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It's Impossible To Be A Good Person In Grand Theft Auto V
One of Grand Theft Auto V's biggest selling points is that you can do absolutely anything you want. Want to rob a bank? Go nuts. Want to play tennis? Do it up. Want to visit a super embarrassing digital strip club? Sure, that's an option too. But in 2014, YouTuber Jeremy "GoldVision" Mattheis wanted to find out if GTA would allow him to simply exist in its universe without behaving like a total maniac. So he launched "Grand Theft Auto Pacifist," about the adventures of a character named Francisco who tries to find meaning in virtual life without committing any crimes. It's like if Bob Ross did a Let's Play. And along the way, he found some interesting gaps in a game which supposedly lets the player be whatever kind of person they want to.
Francisco's philosophy of nonviolence is immediately challenged when the game's multiplayer tutorial requires him to rob a convenience store. He attempts to get around the need to point a gun at the clerk by practicing shadowboxing and kicking some candy bars, but is ultimately compelled to pull out the gun. In order to atone for the mandatory violence, Mattheis has Francisco return and slowly, tediously buy 3,730 dollars' worth of $2 sodas and cigarette packs, plus a little extra to get the clerk a counseling session.
Rockstar Games
This is what redemption looks like.
While buying these sodas, Mattheis notices that the game's drinking animation makes his character toss the empty cans on the ground. Even when trash bins are near, Francisco's programming forces him to litter, further polluting the digital world.
Rockstar Games
In beta versions, this caused a crying Native American chief to appear for you to rob.
So Mattheis comes up with the ingeniously stupid workaround of having Francisco climb into a dumpster whenever he finishes a can, thereby making it drop into the garbage. In a world in which everyone is an asshole criminal, the greatest act of rebellion is trying to be a decent citizen.
Rockstar Games
Literally and metaphorically taking a stand in a garbage pile.
The best discovery Mattheis makes on his nonviolent journey happens when he accidentally runs over an NPC running across the street. Francisco parks his car between traffic and the injured person, gets out, and calls an ambulance. When the ambulance arrives, the EMTs disembark, run in little circles, then get back into their ambulance and try to drive off.
Rockstar Games
Preview of GOP healthcare.
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