Last night I performed at an open mic night, and told a story that went over very well. Everyone loved it, and I received many compliments and was told that it was the best story that had ever been told during said open mic nights. However, despite my calm nature when I finally took to the mic, I was terrified. My heart was beating so fast I thought it was going to suddenly stop from exhaustion. As the night went on, I only grew more nervous. Each performer was more impressive than the last, and I feared as though my story would be out of place and land upon ears that didn't want to hear the silly story that I had to tell. When I finally got up there, I achieved an inexplicable level of serenity and clear-mindedness. The story went off without a hitch, and everybody loved it. So what does this have to do with video games? I'm never afraid when playing video games.
Rarely is there a moment when my heart is pounding in my chest because I don't believe that I can do something. It's because in video games, I'm not actually there. I can die, and experiment with different strategies however many times that I want without anything to lose except time. There has never been any kind of threshold that I have struggled to cross because of my anxieties or fears. It is very difficult to capture this essence of fear. I've written before about how Zelda captures fear, but it isn't quite as intense as the fear that I experienced last night. Indeed, there is a fair amount of trepidation when entering into a dungeon in The Legend of Zelda, I do not wish to discredit or diminish that, but nothing that makes me feel as though I might fail.
What I felt last night was the fear that I might embarrass myself. That people would laugh, or look down upon me for telling a story that was intended to make people laugh, in a setting where people were bearing their soul through poetry. I felt out of place. These were amazingly talented people who have honed their craft, and continue to innovate and write something new. I was a newbie in a game of professionals. Yet, I came out of that open mic night a champion. I felt calm. I felt cool. I felt amazing. When I complete something in a video game, I'm left criticizing the end of a story arc. I analyze the characters and storytelling. I haven't really felt anything similar, except when I set a new high score in Star Fox 64.
Video games are an art form, and they should be treated as such. However, what sets them apart from other art forms, is that they seek to craft an experience. An experience that is similar to the one that I had last night. Something genuine. Something that that the players can look back upon and say that their life was changed, or that they had done something amazing. In that they had overcome something that they didn't think that they could have. I want more than tough boss battles. I want more than a good fire fight. I want more than to feel like a badass. I want to feel human. I want to feel afraid. I want to feel overwhelmed, until I can break through the ceiling of oppression and opposition and prove not only to them, but to myself that I can do this. That I DID do this. Because all I'm seeing, is a bunch of pixels dancing on a screen.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Friday, April 24, 2015
You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth (Part 3): Keeping It Classy
Who are you? What do you do? Who do you think you are? Who are you to your friends? Who are you to your family? Who are you to your lover? What brings you joy? These questions are tough, strange, and irresponsibly existential. Yet, these are the questions that we must ask ourselves to find out who we are. We have already asked what it means to be in a party, and why one is in a party. Now we must ask the who.
The thing about RPGs is that there are different classes. It is part of the whole character creation process in video games. Players must assess how they are going to play, and choose a class to become or work to becoming. This is important, as this will be the character that players will be controlling them for a majority, if not all, of the game. After creating a character, you must then compile a party.
One must choose party members that compliment each other. Not telling the other members positive and uplifting things, but rather a set of characters that work well to be the most effective and efficient at removing enemies from ones path. In my game of Dragon Age: Inquisition, the game from which I have drawn the inspiration to ramble on about a basic mechanic of most every other RPG out there, my character is a rogue. I like to sneak about the battlefield and backstab enemies so that I may deal massive amounts of damage. Also in my part is a warrior, another rogue, and a mage. The warrior is the one who draws all the attention of enemies so that I can get behind them and get my backstabs, and my other party members wont get smashed. The role of the warrior is absolutely essential to controlling the battle, if she go down, it's chaos. Meanwhile, I have my other rogue, who specializes as an archer, and my mage. Both of these characters provide long range support. These two hang back and fire barrages of arrows and lighting. By the way, Arrows and Lighting is going to be the name of my band when I learn how to play an instrument. When everyone is outfitted with the best gear and abilities, we roll over any kind of opposition that we face.
When managing your characters in Roll Playing Games, you don't just manage yourself, but the other members of your party as well. It is important to keep them in good health and make sure that they are the best that they can be. You have to manage their weapons, armor, and even skills. Kind of sounds familiar, no? I think that the human thing for us to do with the people who matter most in our lives is that they are the best that they can be. Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. We want what is best for those in our lives. We may not always know what is best for them, but we still try our best. It hurts to see when those we care about are feeling down. Naturally we do what we can to pick them up.
