Why RPGs are evil brainwashing machines

[Konjad]

I'm a great fan of cRPGs, but everytime I look at another new one there is something that puts me of. I'm not talking about bad quality of the game, like storyline, gameplay, characters etc. Bad games happen like everything. It's something that's common for all the cRPGs. Both old and new. It's something that makes people think AWESOME just for no apparent reason and that tells them to stop thinking. It popularises taking everything as it is, without understanding it. It makes them stop thinking about many things. I'm talking about settings full of magic, gods, wizards and vampires. Authors of cRPGs don't want to think about something that would let the player do something to make him satisfied, so they make spells, magical abilities, supernatural events... People no longer try to understand the universe, the world. They just start to believe in magic. For example the most popular tabletop cRPG system called Dungeons & Dragons. Many computer games are based on it as well, or try to be somewhat similar. When you play as a thief it somewhat makes sense more-or-less, same with the (standard) warrior. What happens when you play as a cleric or a mage? A mage has "an awesome button", he just 'makes things happen', even if they doesn't make any sense at all. He is a Superman. How does he cast a magic missile spell? He transforms energy around him and manipulates it to make what he wants, in this case make an lighting orb that flies to the enemy and harms him. The question is - how does he transform that energy, how could it be possible at all? They don't even have an electricity and what he does no one even dreams about in today's world, and D&D is set in medieval-like times! What about cleric? In D&D gods just are. You can't deny their existence or superiority, they are there! It's an excellent propaganda that tells you "believe, there is no doubt in gods". This is just as bad as "non-aryans are subhumans". There are atheist in the D&D universe, mind that, but they end up terrible and there is no salvation to them if they won't believe in gods. It tells atheist that they have to believe in at least one god or they are unworthy subhuman scum. If it was insulting like that to ie. Christianity or Islam, the game wouldn't sell and would create an outcry when it came out. It didn't however, because taking a dump on atheist is cool, while we cannot agree to do something like that to our fellow believers! While I could stand monsters, they could be just an animals that evolved in a different ways than real animals, I just cannot accept gods or magic. Especially the magic - the most lazy idea to make things - is common in cRPGs and I could name only a few that did not have it.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

:D

 

[FatCat]

Thankfully Witcher universe takes care of all those things , godly presence isn't sensible , magic is somewhat taken seriously in The Witcher , nobody really knows how it works , but they try to understand it.Thing is some may prefer world where everything works as it works and will work and they don't care about the rest , others want semi-realistic reflection of our world , where some shit works and we know why , but we don't know the rest.It's just matter of taste realistic fantasy or just fantasy.

 

[Teepo]

But...

Non-aryans are subhumans! Except for those DAMN Russians... Dirty red scum...

Joking aside... Dungeons and Dragons do not violate my atheist sensibilities by forcing me to accept gods. In fact, I think it's cool. If they violate your atheist feelings I think maybe you are misintepreting D&D. They are not trying to get you to go to church.

Seriously. D&D is fictional. Fictional gods. They are not trying to get you to become a theist. That's kind of ridiculous.

 

[mondblut]

This is just as bad as "non-aryans are subhumans".

And what's bad in "non-aryans are subhumans"?

But RPGs are, indeed, an evil brainwashing genre, for altogether different reasons. They are ultimate vehicle of solipsistic narcissism. They teach you are the only truly living being in the universe, while everyone else are pseudoliving NPCs who are only out there to be killed, exploited, or ignored.

Isn't it so, my sweet, dear NPCs?

 

[Gord]

RPGs are usually a waste of time, thats all.

Forget about "logical" explanations for the stuff thats happening in an rpg, it would just be technobabble and I had enough of this shit while watching Star Trek.

I tell you what a game thats worth your time should do:
It should make you think. About something worthwile.
In all the years since I've been playing games only very few games have managed this. I'm pretty sure I could still count them with the fingers on one hand. Incidentially I'm inclined to say that MotB (you were referencing to that, weren't you?) at least had some motives (no, I'm not talking aobut the atheists-end-up-fucked-thingy, at least not directly) worth thinking about for a bit.

Unfortunately I've come to the realization that I've got something of an addiction going on here.
Just like with the internet: So much useful and great information and in the end I'm watching stupid videos on youtube (or porn).

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

This is just as bad as "non-aryans are subhumans".

And what's bad in "non-aryans are subhumans"?

But RPGs are, indeed, an evil brainwashing genre, for altogether different reasons. They are ultimate vehicle of solipsistic narcissism. They teach you are the only truly living being in the universe, while everyone else are pseudoliving NPCs who are only out there to be killed, exploited, or ignored.

Isn't it so, my sweet, dear NPCs?

So, I'm not the only one who feels like that sometimes ?

 

[Mastermind]

There are atheist in the D&D universe, mind that, but they end up terrible and there is no salvation to them if they won't believe in gods.

There are what? I know there are people who worship no gods, but that doesn't make them atheists. Atheist in D&D = automatic dumbfuck.

