Religion in Video Games
Many MMOGs have within them some nod toward religion, some degree of religious trappings at least. Priestly characters are common, as are holy warriors (paladins). To say nothing of demons and angels based loosely on Christian archetypes, the former of which make regular appearances in online games.
And yet, actual religion and theology are pretty much absent or at best non-operative in most MMOs. In fantasy games the priest is typically a “healer” but otherwise the character is a façade. In modern or science fiction games, religion is conspicuously almost entirely absent.
I’ve been wondering for some time about enabling the presence of both real-world and made-up religions in MMOs as thematically appropriate. Is this a good way to flesh out a world, to create gameplay surrounding a moral code and shared identity, and to bring a significantly missing piece of human community to the game, or would it just be a way to invite controversy — in effect, to draw aggro from both religious and non-religious players and cause a heap o’ customer service trouble? READ MORE
I’m not going to lie–I like video games. I have yet to get involved with MMOs (although I do play halo occasionally, but not online). There is a new Lord of the Rings game coming out, though…so maybe I’ll play. In any case, my boyfriend and his family play online, and the question posed above by writer Mike Sellers is an interesting one. Some people have a problem with MMOs simply because they don’t seem “real” enough…but is adding religion the way to fix that? Is it the way to entice non-gamers to check out the MMO worlds?
Food for thought. You can visit 451’s resident expert on the subject at Gaming MMO
MMOs, gaming, Lord of the Rings, MMO gaming, religion
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