PlaneShift
Fan Area => The Hydlaa Plaza => Topic started by: Auran on March 20, 2004, 04:36:37 am
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Say does anyone reckon we could maybe get a bunch of more deities to worship and stuff besides the ones we have (and which plainly suck)?(. I mean many portfolios are open yet. Can we have atleast two or three more gods? Or even some exalted heroes? And for more fun elect them out of the PS community. I for one, nominate moogle for the representative of healing. And just don\'t slap up some sloppy outfit and make venge or acraig a god. And for the love of god not Paxx. This can be discussed in detail and maybe even voted upon? what say youz?
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What\'s with this \"we need more gods\" thing anyways..
I say scrap all the gods, gods are for weaklings who can\'t make their own decisions :rolleyes:
Seriously though, what\'s wrong with Laanx and Talad. I think those 2 are more then enough.. and then there\'s always the ?ber-god vod?l, so that already makes 3.
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Well I\'m a self-proclaimed god...so you can always worship me.
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more gods...naaa. some demi-gods whould be nice though :)
and aendar just because people cant kill you ingame dosent mean your an undying god ok? :P
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I agree with Auran on this one. I think we should have our own Pantheon of gods. That\'d mean that like, smiths and miners can have their god etc. etc. etc. I really think we should replace Laanx with Auran. :D I mean, seriously, how hard is it to figure out which one is more evil?
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ive got a post some where in the wish list bout something like this but its bout saints and no i wont give a link go find it your self
and bah more gods ! there is only 1 true god and his name is Menoth
belive in Menoth or burn !
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And the will shall return
And again hearts shall burn
that\'s fine with me... :D
anyway, Auran you noob! That was said countless times already. And the answer is still same: There won\'t be new gods. There\'s nothing wrong with current ones (tho\' I have doubts about the Laanx guy).
Just do your job and believe in what you want. Who said what you believe in must be true?
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Nah! The current gods are pathetic whatever anyone says. If there\'s one point this game sucks at then it is in its pantheons. And there will be new gods. No gods in heaven or devs on earth can stop the faithful from believeing. Why if the PS management won\'t allow this then we could just take this poll to an independent forum and start believing in whatever the public decides. Faith is not something that can be regulated. Not even bill gates could do it and he\'s evil incarnate:D.
I never quite figured out why they call Talad \"the ebony god\"? Sounds like racist porno:P. And laanx is below contemplation. I don\'t even know if its a \'he\' or \'she\' let alone what laanx stands for. (Now this might all reflect my ignorance but I urge everyone not to think along those lines:P). So i urge that new gods be created.
I will even go one step further and ask people to nominate persons for portfolios of gods. Anyone who gets five or more nominations can then run in an election where we can elect three new gods. We can even have proper campaigning, debates and stuff. That should even give us something to do before CB;). Who all are game? Post aye and we\'ll officially contact PS administration. So what will it be?
So I officially nominate Mogura for \"Goddess of Healing\".
The little lady deserves it.
PS: Love your idea Piney man but I doubt that\'ll happen. But just in case I\'ll put up a \"ME FOR GOD\" slogan in my siggy:P:D.
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My diaboli character refuses to believe in any such nonsense as gods.. although he has a strange affinity for V?dul...
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\" I don\'t even know if its a \'he\' or \'she\' let alone what laanx stands for.\" - how about reading the Planeshift setting?
she denied her being, her femininity
the site is here: http://www.planeshift.it/setting_history.html
oh, and this is wrong forum, should be Wish List.
I would expect from someone being here for months to know a bit more about this place...[/color]
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those that don\'t believe in gods think of these guys as overpaid, overindulged, good for nothings who are paid to rest their a$$ez:D. Maybe that will help you overcome your dislike of supreme authorities of anykind;).
And Drak man:
Just because I participate in the game called PS doesn\'t mean I endorse half baked concoctions of these Devs. Just because they created the game doesn\'t make them the dictators of these realms. So I choose to ignore many of the things that they want me to accept among these their lame history of these realms.