We may not always be on the same level as them, or understand what they are going through because we don't think or function the same way that they do. Yet, we want to make sure that they are at their best, because you need them just as much as they need you. Or perhaps not, and we are just keeping them around because they are familiar to us. Life is tricky like that sometimes. In video games, you can come across new party members, and easily swap them out for old ones at the word "go", but reality isn't quite as easy. To do such a thing in real life would be cruel, and heartless, even if it is the necessary thing to do so that you can improve. Like I said, life is tricky.
So, we must ask ourselves: who are we? What role do we play? Am I a warrior surrounded by other warriors? Is my team really effective against the dragons in my life? Am I outfitted to be the best that I can be? When was the last time that I leveled up? Am I just grinding, or am I making my way through the main quest, and is my team leading me towards those goals? Video game jargon aside, seriously ask yourself these questions, and find out who you are and who you are to those around you. It could very well change your life.
The thing about RPGs is that there are different classes. It is part of the whole character creation process in video games. Players must assess how they are going to play, and choose a class to become or work to becoming. This is important, as this will be the character that players will be controlling them for a majority, if not all, of the game. After creating a character, you must then compile a party.
One must choose party members that compliment each other. Not telling the other members positive and uplifting things, but rather a set of characters that work well to be the most effective and efficient at removing enemies from ones path. In my game of Dragon Age: Inquisition, the game from which I have drawn the inspiration to ramble on about a basic mechanic of most every other RPG out there, my character is a rogue. I like to sneak about the battlefield and backstab enemies so that I may deal massive amounts of damage. Also in my part is a warrior, another rogue, and a mage. The warrior is the one who draws all the attention of enemies so that I can get behind them and get my backstabs, and my other party members wont get smashed. The role of the warrior is absolutely essential to controlling the battle, if she go down, it's chaos. Meanwhile, I have my other rogue, who specializes as an archer, and my mage. Both of these characters provide long range support. These two hang back and fire barrages of arrows and lighting. By the way, Arrows and Lighting is going to be the name of my band when I learn how to play an instrument. When everyone is outfitted with the best gear and abilities, we roll over any kind of opposition that we face.
When managing your characters in Roll Playing Games, you don't just manage yourself, but the other members of your party as well. It is important to keep them in good health and make sure that they are the best that they can be. You have to manage their weapons, armor, and even skills. Kind of sounds familiar, no? I think that the human thing for us to do with the people who matter most in our lives is that they are the best that they can be. Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. We want what is best for those in our lives. We may not always know what is best for them, but we still try our best. It hurts to see when those we care about are feeling down. Naturally we do what we can to pick them up.
We may not always be on the same level as them, or understand what they are going through because we don't think or function the same way that they do. Yet, we want to make sure that they are at their best, because you need them just as much as they need you. Or perhaps not, and we are just keeping them around because they are familiar to us. Life is tricky like that sometimes. In video games, you can come across new party members, and easily swap them out for old ones at the word "go", but reality isn't quite as easy. To do such a thing in real life would be cruel, and heartless, even if it is the necessary thing to do so that you can improve. Like I said, life is tricky.
So, we must ask ourselves: who are we? What role do we play? Am I a warrior surrounded by other warriors? Is my team really effective against the dragons in my life? Am I outfitted to be the best that I can be? When was the last time that I leveled up? Am I just grinding, or am I making my way through the main quest, and is my team leading me towards those goals? Video game jargon aside, seriously ask yourself these questions, and find out who you are and who you are to those around you. It could very well change your life.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth (Part 2)
It really sucks to be alone. Rather, it sucks to be lonely. Why is it then that so many games have the player portrayed as "the lone hero". You know, in life it doesn't make sense to try and tackle this whole thing by yourself. That's why you have relationships with people. You have friends, family, lovers, husbands, wives, and so on. The question that I didn't ask in my last post was: why? To slay dragons of course.
