Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Fallout Series

2011-06-13T16:58:42Z

Would: Grammar, Punctuation

The '''''Fallout'' Series''' is a series of four [[role playing game]]s (named Fallout 1,2, and 3 and New Vegas) and a series of more action oriented spin offs named Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel; both of which are considered non-canon by developers and generally ignored by the players. The first two were developed by Black Isle Studios, released in 1997 and 1998, the third was developed by Bethesda Softworks of ''Elder Scrolls'' fame and released in 2008; and New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and produced by Bethesda in 2010.

The main series revolve around the player character interacting with a post-nuclear war America in the years 2161 (fallout 1), 2241 (fallout 2), 2277 (fallout 3) and 2281 (New Vegas).

==Setting==
The setting of the fallout series is in a alternate timeline post nuclear war America; with the first two games taking place in the California region, the third in the immediate area of Washington DC and New Vegas in the area of the Mojave Desert around Las Vegas.

===Background of the in game world===

The Games timeline split off from the real world shortly after [[WW2]] ended, with american culture staying at the 1950's while technology followed the path of the "World of the future; complete with fusion powered cars and robots, laser rifles and the world as seen in a leave it to beaver episode. Also kept from the 50's was the extreme (and in some/many cases justified) paranoia of communism. This state would last until the late 2040's, when oil supplies across the world began to run dry, and conflict broke out in the resource wars, seeing the united nations disband, fighting between the European commonwealth (this worlds [[EU]]) and the Middle east until the oil fields ran out; and eventually, America VS China for control of the alaskan pipeline (which also caused the United states to annex Canada).

Fear of the imminent nuclear war would cause the United states to start the vault program, which was designed to build a number of underground fallout bunkers that could hold a thousand people until it was safe to recolonize the earth. However, through the machinations of the semi-shadow government Enclave, most became social experiments that were never designed to actually save it's inhabitants. At the same time the American culture was on rotten stands, soon to collapse as the strain of the world began to take it's toll.

All of this would become pointless on October 21st, 2077, when the world slate was wiped clean in a 2 hour long nuclear bombardment that radically changed the world. It is not known who fired first, but as far as most people living in the wastes care, it doesn't matter.

==Common elements of the series==
===Radiation===
Radiation acts much like it did in the 1950's world of tomorrow, and instead of simply killing you or causing horrible problems, can mutate you into something more; or maybe, if your lucky/not so lucky, turn you into a ghoul, people who resemble the living dead and have very long lifespans.

===Ghouls===
Ghouls are who have been subjugated to a immense amount of radiation and instead of dying of radiation poisoning, have turned into zombie like creatures. For the most part they are still human, just, different, but because of this they are horrible prejudiced against by most of the world, mostly because they look like zombies. In the later games, Feral ghouls were introduced, which for all intents and purposes are zombies and can not be reasoned with at all.

===Super Mutants===
Humans who have been subjected to a government made virus called the'' Forced Evolutionary Virus'' (FEV), which was designed to create super soldiers. It worked to a degree, the subjects became strong, tougher, but at the cost of both intelligence (for some, many original super mutants are intelligent) and became aggressive to a fault and, as a major plot point in the first and third game, Sterile, forcing them to use more humans to keep the super mutant species alive. In the first game they were the main enemy and in the third a major sub-enemy.

===World of Tomorrow Idealism===
The basis of the entire series, in the words of a fan, is "The American 1950's vision of the World of tomorrow, nuked to hell". The world of fallout contains the Radio still being a entertainment superpower, TV is cheap and still resembles the antenna sets, robots do the house keeping for mom who stays home to do what she has to; dad is king of the castle and the children are obedient to their elders.

===Brotherhood of Steel===
The decedents of a group of soldiers and their families who, shortly before the war declared themselves in desertion from the U.S. Army. They more or less worship technology and seek to take all advanced technology from the hands of the wastelanders, although the reason varies from, "simple selfishness" to wanting to protect them from it. They are very secretive and xenophobic, and besides a few members and the detachment on the east coast could care less about what happens to the world unless it threatens them. By New Vegas, they have fought a costly war with the New California Republic and lost, at least on the west coast and are slowly dying because of their refusal to change their ways.