Infact I have more to say: Each and every player in this game is as critical a component of this game as the devs themselves. A game is useless without its players no matter how much of a masterpiece it is;). But I think our Devs do understand that. They are pretty intelligent fellows:). So I don\'t think they\'ll restrict the right to be a god to devs solely. Let see how the cooky crumbles.
Moreover I don\'t post this in the Wish list section because till date it is just one of my many hafl baked ideas:P. Once I have public support I will be sure to request, nay demand this of the devs. Plus they needn\'t program anything to this end. All they would need to do is respect the faith of the community and accept their gods into the official pantheon. We are not asking for temples, we just want our right to worship. So in all probabilty I think they will allow this.
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I assume you don\'t post this in Wish List because this is another of your jokes :rolleyes:. They will probably never be others god, and especially not players. Even Mogura failed to introduce her home-made goddess :D.
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Question for the experts...
Do MMORPG game developers usually play as omnipotent players or the \"gods\" that they write into the baseline story of the game? Or, do the written histories of these gods serve as the only influence that the gods have in the game?
If Talad and other supernatural beings in Planeshift are no more than literary references and statues in the game then who cares what people say these gods do - players in the game will make stuff happen, not the gods. If that\'s the case then nothing prevents people from discovering or inventing new gods. All they have to do is say a new one exists, get enough players to beleive it, and start to attribute this or that failed crop to her divine power. Right?
Either way, people who use logic instead of prayers to obtain what they want will have the most power and wealth in Planeshift. These same people might publically claim to be serving Talad, et. al., but that will be a cover story used to manipulate all the obedient believers. You will be able to catch the most relgious people who are also making a lot of tria in same way from relgion in all sorts of lies, too, because they will stray off the path of their relgion sooner or later. One way or another you will be able to show that their gods are purely imaginary, unless of course, someone actually plays as the gods.
RP hat on now...I say those histories are lies, lies, lies. :P
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gods are divine beings that are superior to us in every aspect (with the possible exception fo their foul temper) they should not be voted for, never.
and if you dont like Talad or Laanx then just be an atheist.
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I dont plan to worship a god i plan to become one :D
now where was i on my quest of that......oh yea *runs off* :D
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please no gods. and if some wise guy is going to invent a god and pray to him 10 times a day, I\'m gonna twist his neck(in game ofcourse :D)
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There\'s nothing to stop you from starting up a personality cult, \"Followers of Pooky\", anyone?
Instead of more gods, we just need some clarification. Following Moogie\'s example with her religion, someone needs to come up with documents outling more of what each god represents. I\'m a bit confused as to Laanx\'s point, myself...
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oh yea... Pooky owned all you self-proclaimed gods. For one he actually got some followers.
And what\'s so confusing about Laanx? guy\'s a cunning mage tranvestit... that\'s all...
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Originally posted by Draklar
And what\'s so confusing about Laanx? guy\'s a cunning mage tranvestit... that\'s all...
Well, where does it say Laanx is a mage? I\'ve never read that anywhere... Although my memory is often very lacking in places.
I actually think Laanx would make a better rogue than a mage, but that\'s just me...
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well in \"the civilization\" chapter it\'s said few times that Laanx was using magic (gaining power by magic and so on) so...
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Both Talad and Laanx use magic. Laanx use evil way while Talad use \'good\' ones.
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what do you mean by Laanx using evil magic i never read that anywhere
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AYE auran ! even though moogie has been deleting my posts with ultmost (insert word here) but she does help the newbs so thats a good point to make her some goddes oh wait is she a gm already ? if so than it doesnt matter
any ways back to the point 3 gods in the game sound small but then again its a small \"cave\" how many religons can there be ? and the funny thing bout porkys clut is that he dosent even offer a proper health plan ! MAN ! all cluts need a health plan ! even so when there are too many members for 1 to handle the cult leader can always perform mass sucide .....................
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Well look at our world. There are tone of different religions and many different gods. As has been stated, anyone can start up religion if they want. Make up a god, as long as it is serious and rp-related, and get followers together.
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but in this world there are only 3 (known) gods, Talad, Laanx and Vod?l. There is no record of any other gods.
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I didn\'t say they\'d have to physically create a god. Do you think every religion\'s god really exists? No.
