Warframe

[Elizabeth]

WOW the boy is thrilled!  He would love to play alongside some hearty Catholic guys.  He asks me to recommend the Fallout series (he explains this as some type of gamer etiquette) . 

So, when he achieves the goals set out, let us see about him playing Starcraft.

[The Harlequin King]

I'm back home now. I visited the Benedictine abbey at Clear Creek for the past few days.

What else..... the Xbox has a really good sci-fi RPG (role playing game) called Mass Effect, which I think is suitable for teens. The original came out in 2007, so it should be pretty cheap now, especially used copies. It's a very sequential series which has to be played in order, so be sure not to buy Mass Effect 2 or 3, unless it's the trilogy bundle.

Was not Mass Effect somewhat controversial in our increasingly secular and progressive society since it allowed players the chance to pursue homosexual relationships? Bear in mind, I do not doubt that Elizabeth's son is nothing but a fine traditionalist who would not choose to play in such a manner that would render such scenes. However, the option still remains, and this  may be a consideration for Elizabeth. Is there a way to skip the romance scenes altogether,  even the straight ones, or are they integral to the advancement of the plot?

I admit, I have not played Mass Effect myself, since I am not fond of Role Playing Games or RPGs.  No doubt, Mass Effect is a spectacular game with high reviews and a deep and engrossing plot.  My secular friends who are passionate gamers love the game and have recommended it to me.

I hadn't even thought about that. In the first game, there were three optional romances you could initiate with NPC companions. The one "homosexual" possibility was if you played as a female character and romanced Liara, an alien of a monogendered race that resembles female humans to some degree. But it seems really beyond the pale to worry about. The nature of RPG's means having a wide breadth of good and bad moral options. There are also many points in the game where you could wantonly murder people, contribute to criminal or slave-trafficking enterprises for personal profit, and so on. Or, stop all the above from happening. Or any combination of the above.

The first time I found the gay agenda egregious in the series was in the third game where it presents a mission to save a male crew member's "husband" from some danger. While it's quite believable that gay marriages are completely normalized two centuries in the future, there was still an agenda behind that portion of the game.

WOW the boy is thrilled!  He would love to play alongside some hearty Catholic guys.  He asks me to recommend the Fallout series (he explains this as some type of gamer etiquette) . 

So, when he achieves the goals set out, let us see about him playing Starcraft.

Haha, yes, the Fallout games are excellent. They are a "what if" alternate sci-fi where the 1950's culture never ended until the year 2077 and an all-out nuclear war with the US and China.

Christknight is correct, I like Starcraft a lot, but to be honest, I'm terrible at the online multiplayer aspect, so I rarely venture online to play against other real people. I have read all the associated books, though.

The original Starcraft game may be really hard to get into for your son if he isn't used to old games with ugly graphics. It came out in 1998 (for PC) and is completely 2D. It might be best for him to try out the second game (Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty) first.

[Elizabeth]

I hope your visit to the Abbey was full of graces, HK.  I have just re-read this thread and am very grateful for the input.  On reflection, my sense is that part of my son's interest is in 'belonging' in the gaming culture.  Therefore, it's very helpful to know which games push homosexual agendas and which ones work in a somewhat healthy moral atmosphere, or offer good moral choices. 

The kids were playing Assassin's Creed last year; from what I saw the graphics looked really awesome -- some Renaissance business with a determined monkish looking fellow traversing an interesting landscape. 

It would be so wonderful if there were hard-core Catholic games.  With warrior angels, demons, would-be saints clergy and laypeople.  Based on the spectacular miracles we know about from the lives of the saints, someone could make a huge fortune from this type of project. 

[The Harlequin King]

I hope your visit to the Abbey was full of graces, HK.  I have just re-read this thread and am very grateful for the input.  On reflection, my sense is that part of my son's interest is in 'belonging' in the gaming culture.  Therefore, it's very helpful to know which games push homosexual agendas and which ones work in a somewhat healthy moral atmosphere, or offer good moral choices. 

The kids were playing Assassin's Creed last year; from what I saw the graphics looked really awesome -- some Renaissance business with a determined monkish looking fellow traversing an interesting landscape. 

It would be so wonderful if there were hard-core Catholic games.  With warrior angels, demons, would-be saints clergy and laypeople.  Based on the spectacular miracles we know about from the lives of the saints, someone could make a huge fortune from this type of project.

The abbey visit was very edifying. I intend to write an article about it soon.

I wish I had something good to say about the gamer subculture. In spite of the fact that I've been a part of it for more than a decade and am even studying now to be a game programmer, the online world of gaming tends to bring out the dregs of humanity.... much like Youtube comments. From being cussed out by unsupervised 12-year olds with headsets on Xbox Live, to trying to have any meaningful interaction on an online RPG with basement dwelling neckbeards who can't string together a single coherent sentence on their keyboards, to the litany of complaining on community forums that goes on as incessantly as the wailing and gnashing of teeth in hell.... on the bright side, there are also many totally reasonable gamers to associate with, but they get drowned out in a tide of garbage. This is why, as a general principle, I tend to only play games in single player mode. If I want to play with others, it's usually by inviting friends to my place directly, rather than online (I have additional computers set up for multiplayer). Occasionally I'll play with a friend online.



Assassin's Creed is what I call a guilty pleasure for myself. The concept of the series is rather genius, but the conspiracy theory storyline that underpins it is retarded like a Dan Brown novel (The Da Vinci Code). The creators seem to have finally realized this themselves and dispensed with it in the latest installment of the series, though.

[Wicked Papist]

You need to know where to look, HK.

[Southern Ascetic]

Talk about de-railing OP's thread 

[Elizabeth]

I wish I had something good to say about the gamer subculture.

Ah, this makes me glad of the knuckle-heads the boys game with.  A limited subculture of nice kids we know in real life, who get together for marathons and drink sodas and eat snacks and enjoy conversations in which they appear to be one-upping each other with weird facts.  When they should really be doing athletics or farm chores lol.