Do the 5 precepts mentally apply to video games?
If u/Bhikkhu_Anigha could give their thoughts on this, it would be much appreciated.
I'm not necessarily talking about bodily or verbally breaking the precept. I'm mainly asking about mentally breaking the precept through the related unwholesome intention that the HH virtue wiki mentions.
I can't help but think that killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, or even consuming intoxicants in a video game requires unwholesome intention in terms of the 5 precepts.
For instance, killing a digital creature in a video game. Our minds still see it as a creature that we are depriving of life. So there is intention to kill a being, even though it is technically not a living creature with sentience. So one would be cultivating unwholesome intention in terms of the 1st precept when playing video games that involve killing.
While I do understand that playing video games isn't wholesome as it's often for entertainment, I'm asking the question as a clear example of this concept that I'm not sure about. Another example would be stories where characters kill monsters. It seems to me that rooting for, approving of, or delighting in the character killing their enemies in the story would be breaking the 1st precept mentally.