They create a god as in the beliefs and such and worship the god. They don\'t have to \'technically\' exist.
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I agree that there should be more than 3 gods. and what about goddesses?
The other deities could have gone into hiding before they could have been recorded, too.
Aendar, I believe that every god does exist. Even though I\'m Lutheran, I believe that every religion worships the same thng, just they see it differently. So, the Hindu gods are the same as the Greek gods that are the same as the ISlamic god that is the same as the Buddist gods, etc. etc.
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common misconspetion bout the budhists ngefan . they dont belive in gods budha is kinda like a saint in their books as he has found enlightenment infact his teachings arnt bout beliving in him but liveing life correctly and neighbourly LUVE , its the taoists who belives in gods also they have a god of luck if memory serves ..............
(iam asian but iam a catholic (SP?) )
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Originally posted by ngefan
and what about goddesses?
there already is a goddess, Laanx
Laanx was a tall and perfectly shaped female
see?
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Well the primary question to be answered before we decide all else is if we do need new Gods? And I wanted to discuss that otherwise I would have posted this thread in the wishlist section. If then we thought that we really needed new gods then no one can stop us from having new gods, not even the gods themselves;).
Now do you people think we need new gods?
Before that question is answered let us consider why anyone could need a superbeing or a godlike entity.
I say we need gods above all to make the game interesting and name +5 stuff after;). Think D&D.
Gods can:
-grant blessings
-Grant their clerics special powers.
-Perform miracles.
-Create special holy places like places of healing or regions of blight.
-Let fall their wrath on the persecutors of their believers.
-Let the people know that they have have a last resort to apply to if all else fails.
-Give their followers hope.
-Give people someone to look up to and aspire to be like.
And lastly my personal favourites:
-Allow for Diecide. There is nothing more motivating. I personally felt always that mortals are not challenge enough. I always attempt deicide whenever the opportunity exists;). The chance to be a god gives a whole new motive for playing the game and prevents aimless power levelling.
-Give people a chance to see two supremely powerful beings battle it out.(and the Cabal can take bets:P)
For all these reasons however we would need active gods not passive sleepy ones like talad. We can have a system where gods are elected yearly and old gods are moved into a second pantheon called \"Gods of The Old\" to aknowledge the contribution they have made. This will help in two ways.
1. Give players an added incentive to play. Nothing motivates people better than a shot at being GOD.
2. Give players something more to do besides normal gameplaying. Make things more interesting;).
If anyone thinks the idea of \"Electing Gods\" to be unreasonable then I urge them to think of it as believers losing faith in one god and starting to believe in another. Since a god is powerless without his/her followers, this would lead to their being supplanted by newer gods. However the gods will forvever be immortalised in the annals of the game as \"Gods of the Old\". Plus electing gods would also ensure that gods will actually work and make efforts to keep their followers happy. Win win situation.
What does everyone think?
PS: ngefan is a wise one
PS:PS: Was Laanx nude? If not then I refuse to believe in her:P:D
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i strangly agree, but this thread should go on the wish lists
and auran place 100 red chips on talad for me :P:D
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but if we voted for gods than we would just have uber-powerful players that can do whatever they please.
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No no. Its a democracy( yeah as if that ever worked:P) so they would lose their powers the next term over if they acted like pathetic losers with confidence and insecurity issues. Plus for especially bad gods we could just deny them a place in the \"Gods of The Old\" and thus a chance at immortality. That should also serve as a deterrent.
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There are other gods, many far more powerful than Talad and Laanx, they just aren\'t anywhere near Yliakum.
And voting for gods is stupid. They would be politicians, not divine beings.
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Originally posted by Auran
PS:PS: Was Laanx nude? If not then I refuse to believe in her:P:D
in the history
A thin silver band clasped Laanx\'s left ankle
see? :D
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Now I am a Believer:D.
Davis: See explanation of Electing Gods above. Ofcourse they would be politicians. What you never heard of divine politics? :D.
