Why Gaming is Leaving Me Behind. Part 2.

Now we turn to the second factor Gaming has left behind: The Players...
 

The Players. I say “players” here because as I said before, I don’t think most of the people who play games today are real gamers. It takes more than being a Commander in Call of Duty to qualify as a gamer and is a prime example of the problem: the general public has become enamored with video games. A good place to look is at Facebook. I remember the chatter when Facebook was open to state universities and my college started using it. There was a certain prestige to using it over Myspace. When Facebook was open to general public, it just cheapened the whole product and now teenagers are bullying others to suicide and others live their lives through Facebook. 

The same thing, I feel, has happened to video games and the culture that surrounds them. It has been cheapened greatly and with that, certain etiquette has gone out the window. I have grown tired of Xbox Live and Playstation Network because people on each of these services have degraded the experience to the lowest common denominator. One issue I have is with the constant barrage of vulgarities slung every which way from twelve year olds and thirty year old shut ins. Sure, during the old days in the burgeoning online arenas, gamers could be somewhat vulgar but it was much lower key. After playing a round of online Halo, one can begin to question the intelligence and outright worthiness of the current and succeeding generations.

It is even worse for female gamers. They receive the most sexist, vile, and sexually charged barbs thrown their way. I am surprised any girl would want to play online at all given the constant vitriol involved in the activity. There are a couple sites (I won’t link to them because of the total depravity of the subject matter) that show the horrible comments women receive on a game-by-game basis.

This vulgarity carries over into the broken matchmaking systems of most games. When I was a more avid gamer as an undergrad, I still would go months between playing games because of work and school. This practice would be my downfall as I would mostly lose because I was matched up against experts and junkies. These people seemed to have spent months and months building upgrades while I had basic gear. Constantly losing in addition to being berated for being a “noob” and much worse things does not a fun time make. 

And don’t even bring any inexperienced guests to play with you. Some of the worst times gaming were in Gears of War after good players have died watching my guests play. I would have to hear constant insults and berating of my guests while they fumbled around trying to survive while missing their shots. 

   

Another issue which takes the fun out of playing games is the lack of sportsmanship exhibited. I have tried playing Madden online a number of times and I have found that it is just not a fun game to play with total strangers. When I am beating someone pretty handily in the game, the strategy of the other player is to disconnect their system so as not to count the game as a loss. Their lack of loss, equals my lack of win and soon I look like I can’t win any game because every time (and I mean every time), my opponent disconnects on me it doesn’t count for anything. This practice just takes all of the fun out of playing when I will stay in a loss to the end. 

To be concluded in Part 3...

Why Gaming is Leaving Me Behind. Part 1.

I once called a person a “hippie” in a somewhat negative connotation and received a lecture on how being a hippie is not about the clothes one wears, the drugs one abuses, or the politics one spews. No, being a hippie is a mentality and a way of life. I thought this description was actually quite profound in that this is how I view Gamers and Geeks. What separates Geeks and Gamers from those who like geeky stuff or like playing video games is the person’s mentality and way of life.

Someone who spends almost every waking hour playing Call of Duty, Madden, or Candy Crush has probably never experienced the rush of receiving a Nintendo Entertainment System for their seventh birthday; felt accomplishment on beating their first game, Super Mario Bros 3; watched in awe of the first Lion Heart limit break performed; or skipped their Senior Prom to attend a Halo LAN party. All of these events have fashioned me into a Gamer like so many others who have similar experiences and carry the same mentality. This is why with great regret, I have realized that the current video game culture is leaving me behind. 

Much of the reason I am not keeping up with the current trends and games is because I have a lot going on between working full time, grad school, and research. However, I would still find time to play games as I did in undergrad if there was anything worth making time for. The fact is that current trends just take the fun out of playing games. I would like to mention the three main factors which have ruined it for me. 

The Companies. Video game companies are helping to destroy the business of video games while making massive profits off the trends that are ultimately going to doom us in the end. I am a Capitalist and I have no problem at all with companies striving for profits, but that is not my point. My point is that the companies are allowed to get away with screwing gamers on a regular basis because the masses which play the most popular games don’t seem to care. 

