HAS 2K FINALLY REMOVED THE FORCED BAPTISM IN ORDER TO PROGRESS?

[NeuroSplicer]

I enjoyed the first BioShock game and the second one was not that bad. However, I have postponed buying the third game because of the obligatory baptism the player has to accept in order to enter the city. For Christians it IS a big deal - so big that even a member of the game's developing team threatened to quit because of this.

So, can someone confirm if this has been fixed and the game still progresses if the player refuses the baptism?

[batch]

If you truly are put off by the baptism, why not look for a downloadable save file that picks up at the next checkpoint? The game doesn't start until after that point, anyway.

[Ivlichnov]

It is not the player who is being baptised, it is the in-game character. And the baptism is carried out by a blind priest.

[Boringuser]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von NeuroSplicer:

I enjoyed the first BioShock game and the second one was not that bad. However, I have postponed buying the third game because of the obligatory baptism the player has to accept in order to enter the city. For Christians it IS a big deal - so big that even a member of the game's developing team threatened to quit because of this.

So, can someone confirm if this has been fixed and the game still progresses if the player refuses the baptism?

OP: I am also Christian. The baptism that is here is not offensive (at least not to me) because, as with the other facets of this game, highlights an important point. The baptism is not in the name of the Trinity, but rather "In the name of our founders, in the name of our prophet, and the name of our Lord." It underlines how corrupted the city's religion and government is. They worship the founders and Comstock alongside God. This is not real baptism, but a twisted masquerade of it.

They are not Christians at all, but people duped by a clever imposter. The entire game shows how Comstock subverts Christian imagery and terms for his own ends, which shows that even something good can be used as an (invalid) excuse to do evil things. Christianity is not condemned, but Comstock's use of it is.

Hope that helps matters!

[Solarmech]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Boringuser:

OP: I am also Christian. The baptism that is here is not offensive (at least not to me) because, as with the other facets of this game, highlights an important point. The baptism is not in the name of the Trinity, but rather "In the name of our founders, in the name of our prophet, and the name of our Lord." It underlines how corrupted the city's religion and government is. They worship the founders and Comstock alongside God. This is not real baptism, but a twisted masquerade of it.

They are not Christians at all, but people duped by a clever imposter. The entire game shows how Comstock subverts Christian imagery and terms for his own ends, which shows that even something good can be used as an (invalid) excuse to do evil things. Christianity is not condemned, but Comstock's use of it is.

Hope that helps matters!

Well, put. I really can't understand why so many people don't see this. sm

[West Dragon]

I was personally more offended by the character, Booker, when he openly admitted to having previously attacked strikers as part of a job to keep overworked and underpaid men in their place. He doesn't even sound at all remorseful over it. But I also enjoyed the game's constant reminders to the player that their protagonist is not at all a hero.

[Solarmech]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Old Kid John:

I was personally more offended by the character, Booker, when he openly admitted to having previously attacked strikers as part of a job to keep overworked and underpaid men in their place. He doesn't even sound at all remorseful over it. But I also enjoyed the game's constant reminders to the player that their protagonist is not at all a hero.

You must have missed the part when Booker states that the world needed people like Fitzroy because of people like him. Also that such things were not something to put on you work history. He does regret what he did a great deal. Such rage is one of the things PTSD does to a person. sm

[JEFERS]

11

[Carcaroff]

2018: people are offended by virtual, fictional baptism.

[prosnax]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von NeuroSplicer:

So, judging by the sane answers, the game has not yet been fixed in this aspect. That's all I was asking, thank you.

Of course every developer has the right to put in his game whatever narrative he thinks best. As is my right to learn about this beforehand and give anything that is disrespectful of my faith a wide berth.

As to the rest, why is it you are willing to accomodate every fringe, leftist nutcase who demands special rights for made up groups and sensitivities - but for some reason becomed all worked up when a Christian demands the obvious?

For the record, my heathen STEAMers, shooting and killing is a sin that is forgiven if one repents; turning your back to God by accepting a different religion's baptism, however, is much deeper and more sinister. Simulated or not.

Must be some religion for a baptism like the one in bioshock infinite to count as an actual baptism or even a simulated version. This reminds of the time someone told me I was sinning for killing people in a video game. I was like dude its just pixels, since when is it a sin to take movies of someone killing someone, or what makes a baptism in a movie yours? Because the movie is in first person? I think you might want to look at your religion's statement on what makes a baptism a baptism, also bioshock infinite's religion is made up. Made up to the point that it only exists in the game. Not only that his baptism is not even real since (depending on what religion the words vary) he did not say it right. Also intent has a huge part in what makes something sinful. Anywas please don't call us heathen steamers just because we prescribe to a different view on the afterlife. After all we wont truly know who is right till we die right? And if the Athiests are all right then we are all screwed since no one will ever know they were wrong. LOL

[prosnax]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Powerofmonkey:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von ♥ Barney ♥:

Forced baptism = offensive
Blowing peoples brains out with guns, roasting them in fire, electrecution, chainsawing their heads off = perfectly fine.