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I think I see where your coming from. The Xena series come to mind. I am not sure I understan the voteing idea. I think you should try to recruit disciples not voters. Maybe it could be a guild option. When you form your guild you could chose to form a religious guild with you as the divine being. Something like a Pharoh (sp?). With this option every disciple you have in the guild could improve your stats. Something like one skill point per desciple in the \"way\" of your choosing. For example. Auran could choose to form a religious guild based on the \"white way\". Normally he would have a skill level of 100 in white way, but with the 50 followers in the guild he now has 150 skill level. This would allow him to heal people for 50% more health points than he would had he not been a relegious leader :P .
Well just an idea
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I thought this section of the boards was supposed to be OOC? Oh well, I guess the poor Cabali boy gettin\' desperate for attention ;).
Human nature being to... \"react\" and all, I\'m sure you won\'t have any trouble gettin what you want oh dark, evil, soddy, one.
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Gumster: go and read the damn setting:
\"but in this world there are only 3 (known) gods, Talad, Laanx and Vod?l. There is no record of any other gods.\"
Other gods, older and more powerful than they, told them about great tasks they would have to perform when their worshippers became ready to follow their directions.
If you count Vod?l as god of Yliakum then you people might do same with all others.
\"there already is a goddess, Laanx\"
she denied her being, her femininity
geez getting into discussion without knowing anything...[/color]
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Ok lets drop it then if no one wants it. I just wanted to discuss it thats all. Had I had an urge to neccessarily get it intended I would have started the thread in the Wish List. Nevermind then:). Sorry for any inconvenience.
BTW:
I never suspected Wedge of being an imbecile but I guess when you call yourself \"Cynical Dancing Fluffy Ninja Philospher Psychic \" there\'s bound to be something wrong with you;). But maybe I am mistaken still. Maybe Wedge can point out where exactly I am pushing my RP agenda in this thread as demonstration of his not being a moron. I would be forever in his debt for reducing the number of morons in PS by one;).
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Ok lets drop it then if no one wants it. I just wanted to discuss it thats all. Had I had an urge to neccessarily get it intended I would have started the thread in the Wish List. Nevermind then:). Sorry for any inconvenience.
BTW:
I never suspected Wedge of being an imbecile but I guess when you call yourself \"Cynical Dancing Fluffy Ninja Philospher Psychic \" there\'s bound to be something wrong with you;). But maybe I am mistaken still. Maybe Wedge can point out where exactly I am pushing my RP agenda in this thread as demonstration of his not being a moron. I would be forever in his debt for reducing the number of morons in PS by one;).
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Vote Auran For God!
I hereby nominate Auran for God of insignificant monkey species!
Seriously, player-introduced gods are going to stay that way: player-introduced and player-run. (...and unofficial)
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Yes, I think that if you\'d remove don\'t from topic of this thread, everything will be just fine...
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Monketh scribbled: Seriously, player-introduced gods are going to stay that way: player-introduced and player-run. (...and unofficial)
Oh, like player-introduced code and bug identification?
Why shouldn\'t the story behind this \"open community project\" be open as well? Do you think the official authors will name a piece of real estate after you if you just follow the rules? :] The story is one part of Planeshift that could easily withstand changes, might even be the part that needs the the most. For instance, the story of the gods of Planeshift is boring and safe, and told from a male point of view that considers women second class. You wanna support that for eternity?
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Do you think the official authors will name a piece of real estate after you if you just follow the rules?
Well... yeah they did do that actually.
You\'re missing something very obvious here though. The story IS open. They have developers whose jobs are to make stories and lore for the game. Prove you are good enough to join the team, THEN see what you can do.
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Actually, I think there is a very high chance the arcane order history might be approved by talad, it\'s already almost the size of the PS history. However, we chose to stick to the current settings, not just act like there are no gods etcetera yet, we used the gods(laanx and talad) as a really important part of our story. We didn\'t just created some new gods to our liking while screaming \"TALAD IS BORING, WE NEED NEW ONES\".
I think IF you want to make new gods so badly, look at what The Followers of Aliathi have done, they actually used the settings to support all of their history, wich I think is really great.
Originally posted by Maxximus
For instance, the story of the gods of Planeshift is boring and safe, and told from a male point of view that considers women second class. You wanna support that for eternity?
Did I miss something here?