===Enclave===
Like the brotherhood of steel, they have ties to pre-war America and also xenophobic, but to a much more extreme degree. When they first show up in Fallout 2, they are in power armor, and kill most of the people inside vault 13 (the first games player's home) and establish themselves as being opposed to what most of the wasteland. Later they kidnap the player characters home village for evil experiments. Eventually, on an pre-war oil rig, you fight the president, a man leading the plan to use a modified FEV Virus to infect the jet-stream and cleanse (Genocide) North America so "Pure Strain" Humans can reclaim it.You can choose to join them, but canon has you blowing up the oil rig; afterwards "President John Henry Eden" a super-computer summons the remnants across the continent to reclaim Washington DC, intended to activate and infect "Project Purity" to both purify and poison the waters for any creature mutated in the wasteland.

==Reception==

The mainstream Fallout games have been received very well by both critics and consumers alike. Fallout 1 is frequently ranked among the top 100 games of all time; Fallout 2 has an average review score of 86/100 on Metacritic, which also gives Fallout 3 an review score of 92/100.

==External links==
[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_Wiki The Vault, a wiki designed around the series containing numerous guides and information]

[[Category:Video Games]]

EarthBound

2011-06-13T16:54:23Z

Would: Clearing up misinformation

'''EarthBound''' is a 1994 [[role playing game]] for the [[Super Nintendo]]. It is known for its incredibly quirky, nonsensical humor and extensive fanbase.

== Plot ==
The story begins when a meteor falls in Onett, a small American town. Ness, the main character, heads outside with his dog to investigate. At the crash site, he learns from Buzz Buzz, a bee-like creature from the future, that he must collect eight melodies to defeat Giygas, an evil overlord who wages war against the earth.

The game then follows Ness and his friends as he travels from location to location, battling mushrooms, taxis, UFOs, and hippies. He rescues Paula, a magically-adept girl held captive by a cult outside Tucson, and meets up with Jeff, a boy from an English boarding school. The group's fourth member is Poo, prince of the Asian country of Dalaam.

The game's principle antagonists are the Starmen, Giygas' warriors, also sent back from the future, who make continual mischief by stealing important items, including Poo's Sword of Kings, the Suporma (a device created by the child genius Orange Kid), and the Shyness Book from the Onett library (needed to communicate with the Tenda village). Allied with the Starmen is Pokey Minch, Ness' overweight neighbor, who goes from playing tricks on Ness to becoming Giygas' right-hand man.

== Characters ==
* Ness: The silent protagonist who wields a baseball bat.
* Paula: A psychically-adept girl who wields frying pans.
* Jeff: An inventor from Winters who creates useful machines from junk.
* Poo: Prince of the eastern kingdom of Dalaam who can only wield of the Sword of Kings.
* Pokey: Ness' next door neighbor and the game's primary antagonist.

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Video Games]]

RuneScape

2011-06-13T16:51:49Z

Would: Reordering

[[Image:Runescapemining.jpg|right|thumb|Screenshot of RuneScape.]]
'''RuneScape''' is a popular web-based [[MMORPG]].<ref>[http://www.runescape.com/ RuneScape official site]</ref> It was developed and supported by Jagex, Inc., and based in [[Cambridge]], [[England]]. RuneScape is offered in a free version or a actively updated subscription version.

Control of one's character in the game is mostly done by mouse, including character movement in the game world, purchasing items, selling, picking up or dropping items and changing a character's attire. The graphics interface is intuitive to most players.

Character development is another strong element of the game. A character begins with low skill levels and raises a skill by performing it. Several skills with weapons, armor and magic are used in combat and are raised by performing them. Monsters (dragons, demons, skeletons, etc.) are found in various game locations and respawn a few seconds after they are killed. Player characters can fight each other in designated game's areas. A further strong point the game has is the players ability to create and personalize their own account.

Non-combat skills are also a major aspect of the game. Players use skills such as fishing, mining, and woodcutting to collect raw materials. Secondary skills like cooking or crafting are used to convert these materials into useful items. Again, paying members have an upper hand as they have access to skills unavailable to non-paying members. Some examples of player-produced items are lobsters for restoring lifepoints and "runes" for casting spells.

In addition to skills, there are a variety of quests and minigames which offer useful rewards like skill experience or new items. RuneScape is updated frequently with new content, often on a weekly basis; although the developers have begun to stray from this schedule as they larger updates.