Electronic Arts (EA), which was recognized as the worst company in America, is one of the greatest offenders as they make gamers pay for extras which used to be included in 60 dollar games. I remember turning on Madden and having to pay 800 Microsoft points just to play online and get updates. EA is hardly the only guilty party as many people are okay with paying real money to dress up avatars online or pay for necessary advancement in mobile games. The key to all of this is that companies will only go as far as the public will tolerate and, sadly, the public is just fine with being charged for every little thing as long as they get to scream epithets at someone living half a world away which brings me to my next issue: the players themselves. 

To be continued in Part 2...

God Will Never Give Us More Than We Can Handle Unless We Want to Go It Alone

I came across a blog post while perusing my facebook news feed: God Will Give You More Than You Can Bear. While the blog post eventually makes it to a point of placing our cares on God, one issue really irked me. The title is a play on 1 Corinthians 10:13 which the author mentions in her blog. 

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. -1 Corinthians 10: 13

The author goes on to say that this verse is talking about escaping from temptations so that we can bear them, but she totally misses the first part of the verse, “but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able,” which is where we get the sentiment of God not giving us more than we can handle. When the going gets tough, it is easy to throw out the Word you don’t agree with. It really comes down to whether you think God is a liar or not because He clearly says He will not suffer us to be tempted above which we are able.

We see in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 how people will bend the Word to say what they want to hear:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  

The itching ears in this passage refer to individuals who will make doctrines that are comfortable to them. This is not the Word but the doctrines of men. In light of the subject of bearing temptations, the next verse in 2 Timothy 4 is very interesting. 

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. -2 Timothy 4:5 

It is quite amazing that the next verse in 2 Timothy refers to enduring afflictions because it is within afflictions and tribulations we are most prone to changing the Word to fit our “reality.” Another interesting fact of this verse is that it is a command to us. There are many commands laid out by God in His Word. Some examples include:

Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you. -1 Peter 5:7

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. –Proverbs 3:6

Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. –Philippians 4:6

Every one of these verses is a command for us to go to our Heavenly Father for help.  1 Corinthians 10:13 states, “but God is faithful…” The word “faithful” implies that He is honoring effort placed by another party, the Christian. He is faithful to those who cast their cares upon God, acknowledge Him in all their ways, or are anxious for nothing. All too often, we as Christians want to believe that God should come to our level and handle our problems with no effort from us; then, at the same time we like to blame God for not handling said problems when we do not place our worries upon Him and ask Him for help. One thing we need to understand is that God cannot overstep free will. If His child wants to bear the full burden of a problem, then who is He to argue. We need to apply the rightly divided Word to realize that if we are having experiences that we feel are too much to bear then we are not casting our care upon God. We always need to remember that God is never the problem. The problem is our human inclinations.

Check out God is Not Down With The Sickness for more on God’s love versus the devil’s desire to destroy us.     

Meet the New Society, Same as the Old Society

Watching shows on the History Channel, Discovery, and sitting through lectures, you get a sense that ancient humanity was far different from how we live today. Similar to many elders in the world today where “everything was simpler in my day,” we yearn for a time when things weren’t so hectic and humans were in tune with nature and the elements around them. Well, I’m here to tell you that many modern researchers have it very wrong about how people acted and lived in the ancient and indigenous world. All too often we see films and read books about the simplicity of Native American culture culminating in one of the most bigoted plot lines running through fiction, “the noble savage.” I have sat through history lectures involving whole classes of apologies to all the indigenous people the “white man” hurt throughout history while they neglect millennia of pre-Columbian war, complex society, and amazing achievements. Sorry, professors but history did not begin with the introduction of European interests.

I have also watched many shows that imply that there is deep meaning behind every work of art and every form of writing ancient man committed to stone. The view of indigenous tribes and the ancients being simpler than modern man and the idea that those who have come before us designed their art to only communicate cultural significance does only one thing: it trivializes the studied civilizations. 