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You will be able to put your own books in the library...so create whatever you want, knock yourselves out...they don\'t even fix the original setting\'s errors when it\'s done, I seriously doubt they will add totally new official parts.
Originally posted by Axsyrus
Originally posted by Maxximus
For instance, the story of the gods of Planeshift is boring and safe, and told from a male point of view that considers women second class. You wanna support that for eternity?
Did I miss something here?
I thought laanx screwed up and became male, or something like that...therefore that not making sense to me either...but whatever, I haven\'t read the setting in a few years.
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she lost her beauty and gave up her femininity... thus becoming, more or less, male.. :P
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yeah, I got that.. but how does this make women \"second class\" ?(
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Cause, there ain\'t no ladies as gods, Axsyrus. :D
If the official god Talaad was cast as a male, and the only female god got de-feminized, I think it was all written by a guy who thought: Hmm, we don\'t need no chicks, a guy god is good enough. What woman would ever write that Laanx lost her femininity to become a guy (or sexless, or whatever the guy who wrote that meant)? Impossible. All women in Planeshift were cast as second class citizens by this. It doesn\'t mean that the female players of the game will accept the limitations that this less-than status suggests.
The official authors could have made some of the races to have females as the physically stronger-looking ones, too. But no, same old same old. Most races follow the male sexist guideline that women should be less imposing than males.
Put this all together and you see a passive forum of male chauvanism at work in the creation of the Planeshift universe. This does not mean, however, that ladies won\'t rule the place side by side with men...or maybe rule above them. They are used to ignoring road blocks like these. I bet they won\'t neuter Talaad should they become the ruling \"gender\" of Planeshift, though. They will make their own goddesses instead. Who would want a used Talaad anyway?
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Originally posted by Maxximus
I think it was all written by a guy who thought: Hmm, we don\'t need no chicks, a guy god is good enough. What woman would ever write that Laanx lost her femininity to become a guy (or sexless, or whatever the guy who wrote that meant)? Impossible. All women in Planeshift were cast as second class citizens by this.
Wow, Maxximus, you\'ve definately jumped over your earlier stupid comments...congratulations...in fact, I think you beat out most other on-topic posts. That has no base whatsoever.
And about the rest:
Kran are the strongest, they are \"its\"...Lemurs and other like them are much weaker then say diaboli or dwarves I think (male or female) and all these can be overcome as that is just how you start out...much like in real life.
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Maxximus: both Talad and Laanx are guys in real life (correct me if I\'m wrong about Laanx :P). If it\'s so, should we burn them on stake for them wanting to be their rl genders? :P
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As far as I know, playing a female or male version of a race is statistically exactly the same. You\'re crazy.
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YES BURN THEM ONNA STICK ! MENOTH DEMANDS IT !
or eals we\'ll just have to use you instead
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Originally posted by Draklar
Maxximus: both Talad and Laanx are guys in real life (correct me if I\'m wrong about Laanx :P). If it\'s so, should we burn them on stake for them wanting to be their rl genders? :P
Did I suggest that, Draklar?
/me reads his own post again
Umm - nope.
I did say other stuff, though. Kind of though-provoking, I thought. Care to comment on it?
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Hmmm what\'s the male version of a feminist...
Planeshift is in no way sexist. Males have no advantages over females in any way. The stats are the same for both sexes so how is it that you can say men are better than women in PS? Two gods are male. So? You\'re saying that it is impossible for two gods to both be male without it being sexist?
P.S. I heard Laanx was a woman rl....
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Originally posted by AendarCallenlasse
Hmmm what\'s the male version of a feminist... Planeshift is in no way sexist.
Hahaha.
I love forum creatures.
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my point is that you whine about gods being male for no good reason :P
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Originally posted by Maxximus
Originally posted by AendarCallenlasse
Hmmm what\'s the male version of a feminist... Planeshift is in no way sexist.
Hahaha.
I love forum creatures.
Planeshift...not the people who play planeshift.
Hahaha...I laugh because your funny...care to actually respond to the actual points being made instead of just the rest? I don\'t know...just a thought.
