| (Pages: 1, 2) | |
I think WoW lacks a key thing that all religions should have... Belief and Faith, I don't really see how belief and faith can enter into World of Warcraft. In all honesty though I wonder if anyone can prove me wrong on that...Is there belief and faith in Warcraft? | |
That's definitely an interesting way to look at it... While I won't argue that WoW fanatics are as terrifying as religious fanatics, I really can't believe that Wow players believe that the game is the truth. I mean, isn't that what religion is? An idea that a group of people hold as the truth. I wonder how many people take the WoW lore as the truth? That would be kind of creepy, actually. | |
This is why I would say it's not a religion, but a community. Faith is the basis of religion. Although I also wouldn't mind being proved wrong. | |
Again I'd say religion isn't about what people hold as truth. I think belief is a MORE important aspect than something like truth. | |
...Doesn't that make the Escapist a religion as well? Now that would be ironic given all the atheists. | |
Hrm...I'm not sure WoW is a religion in the Christian sense of one, but it mimics other older religions. The core foundation is always going to be creating a community of like-minded people and the game certainly does that. The thing it's missing is creating a code of conduct that governs activity in the real world as well as the fake one. For as much as WoW is coercing behavior online, it isn't doing much for people offline except "I gotta go play WoW more". When the game can get me to donate to the poor, kick puppies, or whatever because it is coercing conduct out of me in both realms, then it'll be a religion. | |
Counting down days untill we are officialy in the same category as Al Quada because we aren't christian by definition. My bet is ~120 days. | |
I do not know if this is what was trying to be said, but religion (especially in the eyes of those who see it as truth [me included]) is not based on "illusions and fictions", because those things imply that the subject is not real. Religion is based on faith and belief, because those are things that imply things with no proof, rather than non-existent. I see where this is coming from, but i believe that was a poor choice of words. I am not trying to "preach" or force my opinions, but I wanted to point out what I read in that statement. | |
BTW, Wouldn't this be more of an ideological thing or a community, rather than a religion??? | |
The fact that he "thinks" WoW players play the game for self-realization and spiritual identity says more about him than the players themselves. Either he really doesn't understand MMORPG players and video game players in general or he really believes that to be true. If it's the latter I can honestly say I'm more afraid of him than any hardcore WoW player. Edit: Or more precisely I'm very afraid of the WoW players he observed that caused him to form that opinion. | |
This is just freakin' rediculous, but sadly, makes sense to an extent... some people let their lives get devoured by religion, some people let there lives get devoured by WoW. -_-' *sigh* | |
I don't see it as a religion because essentially there's no belief structure - there are rules to the game but they're more guidelines than the Ten Commandments. No moral imperative is present, and I deeply wish there was to smack some of the dickheads on the server in line. True, there are fans who get really wound up in the game and rabidly defend it, but that in itself doesn't meet a faith. In summary, fanboy does not equal faithful. Besides, there's no omnipotent figure/concept to pledge yourself to, which isn't a major criteria for a religion but does usually get involved at some point. The AI director of Left 4 Dead on the other hand, however ... | |
Faction alignment is closer to a religion... you should see some of the persecution that goes on based solely on whether you go with Horde or those inferior alliance curs. | |
I came in here expecting to present my paper on: Why calling WoW players addicts without ever playing or properly experiencing it is wrong. But actually it's not a bad way at looking at it though, although without a set belief it fails as being a proper religion. The fact that it is split into 2 major factions is also a bit of a hindrance, I mean the fact that they openly war with each other and hate each other intensely (not just different beliefs with a lil' hate) and when you consider the fact that the culture is created by NPC's just adds a whole new level of weird to the idea of it being a religion. | |
I agree with you on that. I guess if anything you could say WoW very often has a strict hierarchy (guilds levels, character levels, blizzard employees etc.) So you need to have faith in the people above you to treat you right and help you through the game, just like they demand you treat them with respect. That's very far fetched though. | |
Except at the end of the day someone always ends up breaking thy holy commandment "Thou shall not ninja loot" because they do not really care about the raid. | |
Yet so many believe they're going to get good stuff by raiding. | |
Depends on your definition of faith or belief if we are just using the words as they are. If you are suggesting that faith and believe are synonymous concepts and involve trusting in something you cannot know then. -You have faith that other people play WoW and you arn't just playing against sophisticated programs Sorry those were the best I could think of off the top of my head. | |
belief and faith? have you heard of the class called priest? in conclusion, wow is a religion! | |
Nah, this is just nonsense. As has been said, there is no element of belief or faith in World of Warcraft. Community, ethics, culture and emotion now - while these are things you would expect to find within religion, the same could easily be said within any other sufficiently civilised social grouping. That alone doesn't form a religion. Also, have to comment on this:
Afraid I just can't buy that. For those who follow a particular faith, then it is highly improbable that they view their beliefs as "illusion and fiction". One of the main facets of religion after all is believing something to be true, regardless of whether there is little or no actual proof of it. If I was looking for illusion and fiction, I suppose I could go read a work of fiction (surprisingly enough). Have certainly never had anything close to a religious experience while playing WoW anyway... | |
