Great job summing up the XBOX Microsoft Conference this morning, and what a great conference it was!
Words Christians Use Explained: “A” Terms
You guessed it. This is the first in a series of “Words Christians Use,” or simply, the first section of a Christian dictionary/desktop encyclopedia. Short phrases may occasionally be included due to an associated controversy. It seemed appropriate to begin with “A,” so let’s just dive in.
(c) Vicki Priest
Acts, Book of. The Book of “Acts” doesn’t refer to a play. “Acts” is the word used instead of “activities” or “doings” that we might more ordinarily use today, in reference to what the earliest Christians did. That section of the New Testament covers the time from immediately after Christ’s death, probably in AD/CE 30, to AD/CE 60 or 61.
Adam. Adam is widely known as the first human made by God, but there’s more to understand about “Adam” than that. First, God said He made man in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27), but “man” is the term for “human,” since man includes both “male and female” (see verse 27). Second, it is very basic and very important to Christianity to understand that Adam was the cause of the Fall of Man, and not Eve. God had instructed Adam to not do something (eat of the Tree of Life), and he disobeyed God by following Eve’s lead after being deceived by Satan. Eve had been mistaken and Adam could have corrected her, but instead, he purposely defied God. Because of Adam’s action, the entirety of humankind fell from God’s grace. Third, Jesus Christ is referred to as the new Adam in the New Testament. Jesus came to take away the sins of all those humans who would accept him and his obedient work in God. Jesus’ complete obedience was, and is, the [only] corrective to Adam’s (and thus humanity’s) disobedience.
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Excited Tears for “Fallout 4”: Trailer and Rumors
I’ve been waiting, not very patiently, for news of the next Fallout series game for some time now, just like all the other fans (I’ve been annoyed with Bethesda, the developer, over their related court battles though, too). My son texted me today about it, with this image personifying his feelings over how Fallout 4 looks in the trailer (and with XCOM coming out, E3 coming up [June 14], and Doom, too . . . his body is looking to explode):
Yes. Finally. It’s real.
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The Disadvantaged and the Pharisees of Our Day
This piece was an experiment. I wrote it for a Christian periodical that normally prints articles that are non-fiction, for individual and group contemplation. The subject is pharisees of our day (a sub-subject related to humility), and I thought a more creative piece like this could cover more, or lead to more understanding, anyway, with the limited amount of words allowed; however, it was not accepted and so I decided to post it here. Perhaps I’ll add references/recommended reading later, but suffice it to say now that everything in the piece is based on personal experience, information from nonprofits, published articles, and governmental reports. (The low amount provided for Disability is based on the deduction they normally make for support from other household members or other sources; the starting base amount is around $700.) ______________________________________
Becca fed dollar bills into the laundry’s money changer. While expertly flattening out creases and bent corners, she noticed the “In God We Trust” slogan. “Who is it referring to?” she mumbled. She believed in God—in Jesus—but the savior she knew . . . well, it didn’t seem like her country knew Him. “Clank, clank, clank!” She scooped up the quarters and headed to the washers.
“Trusting God. That means seeking to know Him and please Him, right?” she asked herself. As she loaded the clothes, she searched her mind for examples of the U.S. demonstrating that kind of faith and commitment. Nothing came to mind. “Well, helping the poor and elderly through Medicaid and Medicare was something,” Becca thought.
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Bungie’s New Low: Your Own Team Required for Etheric Light in H.o.W
Someone asked with the Help tag at Bungie’s Destiny site where one can get etheric light. Since the Trials of Osiris started today, we found that there is NO way of getting etheric light – a requirement for upgrading new game gear – if you don’t have your own play team. In other words, you can’t get it as a single player and there is no in-game matchmaking for the activities where etheric light can be found. Regulation of the gaming industry is needed at this point. Consumers should not be deceived into buying a product that they have little or no chance of getting a refund for.
We preordered the game and the season pass, based on what we knew of the game pre-release. Well, the game has changed a lot since then. The amount of play time a single player can get out of the game is less and less, and the latest dlc makes single player useless. With the House of Wolves you CAN get new gear that is as high or higher than the previous gear, but if you don’t have your own teams to play the meat of the dlc, what’s the point? To just play the old stuff that happens to have matchmaking over and over again?
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House of Wolves is Only for Those who have their Own Teams
Note: For those searching for the religious, or any possible biblical, aspect of Destiny, please see Destiny’s Story: The Nature of Evil and It’s Corrupting Influence.
Updated/edited on May 20, 2015.
If any of you have read my various Destiny articles, you might have guessed that I have a love-hate relationship with the game. Well, you might walk away with more of the hate side of my feelings, but, I do LOVE the feel of the game. I stopped playing it for a while because I had nothing else to do in it. I don’t play the Crucible, and my son got tired of that part of the game, too, and I don’t do my own match-making in order to play the harder aspects of the game, so . . . there’s nothing to do in Destiny after a certain point for players like me. And guess what, despite what the trailer may have said or implied, House of Wolves only makes matters worse. You cannot level up without doing your own match making/team gathering. At least that’s what is known right now.
I had recently started playing again (and my son followed suit), gearing up for the new House of Wolves dlc that was to come out. I started a new character, too, leveling her up to 29. We stopped leveling gear up since we didn’t want to waste our materials prior to the dlc. So, my son has played today’s Destiny dlc a while this morning, checking out the new social area in The Reef, and doing a number of the dlc’s missions and strikes. The new crucible matches, called the Trials of Osiris, are only available Friday through Monday, basically, so he has to wait for those. He was able to get through the whole new story in a matter of hours.
