523 réponses à ce sujet

[Anacronian Stryx]

The Big Bad Wolf wrote...

Phaedon wrote...

The Big Bad Wolf wrote...

Let's keep religion out of Mass Effect, please.

You were saying?

Good thing I never watched Star Trek.

Sadly you lose since religion is already a part of Mass Effect ..like it or not.

[DarthCaine]

Frak no. All it would do is get people mad

[Whatever42]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, it comes up frequently in Mass Effect: Ashley, Thane, Samara, Mordin, the Krogan shaman all bring up religion and spirituality.

Now, I think it could safely be brought up in a storyline. As phaedon mentioned, it's a big part of Deep Space 9. Babylon 5 also had several religion-centric storylines and the main storyline was rife with spirituality. I won't even mention the BSG series, which was wholly centered around religion. I'm not sure we want to go there but I'm not against exploring it in some missions.

In fact, we sort have already seen religion centered missions. Grunt's loyalty mission was very centered around krogan spirtuality.

Modifié par Whatever666343431431654324, 09 août 2011 - 01:09 .

[jamesp81]

laudable11 wrote...

Archereon wrote...

laudable11 wrote...

Why should religion be in Mass Effect...realism. Most humans believe.

Nope.  Not in the Mass Effect universe, as evidenced by the fact that Ashley seems to think others find her faith "weird."

Ironically, human religions are among the more plausible religions in the ME universe, though most plausible still means 'severely discredited, with only a shread of ambiguity left."  The Hanar and (Heretic) Geth religions are both bunk (being based on ancient aliens), and all other religions aren't even fleshed out enough to judge beyond the basic facts we've been given about them.

I meant presently

Also, I didnt see any evidence of a lack of faith by humans in the conversation Ash had with Shepard.

imho..

In certain places, people think being religious is weird today.  I don't see the ME interpretation of that as varying widely from present day reality.

Personally, I'm quite used to be considered odd.  In fact, I'm not too sure how I would deal with things were that not the case.

[General User]

Religion, especially Christianity, has already had a fairly prominent influence on Mass Effect. It's probably already been mentioned, but the names of "Legion", the and "the Lazarus Project" have their origins in the New Testament. Even the name "Shepard" has a Christian connotation.

Now that I think about it, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Christianity is the only human religion mentioned by name in the Mass Effect series (apart form a few CDN stories, I miss CDN), during the scene where EDI suggests a name for Legion.

That said, I think the best way to handle religion in Mass Effect (or any video game) is to keep it vague and general, but don't shy away from it either. Kinda like they did with Ash. Treat the subject in such a manner that people can read into it any level of significance they feel is appropriate.

Modifié par General User, 09 août 2011 - 01:56 .

[Therefore_I_Am]

People who grow up in religiously restricting families tend to have  low IQs. They cannot open themselves to other possibilites lest they get a belt whipping. That's how it is in parts of the states, and heck, the world.

Sure Pwener, ignore the fact that we have a tailbone, ignore the fact that our DNA is almost identical to chimpanzees and gorillas, ignore all of the skeletons & fossils of primates that date back 2 million years, and how similar they look to us.

The religious feel threatened by this, since they know this is possibly true, so they make up counter-theories, so that they'll live in the illusion that their worlds aren't crashing down on them in the future.

Modifié par Therefore_I_Am, 09 août 2011 - 01:59 .

[Ieldra]

Archereon wrote...
Ironically, human religions are among the more plausible religions in the ME universe, though most plausible still means 'severely discredited, with only a shread of ambiguity left."  The Hanar and (Heretic) Geth religions are both bunk (being based on ancient aliens), and all other religions aren't even fleshed out enough to judge beyond the basic facts we've been given about them.

I submit that your concept of what is and is not plausible in a religion is colored by cultural prejudice. How is Siari any less plausible than say, Buddhism? Or even worse, Christianity - which makes, if you stop to think about it, some pretty ridiculous claims, even if you don't delve into biblical literalism. The trinity? Original sin? Transsubstantiation? If that isn't implausible then I don't know what is.

