In my younger years (read: those years before children), I must confess that I actually dabbled in MMPORPGs (that's "massive multi-player online role playing games" for those of you not in the know). Heh, a surprising number of my contemporaries--folks you'd never suspect (but you know who you are)--are regular gamers. Anyway, the concept itself as well as the technology behind it continues to fascinate me, these intricate and complex virtual worlds with thousands of real people behind the computer-generated figures. I must admit, I enjoyed exploring the worlds and how they worked more than anything else (to the bewilderment of some of my gamer friends). I didn't play too many or too long, but it was fun.Which is why a couple of items by Elliot at Claw of the Conciliator caught my eye. First, did you know the Old Testament prophet Eziekel is considered the patron saint of gamers? Click here to find out why. Heh. Also, World of Warcraft has an interesting addition: a pacifist priest. I never played this one, but I've got friends who do--and, let me tell you, that's very unusual.
Why? Elliot recalls once reading that most of these games are "designed so that your main (or only!) interaction with the world is a violent one." I don't know that I completely agree with that as the games I played often had multiple options of play where violence wasn't always the central aspect. (Though it has been about 10 years since I've played, so things could have changed.) I must admit, however, that one of the elements of the games I avoided like the plague was the "player versus player" aspect. I couldn't handle the idea of actually fighting against another person instead of a monster or robot (the usual threats in the games I played). Somehow, shooting arrows or thunderbolts at a charging polar-bear-like monster felt a lot different than crossing swords with a human-looking avatar (or even an unhuman looking one) that has a person behind it. Perhaps it was because I was a girl (as some of my friends suggested, heh). Maybe it was my Anabaptist roots and my real world convictions. Maybe it was an inconsistent sense of gameworld morality ("kill" the monsters but not the people does have a faulty logic from some standpoints). Maybe it was a combination. Anyway, I actually stopped playing one game when that became an unavoidable aspect. If I were to go back to these games, this would be a very attractive and interesting way to go. Kind of like being a contestant on Survivor with the goal of walking with Jesus. But we won't go there right now, heh.
Thank you to Elliot for these interesting God-talk connections.
