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Biblically Themed RPG Discussed
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an RPGRadar interview with the creators of biblically themed PC RPG Eon Of Tears. This title, which the makers stress is not "..an edutainment title or a game under the pro-Catholic banner" is set to "show known events in a new, fantasy light." The main concept behind this early-in-development Evillusion-developed RPG is that the player will "...get a shot at the biggest events in the Bible: unleashing the ten plagues of Egypt, seeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, leading the conquest of Canaan, or performing some of the miracles as Jesus Christ", and it's intended that your game actions affect your playable characters - "..a player that acts evil most of the time won't get to play Jesus, but Judas instead, or a Pharaoh's troop commander instead of Moses."
As opposed to finding how Catholicism "de-evolved"?
As a personal note I was raised Baptist, Trained Catholic ( Jesuit schools) Ordained Anglican, been a boardmember on a few Methodist churches and commities. OK now that I have established some of where I am coming from :
First the above post is not flamebait.
Second it is self-contradictory as he complains that a game such as this trivializes the Bible ( which I agree) and then says "The rest of the bible is unprovable".
Thirdly There is the suggestion that Christianity has devolved ( vis his suggestion of the same for islam) I belive this to be true from his perspective but while chritianity had gone through many changes Christianity has not, rather it is the fullfillment of Judaism. as Jesus never claimed to be a Christian but did prove Himself to be ha Moshiach ( the Messiah, in greek the Christ).
Finally Now the games/ gaming company itself. This company seems to be playing up on the heretical "Word-Faith" movement, who have brought us such memmorable tennants as the bible code, and belive it be it. As with any mythos there is a lot that can be explored, my issue with it is that quite honestly people are easily confused between myth/fantasy and reality/truth in story telling, and that it guises itself in a veil of truth while being false.
With that i think I will start my first log entry feel free to drop by my page here on slashdot later today or early tomarrow to see it and comment.
Fortunately I wont let my Karma run over my Dogma
Bad Panda! No Bamboo for you! In matters of importance ACs will not be responded to. Want to say something critical,OK
a player that acts evil most of the time won't get to play Jesus
So if I act really, reealy Evile(tm) can I play Satan?!
Market that option in the game and I'm sure sales will go up.
Lets see, we've had Black & White, and the upcomming Jason vs Freddie sounds a lot like Jason vs. Goliath. So are we looking at the next big gaming hit here: "Satan vs. Jesus" ?
"Engineers do the work of man, Physicists do the work of God"
In Poland someone wrote a game called Ja Jestem (in polish) (I am) based on biblical stories. It is non-violent adventure game in polish, and it was sold in more than 10000 copies (at least producers says so). The game had poor reviews in newspapers, but i haven't heard any Christian who would be offended by the idea (some of them were offended by quality of the game).
That is why I said "most". Not all Christians are as uptight as you. Some will like it because it is one of the few Christian games available. Some will play in the hope they will understand the Bible better--reading it doesn't necessarily help one understand it well. Some may gain a new perspective on their beliefs. Those who have wained in their faith may try it out and get a new found interest. It may even convert a few people.
Yes, maybe they will put it some sort of political crap in there. "Sect X is the only one true church." "God says gay marrage is okay." That would be bad, but I didn't see any indication of it. Also, the article mentioned a spell system in the game. If they don't do it right, even with the best intentions, it could be quite unsavory. And I'm sure no matter what they do, they will clash with some faith.
Maybe there is also something I missed because I couldn't get throught their Flash animation on the game site. I don't know. I just don't see why so many are down on any mass media product which contains Christian themes. This is one of the major reasons so many companies shy away from such products. Movies like "The Last Temptaion of Christ" (or whatever the movie was called) which show Jesus having sex with women or whatever crap they put in it (I didn't see it) should be protested. (Though a review at imdb.com suggests it may not be so bad) Or "art" which is just some idiot throwing dung at a painting of the Virgin Mary. But why projects which try to honestly portray Christian ideas and/or values?
Heya Tyreth --
... IMHO :) ) It was a cheap attempt at laughs and it got modded up just like the parent did, for similar reasons. I was surprised to check back in a couple days later and find a thoughtful response. Congratulations for making the effort, and I apologize for not responding sooner.
... perhaps I've mis-remembered it, and I'm sure I'm misquoting it. I'll try and find it for you, and if I do, I will reply to this message.
...." Come now. It's asking for trouble. And why is Job more important than his family? Why is it okay for Satan to murder his children but not him? What is God accomplishing by giving Satan that limit? It always rubbed me the wrong way.
I would send you this privately but I don't have a way to do that. I don't know if you'll ever read it.
I admire your faith, I really do. I grew up in a Christian household, and broke away from the "flock" late in my teen years, as I was exposed to thoughts that made me doubt the moral consistency of the "truths" I had been taught from childhood.
I am not amoral, nor do I come from an atheistic background. I feel I have a strong moral compass which dictates how I live my life, and I do not believe any man can say with certainty that there is no god (or that there is one, and that's where we disagree!).
I admit, I took a bunch of things I personally found distasteful about the scriptures and threw them in there with tongue planted firmly in cheek. (I wouldn't call it trollish -- I wasn't looking to outrage any Christians, just get some laughs out of some fellow geeks... if I went to BibleStudy.com or something and posted it, that would be trolling
But, no matter how well you may be able to defend your faith, nothing you can tell me will change my mind that the points I outlined (and others that I'm too lazy to look up from work) show some serious breaches in the traditional morality derived from the scriptures.
As for your points, I will try and find the scripture I once had handy, where God says something like: "And may you find joy by smashing their infants against their walls"
As for the Lot story, I had always heard that Lot was not aware his guests were Angels at the point where he offered his daughters to the mob -- that he was simply following the tradition of hospitality, that guests were placed above family. Either way, I agree that it's hard to judge the act from our own cultural standpoint. It was an easy target and I took it. No apologies.
You and I also have a different view on God/Satan/Job. The story sure sounds like "Egging him on" to me. "Look at my faithful servant
Same with Baldy. Even if they said "Your god is false and I hope you die, baldy" I think mauling all 42 of them was a bit of an overkill. It makes for a great story to scare the kids, but I think it makes a lousy foundation for a moral compass.
And you're right, I didn't pick on the New Testament. I was looking for laughs, and the OT has many more opportunities to pick fun than the NT.
Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.
I found the scripture I was looking for.
... in a very brutal and terrible way.
Psalm 137, verses 8 and 9. From the NIV:
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-
9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
In context, it's a little better than I remember it being. My recollection was that this was supposed to be the word of God, or at least the word of a prophet. Instead, the Psalmist is retelling a story of how the Jews' captors tormented them and asked them for songs of joy, and how they had no songs of joy, because they were in exile. Their only joy was in hoping that someone would someday avenge them
I was brought up to believe, "All scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching," etc (2 Tim 3:16, give or take translation). So, it was easy for me as a young adult to read this and be horrified that the Psalmist was inspired by God to wish for the death of the Babylonian infants.
I maintain my belief that the vengeful God of the OT is no model for any kind of morality.
Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.