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Jaws of Hakkon, DA: Inquisition’s first Expansion, is Beautiful
If you’re a Dragon Age fan and didn’t purchase the Jaws of Hakkon dlc immediately, I’d be surprised. I’d love to hear from you as to why. The fan base for Dragon Age just seems so loyal. As for me, Inquisition was my first Dragon Age game, and I’ve reviewed it here. I wasn’t totally impressed, and after playing it through a second time, I’m very bored with it. But . . . I did very much enjoy the Jaws of Hakkon as an expansion.
First, a mild complaint. This dlc cost about $15, which is ¼ of the price of the original game. Perhaps I’m being picky about pricing, but the expansion doesn’t contain anywhere near ¼ the content that the main game has. It doesn’t really tie in with the main quest and it doesn’t have much new in the way of dialogue or cut-scenes, so I don’t know . . . why not charge $10? If Bioware can make the game with the huge amount of dialogue (and with all the options), relationship choices, maps, and more, then why charge so much for new content that has minimal dialogue and game integration?
Other than that consideration relating to the business of gaming today, the new map is gorgeous. It’s called Frostback Basin and it’s the only Inquisition map that has day and night. Well, it’s always day before you defeat the dragon, and apparently always night afterwards. Which is an odd concept, right? But I LOVE this map at night. It has burning lamps here and there and they naturally look better at night. There are crickets chirping and other delightful and mysterious noises and lights to experience at night there. Otherwise, Frostback Basin differs from other maps, too, in its vertical dimension. Instead of having lots of dungeons the region is filled with giant trees; the movement is upward instead of downward. The walkable roots are giant, too, and many inquisition camps are actually little tree forts. Who wouldn’t like that?
Regarding game play and content, they’re the same as in the main game, but some enemies are generally (and a couple are much) harder. The dlc’s story is a fun and engaging one, in my view, but I don’t want to spoil it for you so I won’t say more about it here. As with the main game, there is humor in the dialogues and codexes. As mentioned earlier, however, there is no real connection with the main game’s story. There are no new “romance” related scenes or added dialogue. It’s too bad that this additional Inquisition content isn’t integrated more, but it’s still a fun way to continue playing the third Dragon Age game.
PS: A new dlc is coming out August 11, 2015, called “The Descent.” It will cost $14.99 and be playable any time after Skyhold is reached. You’ll start feeling earthquakes and will go investigate them in the Dwarven Deep Roads, encountering Darkspawn, etc. The official trailer:
We’ll be doing a “Let’s Play The Descent” at Lingering Trees (my family’s Youtube channel). And by the way, the developers even shared (on Twitter) that this will not be the last DLC.
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A Christian’s View of Dragon Age: Inquisition
The review below was originally posted (by me) at Christian Entertainment Reviews. Since that site is up but no longer active, I decided to place an edited version of it here. Enjoy! A short review of the dlc is now up, too: Jaws of Hakkon, DA: Inquisition’s First Expansion, is Beautiful.
If you’re familiar with the Dragon Age franchise (by Bioware), you’ve probably already made the decision to play or not to play these role-playing games. For some, a game with swearing and “sex” scenes is simply crossed off the list of playing possibilities, and Inquisition (2014; rated M17+) is no different from its predecessors in that arena (except that the “sex” scenes are more “human” than ever before, according to fans).
But with a name out of Catholic history, perhaps you’re curious. I was, and, having been fairly unfamiliar with the franchise (I didn’t know about the personal relationships aspect), decided to check out the newest installment. Let’s clarify something up front before we move on, though: viewing possible “sex” scenes is not part of any quest except voluntary “romancing”—a player can romance certain characters, or not—and avoiding romance has little impact on the rest of the game. This game is not anything like an “X” rated film–more like an R in parts. Certain characters who make up your party can be pretty much ignored, too, if desired. On the other hand, there is no sex shown when romancing the traditional and humble Cullen, who is an example of someone who wants a healthy and permanent relationship.
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“You don’t deserve a job” is like “You don’t deserve to live.” Christian based, really?
I’ve come across this idea a couple of times from a well-regarded Christian university website: Don’t think that you deserve a job. The first time I saw this, I was dismayed, and after coming across it again, I had to think about it more (remember to count to ten before responding when angry!) and organize my thoughts. The statement didn’t advise that you shouldn’t think you deserve a certain job, just that you don’t deserve a job.
Most People Need to be Employed in Order to Survive in Our World
In our urban day and age, most persons rely on a job (or multiple jobs) to live. Very few of us (and probably none that are able to read this) are hunter-gatherers anymore, and sadly, very few of us are even farmers. Most all of us have jobs because those with the means control the land and wealth, and today, a very few people control a vast amount of wealth. There used to be movies made about the rich, the banks, the industrious turned industrial, taking over family farms (and the like) by any means necessary. These weren’t just movies, of course, but were made to show an unfairness and a harm in our “free” society. As our society became more and more industrial and urban, fewer and fewer people were left the dignity of working out their own livelihood.
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Does DA: Inquisition’s Imshael having anything to do with Ishmael and Islam?
The role playing game Dragon Age: Inquisition won Game of the Year for 2014, which no doubt increased the Dragon Age franchise’s already large fan base. At its base is a typical good vs evil theme, and good morals as well as faith are included, but it is also incredibly relativistic at its core. This is very typical fare for games these days. After all, it’s more about having the largest customer base and making the most money possible. The game even has romance in it (of all sorts)—a major draw for a segment of the fan base.
Should Christians Play Dragon Age: Inquisition? is my review of the game, but there seems to be something in the game that is not relativistic, something that finds Bioware (the game’s developer) out on a little limb, that I’d like to explore here. And this something is what the demon Imshael can be seen to represent: Islam.
Who is Imshael?
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With Christian Eyes 