OT: Politics

[thejeff]

The Hobbit was a bedtime story for his kids that wound up tying itself into the mythology he'd been working on for years.
The mythology grew, at least partly, as background for the languages he invented, being primarily a linguist.

I wouldn't say hidden messages, he despised allegory and such things, but that doesn't mean there isn't meaning behind the surface. The Lord of the Rings is deeply informed by his Catholic faith, without being overtly religious, a trick not that often pulled off.

Even more so in the Silmarillion mythology. For example, the origin of the orcs is left unclear because he kept debating with himself whether they had free will and were thus redeemable.

[SlipperyJim]

Archonsod said:
I can see why Fantasy gamers would be considered more liberal (at least in the US) than the conservative traditional wargamers though. The whole magic and gods thing is probably a main contributary factor - the church has problems with such things, which means the more conservative Christians (over here most conservative Americans are usually seen as being Christian too, though I don't know if that's a stereotype or accurate) would likely also have an issue with such things.

Just FYI: I am a conservative, Bible-believing Christian who happens to love Dominions 3. No, pretending to be a demigod in a computer game does not bother me, nor do I believe that it offends God. God is easily smart enough to tell the difference between reality and fiction. For similar reasons, I am also a Harry Potter fan....

Now back to your irregularly-scheduled OT thread!

[MaxWilson]

SlipperyJim,

Fair enough--I'm Christian as well--but looking at the history of D&D it's still a valid observation that the, uh, more fundamentalist (evangelical?) Christians are less likely to be a fan of simulating pagan religious warfare. And fundamentalism is a form of conservatism, so IMHO Archonsod's point is valid.

-Max

[Gandalf Parker]

I think that the MegaGame might show us that game of politics is going to become a major factor in Dominions 3.

[SlipperyJim]

MaxWilson said:
Fair enough--I'm Christian as well--but looking at the history of D&D it's still a valid observation that the, uh, more fundamentalist (evangelical?) Christians are less likely to be a fan of simulating pagan religious warfare. And fundamentalism is a form of conservatism, so IMHO Archonsod's point is valid.

Yeah, I know. Just like their concern over Harry Potter, a number of my brothers and sisters in the faith would probably get their knickers in a twist over playing Dominions 3. What can I say? I believe they are wrong. I also believe that such folks are distinctly in the minority, even among us crazy Jesus freaks. For example, we have discussed Harry Potter in my home Bible-study group, and none of us are worried about it. In fact, a few of us are even fans.

D&D and other RPGs are in a different category for me, but it's not really about the occult. See, I grew up playing a lot of RPGs: D&D, GURPS, Shadowrun, Earthdawn (yay, horrors!), Call of Cthulhu, Torg, and many more. I was also a frequent player on several MUDs, which were the pre-Everquest version of MMORPGs. I spent an obscene amount of time, money, and effort on make-believe. Then I had an "Aha!" moment. What if I could devote even a fraction of that time, money, and effort to something or someone real?

RPGs are a great form of escape. But as soon as the escape takes priority over the real world, something is horribly wrong....

[Gandalf Parker]

Ive always said that the matrix movie had a very flawed basis for the story. The machines force us into a virtual world? If they perfect jacked-in technology then I think a too large portion of the populace will voluntarily take to their beds with more and more machines being force to take care of them.

Gandalf Parker
Hurry up with the Matrix.
I want to be playing Dominions 10 in the nursing home.

[llamabeast]

Argh, the main problem with the Matrix storyline to my mind is the "we need you for your bio-energy" idea. This is bizarre on two levels:

1) Obviously you can't get out more energy than you put in. Just burn their food in a power station.
2) Even if bio-energy was somehow the way forward, why not use, for instance, cows? Or raccoons? Same bio-energy presumably, less chance of rebellion.

They should have said they needed something from humans that only humans could provide - for instance, perhaps the machines need to harness the processing power of our brains? That would make much more sense.

I often think that if only the film makers would pay me (or any other vaguely intelligent person) a tenner to look over their scripts before they started making them, films could be a hell of a lot better. There are so many glaring, stupid plot holes in so many films that could so easily be fixed. How can people put so many hours and so much money into making something that doesn't make sense, when that problem could be rectified by asking your mate in the pub if he had a more sensible idea?

[Saxon]

Gandalf,

What are you doing out of bed? I just realized that post about Dr. Suess must have been around 5 in the morning?

Stay well,

Saxon

[llamabeast]

I went to the pub the other day where Tolkien and C. S. Lewis and the others used to meet.

I had a very unpleasant pie.

[mac5732]

Hey Saxon, what are you doing posting here, I thought you were on your honeymoon????/