CGA and Diablo Questions

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clarksvillefriend

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I am on another board with Gods_Peon and it was suggested that I post this question here.

My sons are getting Diablo 2 for Christmas (I have been putting this off for some time). I am thinking in the beginning they will only play the game on the PC, but later they may want to branch out, but as a Christian Mom - I worry about this whole thing.

Several years ago they came home playing Dungeons and Dragons, but they had it all crazy. I said - you want to play D & D - then you are going to play with your Dad. He is a D & D player from the 1980's and can keep you on the right track." And he has kept them on the right track and taught several of their friends as well. This way we have an adult Christian male teaching them and watching over them.

I expect I will do the same thing with Diablo 2 since he likes games (really isn't that much of an online gamer though).  My questions are:
So if a person wants to play Diablo 2 with you and not at the Blizzard site is that possible? Does this site give kids an alternate location or how does it work? DO they join one of the clans and then still play at the diablo site with y'all as clanmates?

Thanks for anything you can tell me about Diablo and Blizzard and the Christian Gamers Alliance.

Tracey
 
Diablo I and II both have single player campaigns. It also has direct connect ability (if I remember correctly) where two or more people can connect to one persons IP address and play that way. You don't have to play over battle.net. If they are young kids, I don't recommend battle.net.

Just my opinions,

Cory
 
Sadly I have to agree about battle.net...while the idea of a mega-hub where players can meet is wonderful...it's unfortunaltly one of the foulest places I have seen online with verbal abuse and foul languange.

But if you stay in our channels:
OP CGA
Public Chat Christians it is 100% better
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The Diablo series have single player campaigns that should take people a few months to complete.  Assuming they aren't glued to the computer.  If it takes your kids a few days to get through the campaigns, they just might be spending too much time infront of the computer.

These games are classic click and kill games.  There are some actual puzzles for you to solve (nothing to complicated), in the end, they are strictly point, click and kill.

There is no way to tone down the violence or gore.  Although, it isn't all that gory.  There is some blood splatter and the soundfx add to it as well.

The Diablo series work very similiar to classic D&D games.  You choose a character class, and you customize your character as they level up, with new skills, spells and attribute point distribution.

The graphics are pretty good.  There is a wide range of weapons to be found.  Even uniques, rares and sets.  And as you build your sets (which are very hard to find), you get additional bonuses to character attributes.  Even though the game is about killing beasties, there are other dimension in the game, such as looking for that last piece of armour for that set you have been hunting for 3 months.

Although in Classic Diablo, Diablo 2 and D2:Lord of Destruction expansion, the goal is to fight and win against Diablo or Ba'al or Mephisto, that is where any link to Christianity ends.  This game is not based on Christianity.

You will find all sorts of nasty things in the Diablo games.  Some upside down crosses, people hanging scewered on poles, some pentagrams.  Piles of dead bodies.  One of the character classes you can choose for yourself is a necromancer.  And generally speaking, most of the bad dudes you are killing don't wear clothing, there is no sexual content mind you.  You don't really see anymore then you do on some animated shows that alot of kids watch anyway.

Battle.net can be a foul and disgusting place.  And to make matters worse, the average age of the kids there is between 14 and 20 something.  The best way for your kids to find safe games online is to actually begin posting here.  There are people who play this game online who post here often.  There is no formal "diablo" clan associated with CGA.  So the key will be to find out who they are and when they are usually online.  I myself play these games once in awhile.

Also, most of us run MSN or ICQ or some other buddy list program.  Once you get on a buddy list with fellow Diablo players from this site, you know when they are online and if they are upto a game.

Even when you are playing with fellow Christians on Battle Net, it is not unheard off to be playing in an open game (not password protected) and having to deal with the undesirables on Bnet.  It is hard to spread the word of God from behind a firewall and a password.  It is easy enough to squelch players in a game so you don't have to listen to them.  I am sure we here have all been squelched by others on many occasions.  LOL.

