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Author Topic: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?  (Read 4112 times)

5asdffdsa5

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #15 on: November 05, 2012, 02:49:57 pm »

one could argue that gods don't exist and werebeasts, and vampires are just experiencing a placebo effect.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #16 on: November 05, 2012, 05:30:55 pm »

one could argue that gods don't exist and werebeasts, and vampires are just experiencing a placebo effect.
Woah, not a placebo effect for were-creatures. Those guys are regrowing limbs. Same with vampires, except the whole no eating thing. Rather it could just be that they've got whatever affliction they've got and the world sees it as a divine punishment, so they do too. It could just be some terrible ailment and they'll never know.
DF is nice like that.

Blakmane

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #17 on: November 05, 2012, 10:37:23 pm »

Whilst it is possible that Toady is making a subtle statement on the inherently agnostic nature of divinity, I find this somewhat unlikely. Generally in DF, the answer to 'why doesn't X happen' is 'because Toady hasn't gotten around to it yet'
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hops

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #18 on: November 06, 2012, 02:12:16 pm »

DWARF FORTRESS: The game where players discuss in-game theology.
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Deus Asmoth

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #19 on: November 06, 2012, 03:25:28 pm »

The gods of DF don't seem to be gods as we are used to them. They don't seem to have created the worlds they live in, or they'd be able to do more than just curse people, and to do even that they need a temple and worshippers in the first place, so they seem more like the Chaos gods of Warhammer, but not as imaginative.

Didn't you use to be able to talk to gods in 40d?
You still can actually. I believe the requirement is you have to get adopted into a religion by a high priest or something like that.
I've only managed that once, and the game froze when I tried to talk to the god, so I wasn't eager to repeat the experiment.
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Deon

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #20 on: November 10, 2012, 10:21:15 am »

Gods in DF exist as much as anything. If I were to argue, they exist more than dwarves, humans etc.

Let me explain. Gods exist from the beginning of the world and they cannot disappear. They only lack bodies, but they have abilities beyond of many common creatures, like creation of slabs.

Common creatures are just population numbers, they are spawned from nothing in migrant waves and adventure mode. All those nameless professions in adv mode you encounter do not exisr, they are created when you talk to them and the game generates their name.

So from the logical point of view, only historical figures exist, everything else is just numbers. And gods ARE historical figures.

The whole "pretends to be a god" is a different issue, it's just clever hist. figures abusing the fact that real gods cannot manifest real bodies.
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Kilroy the Grand

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #21 on: November 10, 2012, 03:27:30 pm »

I view gods, titans, and forgotten beasts like nature spirits. You know the movie Princess Mononoke? Kinda like that.
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Vercingetorix

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #22 on: November 11, 2012, 01:09:09 am »

 I have to admit, it'd be nice for the dwarven deities to grant blessings to your warriors when fighting enemies hated by the Gods...raiding Hell with a troop of dwarven warriors would be that much more satisfying.
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penguinofhonor

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #23 on: November 11, 2012, 04:20:15 am »

I like the gods when they act as little as possible. If they start being able to act more I'd like to be able to kill them.
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TheZoomZoll

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #24 on: November 26, 2012, 01:19:28 pm »

As far as I know these so called gods have randomly generated names every time and represent something different,so the probability of them existing (if one) in the real world without believing in religion is very slim (we may never know)

Loud Whispers

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #25 on: November 26, 2012, 01:39:45 pm »

As far as I know these so called gods have randomly generated names every time and represent something different,so the probability of them existing (if one) in the real world without believing in religion is very slim (we may never know)
But it stands to reason these Gods are supposedly interacting with the world's inhabitants. Curses and the like. Think Ancient Greek Gods instead of Mary Sue Gods. They could very much exist and just be another one of the denizens that resides in what is known as [save folder 1]

Darvi

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #26 on: November 26, 2012, 01:47:29 pm »

I think he meant as in existing in the real world.

IOW, he totally missed the context of the thread.
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TheZoomZoll

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #27 on: November 26, 2012, 02:18:36 pm »

As far as I know these so called gods have randomly generated names every time and represent something different,so the probability of them existing (if one) in the real world without believing in religion is very slim (we may never know)
But it stands to reason these Gods are supposedly interacting with the world's inhabitants. Curses and the like. Think Ancient Greek Gods instead of Mary Sue Gods. They could very much exist and just be another one of the denizens that resides in what is known as [save folder 1]

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Kon

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #28 on: November 26, 2012, 03:50:11 pm »

I believe that gods only exist if dwarves (and other sentients) believe in them. The Great Gods have many followers. As fewer and fewer dwarves and other people believe in them, they get smaller and smaller. When no one believes in them anymore, they disappear. That's what I believe.
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Metruption

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Re: Do the Gods Exist Or Are They an In-game Lie?
« Reply #29 on: November 26, 2012, 04:01:43 pm »

When a dwarf enter a martial trance it is it magic or is it some sort of blessing where a god manifests power in the dorf?
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