Target in sight...will you do it?
 

I'm sure most of us have at least played one multiplayer shooting based game whether its online or against the computer.

I've played games like that all the time and lately it's been Medal of Honor: Rising Sun and as I was playing online on my PS2, I had this guy in sight and I just thought to myself:

Is he my friend?
Is he my enemy?
Should I kill him?

At one point time, when you play so often and asked yourself that so often that you just don't ask yourself anymore, not just because you recognize who's who but you just shoot and ask later.

So, in real life if you came across the same situation I know that's unlikly but say you got yourself into a murderous rage and picked up a gun and you point it at someone, would you think or would you shoot and ask questions later?

i dont really think about it before i kill people. i recognize instantly if target is enemy/friend. most cstrike servers dont ff enabled, so i'm cool either way.

Depends.

The US military tries to make it a purely reactionary action. In basic you shoot at siloets (sp?). This causes muscle memory to take over active thinking, causing the action of seeing/aiming/firing to be cut down to almost instantaneous. Of course this causes dangers of friendly-fire, but is lessened by strict and repetative training. Added to this the US takes into account creating helmet and equipment designs that are different enough from most of the world's military to allow what is called hand/eye instant interruption (your hand stops firing before your brain even realizes it's a friendly). Hard to explain to most people, but even CS players have it if they play FF on for more than a few games.

The average person without this muscle-memory training actually hardly fires in combat. The training above was created because studies after WW2 showed less than 1/4 of soldiers in combat fired their weapons, most were too afraid, thought too much, or were too worried about shooting friendlies that they just aimed down field and watched.

So, hense the answer depends. CS is nothing like the real thing, explosions, noise, pain, none of these can be convayed in a video game.

If I were in a murderous rage then there wouldn't be such a thing as friend/foe, they'd all be targets and I wouldn't have to think about it.

If this was say a combat situation and you're trying to avoid friendly fire, then that's something else all-together. I think I could tell rather quickly whether someone is my friend or not. Uniform, equipment and such would be a give away.

I'd shoot in a half a heart beat. If you see me point
the weapon I am going to fire it. I was trained by the us
government to kill. Yes I have and yes I would again
to protect my family or my country. May god have mercy on your soul.

In a combat situation i'd think that you're going to shoot...

I dunno, i was playing SOCOM today on ps2, and i actually ID'd each of the targets before blasting them (or getting blasted) So i think that it really depends on if they're posing a threat....Mind you, i have never been in a real combat sit. :)

bring em'on

With the practice I have had IDing a target takes a split second, in low visibility situation if I am concealed I wait till I am able to tell. It all happens naturally, but If I am exposed and caught and I can't tell who it is it's shoot first ask questions later.

(This applies to paintball and the videogame Tactical Ops)

shooting a teammate in a game can't be compared to shooting someone in real life. the consequences of shooting a real friendly is much more serious than the swearing and scolding you have to suffer from a whiny teammate that turned a corner and spooked you.

I understand what Seaver means; through training and practice, determining friend or foe can become instinctual. I can instantly recognize different player models in a multitude of games from a distance, and just as quickly decide whether or not to pull the proverbial trigger.

I'd be too afraid to shoot most likely. Unless I was really scared and thought the person looked hostile, I doubt I'd shoot first.

In video games, I never end up on FF servers, so I only hold fire to conserve ammo.

In paintball, we are all easily identifiable, whether by clothing or size (my brother and I are the 6'8" guys in tan camo, the other guy has olive drab field pants and jacket.)

In real life, I would lock up any weapon I had if there were any possibility of a murderous rage. If I was in a situation where I had to kill or be killed, I would not shoot unless I was 100% positive that I would hit the target and only the target. If the target was surrounded by innocents, I would not take the shot unless I could be certain that I would incapacitate the target and have no chance of hurting the bystanders with a miss, ricochet, or full-penetration of the target.

I was never in the Military, and almost only experience I have with weapons is from video games. In other words, I've no experience whatsoever, aside from a couple of handguns and rifles that my father had.

I can play CS as much as I want and it still won't prepare me for pointing a gun at another human being. So I'd rather not speculate when I've nothing to base those speculations on.

In SOCOM 2 names are over the players, but I am aware of where my team is at all times, so I don't even bother recognizing the target. If I see some moron holding a gun that is not with me, he's getting sniped.

In real life I would be aware of where my team was. If I was not aware for some reason I would look for a brief moment for anything identifying about them.

If I was in a murderous rage I would shoot and move to a new position no matter what.

Well from BF1942, I've come into not being able to tell friend from foe. Initially I'd just shoot.... take names later.. which norally would say "GakFace Killed a Teammate" and that answers that name....

From there I learned not so much by what they look like, as again sometimes you just won't be able to notice it by clothes alone.. I pay attention to their movements.. where they are facing, where they are going.. what they are doing. Add all this up, and I've been able to figure out who to shoot.

As for real life? The closest I've gotten is Laser Tag. There, you go in not really knowing what your teammates look like.. You grab a few quick glimpses and thats about it. After that you have two reconitions, if they're shooting you and what color their pack is. Since I'm not on an open playing field but on one with with obstructions, I do my best to hide and shoot. I'm also huge on strafing (in and out of game, I strafe like mad). Because of this I'm able to think for a quick second just what i'm seeing then shoot. I tend to hold the gun in firing positition, so its just a matter of recognizing and lining up sites (at the same time). I come out with a hit on the team usually every game. Of course normally if I were to be shooting people, I wouldn't be in a small enclosed area making circles.... so I'd come into contact with teammates MUCH less. Heh I feel like a cop raiding, as I move as if i'm rushing, with my gun either low to the floor moving, or raised eye level for easy aim. On top of that... (Sadly I haven't gone in a while), but I've been called Rambo at the Lazer Arena. :D:D:D... Having 8 people stalk me because they were sick of me beating them in showdowns (all at the same time.. heh). But I spose thats another story.

Also I should point out that I'm a passive guy... I see no reason why I'll be holding a gun in the first place.. that said.. Before I shoot, I'll be damn sure I'm shooting who I need to shoot.

kill or be killed, there is no time to second guess yourself.

Hmm... I have a friend who has incredible accuracy with real firearms and with the mouse. I'm just glad I'm his friend :) God save us all if he ever goes into a murderous rage, though.

Me? Eh... well, I'm not that great at FPS games, but I have been known to accidentally shoot a friendly once, and then that muscle-memory type thing kicks in. I don't think I've ever been fully unconcious of the fact that there are also friendliest in the field, though. Gotta have all the variables running through your mind at once if you really want to be good.