• DerArzt@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    I never understood this one. Why is the Red Cross so annoyed about videogames depicting the red cross to mean health?

    • Skua@kbin.earth
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      24 hours ago

      It is, genuinely, in the Geneva Conventions that nobody should use the red cross except for to designate medical staff and establishments that are protected under the conventions. The idea is to make sure that there is absolutely never any doubt that that symbol means anything else in order to minimise the risk to those people

      • SmokeyDope@lemmy.world
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        18 hours ago

        nods and continues to use original doom wads with the red cross design for health pickups because the green one from BFG editions look like shit

      • Owl@lemm.ee
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        22 hours ago

        i look at this and nod. then i look at sponsored fortnite skins with the red cross and realize they dont give a fuck about that actually, theyre just greedy.

        • Skua@kbin.earth
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          21 hours ago

          I haven’t played Fortnite so I might be missing something, but glancing at screenshots and promotional stuff it looks like they’re consistently using white on red instead of red on white

            • psx_crab@lemmy.zip
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              10 hours ago

              Not sure about everyone else but to me using an insanely popular game to fund global non-profit organisation is kinda a good way to raise money. It’s really a weird hill to die on.

      • ThePyroPython@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Yeah they have a legitimate case for defending the use of the symbol so aggressively and the best way to avoid is to use the green and white variant that is used on pretty much every first-aid kit sold.

        Still has the desired effect for both parties.

        • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          My biggest gripe with this is games that present a historical setting, such as World War 2 games. The Red Cross was all over the place during WW2. Saying game developers cannot ever use it under any context means that a game that wants to present historical accuracy would not be able to.

          • Matriks404@lemmy.world
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            6 hours ago

            The way it could work is that they could just put a message before starting the game that the red cross is only there to present a historical setting, but otherwise is a symbol of Red Cross movement. And there could be a setting to switch to green crosses, if you want to stream, etc.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        22 hours ago

        To add, the first time I heard about it was through the video game stuff. So if anything, I think we should view them going after game devs as a form of spreading awareness. When it hits headlines it makes it clear just how important it is to not use it in other contexts.

    • ViatorOmnium@piefed.social
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      24 hours ago

      The red cross sign has a very specific meaning and protection under international law. They don’t want the symbol to be used outside of the agreed uses because they don’t want that meaning, and consequently the protection it affords, to get muddled.

      They also don’t like when a red cross is used on a random first aid kit in the real world.

    • renegadespork@lemmy.jelliefrontier.net
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      24 hours ago

      I think they were worried about their branding being associated with violence. In the 90s, there was a ton of anti-video game propaganda branding it as violent garbage that was corrupting our children.

      Ironically, video games are very good at conditioning human responses to iconography. So despite the Red Cross’ hostility, video games still succeeded in conditioning a lot of people to instantly associate plus signs (any color) with health.

    • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
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      24 hours ago

      Its pretty obvious to me.

      The red cross, red crescent and red crystal emblems provide protection for military medical services and relief workers in armed conflicts.

      Under no circumstance is it acceptable to create a situation where something could be mistakenly identified as being associated with the Red Cross. If it appears in the game it might appear on a publicly visible computer screen, poster, TV, etc and thats not acceptable.

    • Kimmie@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      i think it has to do with trademarking law
      if enough people use is to mean other stuff they can lose their trademark

      edit: i looked it up and its called genericize

  • andybytes@programming.dev
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    19 hours ago

    There never was a rules-based order. There was just America, the imperialist empire that it is. There are no norms anymore. It’s just bitches running wild… And it kind of always was like this, really. It’s just… the temperature is rising, and the events are accelerating. America, the Supreme Karen, is flailing about making a scene. She never worked on herself. And so all she can do is slap, bite, and scratch. As she falls into the abyss of her own self-awareness and Self-Hatred. So entering the stage is the kazoo man playing the national anthem trailing off, losing interest. You can hear the coughing in the audience and the crickets chirping as people are exiting out the back. A limp dick, a turd left in the bowl you flush and its legacy is the streak that is left. USAID is the CIA slush fund and charity is tyranny. A mechanism of colonizers. The world is a capitalist hellhole. War is used as a bludgeon to beat down the working class. These rich bitches might have an argument or two amongst themselves, but they understand their place in the hierarchy. They will join forces to get you to work for nothing. They all in on it. It is your kids not mine. So, I’m only gonna live so long, so it is what it is. Meh… okey dokey in the hocus pokey and you turn yourself around and that’s what it’s all about. AOC and Bernie Scamturdz is gonna save us all! hahahhahahhaha. Oh Nancy! Oh Nancy! Where are you Nancy?