==Setting==
RuneScape takes place in the fictional world of Gielinor, which is based off medieval Europe and the folk lore of the time period. It is divided into the three major human kingdoms of Misthalin in the east, Asgarnia in the center and Kandarin in the west. Alongside these are the vampyric kingdom of Morytania in the eastern swamps, once under the control of the forces of saradomin, the divided communities of the southern desert and the tribal villages of Karamja, the viking based Fremennik in the northwest and the elvish clans in the far west beyond an impassable mountain range, amongst other races and their cities.

===Ingame History===

The world was '''molded''' (not ''created'') by the god Guthix at the start of the First age, from which it created various species and through other means brought humans from what is heavily implied to be earth. Around the same time the God Seren, a giant crystal like being, arrived with her elves. At the time guthix had direct contact with It's world, giving them the basics for what they needed to survive, and then, at the end of the first age went into a deep slumber, leaving the world in a state of peace.

Soon after however, other gods would find Gielinor and begin to carve out empires, the primary deities being Armadyl in the west, the desert pantheon in the south, saradomin in the far east and center, and zaros in the north and east. Most were hostile to each other, and a stale mate existed in that no god could get a advantage over the others without the others uniting in opposition and defeating the aggressor, usually zaros against the rest. This went on for a while until one of Zaros's generals, the Mahjarrat Zamorak came into possession a weapon of of the god Armadyl, and with it lead an Coup d'état against zaros, in the process accidentally gaining some of his powers and becoming a god, for which he was banished. The other gods, seeing zaros no longer there to protect his own empire or keep the others where they were, set in on his realms. Zamorak would return a few years later and take control of the collapsing remnants of the empire, with few zarosians remaining loyal to their god.

This began the third age, a four thousand year period more known as the '''God Wars''' that included numerous major conflicts, such as the zamorakian/Saradomist genocide of the remaining zarosians, the fall of Hallowland (morytania) into vampyric hands and the general destruction that would come from a constant state of war for four thousand years. Many species were wiped out or went into hiding and many others became more aggressive due to the small amount of cities for culture to develop. This period ended after the wars became so harsh that the planet itself began to die, causing guthix to reawaken, from where it proceeded to return to the surface and order all fighting to end immediately. It then declared that should another conflict on the scale of the wars begin again, it would destroy all of Gielinor and remold it anew, and that all gods (besides the Desert pantheon as they are only a powerful threat when united) do not directly interfere with Gielinor.

So began the fourth age, a period of rebuilding. At the start few cities existed, the once prosperous region in the north had become a barren scar known as the wilderness, and most intelligent species were tribal. The existence of humans as a race was threatened wherever they were, with this being the age of great hero's; such as avvarocka who defeated the goblin tribes and secured what would become misthalin's border with them. As time passed and humans became more civilized, other species such as the gnomes would reemerge, having spent the previous age in hiding. At this time the only major human state would be misthalin, in constant conflict with the vampyre to the east and the horrors of the wilderness to the north. What would become asgarnia and Kandarin were currently either still tribal or under the rule of a soon to collapse elven empire.

All this would change with the rediscovery of how to create runes by a tribe of Fremennik; with which humanity was able to establish itself as the dominate race on the planet, wuickly establishing the other two kingdoms at the expense of the other races. The current year is 169, fifth age and puts the world on the edge of major change again as the god zaros begins to return to the world, war between misthalin and morytania threatens due to the vampyres need for blood and The Myreque, a liberation group, amongst other problems.

==Religion==
The game has also been criticized by some for its portrayal of religion. Various deities, cults and organized religions are heavily involved in both RuneScape lore and in-game. The three most well-known and popular ones are ''Guthix'', ''Zamorak'' and ''Saradomin'',

Guthix, the god of balance, is portrayed as an being beyond human understanding. He has no definite form, appearance or gender. His followers include [[Druidry|druids]] and other kinds of [[Paganism|pagans]]. Like most of the game's gods, he is very uncaring, stating he has no interest in his worshippers unless the balance of the world is threatened

Zamorak, the god of [[chaos]], is an obvious parody of [[Satan]], particularity in that his back-story involves him leading a rebellion against his god to get to his current position. He enjoys bloodshed, violence and death. His followers are mostly deluded sects, such as the Dagon'hai, as well as a multitude of [[demon]]s and other forms of beasts. Game content involving him often includes variants of demonic rituals and [[Witch|witchcraft]]. Strangely enough, he is very popular among the game's players.

