First, I'm mostly concerned with male protagonist rape scenarios. I think female protagonist rape is more often tied to theme, if that makes any sense. I'm not saying it's better, but it's a bit different.
Second, let's be clear what rape is (just in case). This includes any non-consensual sexual activity including, but not limited to:
"Classic": She says 'no' and you say 'yes.' Can include the victim being restrained against her will.
Unconscious: She can't say no, but she also can't say yes. This includes night time visits and drugging the victim.
Mind Control: She said yes, but only because some outside force is influencing her. Mind control, aphrodisiacs, pheromones, etc. This is often typified by the female being either unaware of what happened or even angry or regretful about what happened.
Coercion: Have sex or else. She said yes, because she was threatened.
Probably a few other scenarios, but this covers a lot of them.
Shortcut to Sex: Basically the dev wants to deliver a sex scene and they want to do it as quickly as possible. So rather than spending time explaining why the woman is consenting to sex, they just use a rapey scenario. You might consider this lazy and it might just be a dev "giving players what they want."
Rape Fantasy: The idea here is that the player is supposed to enjoy the fantasy of taking advantage of a woman. The rape is on purpose because it's "hotter" than consensual sex. This one is more believable if that's the theme of the game like being a slave trainer or some shit.
Doesn't know how to interact with human females: Pretty self explanatory. I feel like it's possible some devs honestly don't know how to write normal interactions with women. Could chalk this up to lack of experience or overexposure to pornography. They don't see why slipping drugs to the girl you like to have sex with her is a bad thing. I like it when an MC gets mad at a guy who is trying to fuck one of their potential conquests. "What an asshole, all he wants to do is fuck her." Right....
(I didn't start this thread to name and shame specific games, just to discuss the topic in general.)
[Late Edit: I'm referring to games where the non-consensual sex doesn't really fit the theme of the game.]
I believe that you are assuming that devs dont already KNOW that in real life, such actions would be wrong; and are operating this poll under the belief that devs find this activity acceptable in real life.
the three answers you give to your poll are psychologically directed, whether intentionally or subconsciously, to present evidence to your preconceived idea of what you believe the answer to already be, and a preconceived agenda, and therefore flawed; unacceptable science. not discussing objective academia. having been raped as a child, by both an older step sister and a step father; and having been falsely accused of such by a psycho ex (NOT Convicted or even charged, and she even admitted to false accusation); I've read extensively into the psychology of the subject, to try and understand why. so, to state in an academic manner, my overall understanding of the topic; ultimately, it all comes down to power and dominance, against and over another persons will or humanity. that's what rape is.
at it's most base form, a desire to enforce dominance over another person's being. To not be able to be denied. every human being suffers from such compulsions, to varying degrees. but, those who can entertain such fantasies as fantasies, are much less dangerous to society than those who don't understand such, yet have power every day and wield it unjustly... or worse, those that don't understand what power is. these 2 are more likely to commit real rape than those who have entertained the idea or fantasy. saying that someone who does entertain such a fantasy, is a potential rapist; is like saying that someone who plays CoD or counter-strike, and gets excited over a kill, is a potential murderer; or that someone who practices marksmanship at a range, is planning to kill someone.
perhaps there are those who feel they have no power, and so wish to entertain the fantasy of having it. perhaps there are those who have been raped, and carry desires to turn the tables. perhaps there are those who enjoy the thrill of being dominated (domination and power play can be a fun kink to explore with a comfortable partner, and safe words.) perhaps to some with hatred in their hearts, yes, they want to see another helpless person suffer at their hands. among many more possible, contextual, and varied motives.
criminals cops, and district attorneys, who attempt to frame or coerce their suspects by finding loopholes in constitutional rights, or violating humanity, or creating instances of entrapment to create the image or false positive of guilt; are more likely to be rapists than a person playing these games. hell, in doing so they would actually be committing a form of socio-legal rape; by violating the human and constitutional rights of a potentially innocent suspect. different methods, different effect, same psychological frame of thought. (i speak of American constitution here, yet i believe all human beings are afforded human rights and sovereignty over their own being.)
either way, it always comes down to being able to exert your power, uninhibited, and take what you want; on the most base instinctual levels. Reveling in the power you wield and the fact that you cant be stopped. the whole "not knowing how to relate to girls" narrative is bullshit, and isn't a part of rape. that may cause accidents of miscommunication and unwelcome advances for 40 year old virgins or high school to college aged inexperienced people; but would NOT account for someone going beyond another person saying "no. i don't want this", or "stop", or drugging someone to take them without consent. and yes, a horny girl can be just as guilty of such an unwelcome advance, as a boy can. also, "shortcut to sex" is more of a subcategory that fall under what I've stated in the above paragraph. EDIT: once again, using power to take what is desired. power over another is the central motivation, not necessarily attaining sex. generally, those who want quick sex are, like myself, more affluent, affable, gentler with females, jokes, smiles, and seductive allusions and invitations. why? because its a much faster road to attaining what you want, while exerting much less effort or risk to attain the desired sexual encounter.
that said, for anyone that does play a rapey game, or watch hard core rapey pornography... if you get off to it and think to yourself "i want to do this", and actually find yourself considering options or methods of doing so. seek psychological help immediately, before you fuck someone elses life up along with your own. These are FANTASY GAMES. Role playing. FICTION. if you cant handle that, then this place is not for you.
side note, with all of they rapey content in porn these days, especially involving hypnosis or aphrodisiac drugging; is it rapey for women and men to wear perfumes or colognes, containing pheromones that have been proven to affect the hormonal levels in those around them, against their will?
EDIT: i will say in hindsight however, that either the devs of many of these games have no idea how to actually woo or treat a woman, or they just enjoy making their characters to be assholes. because, yeah, there are a lot of asshole MC's.