As mentioned before, CGA has laid claim to a few battle net chat channels.

op cga (on USEast and USWest server realms)

You might find people in chat channels:  ToJ and/or Public Chat Christians.  Mind you, we are trying to get everybody here who does play blizzard games to log onto BattleNet and head to Op CGA chat first.  That makes it a common channel to find people here at.

Chat channels are also public domain.  Anybody can enter these channels.  Generally speaking, the only people who know about these channels are people here.  And just poping into a channel that is never listed here but sounds like it could be safe is not always a good idea.  Sometimes channels with names of Christians only, or 777 are simply lures to get some people in there to give them a verbal lashing over their beliefs.
 
Battlenet is just fine if you stick to the right areas, which generally means staying away from public channels and games.  D2 is not a mmorpg--blizzards servers house thousands of games which each have 1-8 players, and many of which are private (password protected).  If you want to play with a specific person or group of people while interacting with no one else, that's certainly an option.  But if you are going to do that, battlenet is somewhat pointless--you might as well just play open and host your own games.  The main advantages of battlenet are that you have many people to play with and that realm characters cannot be hacked (they are stored on blizzard's servers), neither of which seem to be a concern in your case.

Edit:  If I repeated anything in the above post, forgive me.  He posted just before I did.  
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Ok from a former avid D2 player. When i am at home i would be more than willing to play with them on Useast.

As far as the realms go
Useast is the most "popular"
Uswest is where most of the hacks/dupes and other cheats go on
Europe is lag center filled with some mature gamers
Asia, well its the 3 Asia servers
tounge.gif


With that in mind. Useast is where i have played sinse i started D2. Generally speaking if your child have had a good Christian upbringing, and you have not sheltered them to much, then they should be fine. Public gaming can be very rude at times, and at others it can be very fun and uplifting. that is how you start your friends base. i would advise your sons to play, and if the people start cussing. being disrespectful, then leave and find a new game. its not that hard. Also try to get the names, and contacts of people who play from here, so that they can play with them and do some private games ect. You would also be suprised at how often i see "christian" gamers on D2, that act just like the rest of the general populace. just remind them that it is a game, nothing to get mad or angry over, and that when you leave a game just leave with some encourage words, maybe a favorite verse, or just simply say "Have a great game and God bless" or "Jesus loves you and so do I" (sounds corny but meh). I have received many whispers from people when i leave a game, and i have displayed a good attitude, giving away the items we find i dont need, helping others, in general being a good "team" player and making it fun for all, and that is where i have built my personal friend base from, these are people who may not share my beliefs, but i do enjoy playing with because we are mature and respectful gamers. if you have anyquestions, or anything feel free to contact me

Aim- ToJLionOfJudah
MSN Lion0fJudah @ hotmail.com (Also my email) spam proofed.

In Christ
Charlie
 
Thanks to all of you for your replies.  My sons are age 11 and 13.  The 13 year old will probably not have the patience to even get through the campaigns that come with the game - unless his brother helps him or it is easier than I think.  It is the 11 year old who most likely will figure it all out fast and then be ready for greater challenges.  His best friend, who moved to Texas this past summer, started playing Diablo 2 last Christmas and has also played Warcraft.  I think he has played both at Battle.net.  My 11 year old played Diablo 2 at his house several times last Spring/Summer - not online.  After Christmas and when the game is installed, we will come check out the Op CGA chat.  Thanks again.

Yours in Christ.

Tracey
 
If you want to get a DnD style game check out the Baldur's Gate series, a lot more thought went into the creation of those games, as opposed to having the reputation of blizzard to push it along.
 
Im trying Morrowind for a bit of a change, it took me 3 minutes to complete worms3d so i wanted a rpg to get my teeth into. It may be a little overwhelming for a 13yo but it has no multiplayer so you know what you get.

