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Christian Game Theory

-Articles and Discussion on Effectively using Christian themes in Games-

Rpg's (series)
-Violence

Well, in Rpg's one piece that many share is the violence. Why is this? Can things be done differently? How should the Christian community handle these things? These are all questions i hope to answer in this article.

How can i make such a blatant asumption? Well, i want to start by pointing out the key word - many. I know that not all Rpgs contain violence, nor are all violent games rpgs. That being said, here are a few examples of Rpgs that contain violence - FF(at least VI-XI), Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Legaia, Morrowind, Star Ocean (1-3)...need i say more? I think its a fairly safe topic for me to cover, given that at least the more "popular" games all contain violence of sorts.


Well, this is kind of a tricky question to answer, as everyone is different. However speaking for myself, i think the main aspect of wny many rpg's have violence is this: Character advancement. Why would anyone run around through a game, fighting enemies, if they didnt hope to get something out of it? In FFVII, remember running around in circles for hours just trying to level up my characters and materia. Now, at times i just did this out of sheer boredom, but thats besides the point.

The character advancement in a lot of Rpgs has many different areas. First and most common, is leveling up. Then things start to vary. In FFVII, there was limit breaks and materia that you also could level up. In Legend of Dragoon, you had additions and dragoon levels. In Legend of Legaia, you had art blocks and seru levels. The reason to advance your character was simple - level up your character and you get to see cooler features, use more powerful attacks, get through areas quicker, etc.

Also tying into character advancement is money. There are two main uses of money in most rpgs. One is to purchase consumable items, the other is to advance your characters, weather its through armor or weapons.

Theres one other major area that i think rpgs use violence for, and that is story advancement. We get a real sense of conflict if we get to get in on a fight and have something to fight for, and therefor, it adds to the story a bit if we have something to fight for or against. The shinra, for example, in FFVII, give gamers a common enemy and help drive the story. The dragons in Legend of Dragoon and the seru in Legend of Legaia are others that drive stories. FFix had enemies that represented a group of corrupt people to fight against. And again, the list goes on.

Well, i think i can give a obvious yes to that one. Now, i may meet some conflict at this point, but one rpg that did this well was Harvest Moon. There was little to no violence in any of these games (that i know of), however there was enough of a gameplay element outside of a violent system that people got involved and things worked out pretty well.

The easiest way to answer this is to use just straight scripture. First and most obvious is Exodus 20:13 - "You shall not murder." Now, "the Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence," that word being murder. So this clearly tells us that we are not to murder. Jesus himself also tells us in Matthew 5:21-22 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But i say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother (or sister) will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire."

Now, one can argue that games are just that - games. They can also argue that its not murder if you are killing people/things in games. To an extent, i agree. However this boils down to matters of the heart, as far as i can tell. If you are getting too wrapped up in an rpg, which can be the case with some rpgs, it can quickly turn into murder, i believe. For example, in FFVII, if i get really behind the fighting that is going on between avalanche and shinra, or sephiroth and cloud, or i get so behind the story that the injustices of the game start affecting my real life, then the killing im doing in the game can become almost as bad as if i were to do them in real life. "Oh thats silly, how can something in a game affect real life?" one might ask. Well, look at it this way. If i were to play FFVII and get so upset with the soldiers and shinra that if the game became real i would go in and kill them out of anything less then self defence or defence of others, thats a bad sign and as a Christian i would need to stop. So, am i saying that a fun game of halo or even certain rpgs between friends is bad? No, not unless you are taking the game so much to heart that you are actually getting upset with your friend over killing you.

So theres my first article. Feel free to leave me comments, questions, concerns, or anything of the sort. My request is that you respond with constructive criticism and keep it free of profanity.