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Originally posted by Draklar
my point is that you whine about gods being male for no good reason :P
If you think my \"whining\" over the Planeshift god system being developed from a male sexist point of view isn\'t a good enough reason to post in this thread, then we\'re talking different languages here. Debate over.
I\'ve said, among other things, that the effect of having only males gods in Planeshift was to make all females in Planshift second class. Apparently, that concept doesn\'t even register in your brain. The reason I am \"whining\" about this is that maybe there can be a positive change made to the game story that would equalize things. Wouldn\'t that be a good idea? Equal is good in my book.
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You don\'t seem to understand that you don\'t even have a point. You clearly have no understanding of the mythos if you think a romantic tragedy is somehow meant to degrade females. That\'s the job of religions in the real world.
And on a slightly unrelated note...
Hmmm what\'s the male version of a feminist
Mysoginist would work I think.
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To get back on topic for a little while...
First off, according to one of the devs (Mr. Anonymous) there won\'t be any more gods. Not player run, nor dev run. However, it is still Talad who decides such things and I haven\'t been able to catch him for a personal interview. So we don\'t know how it\'s gonna be for sure. :)
Elections for gods? No. If anyone is to make someone a new god, it\'d either be Talad or someone who plays as Vod?l. Noone else. Voting for gods... Pff... What\'re you guys thinking? :)
To Maxximus:
About all the feminist stuff. I can\'t really see why having no living female gods means that women are second grade people. I mean, honestly. They created a nice setting for a nice game, and that\'s as far as it goes. If Talad and Laanx intended on making women second grade beings, trust me. You\'d know.
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Originally posted by Wedge
You don\'t seem to understand that you don\'t even have a point. You clearly have no understanding of the mythos if you think a romantic tragedy is somehow meant to degrade females. That\'s the job of religions in the real world.
And on a slightly unrelated note...
Hmmm what\'s the male version of a feminist
Mysoginist would work I think.
<yawn>
Your reply above has an elegant ring but it\'s a strawman. A slavish strawman. I\'d give you some credit if it were clever somehow - I\'d admire you for that, in a way - but, alas, it\'s just you being schematic. How boring. Even the insult is dumb.
I do have a point, Wedge, and it\'s major. I\'ve explained it twice so far. You and a few others in this thread can\'t fathom it - that is your true problem. Unfortunately, it\'s a problem I can\'t solve for you because there are only so many ways to express a simple idea using the English language.
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Maxximus, only you understand your point. Everyone else have no idea what are you talking about.
Even Gronomist doesn\'t have anything against the setting and she\'s more feminine than you are (I think :P).
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Originally posted by Gronomist
To get back on topic for a little while...
To Maxximus:
About all the feminist stuff. I can\'t really see why having no living female gods means that women are second grade people. I mean, honestly. They created a nice setting for a nice game, and that\'s as far as it goes. If Talad and Laanx intended on making women second grade beings, trust me. You\'d know.
Get back on topic? When did we leave the topic, Gronomist?
We didn\'t. This is simply how discussions evolve.
I have never said that Talad and Laanx intended on making women second grade beings.
If you\'d like to discuss what I have said in this thread, I\'m game. Or, we can chat about it one one my IRC channels that you idle on day and night without saying a word. I mean, those channels seem like a good place to chat, unless you\'re only there to log events.
* CLIMaX sets mode: +v Gronomist
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I know exactly what Maxximus is talking about, which is why I know also he is a complete idiot.
And now, he is turning to disregarding people for stuff not even related to this....can you not have a normal discussion man?
Anyways, my point is, you are wrong Maxximus, not only is it NOT a major point...it is not a point at all...oh, do I not understand? I don\'t recall anyone doing anything but replying to your messages and countering them instead of bringing up new points...so if they make no sense to you, something is wrong with the original post.
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Well, I thought I might as well jump into the discussion :P
Originally Posted by Maxximus
If the official god Talaad was cast as a male, and the only female god got de-feminized, I think it was all written by a guy who thought: Hmm, we don\'t need no chicks, a guy god is good enough. What woman would ever write that Laanx lost her femininity to become a guy (or sexless, or whatever the guy who wrote that meant)? Impossible. All women in Planeshift were cast as second class citizens by this. It doesn\'t mean that the female players of the game will accept the limitations that this less-than status suggests.
