The MMORPG Movement

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Malvaro

For all practical purposes, it has only been in existance since the early 1990's. This movement has already grown beyond 20 million members, with some estimations as high as 60 million members globally. They gave around 1.1 BILLION dollars just in 2005 alone. I have referenced a 2006 list of "religious" churches below for comparison.

Have you ever heard of MMORPG? Do you even know who these people are in your community? Does your church make an attempt to reach out to these people? Would they feel welcome in your church and/or be willing to stay?

Uh....MMORPG? Where I come from that stands for Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.....

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Malvaro

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive...er_online_game

These people may play online sports games on their XBOX 360's or PS3's, play Spades or other card games online or some other game genre that interests them....

Oh brother...that's not a "movement". Spades though does not qualify as an MMORPG. Nor do your FPS games generally and or Strategy games.

For example War Craft is a strategy game you can play against the PC or against others through Blizzards network. WORLD of WarCraft though is a fantasy role playing game where you take the "role" of an individual character, race and class.

You make your own name usually, choose looks and the computer generally figures out your attributes like how strong or smart you are though often you can adjust those based on your class.

Classes are varied too depending on the game. There are games where you are in the future like a Star Trek Universe or a post apocalyptic world here on earth with some fantasy/sci-fi mixed in.

In the typical world you can be a spell caster, like a wizard, sorcerer, druid or cleric. Clerics are healers generally who are aligned with a certain "god", though most games don't force you to choose a god. Druids are like Clerics but are attuned to the outdoors. Wizards or mages cast spells of various kinds and sorcerers are pretty much like them.

Fighters are adept at all weapons and armor and fighting tactics. Paladins are holy warriers of the strictest good alignment. Rangers are fighters who are best outdoors. Other types might be barbarians.

There are also Rogues who are often called thieves, though this really only applies to a rogue that makes his living stealing. Often rogues are your stealth fighters who are adept at disarming traps, setting traps, unlocking doors, hiding in shadows etc etc. Some games have Assasins that are like Rogues but well...you get the idea.

people play these games and often try to "act" as though they are really not their real selves haha. You have elves, humans, dwarves, hobbits or halflings and a bunch of other "races"

There is a free MMORPG you can play called Runescape and there are several others that have been around for many years.

I saw something at MSN.com that claims the original or grand daddy of them all was Everquest...that's untrue. The original would be Ultima Online. It was based in a land much like Great Britain but it was different.

If you saw the Lord of the Rings then think being Legolas and running around killing orcs and other adventurous things as a game with other players and you have a MMORPG.

I don't know why it's being called a movement though. It has nothing to do with a particular religion

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

Basically it is either WoW, Linniege, Everquest, and then the golden oldies such as Ultima Online, Meridian 59, Star Wars Online, and a host of others.

A TON of others. You'd be amazed at how many MMORPGs there are. There are free ones and paid ones. There are ones where you buy the game as a single player and then find a "server" and play with others like NeverWinter Nights. There is GuildWars where you buy the game but online play is free. I played the Alpha before it came out. It was alright but I hear people say it's not that great. I have never paid an online fee to play any of these games. To me that is absurd and not economically smart unless you are playing all the time and personally I don't have enough interest to put that much time into playing games like that

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Margies3

Am I the only one here who is not understanding at all what this thread is in regards to?? I've never heard of the MMORPG Movement. And then when it is explained what the letters stand for, I can't see what that has to do with the decreases in church memberships of different organizations??

Please tell me I am not losing my mind!!

See I KNOW what those letters stand for but I was just as confused too lol.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by chseeads

I didn't get it before, but I get it now.... It's cause there's millions of these people with increasing numbers, but the religious organizations memberships are going down and they're much smaller numbers as well....

The numbers are going down for many reasons, not because of MMORPGs...some men stay home to watch the NFL. It's a symptom of something greater.

[pelathais]

What about an online RPG based around an evangelism theme? As you work your way through the game you can "pray" and "fast" to gain "graces." These "graces" then are used either as a medium of exchange or for upgrading your "armor" and "talents."

After a series of upgrades you would advance to new levels - "acolyte," "disciple," "teacher," "evangelist," "pastor," "prophet." Your ability to interact well with other players could be graded by those other players granting "benevolences." These would be another medium of exchange for upgrades within the game. A lucrative side market would develop on eBay where more proficient players could sell their "graces" and "benevolences."

We could actually have "church" and "win souls" in a completely "safe" environment. No more being disappointed with the failings of a "real" pastor- now such an experience would just be part of the game. Did the "evangelist" fail to "edify" your character? Take it out on him by withholding "benevolences" or "graces" and his "ministry" will suffer. In time he will become a more proficient player and the whole gaming community will benefit from his growth.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Twisp

I have some friends who play Guild Wars. You have to buy the game but there is no monthly subscription. There was a recent study, interestingly enough, that said 60% of MMORPG have active social lives. I'll have to look it up.

I've known people that play these games. They spend an online fee of anywhere from 9-15 dollars and play relatively little compared to the fact they are having that amount taken out of their accounts automatically each month

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by pelathais

What about an online RPG based around an evangelism theme? As you work your way through the game you can "pray" and "fast" to gain "graces." These "graces" then are used either as a medium of exchange or for upgrading your "armor" and "talents."

After a series of upgrades you would advance to new levels - "acolyte," "disciple," "teacher," "evangelist," "pastor," "prophet." Your ability to interact well with other players could be graded by those other players granting "benevolences." These would be another medium of exchange for upgrades within the game. A lucrative side market would develop on eBay where more proficient players could sell their "graces" and "benevolences."

We could actually have "church" and "win souls" in a completely "safe" environment. No more being disappointed with the failings of a "real" pastor- now such an experience would just be part of the game. Did the "evangelist" fail to "edify" your character? Take it out on him by withholding "benevolences" or "graces" and his "ministry" will suffer. In time he will become a more proficient player and the whole gaming community will benefit from his growth.

I've heard of single player games like this, but they don't generate much interest if you are not killing someone or something and casting cool spells with cool computer generated effects

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Sheltiedad

I played them a lot before I got married... still have a level 50 on Dark Ages of Camelot and City of Heroes but my accounts are disabled so I don't have to pay the monthly fees. There just isn't that much time anymore! lol.

Do they actually keep your character saved when you are not paying? lol It's no wonder they charge so much and claim such a bloated membership

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by Subdued

I found out what a "LAN Party" was this past summer when my 15 y.o. son & his friends had one - or two. My son plays WOW... but he also spends a lot of time going for walks, swimming, running (3-5 miles/day). He seldom misses school, gets straight A's, he rides his bike, walks two miles to the store - just to walk, he's social, has friends, and helps neighbors with yard work (for free/just because). He hardly ever watches TV (because "it's a waste of time"), he prefers to cook his own dinners, and he makes his own breakfast & lunch - every day. He's very physical - he works out daily; doing 18 chin-ups and around 3000 crunches (+ the running, swimming, biking and walking). He keeps his bedroom spotless without being told, and he does the dishes every day. He also takes out the trash (but usually has to be reminded), will clean the bathrooms when asked, and he seldom complains. When he *does* complain, he typically comes back & apologizes for it.

Oh, umm... I just thought I'd take this opportunity to brag about my son! He's a good kid!

Im not going to argue the rightness of Christians playing these games, however a lot of these kids really don't spend that much time, are said to be very intelligent and have great eye hand co-ordination....

It's also said they have parents with credit card bills mounting