Think about what you do during a typical day. Hopefully you have a job and hopefully you have time to recreate. If there is consideration for what humans do most of the day, one can come to the conclusion that a lot of time is spent doing things that are only important to the person. Individual pursuits are probably the reality for a quarter to one half of the Earth’s population while the other fraction of humanity is just looking to survive. Now I would like to question, “How different do you think our modern reality is to the reality of our forerunners?” It’s probably not much different at all. Do you think the Mayans or Aztecs who left behind their ruins for us to study really sat around considering how future civilizations would interpret the meaning behind their glyphs? No, just like your doodling in class or that painting hanging in the local art gallery, those ancient glyphs and paintings were designed for the enjoyment of the people who created them. 

Visual art has always been a very important aspect of the human experience and, thus, I question the theory that cave paintings had anything extra to tell the observer other than a good story. The chances are great that cave paintings were like graphic novels telling a story through a visual medium. I remember watching a television program discussing the Flood in Genesis and a man whose theory involved a meteorite stated something interesting. He said something akin to, “You have to remember that all of these paintings from the ancient world had a deep rooted meaning.” His statement regarding ancient humanity reminds me of an alien race in science fiction whose world has one language, one religion, and one culture. The idea is just not realistic. We need to start interjecting our modern sensibilities into those in the ancient world. If we are honest in doing so, I think we will realize that those who have come before are really not all that different from us.

Playlist for an Apologist

A good song can go a long way into brightening your day. Don’t believe me? Just ask King Saul about the songs David would play and how they caused an evil spirit to depart from him. In fact, even God loves Himself a good melody. Psalm 150:3-6 mentions the many musical ways we can praise Him.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

As a musician and self-proclaimed music snob, I can attest to how great I feel when I listen to an artist who seems to speak right to me through their composition and lyrics. Not only do I feel like I have found music which I don’t feel guilty listening to but I am refreshed by the fact that I am not alone in how I think. It is to this end I want to devote this article and highlight three different musical artists who seem to sing and play to the apologetic aesthetic. I will cover artists in three different musical genres; therefore, if an artist doesn’t strike your fancy genre wise, hopefully one of the other artists can appeal to you.

1. (Knowda)Verbs

Verbs also known as Knowdaverbs is a Christian hip hop artist who sadly hasn’t gained enough attention in the genre. However, he has gained some positive critical reception due to his beats and intelligent lyrics. Verbs’ lyrics are grounded in the Word and cover many issues from ministry to spiritual warfare to the power of God. He does not talk down to his audience which is something any apologist should be able to appreciate. So, for any apologist who loves hip hop, I would definitely recommend a listen to Verbs. Musical highlights include the songs: Syllabus, God is Big, Plane Scared, and Giant Slayers.

2. Becoming the Archetype

From the world of hip hop to a very different musical world is the metal band, Becoming the Archetype, whose name is a reference to the fact that Jesus Christ is the ultimate Archetype of humanity and we should strive to be like Him. Becoming the Archetype (BTA) is the ultimate academic Christian metal band with lyrics about the futility of atheistic thought like:

Initially they rationalized with futile speculations
Which brought about their ultimately fatal calculations
They sewed their own eyes shut
To protect them from the light
Closed the doorway of their minds
Barred and sealed it tight

In addition to lyrics that just ooze apologetic assertions, the musical composition of BTA is some of the best in the business. The guitars ring, the drums destroy with their machine gun sound, and the bass thumps. Metal might not be your cup of tea, but I definitely hope that doesn’t stop you from experiencing some of the most sincere and intelligent Christian musicians out there today. Musical highlights include: Dichotomy, Ex Nihilo, The Magnetic Sky, and How Great Thou Art (yes, this is a metal cover of the hymn).

3. Joy Electric

Okay, so hip hop and metal aren’t your thing musically. Well, what about electronica? Electronica is the realm of Joy Electric , who can be described as a Christian synthpop artist. Joy Electric, or Ronnie Martin, has written numerous songs covering many different topics including: believer exhortation, scientific inquiry, literary legends, and history. In light of most electronic music which can be loud and bombastic, Martin employs a mainly subdued and simple style adding accessibility to his music. In addition, Joy Electric’s writing exhibits an intelligence above similar artists’ lyrics, and one can see the type of research he places into his subject matter. This can be appreciated by individuals in the field of apologetics who themselves place emphasis on research in both the Word and science. Musical highlights include: The Heritage Bough, Nikola Tesla, The Otherly Opus, and Disloyalist Party.