 

[Kalin]

It depends on the campaign setting. You are probably thinking of Forgotten Realms and its "Wall of the Faithless", but in a setting such as Planescape it is quite different.

 

[Globbi]

This isn't really about RPGs, but about games and fantasy worlds in general. There are TES and Fable games with this "this is rpg so there are swords and magic" approach, but that is just dumb devs problem, not RPG problem.

I'm not too familiar with DnD but Forgotten Realms is really a setting where anything can be put, it's just supposed to not defy something put there earlier. It's supposed to be not too reasoned, so writers can make things up more freely. They make it as simple or as complex as they want. Poor story or locations are a problem of certain game. We've had some discussions about how magic or gods should be done well in fantasy setting so there's really no need to bitch about it again.

It is more like mainstream gaming, or even mainstream entertainment is brainwashing machine. RPGs should be about story and ideally role playing with making some decisions. Then, they should be better in this area, should make you think reasonably and want to discover more about what's going on. But, bad games are bad.

 

[Teepo]

Mastermind brings up an interesting point. If there is irrefutable proof of Gods and Goddesses, being an atheist is retarded.

If DnD is christtard crap so is basically every other fantasy work. Warhammer 40k. Christian propaganda.

 

[Excidium]

D&D sucks.

 

[Teepo]

Bullshit.

 

[Excidium]

But the CRPG world would be much better if developers mimicked other pnp RPGs. I mean, look at Fallout. Now look at Baldur's gate.

 

[MMXI]

I mean, look at Fallout. Now look at Baldur's gate.

Look at Fallout. Now look at Pools of Darkness.

 

[Jaesun]

I mean, look at Fallout. Now look at Baldur's gate.

Look at Fallout. Now look at Pools of Darkness.

haha no fucking shit. I still to this day have never beaten that. jebus.

 

[Mastermind]

I mean, look at Fallout. Now look at Baldur's gate.

One of them has good writing, interesting, varied gameplay and a solid, entertaining story. The other is Fallout.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

Well, obviously.

Before I first corrupted my mind with RPG trash, I was an extremely rational, open-minded outdoorsman. Now I am just a fat illiterate basement dweller who throws old soda cans at people expecting them to burst into flames.

 

[Globbi]

Mastermind brings up an interesting point. If there is irrefutable proof of Gods and Goddesses, being an atheist is retarded.

Not really. Gods have limited power, some come and go. Still, they require devotion. Then, worshiping one god may turn you against another. It's not so strange for some people to just screw all those gods and live your life.
Also, some people may just be retarded - there are retards everywhere.

 

[piydek]

This is the most retarded thread ever. The OP is completely irrelevant in both its general idea and every single sentence. Amazing that the new shit codex tolerates this kind of crap.

 

[BelisariuS.F]

Reading the first sentences I thought that you will state that epic stories, epic open worlds, epic magic, epic epic shit in RPGs blind the players and make them overlook obvious weaknesses of the particular game. And then you started rambling that RPGs make players believe in gods...

 

[sgc_meltdown]

actually konjad bro d&d is anti real world religion because it promotes belief only as long as there are empirical benefits like fire coming from the sky on naughty people and skeletons exploding whenever you shout at them, just like people believing that elves are excellent archers.

They don't have books talking about an elf in the sky that is an excellent archer that people will get to meet after they die if they believed, they have actual elves down the road in the tavern who can provide you reproducible empirical evidence by shooting you several times in the chest with their longbows with their pointy ears being the last thing you see as you black out from organ failure and blood loss. This is a far cry from indian skeptics who appear on television with a holy man chanting a death curse on them live and throwing an effigy of them into fire and nothing happening.

Similarly, in Greyhawk you can find yourself a temple to Nerull after slaughtering their worshippers like the nice ethical atheist warrior you are, then perform a critical thought experiment by soiling the altar while bellowing "Nerull is a cocksucker and I am the one true god of death". In this world, there are black metal bands.

ps I thought you were a very smart fellow since you play dwarf fortress

 

[Konjad]

I had hoped for more outrage and throwing shit at me, unfortunately no site delivered it. Thanks for your opinions though. RPG Watch misinterpreted easy text and derped once again, at least some posts at Bioware Social delivered a little fun, though not as much as I had expected.

 

[flabbyjack]

taking a dump on atheist is cool.

Cool and fun! POOP!

Your citations of Dungeons & Dragons are wrong. Mages don't just make spells out of thin air -- they tap into the weave which was created by the gods for mortal use. If gods did exist you'd be pretty stupid for not having one, since they could function more like 'spirit friends who watch your back, can answer your prays, and might hook you up in the afterlife'.

If there was a deity of PC RPGs you'd be all over his cock in a cold minute because he'd cum Fallout 2 expansions.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

babby's first rpg troll

 

[GarfunkeL]

Did you copy&paste it from somewhere or was that original?

 

[Konjad]

Did you copy&paste it from somewhere or was that original?

I wrote it, why?