We should run a poll for the best and least dodgy rpg game...
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Que Pasa @ Dec. 17 2003,11:11)]Well we have a poll writer somewhere...I just can't remember who it is.
Click to expand...
That would be TastyWheat. But he writes polls for the CGA website, not the forums. Not that he couldn't write polls for the forums, mind you. But that's his forte, the web site polls.
 
op cga on US East is where it's at.
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It's moderated by an UltimateBot which I run from my home computer. This means that users can leave mail for other channel visitors, I can grant select visitors moderator access, and you can check the names of the last ten users to visit the channel with the !allseen command.

clarksvillefriend - After you visit the channel, e-mail me at tek7 AT cgalliance DOT org with your and your husband's usernames and I'll give you moderator rights to the channel so you can be guaranteed a channel safe from profanity and hostile users when playing with your children. If anyone barges into the channel and harasses you, you can then just ban them from the channel.
 
Parentals, gotta love em'. I do have this to say, though...

If you're going to let them play, while it is a very good idea to "protect" younger users from profanity and the less-than-respectable average of your typical Bnet player, if you're truly trying to introduce them to more "mature" gaming with a Christian attitude, perhaps (as you see fit) you should allow them to play in public games and areas, which usually is unavoidable to enjoy the game, but certainly, supervise and point out non-Christian attitudes and such.

Parents have wonderful ideals, but the arguement that protecting your kids "too much" is still there, and I honestly believe that children should be told how things are, according to their maturity level.

Why hide them from the world when one day they'll have to be a participant in it to survive? Raise them right, send them in the right direction, but in the end, they'll be the ones to choose what they want to do.

But ...Yea, that's just my two cents.

The younger of the two boys, certainly I could understand being more protective of, but take it from my experience...An overprotective mother/father is very.........confusing for a kid. Confusing and frustrating. While I managed to keep on the right road, I came to view my parents as biligerent fools for a time, because I heard them tell me "no no no, we don't do that" one million times and then the next day, I'd see my "Christian" friends doing that exact thing.

Heh, believe it or not, but kids actually DO respect their parents' opinions, even if they say they don't. If they know they'll have concequences to deal with if they disobey you, then they'll fly straight.

So I say ease them into the public area of the game, but regularly supervise and remind them that they're always a representative of their Lord

Heheheh....Just do what my mom did...

"Tyler, even though I'm not around, the good Lord is right there next to you, watching everything you do, so you better do the right thing."

That kept me out of trouble many, many times. Many times. Did I mention many? ^_^

Anyways, that's just my two cents.

Vanaze
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Tek7 @ Dec. 17 2003,11:41)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Que Pasa @ Dec. 17 2003,11:11)]Well we have a poll writer somewhere...I just can't remember who it is.
Click to expand...
That would be TastyWheat. But he writes polls for the CGA website, not the forums. Not that he couldn't write polls for the forums, mind you. But that's his forte, the web site polls.
Click to expand...
ACK...

It seems that school has led me astray from my duties >_<

I'll try to get moving again during Christmas break.
 
Well, I used to have an identiity that was more than a parental and sometimes I still do.  

Thanks for the tip on the DnD style game Baldur's Gate.  I will check it out.  

I am not so much worried about the behavior of my kids - more for their safety/health (mental, physical, emotional , and spiritual).  I am not one who constantly keeps my kids from living in the real world; I just think it is smart to live in the real world and be prepared for what comes your way.  Being prepared means asking questions like those in this thread.

Thanks again -
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Personally, I would recommend that no Christian parent give their children Diablo II or Diablo. I know when I'm a parent, I will never do that. I mean look at all the occult stuff in it, pentagrams and such, do you as a Christian parent want you child to be playing something like that? I don't know but battle.net is the not the only thing you should worry about. I mean, yeah you can isolate kids from everything but having them repeatedly see pentagrams and large amount of violence isn't good either.
 
Lutikri - The symbol of the pentagram is much maligned, but you can no more avoid it in daily life than you can avoid the Crescent of Islam, the cross of Christianity and so forth. It's a religious symbol.