Continuing with Dragon Age: Inquisition, and the unreasonable amount of hours that I have put into that game, I have been playing it a lot. As to be expected, there are dragons in Dragon Age: Inquisition. They are some of the most difficult, and awkward battles that you have to fight in the game. Players can only attack the ankles of all four legs, or the head. Attacking the ankles doesn't seem to do that much, nor does it seem all that cool. However, attacking the head is more epic, yet also puts you in danger of having your upper half bit off by the massive jaws of the dragon. That all being said, it isn't impossible to kill a dragon, it just takes a great amount of doing. With a party that compliments one another that can work together to complete the task of killing a dragon, it makes things a little bit easier.
There are things in the life that we can handle on our own. I want to make that clear. Sometimes people can muddle things up, and might just be extra weight. However, when it comes to the bigger things, you absolutely need other people to help you out. I am struggling with depression, and it is like fighting a dragon. It's difficult, and it's awkward, but I have a support group of people to help me out. It's difficult because any progress that is made doesn't feel like I've taken any steps forward at all, and it's awkward because it's extremely odd to talk about. There's a whole bunch of societal unwritten rules that make it difficult to talk about this sort of thing. As a man, I have a sort of expectation to be the hero. To be the person that can undertake any task by himself. By doing so, I will prove myself to be a man. That's bullshit.
I believe that one becomes a man by humbling himself and actually asking for help. Setting aside one's pride to handle a problem that absolutely needs help. This is the problem with a majority of other games. Halo, for example, has fellow marines that drop in with The Master Chief, but they're all just expendable chaff that gets blown away in the first few minutes of combat like dust in the wind. I don't need to be the hero of my own story. I need to survive and be happy with myself. I can't do that alone. There is something to be said about someone who accomplishes something great on their own, but I'm not that person. I'm no hero, I'm just me. That should be good enough, but I still need help getting through this thing called life.
That's why I love my friends who stand by me. I need them. Even if they don't fully understand why I get in the moods that I do, or understand that depression is a disease that affects my thoughts and feelings. It's a dragon, and it takes a lot of guts to fight a dragon. Those who are crazy enough to stand by you when facing down a dragon, those are the ones whom you can call a true friend.
Continuing with Dragon Age: Inquisition, and the unreasonable amount of hours that I have put into that game, I have been playing it a lot. As to be expected, there are dragons in Dragon Age: Inquisition. They are some of the most difficult, and awkward battles that you have to fight in the game. Players can only attack the ankles of all four legs, or the head. Attacking the ankles doesn't seem to do that much, nor does it seem all that cool. However, attacking the head is more epic, yet also puts you in danger of having your upper half bit off by the massive jaws of the dragon. That all being said, it isn't impossible to kill a dragon, it just takes a great amount of doing. With a party that compliments one another that can work together to complete the task of killing a dragon, it makes things a little bit easier.
There are things in the life that we can handle on our own. I want to make that clear. Sometimes people can muddle things up, and might just be extra weight. However, when it comes to the bigger things, you absolutely need other people to help you out. I am struggling with depression, and it is like fighting a dragon. It's difficult, and it's awkward, but I have a support group of people to help me out. It's difficult because any progress that is made doesn't feel like I've taken any steps forward at all, and it's awkward because it's extremely odd to talk about. There's a whole bunch of societal unwritten rules that make it difficult to talk about this sort of thing. As a man, I have a sort of expectation to be the hero. To be the person that can undertake any task by himself. By doing so, I will prove myself to be a man. That's bullshit.
I believe that one becomes a man by humbling himself and actually asking for help. Setting aside one's pride to handle a problem that absolutely needs help. This is the problem with a majority of other games. Halo, for example, has fellow marines that drop in with The Master Chief, but they're all just expendable chaff that gets blown away in the first few minutes of combat like dust in the wind. I don't need to be the hero of my own story. I need to survive and be happy with myself. I can't do that alone. There is something to be said about someone who accomplishes something great on their own, but I'm not that person. I'm no hero, I'm just me. That should be good enough, but I still need help getting through this thing called life.
That's why I love my friends who stand by me. I need them. Even if they don't fully understand why I get in the moods that I do, or understand that depression is a disease that affects my thoughts and feelings. It's a dragon, and it takes a lot of guts to fight a dragon. Those who are crazy enough to stand by you when facing down a dragon, those are the ones whom you can call a true friend.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth
I've been playing a lot of Dragon Age: Inquisition lately, and I am loving it. It's such a rich game with a lot to explore and think about. It's a high fantasy game, you know the kind with elves, dwarfs, dragons and the like, which is strange for me to enjoy. I'm normally a science-fiction kind of guy. Yet, Bioware has a knack for making games that I truly can enjoy and become immersed in. The studio takes everything that we know and love about RPGs and makes them better, with quality writing that is both well rounded and engaging, and gameplay that is fun and deep.
