Posts tagged religion 
Free for All: A hardcore raider shines light on F2P issues
My gaming moods come and go, but generally I always avoid heavy grinding. I am 36 -- all grown up -- and the last thing I want to do is put myself into a position in a game that makes me feel like I am working instead of playing. In fact, I think participating in a heavy grind will only encourage ...
Hyperspace Beacon: A mystical energy field controls my destiny
I find it extremely interesting that the most poignant and memorable lines spoken in the original trilogy are not said by the primary protagonist, Luke Skywalker. Instead, the majority are spoken by Yoda or Ben Kenobi, and in this case, Han Solo quipped this line: "Kid, I've flown from one side ...
Storyboard: Archetype discussion - the Partisan
Clarity of purpose is a wonderful thing, made all the more likable by its usual absence. The fact is that most of us have only the vaguest idea of what to do, and we're all making things up as we go. It's the central ripoff discovered when you become an adult. Moral clarity is a joke, and whether ...
And He said unto them: "Rename The Bible Online"
While it hasn't made quite the impact one might expect from the subject matter, The Bible Online has been soldiering along since it was first announced earlier this year. Unfortunately, the game's developers have found that the free-to-play browser-based game has a problem one would never think to ...
The Mog Log: The people have spoken!
Actually, it's more like the people never stopped speaking. Because there's been quite a bit to talk about over the past few weeks, most of it circling around the enormous bursts of information coming out of the Final Fantasy XIV testing process. We've gotten our first few looks at what the game ...
Is World of Warcraft a religion?
Just when you thought you had heard it all, MMO gamers are now being called religious zealots. According to Theo Zijderveld, a grad student at the University of Colorado, gamers who experience online worlds "like World of Warcraft and Second Life" are doing so to transcend their physical bodies ...
Behind the Curtain: Religion as a game mechanic pt. 2
If developers chose to extend similar mechanics to affect players, you might find yourself being penalised for being in possession of 'forbidden' materials, whatever they may be. Mechanics might be in place to reflect how devout your character was, meaning you were actively prevented from taking ...
Behind the Curtain: Religion as a game mechanic
Should we have more religion in MMOs? I'm not talking about the Priests and Paladins we see in World of Warcraft, Everquest 2 and probably lots of other games I haven't played. Religion for character classes like these is more often than not a game mechanic, something which is used to explain the ...
With persistent worlds comes persistent racism
The promise of what virtual spaces can bring us is significant -- erasing geographic limitations on interaction with others while fostering an exchange of cultures, beliefs, and languages. To this high-minded end, millions of dollars have been spent and many thousands of hours of work have been ...
The Gaming Iconoclast: Deity not included
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. - Judy Bloom (Hey, just be glad you didn't get another Neitzsche quote*) The fantasy-based worlds our characters inhabit are, almost without exception, richly steeped in legend and brimming with lore. This is doubly true for those that have come to parturition ...