...that's religion for you.

We need a video of someone playing the game, getting to the baptism scene and acting offended, and then quitting.

After a lengthy complaint about how offensive the game is to the player, the video then fades to a flashback of the player going through various games they played in the past (killing the Little Sisters in Bioshock and getting the evil ending, not skipping "No Russian" level of CoD: Modern Warfare 2, etc.) and gleefully enjoying it.

OMG this makes me want to make a video like this for that exact reason hilarious!!!!!!

[West Dragon]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von prosnax:

And if the Athiests are all right then we are all screwed since no one will ever know they were wrong. LOL

I find this entirely too offensive...

Atheists aren't the only ones who don't believe in an afterlife.

[Gurkhal]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Boringuser:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von NeuroSplicer:

I enjoyed the first BioShock game and the second one was not that bad. However, I have postponed buying the third game because of the obligatory baptism the player has to accept in order to enter the city. For Christians it IS a big deal - so big that even a member of the game's developing team threatened to quit because of this.

So, can someone confirm if this has been fixed and the game still progresses if the player refuses the baptism?

OP: I am also Christian. The baptism that is here is not offensive (at least not to me) because, as with the other facets of this game, highlights an important point. The baptism is not in the name of the Trinity, but rather "In the name of our founders, in the name of our prophet, and the name of our Lord." It underlines how corrupted the city's religion and government is. They worship the founders and Comstock alongside God. This is not real baptism, but a twisted masquerade of it.

They are not Christians at all, but people duped by a clever imposter. The entire game shows how Comstock subverts Christian imagery and terms for his own ends, which shows that even something good can be used as an (invalid) excuse to do evil things. Christianity is not condemned, but Comstock's use of it is.

Hope that helps matters!

Very well said!

Despite not being a Christian or religious I was "Oh gosh, here we go again." when I saw the first parts of the game as you arrive in Columbia.

But rather than getting pissed I said to myself: "Rather than just let an instant reaction turn into judgement of the game I should play it and see what the developers are actually showing me and not what I fill in to see based on my associations of like the first five minutes."

I am glad that I did for lo and behold, there wasn't much bashing of Christianity but more bashing of the cult phenomena, authoritian leadership, racism, violence as a political method, racial stereotypes and extremism in general.

In fact the point they make about bashing both right-wing and left-wing violent extremism is something that I really appreciated as I didn't feel they were playing favorites, pulling punches or censoring one side or another.

[Michael M]

If my theology is a bit brutal then Irish. Anyway.

What the game bashes more than anything is the notion of redemption without repentance. Repentance is not hard, stop doing bad things, make amends for the bad things you did, bam! You can do it in stages and as long as you keep doing more good and less bad you're fine.

Some religious groups add an extra stage where you undergo some kind of ceremony. This is usually to help you with the more good less bad stages, but it symbolises the redemption those stages have earned you.

The problem comes when some groups, even some churches, think you can skip everything but the last stage. Comstock was all about that, which is why he didn't become a better person while Booker's unrestrained guilt was actually torturing him into slowly becoming a better person.

tl;dr If you want to redeem yourself, don't join a cult, volunteer at a cancer charity.

[STarScream]

To use the word "fixed" seems odd but would this person make the same request of a movie? This is ridiculous. If you don't like something about a game don't buy it. Do you really expect a game to be changed to accommodate your belief system? This seems like a rather arrogant request. Also, would you make the same request if it was not a baptism but something that may offend someone elses religious belief?

Has the game been "fixed" as if something needed to be "fixed". The only thing that needs fixed is your arrogant attitude that something that may offend you needs to be changed, you need to "fix" this.

[Powerofmonkey]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von STarScream:

To use the word "fixed" seems odd but would this person make the same request of a movie? This is ridiculous. If you don't like something about a game don't buy it. Do you really expect a game to be changed to accommodate your belief system? This seems like a rather arrogant request. Also, would you make the same request if it was not a baptism but something that may offend someone elses religious belief?

Has the game been "fixed" as if something needed to be "fixed". The only thing that needs fixed is your arrogant attitude that something that may offend you needs to be changed, you need to "fix" this.

"Oh I like this guy." - GlaDOS