The Game of Life

Warning: meandering post

In between working on school proposals for 2006 and doing much copious gaming as a mind-reliever. Right now, am playing a Gestalt version Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign with two of my ex-students. It's movie-worthy stuff: 3 clerics, each from a different faith, take on a dangerous fact-gathering mission in a Dark Tower to stop a war between the Living and the Dead. I built a (very cool) elven 6th level monk/6th level cleric, a Whirling Dervish from the Order of the Phoenix.

I often get polite smiles when I mention I am a gamer to people over the age of 20. The polite would good-heartedly show some interest. Less polite audiences would a) proclaim gaming was something they 'outgrew' (insert pompous look before shifting conversation to more 'adult' topics) b) laugh off with embarrassment for me c) ignore what I said. Hence, I pick my audiences for revealing my pet hobby.

Among some people, it seems more kosher for a girl approaching the big 30 to announce she is into shopping and fine dining than it is to announce you like occasionally roughing up a bunch of no-good orcs. Is it so unbelievable that a girl can get as much kick out of finding a cute cropped cardi as much as finding a non-existent +5 Cloak of Improved Invisibility?

Traditional table-top D&D gaming is more fun than its flashier computerised versions. Of course if you are a simple Hack & Slash type of Power Gamer, who only plays to rack up bajillions of points or for an ego rush of kicking some one else's ass, you would definitely disagree. If you love spontaneity , social aspect and creative story-telling, nothing beats good ol' table-top gaming.

The smartest game software written cannot replace the unpredictability from playing with real-life people, making choices for their characters based on existing values and ideas.

While I loved Neverwinter Nights and Tomb Raider, in computer gaming....
1) your character's ethical choices are not a real make or break factor.
2) victory is a pre-programmed, sure-thing thanks to the button "SAVE GAME" and the plethora of cheat codes
3) you don't get face-to-face, humour-to-humour, idea-to-idea interaction
4) you get less of a chance at building up real-time relationships from gaming relationships

vs. table-top D&D roleplaying where....
1) your character's ethical choices would really have a discernable consequence on the rest of your gaming team.
e.g. If you created a lawful good righteous paladin but thought there was nothing hypocritical about using him to torture enemies into confession or cheating on taxes, your little misdeeds would cause you to lose your faith and powers.

2) victory is a lot more open-ended and unsure where a lot depends on the rationality and wisdom of choices made by your team-mates. There is no "SAVE GAME" - death is death especially if your game master decides to rule out the availability of character resurrection. There are no cheat codes that you can download. You wanna cheat, it's up for debate among your team and your game master to approve and allow.

3) you get to know the inner quirks, beliefs and ideals of people thanks to their being put in outrageously, unreal situations.
Designed well, table-top gaming can be a smart, social game with in-built capabilities for challenging people about their pre-conceived notions and beliefs about Cause and Effect. An example of in-game conversations:
"Oy, Why your stupid barbarian go and chop off the man's head for? He already begged for mercy!"
"He got money what. KIll him then can take lor. His +5 longsword very nice."
"You supposed to play a GOOD character man! Some more your barbarian wisdom supposed to be high. Eh must think through your next decision ok..."

Occasionally I get bouts of wondering what is a Christian way to game. Or whether Christians should game in the first place.

I thought this article put it quite well.."What Game is the Devil's Game?"
http://www.geocities.com/christian_gamers_guild/chaplain/faga015.html
"Faith and Gaming:  Devil's Game:  The question is often asked as to whether there are any games Christians should not play.  Series author M. Joseph Young names one that would surprise most people, and in so doing sheds some light on the question itself..."

Of course I don't believe D&D, Harry Potter, Buffy, golf, tennis, photography, pop music etc are without their pitfalls of course. Take gaming - I get exceedingly tempted to turn down invites to socials and talks because of the allure of a D&D game. When I start to prioritise chopping up virtual monster spiders and collecting virtual gold over talking to flesh and blood people, I know I need to stop. When I start wasting too much time, money and brain-space on gaming, I know I am in trouble.

Fpr myself, I actually think I am in far more danger when I watch a trashy Hollywood romance or read some rubbishy "chick-lit" than when I read Harry Potter or play D&D. I realised that when I was channel-surfing the other day and found myself watching the whole of America's Sweethearts. It was a total candy-floss of a movie where Julia Roberts ends up canoodling with John Cusack after losing 65 pounds and conditioning her hair. Catherine Zeta Jones also whines, pouts and purrs her way out of adultery and general brattish behaviour. My thoughts after the movie were a mix of "yeah yeah life is easy if you are as gorgeous as those two women", "I want that room" and "I wish I could find a guy like John Cusack".

They were frivolous passing thoughts but I was struck by how they registered so clearly in my head. I can objectively recognise the silliness of the thoughts but nevertheless they surface unasked for. And the thoughts speak to my personal doubts, chinks in my Christian armour. I am sure enough of Christ's work in me to not be stumbled totally but nevertheless, I would not want to tempt myself with a marathon trashy romance movie marathon if I can help it. Conversely, another person might be able to turn his brain off in the face of a romance movie, but finds himself thinking "I wish I really had magic powers. Life would be easy" when he plays D&D.

So should a Christian play D&D, go Zouk, play mahjong, watch RA movies? My layman understanding - We all face the same problem of Sin. But Different people have different strongholds or weak spot, different ways to go astray. We cannot ban everything for the sake of not stumbling another because it is near impossible. There is always something in this fallen world to stumble someone. Instead we really have to just tailor our responses and choices to every unique relationship, every unique context and always always go back to seeking God's Will.

If we think the most evil game in the world is Pokemon, Golf, Gin rummy, Monopoly, Harry Potter or D&D...we have failed to remember what the Game of Life is really about. There is a more real and terribly insiduous form of Evil out there. To simplistically equate the work of the devil with games and Harry Potter movies would show we don't really understand how terrible Real Evil is. If we make Evil into a straw man, we reduce the Christian fight into a simple list of "Do" and "Don't Do", "Do Read" and "Don't Read".

Evil looks a lot easier to understand and conquer when we reduce it to a bits and pieces of pop culture to avoid.
God and The Devil seem a lot less real and less intimidating when we cariacature them.