Hindus Ask PAX To Drop Smite

[personion]

The question here is "Will PAX actually drop Smite because of this?"

The answer... they s'might.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAokay that sounded better in my head.

Seriously though, it's not like they started an angry protest against PAX, they're just politely asking for them to not include it. They'll probably include it anyway, but that's no reason to use this as a reason to hate all religions or anything.

 

[Ithera]

Who does Rajan Zed think he is? How dare he speak for gods and convey their "wishes"? Vishnu and friends are presumably adults and can fight their own fights and voice their own discontent.

If the Hindu gods disprove they can go to PAX and make an appeal in person.Or they could just slaughter everybody on the premises, that would get the message through.

 

[Imthatguy]

Silly people with their silly superstitions.

... I however strongly object to smite use of Odin! How dare they insult us pagans by not making Odin the kvltest blackest strongest character in SMITE!

 

[Zyntoxic]

I think the main reason that they might be offended is the fact that the gods of their very much alive and practiced religion is coupled up the gods of old, dead mythologies rather than actual modern day religions

list taken from their website:

Current List of Gods
Greek: Zeus, Hades, Arachne, Artemis
Norse: Odin, Ymir, Hel,
Chinese: Sun WuKong, He Bo, Ao Kuang
Eyptian: Anubis, Ra, Bastet, Sobek
Hindu: Kali, Vamana, Agni

http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/459/~/smite-closed-beta-frequently-asked-questions

that is dangerously close to actually imply that their religion is actually just a mythology while Christianity, Islam and Judaism are real religions (they all have a god that have been depicted in several ways, and plenty of deity-like characters like the devil, demons and angels that could be well implemented but aren't)

I know they aren't actually saying that, but the implications are there.

just sayin'

 

[Shadowstar38]

I this still an thing? What the hell.

Ey. If I can take Jesus being a recuring character in South Park, thee guys can take Kali being in a game. Just saying.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Oh, what a shame, your god is a in a game and is a character beating other gods up. I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find at least one game that essentially says my whole church is a corrupt evil empire and my god is either fictional, dead, and/or evil. Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it.

Anyways, I support there trying to follow their ideals but I don't think they are going to get anywhere. Gamers don't give a shit.

 

[hotdogoctopus]

 

[Scow2]

I trust the Penny Arcade guys to stand up to these enemies of free speech.

still no characters from the Abrahamic religions i see.

why is that exactly ?..

oh yes...they are shitebags.

still /golfcalp in the name of "freedom of speech" eh ?..

especially when its quite clear they won't actually dare offend anyone who might actually be able to mess with them in return.

cowards.

An organization is nothing more than "Lots and lots of individuals", so you just contradicted yourself here. And people are allowed to have a say in what is or isn't approved for kickstarter? If you don't like it, don't fund it! It's not like anyone other than those interested in the product being developed are paying for anything. Kickstarter's just a communication medium and safety net for investors.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Is it me or maybe, just maybe, some Hinduists are losing focus here.
I understand defending your beliefs, however they ought to understand that it is NOT their deity on screen. It's a character with a cool name.

I want to see Jesus in a fighting game. Why not??? Huh?

up+b is his special attack and he can regain all his health that he may have lost.

As a Christian, I wouldd buy that DLC

 

[DJ_DEnM]

>inb4 Penny Arcade makes a comic about it

 

[Kargathia]

What they really need to do is balance the books.

Make Jesus a playable character.

Not quite sure how that would work given his philosophy, but they should make it work.

As a Christian myself, I would love to see that and imagine The Man would get a kick out of it.

Rather dying for your ideals than use violence does not exactly constitute a good video game protagonist in a fighting game.

 

[Bors Mistral]

I really wish it was a...

...multiplayer fighting game featuring gods from various pantheons going at each other in divine, one-on-one combat...

...but it's actually more of a 3rd person DotA clone.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

I explained my position before [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.383274-Smite-Dev-Removes-Offensive-Goddess-From-Website?page=2#15157026], when the Universal Society of Hinduism was still negotiating, I guess. My position hasn't changed: This still seems more like a stink to put the USH on the map, and not really a gross offense to all Hindus everywhere.

False inclusion is a common tactic of extremist religious groups, and a common presumption of journalists who report on them: a radical Christian group denounces women's access to reproductive services and it's reported as if that group represents all of Christendom.[footnote]This is to say that when a Christian group states their position, say, implying that all Christians accept young-Earth creationism and reject evolutionary biology, it's a good thing to stand up for your church and state that those radicals over there don't speak for your denomination. Otherwise, we secularists start to wonder if Christians are just a generally cuckoo lot.[/footnote] Likewise, the USH is a small organization who's just been loud on this one issue, and to the detriment of the Hindu people at large.

It is notable that Hellenists were offended when Disney's hijacked-by-Jesus movie Hercules was released. And no one cared. It was even marketed in Greece so as to maximize offense.

If I were running a church, and my god was being improperly depicted in a game, I'd help the developers get it right. Is Kali really a blood drinking vampiress? I gathered she was more about destruction of the old in anticipation of renewal. But I'm not up on my Hindu mythology.

238U

 

[Erlenmeyer Flask]

I get the concerns these guys have, but... honestly, it is far too late to be complaining on the eve of the event. I have no doubt that it would be extraordinarily expensive to pull SMITE right now even if the Penny Arcade guys actually wanted to. They probably don't even have time to move the booth out of the room now.

 

[Scrythe]

I got an invite for the open beta of Smite, so I'm enjoying the massive lack of pre-release fucks that I don't give.

 

[judgementbringer]

So why is this an issue now? I don't remember anyone freaking out about the Shin Megami Tensei games. And those games feature all of the major deities from Hinduism. Every other major religion too for that matter.

 

[DarthSka]

I can understand being upset about it, but at the end of the day, you just have to get over it and ignore it if you don't like it. I read plenty on these forums on how my beliefs are for superstitious idiots and are a subjugating tool. Eventually, you just have to say, "Whatever, why should I give a shit what you think? Amen."

 

[Allthingsspectacular]

I am Greek and I am offended by the portrayal of the Greek gods in God of War. Remove God of War from conventions.

Seriously, get over it.

 

[beniki]

I trust the Penny Arcade guys to stand up to these enemies of free speech.

still no characters from the Abrahamic religions i see.

why is that exactly ?..

oh yes...they are shitebags.

still /golfcalp in the name of "freedom of speech" eh ?..

especially when its quite clear they won't actually dare offend anyone who might actually be able to mess with them in return.

cowards.

Their job is not to include all the religions you've taken up a personal beef with. You might have noticed that Hindu deities are rather interesting looking, whilst anyone important in Christianity, Judaism and Islam is a bloke with a beard. So yeah, no shit they're not included.

So... like pretty much most mage characters in video games?

It's lazy design if you think that way though. Jesus and the Abrahamic religions have a wealth of Middle Eastern culture and style to create character designs from... and that's not including the Greek and Roman influences on the various depictions of Christian idols (although that particular word is tricky given the ten commandments).

But of course they wouldn't try that, since they'd get into real trouble in the US. Like Plunk says, they're ignoring the complaint because they can, not through any sense of ethics.

Not that I give a crap either way, I'm not going to play that game anyway. 3D DOTA doesn't seem that thrilling to me.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Oh my f...why does this...

At the very least, it is Penny Arcade, they're not going to give in to this crap.