As for the hanar, at least they can be confident that the entities they worship really existed, and as of current knowledge. actually did something really important for the benefit of all organic life in the galaxy. Not every religion must have universal scope. You can make the point that they should at least encompass all existing sapient life in some way, but that's already a value judgment based on your concept of what a religion is and is not.

[Therefore_I_Am]

Ah yes "evolution", we dismissed that claim.

[Kaiser Shepard]

I suppose you could say we have... A House Divided on this subject.

[Mecha Tengu]

 

The Japanese have giant space buddhas in their RPGs. Why can't we get stuff like this

Modifié par Mecha Tengu, 09 août 2011 - 02:06 .

[Jonathan Shepard]

100k wrote...

I wish they'd followed up on religion in ME2. In ME1 you could decide whether you believed in god, never really thought about religion, or were a flat out atheist. They should really have kept up with that. It could've tied in with Shepard coping with his/her death/revival.

I thought that maybe that dialogue option would influence Shepard's reaction to death in ME2... not that he'd necessarily be right either way, but just that he'd be surprised/accept what occured. But I think BioWare wanted to avoid that, and thus, "I was only mostly dead." <_<

[Pulletlamer]

I don't have anything against religion or religious people but how exactly is religion going to help you against the Reapers?

Unless God shows up... *rolleyes*

[Radahldo]

I submit that your concept of what is and is not plausible in a religion is colored by cultural prejudice. How is Siari any less plausible than say, Buddhism? 

I dont think you can be prejudiced to a religion in a game?  That just seems a weird thing to say.  None of the alien religions are anything but alterations of existing ones that are necessarily narrow by the writers theological understanding...
How could they possibly be more plausible? In-universe they of course arent derivatives, but theres no way to actually debate them.

[matt-bassist]

religion is a sticky subject; its so controversial in the US, and I wouldn't be surprised if EA opted to make Bioware remove most of the references to religion in ME2. At the very least human religions.

its not what kids want to think about when playing a video game - they want to think about shooting aliens. a shame. ME1 was so much deeper than ME2. Lets hope ME3 brings back some of the more thought-provoking conversations and situations that made the story and world seem so real and deep.

[jtav]

The lack of religion broke Shep for me. I'm Catholic. My Shepards are theists. And they have no reaction to coming back from the dead? If you're not going to deal with something, don't put it in there.

[Davie McG]

The Big Bad Wolf wrote...

Anacronian Stryx wrote...


Sadly you lose since religion is already a part of Mass Effect ..like it or not.

That's not what I meant. I don't think religion should play a larger role.

No ones asking for a religiously centered mass effect game where Shepard pulls out his rosary beads before every mission and does f*ck all on a Sunday because that's Gods day.

Just a side mission or something where we come across an Asari priestess and through conversations with that person learn more about their beliefs.

It would be more appropriate to have it in Mass Effect 3 since we are visiting these peoples home worlds and experiencing their culture first hand.

As a side to any and all who try and restart the evolution debate:

This is not the place for it. Views are too closely held and debate becomes ill mannered and insulting argument.

This thread was locked once because of it. The evolution and does god exist topics WILL get this thread locked.

[bobdooly]

I think the geth are the most religious out of all of the races primarily because their gods (quarians) still exist, so it is indesputable fact their religion is true. Then the heretics belive in worshiping the Reapers which are the pinnacle of inorganic life. heretics, not rebels or seperatists.

[General User]

Pulletlamer wrote...
I don't have anything against religion or religious people but how exactly is religion going to help you against the Reapers?

Unless God shows up... *rolleyes*

This reminds me of a story meant to instruct, a parable you might say…


An atheist and a Christian lived next door to each other. Neither was shy about making their respective differences known to the other.

