Okay, this has seriously been on my heart lately. Has anyone ever thought about the gamer community? Okay, I was never a legit gamer in the area of combat-like mmorpgs or anything, but...I was quite a bit a gaming addict. XD
Anyway, what I'm getting at here, is what if Christians infiltrated this area of culture? Eh, I don't know if I liked how I worded that...more like, became a part of it? Hm...
It's just, there's so many broken, hurting and identity-confused people out there that retreat into virtual reality because they don't want to face the reality in front of them...
So, my thoughts here are, what if Christians got involved in this area somehow, and what are your guy's thoughts on it?
I'm brainstorming ideas...just thinking of what if there was a "christian" MMORPG or even an MMORPG in the secular area, but run by Christians and actually geared at helping people? Agh, the details are still in the works in my head, but...I do have ideas on connecting people in community to be discipled, but on an online platform. Anyway, I know all of this is pretty garbled, but...what are your thoughts in response to all of this? Ideas, suggestions, critiques, or simply informing me I'm talking like a crazy person are all helpful.
(Gamers and geeks are some of the most passionate people on Earth, but simply struggle to get on a pedestal of influence outside of their subcultures and communities...but connected in Christ and empowered by the holy spirit, they can be crazy amazing world changers...that's kind of a big thing I want to do with my life. Geeks are the craziest people alive...and it's that online fearlessness they have that I want to transition into the real world. I repeat: feel free to tell me I'm crazy, nuts, or misinformed. =D)
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This is a great idea! In particular, I like the idea of having communities within gaming communities dedicated to helping people. I'm not that involved with gaming anymore, but I'm involved of lots of comic-conny activities and I know a lot of people already have a heart for charity (ex. Browncoats raising money for various causes, Nerd HQ).
Nerd HQ is a great model for leveraging interest from fan communities and creators for a greater good.
http://christiandevs.com/news/
This is the Christian Developers Network - they create 24 hour games and such all the time. I've developing a Christian RPG myself, though it has been put the sidelines recently. Lot of good stuff there.
I think that if we can manage to make Christian themed movies like Narnia and Prince of Egypt, we can make Christian games too:)
I've seen a couple groups with goals similar to what you described. I think one is Hardcore Christian Gamers and another is Game Church or something like that.
I also watch some Christian Let's Play channels on Youtube.
Mighty Christian Gamer - https://www.youtube.com/user/Bluehogg1 He's doing a Mother 3 LP right now.
Pro Omnia - https://www.youtube.com/user/ProOmniaVideos They're pretty good but taking a hiatus. The main guy has a daily vlog on another channel.
Adam Lamb - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rUeUNulUW46KKRlA0WqZw He mainly does Minecraft but started a Pokemon ROMhack LP and a Lego Lord of the Rings LP.
I think it would be awesome if you pursued this. Let us know if you come up with anything or need ideas or opinions.
Your crazy!
But crazy people(to the world they appear crazy), change the world!
I'm sure if you follow your passion, you will find a way.
I think in order to reach this particular demographic of our society. You must be involve in that community and be one of them. Get to know them, they can smell the fake which in turn means they won't hear a word you say.
Like in any community/or culture you can only be an influence once your inside. There are no guarantees. Except for God.
How to do it, though - I have no idea. I am interested in all kinds of media and gaming is just one more with incredible potential, so I'll be following this thread and learning more.
I played 'Everquest' and 'Everquest 2' for over 10 years, and can confirm what you say about how passionate some folks are for online role playing games. I often thought, even if it's just to get a dedicated group of Christians together to game on an already existing game as a guild or network, it would be wonderful. Not only for offense (spreading the Gospel and ministering to the lost) but defensively (helping our Christian brothers and sisters resist the temptations these games sometimes present and spiritual attacks and anti-Christian bigotry from some other players), coordinating Christian groups on existing games would be great, and if some day God opens the door to make an all out Christian run online RPG, that would be truly awesome and a huge blessing!