Maybe offended? in Design Philosophy

ID:151378
 
Apr 14 2011, 4:30 pm
Greetings,

First of all, Sorry if I used the wrong section...

At the moment, I'm developing a game, But I'm implenting a Death System that includes Heaven and Hell. Before I finish that, I wanted to ask if it's allowed to add that in my game since some may it seem offended because of their religion.

If this can be against the rules I will remove it immidiantly from my game!
#1 Apr 14 2011, 4:59 pm
You could always give them different names. Such as the Clouds and the Void.
#2 Apr 14 2011, 5:04 pm
Please dont remove anything from your game because someone might be "offended". They'll get over it. You cant please everyone.
#3 Apr 14 2011, 5:29 pm
Yeah really, don't take stuff out of your game because it could offend others. If they don't like it they don't have to play. But it is Build Your Own Net Dream for a reason. If you want to have heaven and hell in your game then do it! If people get offended by it then they should really reconsider the direction their life is going.
#4 Apr 14 2011, 5:49 pm
In response to Magicbeast20 (#1)
This is what Notch did with Minecraft. Instead of calling the Halloween dimension "hell", he chose to call it "the nether" because of fear that he might offend religious players.
#5 Apr 14 2011, 7:03 pm
You should leave it in, but keep in mind that those words have a lot of baggage so use them if you intend your game to have a hint of religion in it.

At one point I was going to make a game with a heaven and hell based upon Dante's Divine Comedies but alas it is something I will probably never get around to.
#6 Apr 14 2011, 8:01 pm
People won't be offended by the presence of hell, but they might be offended by some of the in-game actions that can land your character in hell. If the game allows for all kinds of gruesome rape, murder, and dismemberment of other players, people might be a little put off (and rightfully so). If it doesn't have that kind of stuff you'll be fine.
#7 Apr 15 2011, 4:05 am
In response to Forum_account (#6)
The thing is, Your in-game actions will affect your chance of going to hell or heaven...Like if you kill your own team members or etc...But not raping
#8 Apr 15 2011, 4:54 am
In response to TheProductions (#7)
I don't really see where the offense would lie, nor do I think your game would suffer much if at all, by including these concepts of heaven and hell.
#9 Apr 15 2011, 5:44 am
In response to Stephen001 (#8)
Neither am I, But I just wanted to ask if it would get offensive or not

But thanks guys for replying! I think i'll just add the "Heaven/Hell" things. If there will be any problems later, I'll just change them :)
#10 Apr 15 2011, 12:16 pm
Zork put the player at the gateway of Hell over 30 years ago. DOOM and Diablo go through Hell. I don't see this as being a problem for mainstream gamers, even most religious ones--myself included.

The biggest thing you could really do to cross a line would be to outright disrespect the religion you're referencing. It's pretty hard to do that unintentionally for the most part, so I think you'll be okay.

Lummox JR
#11 Apr 15 2011, 1:02 pm
In response to Lummox JR (#10)
Lummox JR wrote:
It's pretty hard to do that unintentionally for the most part, so I think you'll be okay.

Unless he's using Muslim hell.
#12 Apr 15 2011, 3:12 pm (Edited on Apr 15 2011, 3:33 pm)
In response to Moussiffer (#3)
Moussiffer wrote:
Yeah really, don't take stuff out of your game because it could offend others. If they don't like it they don't have to play. But it is Build Your Own Net Dream for a reason. If you want to have heaven and hell in your game then do it! If people get offended by it then they should really reconsider the direction their life is going.

I completely agree. This is your world your designing for your own artistic interactive expression. Some people will like it, others could be offended don't worry about it. Galileo deeply offended the church and was under house arrest for a good portion of his life. Many were offended by Picasso. Many many many people have been offended by Grand Theft Auto. Don't worry about Build Your Own Net Dream as you see fit - every one of the world's built with BYOND will only acquire players if they appeal to a niche audience. The big firms already have the "games that appeal to everyone" Hollywood type market down. Here in BYOND is where the art happens. This is where the games analogous to indie films can happen.

Edit: Here's another reason I wouldn't worry so much about offending people. Probably the most popular MUD out there is based around BDSM, which includes slaves. Sounds pretty offensive right? Well it regularly has over 500 players connected and has been growing from an average of 440 players in Spring '07 to an average of about 560 players today: http://www.mudstats.com/Game/ShangrilaMUSH.aspx
#13 Apr 16 2011, 2:01 pm
In response to SuperAntx (#11)
Is muslim hell any different than christian or jewish hell?
#14 Apr 16 2011, 8:38 pm
In response to Italian (#13)
Italian wrote:
Is muslim hell any different than christian or jewish hell?

Your not allowed to eat animals that eat meat in Muslim hell.
#15 Apr 18 2011, 12:10 am
In response to Enzuigiri (#14)
Enzuigiri wrote:
Your not allowed to eat animals that eat meat in Muslim hell.

I don't believe this is actually haraam?