchi dies (or if I let him die); because afterall, they are only virtual pets.
Interesting LongLiveTamas!!! I would mind if my tamas die, but i do agree with you on the fact that they are only virtual pets. But then again they do cost money..... Hmmmm i think i went a bit far in my last post XD.... Oh well i still refuse to smash, or harm a tama :D

Sakura-san123

 
Considering the OP,I have different views. I completely disagree with the thing about destroying a soft toy. I think this is just because I am a little quirky,but I gave my soft toys personalities,just as I did with my tamas (I think I would feel a little more for the soft toys though if they were thrown away,since I was just a little closer). Me,I would say my tamas and my soft toys have the same rank.

 
A lot of people would agree with you. There's tons of people who give personality to plush toys and dislike seeing them mistreated. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Just because I have a different opinion than you doesn't mean yours is any less valid.

 
I find it that if people choose to destroy a virtual pet that is their stupid mistake.

I don't really have problems with that as long as it isn't mine. To me they are just wasting money. I would not do it myself, unless it was worth fifty cents and a friend dared me to.

I have no trouble for dead tama's either, i'm always excited to start a new baby up. :)

However, stuffed animals are a different story.

-Oh!

 
I find this kind of thing very hard to talk about, for I have two opinions and my opinions can be expressed by showing texts that roughly express my two opinions in a clearer light.

Quote for opinion number one:

"Created in 1996 by Aki Maita, Tamagotchi made manufacturer Bandai an absolute fortune. It was hugely successful and spawned countless clones. It was the must-have toy of its day. Why is it an example of terrible tech? Because it was intensely irritating.

You looked after a tiny pixellated cretin who, after eating a variety of oversized meals, left piles of dung in one corner of his screen, each as large as the creature it came from. Owners could then punish the little swine or feed it more food. It would also wake up at 7am demanding you clean the huge load it created while you were sleeping.

The little beggars disrupted classroom after classroom, caused fights in the playground and even spawned nanny services -- where unemployed housewives charged kids their pocket money to look after the useless bastards while their owners were at school.

Nothing this pointless should be spared the stinging lash of geek revisionism, regardless of its commercial success."

Sorry, I have lost the quote for opinion number two but it's the same as Violetchilluvr3 and robodog's opinion of Tamagotchis representing real live creatures that you shouldn't harm or kill.

Unfortunately, it seems that the quote for opinion number one makes an awful lot of sense so I'm being pulled that way.

Please don't get mad at me for this and I hope that I haven't given the Tama-killing disease I got from my mom to you.

 
This is just horrible. Who would smash a perfectly good tama?

 

And dazzilitchi, your point makes sence, however most people didn't hate tamas THAT much. And selling it is much better, as you get money.

Sure, having your tama wake you up at 7 am was irritating, but not enough to make you want to crush it with a hammer.

It does cost money. But, honestly, if they want to waste $70 on a Tamagotchi iD, only to smash it, be my guest.

 
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I had a Tama wake me up in the middle of the night before. I had the clock set wrong. I took care of it's needs, set the clock right, rolled over and went back to sleep. As a general rule you're only safe waking me up if you're one of my pets ( virtual or real ). Anyone else gets snapped at.

 
I just want to make something clear. The hammer stuff IS HORRIBLE. I do not kill them in the sense that I smash them with a hammer; nothing of the sort. My Tamagotchi shells are always neat and shiny and I sometimes paint them. My Tamagotchi's screens are cleaned every day with a wet paint brush. They are kept in top condition so they last longer.

Once I saw a YouTube video of someone smashing a Tama V4.5 that had the same design as mine. If I had a YouTube account or if I ever met him, I would yell at him "DONT YOU SEE HOW MUCH FUN YOU CAN GET OUT OF THAT? THERE ARE KIDS WHO REALLY WANT THOSE SUCH AS ME IN 2010 AND YOU COULD AT LEAST SELL THEM INSTEAD OF SMASHING THEM TO BITS!!". I really hate those people who think it's fun.

But, cruelty to a pixel pet, to me, isn't as cruel as cruelty to a real live animal/soft toy. It is only in my worst nightmares that the bullies at school break into my house and crush my soft toys, because they have a personality and they are something that you have slept with every night as a young child, and that has been played with for years. Since my imagination still makes wild stories involving my soft toys and I sometimes film them, using my soft toys. They are warm and comfortable fabric that smells the same as your bedclothes, whereas Tamagotchis are cold plastic. They always have to be put away for the night. Yoy can't make up imaginary stories with them since the character never comes out of the screen. If you know what I mean, they look and smell and feel hard and unwelcome. You can never stroke or tickle your pet on a Tamagotchi and that is really unattractive.

So I'd much rather smash my entire Tamagotchi collection containing 13 Tamas including iD L, Colour and Angelgotchi than smash one of my soft toy dolphin collection containing 20 dolphins, 4 seals from when I was about 3 and 1 duck from when I was only 1 or 2. I value my real pet, my hamster, more than I would value 3 million of the rarest Tamagotchis ever.

 
I guess I didn't make my point clear in the last post...I meant to say, I have the exact opposite point of view to robodog. I have a lot to say, but expressing it properly would only break a lot of forum rules, so here is the gentlest way I can say it:

I don't think of soft toys as just "things" and anyone who says they are, I strongly disagree with and often am very angry at. My soft toys are worth a lot to me. They've lasted me more than anything else in my life has, even my home or the school I go to. Everything else has changed, but my four favourite little toy dolphins are still on my bedside table where they have been for over half my whole life. I used to sleep with them every night until the disaster when one fell down the side of my bed and got hoovered up by my mom (by accident). I've never valued Tamas nearly - half - a quarter - an eighth - as much as my soft toys.

To be honest, it just totally depresses me that someone could even THINK of destrying a soft toy. If someone broke in and decided to do it right here and now (I'm home alone) I'd probably scream and punch them. Seriously I would.

 
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