Saradomin, the god of [[order]] is portrayed in a way very similar to that of to [[God the Father]], both in appearance and characteristics. He is worshipped by a majority of the game's humans, primarily in a [[Catholic Church|pseudo-Catholic]] way. However, all is not well - He is arrogant, uncaring (although of the three he maintains the most public interest in the well being of his followers) and deceitful. His followers include H.A.M., an extremist group very similar to the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and a knights Templar/chivalric order like group named the Temple Knights which many players and characters ingame feel are only using his name as a reason to control the masses.

Among other deities are mysterious jungle deities closely linked to an in-game version of [[voodoo]], a desert pantheon loosely based on [[Egyptian mythology]], as well as many others that play a role in the backstory of the game more then the current game world.

==Criticism==
The most common criticisms of RuneScape's gameplay are its repetitive nature and relatively low quality of graphics (compared to other MMORPGs). However Jagex recently did an extreme overhaul of the graphics, and introduced "RuneScape HD," which quieted the majority of complaints about its graphics. Common positive criticisms are that it is browser-based (enabling it to be played from anywhere) and that it is free to play indefinitely.

Along with other RPGs, Runescape has come under criticism over its addictive nature with players sometimes using the game for days on end.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22073926-2761,00.html ''Stress over teen's "addiction"']</ref>

It has also been criticized for the amount of botters (people using an automated program to preform tasks ingame) and scammers/hackers; amongst other rule breaking problems and the apparent little action Jagex seems to be taking to combat them.

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.runescape.com/ Link to the official Runescape website]
*[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/RuneScape_Wiki Link to the RuneScape Wiki, a better source of information related to runescape and specifics. ]

[[Category:Video Games]]

Video game industry

2011-06-13T16:50:00Z

Would: /* Examples */

The '''video game industry''' is a major entertainment industry that has over $20 billion in annual sales.<ref>http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100114.html</ref> Video game sales surpassed [[Hollywood]] revenue in the year 2007.<ref name="Video">http://seekingalpha.com/article/89124-the-video-game-industry-an-18-billion-entertainment-juggernaut</ref>

The biggest one-day movie opening was ''New Moon'', which grossed $72 million on its first day<ref>http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/?page=open&p=.htm</ref>, while the biggest video game opening was ''Call of Duty: Black Ops'', which grossed over $360 million its first day<ref>http://www.gamershell.com/companies/activision/792760.html</ref>, more than most total revenue of most movies. However, it should be taken into consideration that the average video game can cost more than 7 times the average movie ticket (games can exceed $50, often reaching $60).

==Video Games and the Spreading of Liberal Values==
The video game industry has a long history of unintentionally spreading liberal values to children.

====Examples====
*Overusing profanity (Many games rated "T" for "teen")
*Meticulous designs of blood and gore (Virtually every game rated for 17+ players, but commonly sold to children younger than 13.)
*Regurgitating disproved liberal myths to the player (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Presenting sanitized versions of other religions, but open hostility to Christianity (''God of War'')
*Letting players get to be terrorists and perform terrorism (''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'')
*Allowing players to have fornication with prostitutes (All ''Grand Theft Auto'' video games)
*Depicting graphic sexual acts in hidden modes that can be unlocked by downloadable mods (Hot Coffee Mod: ''Grand Theft Auto San Andreas'')
*Welcoming to more violence, such as providing bonus points for extra murders (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Fornication (''The Sims 3'')
*Typical Liberal use of [[deceit]] (''God of War'')
*Over reliance on violence than story (''Gears of War'')
*Unending waves of incompetent police forces (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Overtones of [[Hollywood Values]] (''Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony'')
*Godless protagonists, religious antagonists. (''Sins of a Solar Empire'')
*Overtones of [[Professor Values]] (''Bully'')
*Encourages radical terrorism (''Red Faction: Guerrilla'')
*Promotes idolatry (''Black and White'')
*Communist themes (''Red Alert'')

{{Liberalism}}

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:video Games]]

Video game industry

2011-06-13T16:48:42Z

Would: citation needed

The '''video game industry''' is a major entertainment industry that has over $20 billion in annual sales.<ref>http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100114.html</ref> Video game sales surpassed [[Hollywood]] revenue in the year 2007.<ref name="Video">http://seekingalpha.com/article/89124-the-video-game-industry-an-18-billion-entertainment-juggernaut</ref>

The biggest one-day movie opening was ''New Moon'', which grossed $72 million on its first day<ref>http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/?page=open&p=.htm</ref>, while the biggest video game opening was ''Call of Duty: Black Ops'', which grossed over $360 million its first day<ref>http://www.gamershell.com/companies/activision/792760.html</ref>, more than most total revenue of most movies. However, it should be taken into consideration that the average video game can cost more than 7 times the average movie ticket (games can exceed $50, often reaching $60).