Here\'s an excerpt from the PS history:
When Talad, imbued with the crystal\'s power, came close to her to create the first creature of his people, a tempest of chaos burst forth from the god\'s hands and hit Laanx on her face, penetrating deeply into her body, and she became forever disfigured.
But Laanx was not beautiful anymore and she fell down into a deep depression that shattered her heart like a mirror.
I don\'t see why this is a problem. There are two gods, one male, one female. Talad screwed up, and disfigured Laanx. Laanx became depressed, and it affected her mind. Why would it be impossible for a woman to write this?
Also I don\'t see anywhere in PS setting where females are 2nd class, where they can\'t do something a male can\'t.
Originally Posted by Maxximus
The official authors could have made some of the races to have females as the physically stronger-looking ones, too. But no, same old same old. Most races follow the male sexist guideline that women should be less imposing than males.
Again, I don\'t see why this is males being sexist. This happens in nature all the time.
It was also pointed out that:
Originally Posted by Wedge
...playing a female or male version of a race is statistically exactly the same.
Originally Posted by Maxximus
This does not mean, however, that ladies won\'t rule the place side by side with men...or maybe rule above them.
Who says they can\'t do that now? In the government section, it doesn\'t say anything about the Octarchs or Vigesimi being male.
Edit: Typo
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Anyone else notice how so far not one woman has agreed with Maxximus? If it\'s so sexist why don\'t they care Max?
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The story of Planeshift, or the Histories, is a document full of trite ideas and lauguage. The writer of the story is familiar with English. He attempts to sound elegant and RPG-ish. Some passages include words and phrases that were choosen for their apparent stylishness rather than clarity. For the most part, the story is boring but not difficult to understand. The story is also quite sexist.
Official human history is the story of men oppressing women, and highlights of important football matches. The official record, produced and owned by men since a record was first kept, is supposed to be the unbiased story of all the people, not one gender\'s view of it. Nevertheless, the discriminatory and abusive behavior of men towards women throughout time can be found in the official history if you look carefully and illuminate its passages with the a strong light. The scribes and guardians of the official record never intended for us to find this information but it\'s in there, in between the lines. All members of society are deeply influenced by the official record, it is the default lens through which all events are viewed.
Yliakum History is written from a male sexist point of view. It didn\'t have to be written that way to make the story work but the writer sees the world through the male sexist lens of official human history, so he wrote a story that makes sense from that perspective. This should not prevent people who choose to play as female characters in Planeshift from partcipating in the game as equals with those who play as male character. As far as I know, if you choose to play as a female character the game will function for you the same as for male characters. However, women are reduced to second class citizens by the fact that only male gods exist in the Planeshift story. It\'s a passive form discrimination by men against women.
Women are used to this kind of crap in video games. Many have learned to work around it or to ignore it. But resistent as women can be, they are still subjected to male sexism in the Planeshift story and it\'s wrong. The sexism doesn\'t even advance the story line. It\'s just sexist because the writer is. Whether the writer realizes that his story is sexist, I don\'t know. He could be unaware that anything is amiss; lots of guys don\'t understand how insensitive they can be until you explain it to them. That, however, does not make it ok. The Planeshift story should be changed so that there are male and female gods who are equals. Similar changes should be made in hundreds of other game stories.
Let\'s look at parts of the Histories to get aquainted with the sexism I\'m complainig about.
In First Epoch: Laanx and Talad, the two gods are described in physical terms: Laanx, the female, is a vision of beauty straight out of a straight guy\'s idea of what female beauty should be. She\'s young, she\'s sexy, she alluring, she\'s ready to make love to men, especially Talad. Talad is described as a very macho-looking, ageless dude. We don\'t know if he has any desire for sexual relations with Lannx but if he does he will certainly find Laanx the ideal partner. The snapshots of both gods are familiar and unchallenging, and exactly what most men are programmed to expect. Women, too. Men have been promoting this picture of themselves and women for thousands of years so it\'s not as shocking an example of male sexism as, say, date rape. But it\'s still male sexism and still wrong.