Eon
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Personally, I would recommend that no Christian parent give their children Diablo II or Diablo. I know when I'm a parent, I will never do that. I mean look at all the occult stuff in it, pentagrams and such, do you as a Christian parent want you child to be playing something like that? I don't know but battle.net is the not the only thing you should worry about. I mean, yeah you can isolate kids from everything but having them repeatedly see pentagrams and large amount of violence isn't good either.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have to say I agree whole-heartedly. There are just certain games that are just very dark and have a genuine Evil side to them. I downloaded the demo of this game over the summer, and soon as I booted it up I knew in my heart to get rid of it. I spend a lot of time with the Lord by studying and in Prayer and know when he stronly convicts me. And I tell you when I played this I had a HUGE stirring my spirit to get rid of it. (I play Warcraft, but WILL NOT even touch the Undead or play through the campaign, because of the edgy stuff in it, I dont know why Blizzard has to do this, and I feel they should be called out on it by the Christian Community)
I felt a "heaviness" when playing Diablo, and I am very close to God when it comes to spirual dissernment. (sp?) I always have been since a boy

It just isnt good for Christians and people who are called to be holy to delve into this kind of stuff. I Know I'll get flamed for it, because games like this have really become popluar, even in the Christian community, but theres really nothing you can say to sway my opinion or beliefs on it. GOD has spoken to me on this. And that is whom I choose to follow!

That is whom I answer to upon my death, and I don't want break his heart, by doing something I know I shouldnt be doing.. I want to do his work While I am here and honor him in as many ways as I can... and if he cant trust me with the small things he has asked of me, how will he trust me the large?
Anyway, as this thread has grown, I just felt the Holy Spirit inside me clawing at me to get out to say this, so I obeyed and did, even though I am sure it is the unpopular opinion.
I know many say it's only a game, but I tell you it doesnt matter in the Spitiual Realm,
Satan takes EVERYTHING we do VERY seriously, any door we open, no matter how seemingly small, he'll slither through. Trust me, he hungers for us so bad he'll take every opportunity given. Does everyone possessed by the Devil take part in a Satanic Cult meeting or ask to get possessed? Did every Alcoholic start out by drinking a 12 pack a day? No, at some point the devil was given a foothold. ect..ect...
This is ESPECIALLY dangerous in young children, that are so easily swayed. And not sure how handle situations.

I'm not saying playing this game will make you possessed or ruin your life, I'm really not,
but I believe it can keep you from attaining everything God wants to give you and what you can accomplish in HIS name.

I agree I would never give this game to a child. But you have to make that coice yourself.

I say this to you as a brother and with the love of a friend in Christ.
Not a judge or "old man" (well, Im only 30 but older than many of you)
smile.gif

thats trying to keep you from having fun. I've just been through and seen a lot of stuff in my 30 years...

Peace be with you and Happy Holidays
smile.gif
 
From the sounds of things you might have missed some stuff through having your eyes shut and hiding behind a pillow. Pentagrams are NOT evil - I say again - Pentagrams are NOT evil. They are the holy symbol of a faith that is wholly benign in nature. Imagine that you're judging the crucifix on face value for a second - it's an image of a tortured man, how loving is that?
 
Both the pentagram and the  Nazi Swastica Symbol were symbols of peace until they were perverted by later cultures. The Swastica can be found on many statues of Buddah and many different holy temples. Also in Medieval  times the Pentagram was used on the graves of Knights as a holy symbol.


"Up until medieval times, the five points of the pentagram represented the five wounds of Christ on the Cross. It was a symbol of Christ the Saviour. This is in stark contrast to today where the pentagram is criticized by modern Fundamentalist Christians, as being a symbol of evil.
The church eventually chose the cross as a more significant symbol for Christianity, and the use of the pentagram as a Christian symbol gradually ceased."          
 
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