One day, the Christian fell on hard times, and was having trouble making ends meet. The atheist had an idea to both help out his neighbor, and prove his philosophy superior at the same time; he went to the grocery bought a HUGE load of food. He left it on his Christian neighbor's door step, then he rang the doorbell and ducked behind the hedges.

When the Christian came out and saw all the food he said: "My prayers have been answered! Praise the Lord!"

Just then the atheist jumped out from behind the bushes and said triumphantly: "HA! God didn't leave those groceries, I did! And I have the receipts to prove it!"

The Christian looked at his neighbor, looked at the food, then looked at his neighbor, then look at the food. Finally he looked up at the sky and said: "God, you are truly great. Not only did You provide me with food for my family, but You got this dope to foot the bill!"


It's not about looking for any specific "help from on High" in any given situation. What we're really talking about are two fundamentally different ways of looking at oneself and ones place in the world. People of faith see God in everything; and people who aren't, don't.

Which is a big part of the reason why I think religion should be dealt with only in the most vague and general terms. It may be that the best way to add more religion to Mass Effect, is to leave some of it out.

Modifié par General User, 09 août 2011 - 02:45 .

[Davie McG]

bobdooly wrote...

I think the geth are the most religious out of all of the races primarily because their gods (quarians) still exist, so it is indesputable fact their religion is true. Then the heretics belive in worshiping the Reapers which are the pinnacle of inorganic life. heretics, not rebels or seperatists.

I noticed this too.

They also refer to the quarians as the creators, which is of course a by word for God. I think it'll be interesting to see how negotiations between them will pan out, I mean how often do you get the chance to talk to the people who designed and built your race.

[Ianamus]

ThePwener wrote...

I myself believe in God, but accept that evolution is a fact in the ME universe and that there is no God either, as there are other alien races that came after and before humanity which do not know of Jesus Christ. 

So... God isn't real in the Mass effect universe because it has aliens and evolution? I'm sorry but I really don't follow this.
Evolution and non-christian aliens in Mass Effect don't disprove God any more than evolution and non-christian cultures in real life. 

ThePwener wrote...

The asari believe in Goddesses 

What is most interesting is the direct reference made to the religion by Liara's mother, Benezia. Just before dying, she falls and says "there is no light.... they said there would be a light" which is obviously BW hinting to us that they're religion is total bunk. 

Actually the Asari have a wide variety of religions. The Asari goddess is far from the most common either, and the exclamation "by the goddess" is no different to the way many non-christians say "oh my god".

Most Asari follow Siari:

"The pantheistic mainstream asari religion is siari, which translates roughly as "All is one." The faithful agree on certain core truths: the universe is a consciousness, every life within it is an aspect of the greater whole, and death is a merging of one's spiritual energy back into greater universal consciousness. Siarists don't specifically believe in reincarnation; they believe in spiritual energy returning to the universal consciousness upon death will eventually be used to fill new mortal vessels."

Bioware were not trying to say that the Asari relgion is wrong with Benezia's line. Why would they do that anyway? 


It really dosent feel right talking about relgion on the Mass Effect boards. I think that Mass Effect as a whole should try to avoid the subject personally. Some people take it very seriously. 

Modifié par EJ107, 09 août 2011 - 02:51 .

[darknoon5]

As an atheist I wouldn't object, though I would like to see both rational and irrational religous people *coughthepwner*.

Also, I'd like to see the impact of Reaper invasion on people's faith, human and alien alike. Althougth ME3 will do fine without out it, it could be a nice touch if it's subtle, not overbearing and doesn't lean heavily towards the "religion is evil" or "religion is good" side of things.

Modifié par darknoon5, 09 août 2011 - 02:59 .

[Kaiser Shepard]

Mecha Tengu wrote...

 

The Japanese have giant space buddhas in their RPGs. Why can't we get stuff like this

I'll see your giant space Buddha and raise you a giant space Shiva:



                                                   "May Jubileus, the Creator, grace you!"

Modifié par Kaiser Shepard, 09 août 2011 - 02:53 .