What I would like to write about today is the party system. Now, every RPG worth its weight in experience points has a party system. Chances are, that there is also a huge cast of characters that you can choose from to create a party that is effective. I started thinking, this is a bit like the relationships that we have in real life, right? We have lots of friends, but only a select few of them we can call our best friends. We see it all the time on Facebook. Sometimes I glance at the number next to the word Friends on my page and wonder how it was that I accumulated over one hundred people. It's really kind of astonishing, given that I feel like I can only claim to have about four or five people in my life that I can truly call a friend. Yet, those are the people who matter most to me. Those are the people whom I would take on an adventure. I can rely on them. I trust them.
This happens a lot in RPGs. There will be over twenty characters to choose from, but you can only take two or three with you when actually playing the game. It almost doesn't seem fair. Each member that you can choose from has a skillset, and are capable at getting things accomplished. It kind of comes down to preference. In Mass Effect, I would always take Garrus and Wrex. These two were my crew. We rolled over everything that stood in our way. The rest of the team would stay on the ship and check their smartphones. Meanwhile, me and my two best friends were out there saving the galaxy. I kind of feel bad for the other teammates, but I just don't enjoy their company as much as I do with Garrus and Wrex. Sometimes, though, we have to let go of the people in our lives because we realize that they might not be the healthiest person to be around.
In Mass Effect 2, which I've played through multiple times, I would do the same thing. Once I discovered that Garrus could be on my team again, you know he was right there at my side. He still needed his Krogan counterpart, though. Then came Grunt. The team was back together, more or less. One day, while playing through Mass Effect 2 for the fifth or sixth time, I decided to take an interest in Thane Krios. I usually play as female Shepard, because Jenifer Hale is my girl and because her voice isn't quite as weird as the male Shepard voice actor Mark Meer. So, being a female, I could romance either Thane or Garrus. In previous runs of ME 2, I would always go with Garrus. After all, he was the guy that I would always take on missions. There was a special bond between him and me. However, the more that I really thought about the character of Garrus, the more I started to question him. Garrus is a former cop, who was always frustrated by the rules and regulations that he had to abide by. When he got the chance to travel across the galaxy with Shepard, and not have to follow those rules, he jumped at the chance. Being that Shepard was now a Specter, a special operatives agent who answered directly to the council, she could do whatever she thought was necessary to complete the mission. What Garrus thought was necessary was a bullet through the skull of whoever was on the business end of his sniper rifle.
In the loyalty mission for Garrus, he goes 100% bad cop. The story of Garrus between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, is that Garrus took up residence in Omega, a wretched hive of scum and villainy where there was no laws or regulations to speak of. This was right up Garrus' alley. Garrus didn't like seeing innocent people get hurt, so he became a vigilante for justice. However this justice was his brand of justice, which includes the aforementioned skull bullets. Garrus created a team of people from all around Omega who would join his cause to make the galaxy a little bit of a brighter place, but it would all come crashing down. Garrus was betrayed by one of his own. We find this out in Mass Effect 2, and discover that Garrus is out for blood. At the end of the loyalty mission, we are given a choice to stand in the path of Garrus and his target, allowing him to say what has been going on since the time he had betrayed Garrus and his team. Garrus is furious with Shepard, and begrudgingly lets the target go. I think it was the right thing to let the man live. He was already beaten. Perhaps he wished for death, but murder was not the answer. Garrus wanted nothing more than to kill that man, and he would hurt as many people as he could to make that happen.
Throughout the mission, Garrus is pretty much frothing with anger and rage. He was brutal in his methods to extract information from whomever knew anything about his target. Then we meet Thane, in a completely different place and time.