==Video Games and the Spreading of Liberal Values==
The video game industry has a long history of unintentionally spreading liberal values to children.

====Examples====
*Overusing profanity (Many games rated "T" for "teen")
*Meticulous designs of blood and gore (Virtually every game rated for 17+ players, but commonly sold to children younger than 13.)
*Regurgitating disproved liberal myths to the player (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Presenting sanitized versions of other religions, but open hostility to Christianity (''God of War'')
*Letting players get to be terrorists and perform terrorism (''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'')
*Allowing players to have fornication with prostitutes (All ''Grand Theft Auto'' video games)
*Depicting graphic sexual acts in hidden modes that can be unlocked by downloadable mods (Hot Coffee Mod: ''Grand Theft Auto San Andreas'')
*Welcoming to more violence, such as providing bonus points for extra murders (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Incidents of "unintentional" programming errors resulting in fully nude characters
*Fornication (''The Sims 3'')
*Typical Liberal use of [[deceit]] (''God of War'')
*Over reliance on violence than story (''Gears of War'')
*Unending waves of incompetent police forces (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Overtones of [[Hollywood Values]] (''Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony'')
*Godless protagonists, religious antagonists. (''Sins of a Solar Empire'')
*Overtones of [[Professor Values]] (''Bully'')
*Encourages radical terrorism (''Red Faction: Guerrilla'')
*Promotes idolatry (''Black and White'')
*Communist themes (''Red Alert'')

{{Liberalism}}

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:video Games]]

Video game industry

2011-06-13T16:47:19Z

Would: No evidence

The '''video game industry''' is a major entertainment industry that has over $20 billion in annual sales.<ref>http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_100114.html</ref> Video game sales surpassed [[Hollywood]] revenue in the year 2007.<ref name="Video">http://seekingalpha.com/article/89124-the-video-game-industry-an-18-billion-entertainment-juggernaut</ref>

The biggest one-day movie opening was ''New Moon'', which grossed $72 million on its first day<ref>http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/?page=open&p=.htm</ref>, while the biggest video game opening was ''Call of Duty: Black Ops'', which grossed over $360 million its first day<ref>http://www.gamershell.com/companies/activision/792760.html</ref>, more than most total revenue of most movies. However, it should be taken into consideration that the average video game can cost more than 7 times the average movie ticket (games can exceed $50, often reaching $60).

==Video Games and the Spreading of Liberal Values==
The video game industry has a long history of spreading liberal values to children. The spread of these values has negative effects on society and children. Video game designers seek to promote immoral behavior such as profanity, violence, gambling, alcohol and drug use, theft, premarital sex, extramarital sex, polygamy, and many others.

====Examples====
*Overusing profanity (Many games rated "T" for "teen")
*Meticulous designs of blood and gore (Virtually every game rated for 17+ players, but commonly sold to children younger than 13.)
*Regurgitating disproved liberal myths to the player (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Presenting sanitized versions of other religions, but open hostility to Christianity (''God of War'')
*Letting players get to be terrorists and perform terrorism (''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'')
*Allowing players to have fornication with prostitutes (All ''Grand Theft Auto'' video games)
*Depicting graphic sexual acts in hidden modes that can be unlocked by downloadable mods (Hot Coffee Mod: ''Grand Theft Auto San Andreas'')
*Welcoming to more violence, such as providing bonus points for extra murders (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Incidents of "unintentional" programming errors resulting in fully nude characters
*Fornication (''The Sims 3'')
*Typical Liberal use of [[deceit]] (''God of War'')
*Over reliance on violence than story (''Gears of War'')
*Unending waves of incompetent police forces (''Grand Theft Auto IV'')
*Overtones of [[Hollywood Values]] (''Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony'')
*Godless protagonists, religious antagonists. (''Sins of a Solar Empire'')
*Overtones of [[Professor Values]] (''Bully'')
*Encourages radical terrorism (''Red Faction: Guerrilla'')
*Promotes idolatry (''Black and White'')
*Communist themes (''Red Alert'')

{{Liberalism}}

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:video Games]]