I don't know how anyone could forget that its not real... Yes, it was a lore created by Blizzard to be as realistic and immersive as possible, but you still have to remember it's not real. Like other people has said, there's no faith in it. | |
All hail Lord Arthas! | |
I don't know, you could consider wow as some thing like a sect, or a cult or some thing along the lines of that sort of thing. But a full out religion...I would highly doubt that could be true. Another key aspect of religion is organization. Every thing of the religions are organized and set a specific way for a reason, that's why there is church and get together and such. In WOW there is really no rule of, don't play WoW for how ever length of time and your considered a heretic...I don't believe in this at all | |
Hehe, funny parallels... Today I treat such a statement as a sociological novelty. However tomorrow, or six years down the track, who knows what MMO will have eventuated and what connection people will feel with it. I don't think this kind of metareligion is a new phenomenon, but it will be a grand adventure to see it's many facets explored in discussion and debate. :) | |
Damn, this is deep, I don't worship video games, but religion gets mixed up in them for sure, that Halo wedding for one. Definately agree with the fiction and illusion part of the article. | |
It's the faith that WoW is the one true MMORPG to rule them all. | |
I'm sorry, I could only get half-way through the article before my eyes rolled so fast that they created a vortex that crushed my head. I'm typing this from the parallel universe I've been re-incarnated in where this kind of idiocy doesn't exist. On a more serious note...I still think the idea is stupid, not that technology can't influence people in this kind of way, but that the people it does affect are generally several sticks shy of a campfire. Yes...you don't Ninja loot, you don't steal someone else's node. To do so is just being a rude arse. Simple politeness and the sense of 'getting along' is all that is guiding these things. Also, is it me, or does this all smack of making crap™ up? | |
Interesting stuff if man creates something that is enjoyable in every way,will be mans own destruction. | |
I believe in the RNG, and have faith that through determination and perseverance, the RNG will honour me with some phat loots All hail RNG, the mightiest of gods! | |
I would say yes, having played it to the point where once you learn how terribly flawed the game mechanics are, and how a random number generator determines combat more than your actual skill, you start doing these leap of faith jumps like "Man, I can take this out. The stars just need to align and this, that, and this need to hit and get a critical strike. Also, if my (generic passive ability that gives me a 5% chance to swing again) hits, then I have another great shot at this!"
Never mind, beat me to it. ... I suppose there's some "belief" in whether or not you find the arena system balanced (DEAR GOD NOT WARRIOR/DRUID AGAIN PLEASE), whether you believe in your faction's ability to dominate the other, how you handle yourself when things go bad... Etc, etc. A lot of it relies on the player himself though instead of his character. | |
Of course it's a religion it's like Scientology. Everyone's obsessed with levelling up, extremely defensive to critics, ruins lives, breaks up families, there is no way to reach the end, they use celebrities to endorse it, it's based on a half baked fantasy story, and they rake in money hand over fist. | |
Gold star! Also the RNG is the one true lord; convert or die! ;) | |
WoW is simply an addiction, not a religion. Next they'll be calling beer a religion... | |
Actually, I believe atheism counts as a religion. | |
| (Pages: 1, 2) | |
Extra Punctuation
MovieBob: Intermission
Experienced Points
First Person
Exploding Barrels
Miracle of Sound: Encore
Special Attack
Loading Time
Backchat
Drinking Games
Escape to the Movies
Escapecraft
Escapist News Wrap - Premium
Escapist Podcast
Feed Dump
GinxTV
Jimquisition
LoadingReadyRun
Mahalo
Meatbag and Co
Media Sandwich
Miracle of Sound
No Right Answer
Pro-Gamer Gauntlet
Reviews
Space Janitors
Tales from the Table
The Big Picture
The Escapist Presents
The Retro Show
Trailers
Unskippable
Zero Punctuation
Max Payne 3 Review
Company of Heroes 2
XCOM Enemy Unknown
Black Ops 2
Diablo 3 Review
TERA Review
Firefall Beta Preview
Starhawk Review
Critical Miss
Name Game
World of Warcraft: A Religion?
To say that hardcore WoW players are fanatics is one thing, but to call them religious is another. That's what a graduate student at the University of Colorado is arguing, though.
Citing the French sociologist Danil Hervieu-Lger's definition of religion, Theo Zijderveld argues that though World of Warcraft isn't a religion proper, it certainly contains the four key ingredients: community, ethics, culture and emotion. The communal aspect, Zijderveld says, comes from playing with people and making friends within the game. As for the ethics, the rules of the game (and presumably the rules of the community) constitute that. "Thou shalt not ninja loot" being a rough equivalent of "Thou shalt not steal," I'm guessing. The rich Warcraft lore and mythos provide the culture, and the feeling of belonging that WoW players experience in-game provides the emotional dimension.
The act of playing a character in WoW, or in other virtual worlds like Second Life, Zijderveld argues in his paper "Cyberpilgrims," is a way of acting out a quest for enlightenment and spiritual identity in a supremely secular world. "You have to level up as a way of self-realization," he explained. "It can be very spiritual."
Though a virtual space like WoW is ultimately not real, Zijderveld would say that that very fact makes it even more like a religion. Religion is based in illusions and fictions, but the important part is that even though people may know it's not real, they experience it that way. "Though virtual realities are in fact not real, they are experienced as real," he writes. Like religion, "they offer a framework that makes sense by offering a narrative and rules of the game...People can experiment and develop their cyber-character, and thus contribute to sef-realization. In an enchanted virtual world, they can truly find a spiritual identity."
[Via Worldofwar.net and ColoradoDaily]
Permalink