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[Zaphod]

I never asked or implied dwarfs are as intelligent or sentient as us. But the dwarfs certainly think they are alive, so is that any different from us.

There was a Philip K. Dick short story, "The Trouble with Bubbles", covering the ideas of simulated worlds and their creation, and the issues surrounding such.

Wikipedia sums it up as:
"The story is set in a future where mankind has attempted to reach other intelligent lifeforms through space exploration, and found nothing. In light of this yearning to connect with other lifeforms, people can buy a plastic bubble known as a Worldcraft, the tagline of which reads "Own Your Own World!". The owner of the Worldcraft is able to create a whole universe, controlling all the variables inherent to its development. Within the universe, lifeforms just like humans exist.

In the story we see Nathan Hull, the protagonist, attending a contest to judge who has created the best Worldcraft universe. A contestant subsequently smashes and destroys her bubble after being announced the winner. Hull, feeling the immorality of the control owners have over the lives within the bubbles, works to have laws passed against creating any more Worldcrafts. At the end of the story, Hull is about to drive through a newly built underground tunnel to Asia when an unexpected earthquake breaks it up, killing scores of people."

Sounds cool, ill check that book out.
But what you describe is the issue that Im trying address.

[KittyTac]

Yes, they're different, because they can't think. Your argument makes no sense because bacteria also think they're alive, yet you have no qualms about killing bacteria. And DF characters are less intelligent than bacteria. Hypocrisy.

[Deon]

Is it ethical to take medicine to kill bacteria/viruses/parasites? Stop being an elf and go destroy a few more fortresses!
We don't take kindly to your types around here! (*shakes his axe*)

[KittyTac]

Is it ethical to take medicine to kill bacteria/viruses/parasites? Stop being an elf and go destroy a few more fortresses!
We don't take kindly to your types around here! (*shakes his axe*)

Yup.

[GoblinCookie]

Yes, they're different, because they can't think. Your argument makes no sense because bacteria also think they're alive, yet you have no qualms about killing bacteria. And DF characters are less intelligent than bacteria. Hypocrisy.

I think we are all missing the point here.  The point is not whether or then they are actually sentient beings (and easy question to answer in the negative), it is rather that they are supposed to resemble said beings.  That is to say in reality you may just be deleting bits of code, but it appears to your mind as though you were actually killing people.  If you actually kill the appearance of people in real-life, then you actually kill people rather than just deleting small amounts of data. 

[KittyTac]

It's still fine because they're not sentient and are videogame characters.

[VislarRn]

muh ethics?

Jeez... this topic is still alive?

Anyways... I hope it's not ethical, because
amount of ethics is inversely proportional to the amount of fun.

It has always been so and it will always be.
Therefore, less ethics = more fun!

[KittyTac]

muh ethics?

Jeez... this topic is still alive?

Anyways... I hope it's not ethical, because
amount of ethics is inversely proportional to the amount of fun.

It has always been so and it will always be.
Therefore, less ethics = more fun!

Agreed. inb4:

wtf is wrong with u guys?

[Dyret]

Honestly this discussion is absurd. Why are we even still debating this?

Because people who enjoy super profound postmodernist "debates" on the Internet never ask the real questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYmn3Gwn3oI

[Zaphod]

Jeez... this topic is still alive?

Don't say that. I'm trying to have a thought provoking discussion on the internet over here.

[Enemy post]

Anything I do to the dwarves is justified, as they are less powerful and cannot stop me.

[Zaphod]

Anything I do to the dwarves is justified, as they are less powerful and cannot stop me.

Fuck yes dude.

Metal as fuck.

[KittyTac]

Anything I do to the dwarves is justified, as they are less powerful and cannot stop me.

Agreed.

[GoblinCookie]

It's still fine because they're not sentient and are videogame characters.

The people who are playing the game are sentient. 

[KittyTac]

It's still fine because they're not sentient and are videogame characters.

The people who are playing the game are sentient.

I wasn't talking about the players. I was talking about the characters. DF is a single-player game, and the characters can't stop you, so everything you do to them is fine.