Thane is an assassin. It isn't the cleanest career, but then again, neither is being a Specter for the council. Once Thane joined the crew, and I started to talk with him more, I discovered more about who he was. I learned about his thoughts and principles. I learned of his religion, and the code by which he abides. I learned of his past, and his wife and child. To gain Thane's loyalty to the crew, Shepard teams up with Thane to track down his son, so that he doesn't become an assassin like his father. Thane is not proud of killing, but he does it because he finds that the assassin is a tool, and not a person. The orders are issued, and then carried out. However, Thane still knew that he was a murderer, and he didn't wish the same for his son. Thane is a caring man, and he is a good man. He settled down, and started a family, and he swore to never kill again. However, an enemy that was made in his past life had caught up to him, and killed his family. Thane struck back by killing everyone who was connected to those who took his family from him. This is rather similar to Garrus' story, the only difference is: Thane regrets killing all of those people.
I eventually chose Thane over Garrus, and it broke my heart. It definitely broke Garrus'. Every time that Garrus went back to his calibrations, it hurt that he wouldn't talk to me anymore. I deserve it. I feel terrible for breaking his heart, and seemingly betraying him after I spent all that time talking with him to get to know him better. In the end, though, I feel as though I made a choice to be with someone whom I respected, and someone whom I admired. I could see myself being with someone more like Thane than Garrus. So, that's my story.
But, don't we all have stories like that? Stories where we realize that someone might not be the best for us. It hurts to cut them loose like that, but at the end of the day, we have to. Perhaps because they are holding us back from becoming better. Perhaps it's because we're holding ourselves back by staying with them, and holding on to the past. We have to have people in our lives that make us feel loved. People who encourage us, and improve us. People who can push us forward, and people that we can rely on. We may have many friends to choose from, but we can only take a few with us on this adventure called life.
What I would like to write about today is the party system. Now, every RPG worth its weight in experience points has a party system. Chances are, that there is also a huge cast of characters that you can choose from to create a party that is effective. I started thinking, this is a bit like the relationships that we have in real life, right? We have lots of friends, but only a select few of them we can call our best friends. We see it all the time on Facebook. Sometimes I glance at the number next to the word Friends on my page and wonder how it was that I accumulated over one hundred people. It's really kind of astonishing, given that I feel like I can only claim to have about four or five people in my life that I can truly call a friend. Yet, those are the people who matter most to me. Those are the people whom I would take on an adventure. I can rely on them. I trust them.
This happens a lot in RPGs. There will be over twenty characters to choose from, but you can only take two or three with you when actually playing the game. It almost doesn't seem fair. Each member that you can choose from has a skillset, and are capable at getting things accomplished. It kind of comes down to preference. In Mass Effect, I would always take Garrus and Wrex. These two were my crew. We rolled over everything that stood in our way. The rest of the team would stay on the ship and check their smartphones. Meanwhile, me and my two best friends were out there saving the galaxy. I kind of feel bad for the other teammates, but I just don't enjoy their company as much as I do with Garrus and Wrex. Sometimes, though, we have to let go of the people in our lives because we realize that they might not be the healthiest person to be around.
In Mass Effect 2, which I've played through multiple times, I would do the same thing. Once I discovered that Garrus could be on my team again, you know he was right there at my side. He still needed his Krogan counterpart, though. Then came Grunt. The team was back together, more or less. One day, while playing through Mass Effect 2 for the fifth or sixth time, I decided to take an interest in Thane Krios. I usually play as female Shepard, because Jenifer Hale is my girl and because her voice isn't quite as weird as the male Shepard voice actor Mark Meer. So, being a female, I could romance either Thane or Garrus. In previous runs of ME 2, I would always go with Garrus. After all, he was the guy that I would always take on missions. There was a special bond between him and me. However, the more that I really thought about the character of Garrus, the more I started to question him. Garrus is a former cop, who was always frustrated by the rules and regulations that he had to abide by. When he got the chance to travel across the galaxy with Shepard, and not have to follow those rules, he jumped at the chance. Being that Shepard was now a Specter, a special operatives agent who answered directly to the council, she could do whatever she thought was necessary to complete the mission. What Garrus thought was necessary was a bullet through the skull of whoever was on the business end of his sniper rifle.
In the loyalty mission for Garrus, he goes 100% bad cop. The story of Garrus between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, is that Garrus took up residence in Omega, a wretched hive of scum and villainy where there was no laws or regulations to speak of. This was right up Garrus' alley. Garrus didn't like seeing innocent people get hurt, so he became a vigilante for justice. However this justice was his brand of justice, which includes the aforementioned skull bullets. Garrus created a team of people from all around Omega who would join his cause to make the galaxy a little bit of a brighter place, but it would all come crashing down. Garrus was betrayed by one of his own. We find this out in Mass Effect 2, and discover that Garrus is out for blood. At the end of the loyalty mission, we are given a choice to stand in the path of Garrus and his target, allowing him to say what has been going on since the time he had betrayed Garrus and his team. Garrus is furious with Shepard, and begrudgingly lets the target go. I think it was the right thing to let the man live. He was already beaten. Perhaps he wished for death, but murder was not the answer. Garrus wanted nothing more than to kill that man, and he would hurt as many people as he could to make that happen.
