Death of an Atheist

[Mythryndel]

Xillix, your interpretation of what I was trying to say was spot-on.

While it would be another chore to do in-game, making an offering of some kind makes the most sense to me for long-term implementation. I can be a nice guy and help out someone by running errands without having any care in the world what deity he/she follows. I can see how I would gain faction ( I read this as "favorable reputation" ) in the eyes of a deities followers, but not necessarily gain me favor in the eyes of the deity him/herself by doing errands, but giving of my own belongings/time shows reverence/deference to a specific deity.

*shrugs* Just my 2 trias.

[khoridor]

Mythryndel, that's along the lines of what I wrote earlier. I agree with you, and with Prolix.
This is for Average Joe to worship however, and I still would like the possibility of playing priests. We can play theologians, and discuss as much as we want, but priests don't only talk; they have things to do.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Yep these kinds of things are ideal and in accordance with our intent.

The idea is to create atmosphere.

[jaycol]

  Instead of Permadeath. Might we consider the option to of which God we worship before leaving the death realm. The curse being reset by the choice of which God is selected. Meaning each choice would have a slighly different effect. If Atheist is chosen the character could respawn anywhere randomly to include the sky, the begining of the death realm. Or just to the begining of the death realm to allow them time to reconsider the question.

[zanzibar]

Also... I stand by my point about RL intruding on PS where players want to be atheists. They hold very strong beliefs in the real world, and they are demanding those same beliefs (or lack thereof) be implemented in-game as well.

I think you're confusion the real life definition of atheism with the PS definition of atheism.  PS atheism is simply non worship.

Why is everyone so dead set that they HAVE to play a atheist character?

Myth, the poll Xillix conducted showed that only 14% of respondents play an atheist as their main.  None of my characters are atheists.

The idea is to create atmosphere.

I think the question is how this end connects to the means being enacted?

[Orgonwukh]

Create a skill called 'faith'.
If you use /pray, the character trains the skill and reduces the duration of Dakkru's curse (if present). One could reduce the curse duration by praying a lot after exiting death realm. This also makes sense for a faithful person after having spent time in this horrible place. Also, faithful persons will train their skills by praying. Maybe the duration needed to finish a prayer should be shortened with higher faith skills. The amount of curse reduction could also be affected, but this is difficult to balance.

[khoridor]

Questions: Who do you pray to reduce the curse? And who do you thank for getting out of the DR?

[Mythryndel]

@zanzibar: I'm not the one confusing things here. I am just observing people throwing a fit about how they don't want to be forced to do something in-game. I am simply positing why I believe people are so reluctant to follow this aspect of settings. The "poll" you refer to is over a year old and Xillix has also mentioned that atheism or non-worship is actually the majority of characters in-game right now. So I fail to see your point completely here. If my comments do not apply to you... ignore them. If they do... sorry, I call it like I see it. I was not attempting to call you out specifically as I do not have a clue who your characters are in-game and may or may not have even met them.

Back on-topic... You equip a holy symbol of the god you are worshiping when you /pray... and get a message in the system tab about you pray for X seconds... like when repairing a weapon/armor? As long as the holy symbol is not used up, this sounds like something that could be very useful. If you move, just like with repair, you just blew that time spent and must continue on with your curse. You could also gain skill in "faith" or a particular deity and gain practice points when /praying... and higher levels would reduce the amount of time required to experience the curse exiting the DR, among other benefits. In order to keep people from getting too upset, the most pious should still experience the curse for 10 minutes, minimum.

[EDIT] Should there be a requirement to /pray to leave the DR? I'm skipping way forward and thinking implementation details... but still... It is entirely IC and appropriate if things work as stated (that a deity grants passage out of the DR) for our characters to give thanks upon leaving the DR. The curse is entirely appropriate as Dakkru is a little miffed at losing a potential subject... but by /pray-ing to our deity and giving thanks... the curse could be somewhat mitigated as well.

Per settings... Dakkru's followers suffer the least... so require them to /pray BEFORE leaving the DR... this could be explained as asking passage back to Y'liakum in order to bring more willing subjects to Dakkru... or simply to send them to Dakkru by force... Would there be a curse at all for those following Dakkru? I know travel between the DR and Y'liakum can't be as easy as walking through a door... so some effect would likely be appropriate.. just not sure what.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

We are very far from working out the mechanics but the ideas here touch upon some of the things we are thinking.

At this time we are focused on much less nuanced elements of the game and things more vital to the stability and playability of the game.

http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html  <--- here are some real world statistics to help the argument along.

I do not believe Planeshift should ever approach similar numbers of atheists AT ALL.

[zanzibar]

So I fail to see your point completely here.

Yeah...

Like I said before, none of my characters are atheist.  And the PS definition of Atheist is not the RL definition of Atheist.

I do not believe Planeshift should ever approach similar numbers of atheists AT ALL.

Xillix, are you very religious IRL?

[Mythryndel]

Zanzibar... read my post. If what I said doesn't apply to you... ignore it. You called me out, not the other way around.

Also, what does Xillix real life beliefs have to do with this conversation? Settings TELLS us how things are in PS, not the other way around.

[EDIT] whether you can reconcile RL atheism as different from PS atheism or not... they are different. This fact has been established in this thread very clearly. Are you just trying to continue arguing or what?

[zanzibar]

[EDIT] whether you can reconcile RL atheism as different from PS atheism or not... they are different. This fact has been established in this thread very clearly. Are you just trying to continue arguing or what?

You were using the RL definition of atheism in a discussion on the PS definition of atheism.  You were mixing them up and treating them as the same.  I was not.  To quote you:

Also... I stand by my point about RL intruding on PS where players want to be atheists. They hold very strong beliefs in the real world, and they are demanding those same beliefs (or lack thereof) be implemented in-game as well.

[Mythryndel]

Go back and read my original post on the subject. People are bringing their real world beliefs into the game and using them as justification for ignoring settings... do try to keep up please.

[zanzibar]

Go back and read my original post on the subject. People are bringing their real world beliefs into the game and using them as justification for ignoring settings... do try to keep up please.

Well, I'm certainly not one of those people.   Happy hunting.

[Mythryndel]

Then what was all of this about? I hadn't brought you into this by name, and don't have a clue who your characters are in-game.