In Second Epoch we also meet Vod?l. I assume that Vod?l is a male god based on his priorities: He agrees to help Talad and Laanx lure races away from other gods to worship them. In exchange for this Talad becomes one of his servants, and Laanx one of his lover.
So far in Yliakum History we have two male gods and one female god. The older gods refered to in the document could be female gods but there is no idication of this so I assume they are males.
In Second Epoch: The Division, Laanx, lover of Vod?l, gets her face blown off when Talad makes some sort of a mistake while creating a race of beings. Laanx suddenly looks ugly, and the Kran race is born at the same moment as if to underscore just how ugly. (This is the most sophisticated writing in the whole story!)
The history states: Laanx was not beautiful anymore and she fell down into a deep depression that shattered her heart like a mirror...
Now, Laanx isn\'t a women anymore, at least not an ideal one in the male sexist sense. The former bombshell babe is some kind of horrible shell of her former self.
In the Third Epoch: The Realm of Lannx, it becomes very clear that Laanx has transformed into a male. She is now a he, no doubt about it.
The Fourth and Fifth Epochs are devoted to a lot of flowery details that don\'t directly affect the male sexist perspective of the story. Something happens in the Fifth Epoch that is very telling, though. Laanx, now a male god, finds a a handsome mortal male to help him make a come back to rival Talad, and it works.
Conclusion: The story of Planeshift is told from a male sexist point of view. The writer might be unaware of his own male sexist views and simply set out to cobble together any story he could, not one that discriminates against women. But, that doesn\'t make the story acceptable and it should be changed without delay to promote a positive image of women. Throughout Yliakum History Laanx, the only female god in the story, is cast as an petty, confused and coniving being who rejects her femininity in order regain her former high statue as a god. She transforms into a male god and in the final chapters of Yliakum History , and Laanx, the male god, recruits a \"handsome young man\" mortal to help her (him?) regain power and influence. Only by becoming a man and seeking the help of a male mortal is she able to be a god equal to the male Talad.
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That is more like it!
Now, I can see where you get your perspective from except for some points, here are two before I leave:
1. You immediatly say that this is told from a male sexist view which makes females second class, I\'m not saying your wrong about it being sexist (although I do disagree), but the male version of each god seems worse in the story then the female...talad\'s stupid, laanx is screwed up...I don\'t see how that makes males better...and also Laanx changing shows that they DO NOT actually represent that gender since they are not specfically one and that way forever.
2. It\'s a story which most of the new people will not even read, and if they do they won\'t understand it...there is no reason to look that deep into it and seem to be searching for a reason to call it sexist, basically ANYTHING can be called sexist if you look to deep into it, as any other type of discrimatory terms (not necessarily all bad).
......
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Wow. Good for you.
I can only hope, for your sake, that you never go back and read what you wrote and still think it makes sense.
Luckily this class is only based on opinions, a realm where reality has no hold. So I give your paper an 84/100, or a 3.36 if you like college grades. And thanks for giving me another name to tack on. I know it\'s not the same usage, but I like it anyway.
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Might I note that women often choose to wear revealing clothes and thus conform to the \"Sexist Male Conspiracy\"?
What I\'m saying is, maybe there is a little sexism, though I don\'t think it\'s enough to justify a complete re-write. (Not that I think it\'s particularly good in the first place...) The writer is not specifically aiming to degrade women.
Secondly, us men have to live by the Male Code of Honor, you know, so we don\'t get called \"gay\". This includes being insensitive. :P
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Very nice Maxximus, that clears up your position on this issue nicely, and adds some insight that I hadn\'t thought about, as I never really read the PS history in great detail.
I still don\'t agree with your point, as I feel that you are reading too much into some of the phrases, but I do understand why some of the points in the story could be viewed as being sexist.
I\'d like to note that in the First Epoch Talad is the figure of a stereotypical male, just as Laanx is the stereotypical female. You could also reverse your analysis on this; if Laanx wanted a sexual parter, she would find Talad to be an ideal parter as well. Since you also noted that both men and women have been promoting this picture of themselves and the opposite gender, I wouldn\'t in my opinion, state that this was sexist either way. Stereotypical for both genders yes, but not sexist.