Throughout the mission, Garrus is pretty much frothing with anger and rage. He was brutal in his methods to extract information from whomever knew anything about his target. Then we meet Thane, in a completely different place and time.
Thane is an assassin. It isn't the cleanest career, but then again, neither is being a Specter for the council. Once Thane joined the crew, and I started to talk with him more, I discovered more about who he was. I learned about his thoughts and principles. I learned of his religion, and the code by which he abides. I learned of his past, and his wife and child. To gain Thane's loyalty to the crew, Shepard teams up with Thane to track down his son, so that he doesn't become an assassin like his father. Thane is not proud of killing, but he does it because he finds that the assassin is a tool, and not a person. The orders are issued, and then carried out. However, Thane still knew that he was a murderer, and he didn't wish the same for his son. Thane is a caring man, and he is a good man. He settled down, and started a family, and he swore to never kill again. However, an enemy that was made in his past life had caught up to him, and killed his family. Thane struck back by killing everyone who was connected to those who took his family from him. This is rather similar to Garrus' story, the only difference is: Thane regrets killing all of those people.
I eventually chose Thane over Garrus, and it broke my heart. It definitely broke Garrus'. Every time that Garrus went back to his calibrations, it hurt that he wouldn't talk to me anymore. I deserve it. I feel terrible for breaking his heart, and seemingly betraying him after I spent all that time talking with him to get to know him better. In the end, though, I feel as though I made a choice to be with someone whom I respected, and someone whom I admired. I could see myself being with someone more like Thane than Garrus. So, that's my story.
But, don't we all have stories like that? Stories where we realize that someone might not be the best for us. It hurts to cut them loose like that, but at the end of the day, we have to. Perhaps because they are holding us back from becoming better. Perhaps it's because we're holding ourselves back by staying with them, and holding on to the past. We have to have people in our lives that make us feel loved. People who encourage us, and improve us. People who can push us forward, and people that we can rely on. We may have many friends to choose from, but we can only take a few with us on this adventure called life.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Are You There God? It's Me Svederik.
What's the deal with religious representation in video games? Not just video games, but any kind of media in general. Can you think of a character with a religious background that doesn't make your eyes roll with disappointment? It seems as though whenever someone writes a religious character, that is their only defining characteristic. It really irks me.
The religious character in video games tends to be the bad guy. They justify their actions with a sort of "divine right" so that they may carry out the will of their god. As a Christian myself, it's embarrassing to see religion represented this way. God does not want his people to carry out such actions. Furthermore, people would see this person committing these acts in the name of God and fight against him, not join him. The church congregation may often be refereed to as God's sheep, but as humans, we do not follow blindly just because someone mentions Jesus. We follow because we have faith.
This brings me to the second stereotype that is represented in video games: the faithful religious guy. This character is often praying constantly in the midst of a crisis. There could be zombies banging down their door and they will be kneeling in the middle of the room praying for God to save them. Even though they may be Christian, they still have their faith and will still evacuate a city if the weather service says that a massive hurricane is headed straight for them. Faith without works is dead, says the book of James, and simply praying is not enough to stop whatever is happening. Humans have basic knowledge to know when to take action. It's a fight or flight situation. Some will stay to fight, and others will run. In times of crisis, those are your only two options, and prayer will not help.
Finally on my list of religious stereotypes is the religious party member. This characters religion seems to be their only defining characteristic. There isn't much else to them other than their blind faith, which carries them through the countless battles that you and the rest of the team go through. One character that comes to mind is Liliana from Dragon Age: Origins. I never really used her in my party, because two rogues is too many. However, I did try to get with her because she was a ginger, and it's a Bioware game so having sex with your party members is something that players can do. So, with my sights set on Liliana, I began talking and talking and talking with her to try and work the mechanics of the game so that her approval rating of me would be high enough so that I could basically unlock the sex scene which would just fade to black. Either way, Leliana would only talk about her faith, and her life in Orlais. Her life in Orlais was very pampered, and she lived like a princess, she eventually grew tired of that and joined the Chantry, which is basically the church, and started helping people. Leliana had heard the words of the Maker speak directly to her the moment that your character crosses paths with her, and decides to join up with your crew of rapscallions to save the world. Oh, and she apparently can fire a bow pretty well. I found Leliana's character to be very annoying. Her constant praise of the Maker and Andraste, another holy figure in the lore of Dragon Age, to be a constant droning. It was as though she was a student in school who was very dedicated to her work and nothing else. She doesn't really know anything outside of her previously pampered life and the Chantry. Leliana's faith was not her strength, or her refuge, but more like stipulations and rules that she abides by. I want to see her mess up. I want to see her fail. I want to see her have a real crisis of faith. Not because I am cruel, but because it would make her so much more human.
One thing that people seem to forget is that Christians are human. We make so many mistakes. We have regrets. We mess things up. We are not perfect. We even have moments of doubt, and question the god that we follow. Never will you see this in a good work of art. Instead, you'll see stereotype after stereotype of someone of faith, and it will be the opposite of what it is like to be a man or woman of Christ. Perhaps there is a well written character out there who is of some kind of faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or what have you, but I just haven't seen it yet, and I'd really like to. It would make for such an engaging and compelling character.
The religious character in video games tends to be the bad guy. They justify their actions with a sort of "divine right" so that they may carry out the will of their god. As a Christian myself, it's embarrassing to see religion represented this way. God does not want his people to carry out such actions. Furthermore, people would see this person committing these acts in the name of God and fight against him, not join him. The church congregation may often be refereed to as God's sheep, but as humans, we do not follow blindly just because someone mentions Jesus. We follow because we have faith.
This brings me to the second stereotype that is represented in video games: the faithful religious guy. This character is often praying constantly in the midst of a crisis. There could be zombies banging down their door and they will be kneeling in the middle of the room praying for God to save them. Even though they may be Christian, they still have their faith and will still evacuate a city if the weather service says that a massive hurricane is headed straight for them. Faith without works is dead, says the book of James, and simply praying is not enough to stop whatever is happening. Humans have basic knowledge to know when to take action. It's a fight or flight situation. Some will stay to fight, and others will run. In times of crisis, those are your only two options, and prayer will not help.
Finally on my list of religious stereotypes is the religious party member. This characters religion seems to be their only defining characteristic. There isn't much else to them other than their blind faith, which carries them through the countless battles that you and the rest of the team go through. One character that comes to mind is Liliana from Dragon Age: Origins. I never really used her in my party, because two rogues is too many. However, I did try to get with her because she was a ginger, and it's a Bioware game so having sex with your party members is something that players can do. So, with my sights set on Liliana, I began talking and talking and talking with her to try and work the mechanics of the game so that her approval rating of me would be high enough so that I could basically unlock the sex scene which would just fade to black. Either way, Leliana would only talk about her faith, and her life in Orlais. Her life in Orlais was very pampered, and she lived like a princess, she eventually grew tired of that and joined the Chantry, which is basically the church, and started helping people. Leliana had heard the words of the Maker speak directly to her the moment that your character crosses paths with her, and decides to join up with your crew of rapscallions to save the world. Oh, and she apparently can fire a bow pretty well. I found Leliana's character to be very annoying. Her constant praise of the Maker and Andraste, another holy figure in the lore of Dragon Age, to be a constant droning. It was as though she was a student in school who was very dedicated to her work and nothing else. She doesn't really know anything outside of her previously pampered life and the Chantry. Leliana's faith was not her strength, or her refuge, but more like stipulations and rules that she abides by. I want to see her mess up. I want to see her fail. I want to see her have a real crisis of faith. Not because I am cruel, but because it would make her so much more human.
One thing that people seem to forget is that Christians are human. We make so many mistakes. We have regrets. We mess things up. We are not perfect. We even have moments of doubt, and question the god that we follow. Never will you see this in a good work of art. Instead, you'll see stereotype after stereotype of someone of faith, and it will be the opposite of what it is like to be a man or woman of Christ. Perhaps there is a well written character out there who is of some kind of faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or what have you, but I just haven't seen it yet, and I'd really like to. It would make for such an engaging and compelling character.
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