Lord of the Rings Online

[TDog9631]

That would explain why no one uses it XD. in RIFT it's free as long as the character is above lvl 15 I think.

[Servant of the King]

Yikes, that's just crazy. It'd cost less to buy some Turbine Points and get the "Instant Level 50" upgrade on a new character that it would to switch. By the way, would it be okay if we started posting IGN's here so that we know when we run into each other?

[Chozon1]

Sure. ^_^

Mine is: CappanChozon

[Servant of the King]

Oh, sorry, your IGN is different from your username in this game. In other words, the only way we'll be able to find each other is by our character names. For example, my username is Vosok25, but my main character name is Nathanniel.

[Chozon1]

I knew that. I was just testing you. >_>

<_<



Grimsky.

[Emwok]

I'll have to look mine up. I accidentally clicked "Create Character" before I decided what name I wanted and now I have a name I'm not even sure how to pronounce.

[Servant of the King]

Haha, it can be annoying when you can't pronounce your name! You are on Withywindle, right?

[Emwok]

Yes I'm on Withywindle. I'm a dwarven champion.

[micah211]

This sounds crazy fun ill have to try it sometime.

[Servant of the King]

It is a lot of fun, but here's something you really need to know:

Whatever you do, stay away from it on schooldays. It is a time eater, and while it can be fun when put in the right place, it will make you sick if you put it ahead of work, or the very worst, ahead of worshiping God.

I'm not saying that it can't be really fun, I'm saying that it's actually incredibly fun and addicting, so much so that is has completely taken over the lives of some people. I've seen people on LOTRO who have skipped school to play, and people who actually said that they got distracted from playing Lord of the Rings Online by life! What a tragedy that these people swapped the importance of life for a game!

Now, I'm not saying that you're incapable of handling temptation; I'm saying that everyone on the face of the earth has been mired in sin since the fall, and I'm just trying to warn everyone from my own experiences with the game. It is very easy for it to become a sort of unconscious idol in a person's life, and the Bible speaks out strongly against those all throughout its pages. At one point, the Bible warns against idolatry with an interesting description:

"Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.'" --1 Corinthians 10:7

Does that not sound exactly like modern video gaming in America? People wake up, have breakfast, then immediately rise from the table and walk to their computers to play games. We can't forget, in the face of such a great temptation, how incredibly supreme knowing Jesus Christ is over everything, no matter how cool or addicting it is. We're talking about the God-man, who descended from the majesty and splendor and perfection of heaven and set foot on this corrupted and sinful earth, not to smite it out of existence as He could have justly done, but to have his hands and feet impaled into wood by the people He loves and then hang in the dark until He died, all to pay for the salvation of His killers. We're talking about replacing Him and the wonder of what He did for us with a pixelated creation of man that will do nothing but distract us for a few hours. Think about it: the Lord God who made the universe out of nothing and fashioned every design on every snowflake ever formed wants to be with us and in us, and we respond by... loving temporarily-pleasing games more than Him? This can't be right.

Jesus, on the other hand, is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” the greater meaning of which just recently hit me: Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for us Himself, making Himself the Way into heaven, where unsurpassed paradise exists. However, the reason that heaven is paradise is that He is there, lighting up all of heaven with His glory! Because of this, Jesus is not only the ticket to the greatest treasure, He is the greatest treasure, and He will live in us if we ask Him! Who cares about video games with a glorious King like that?

I'm sorry, that got kind of long. I guess I said all that to say that yes, video games can be really fun, and I think that it's okay to play them to an extent, but we must never, never forget where our true treasure lies and whom our true Treasure is.

[micah211]

Wow I can only play a limited time a day, and I'm homeschooled. If I do something good I can play more than a couple hours though. Besides, I'm hooked on Gmod.

[MusicalMel]

Wow, it's really awesome that there are still people on LOTRO. Most people I know that play it are either Christian or hardcore Tolkien-ites (often times the two overlap, understandably). Anyway, my main server on SIlverlode seems to be dying somewhat... Is Withywindle fairly populated?

[Servant of the King]

Nice, Micah; I actually think limits are good things to impose! Again, I'm not saying that it's evil or wrong to play LOTRO, just that it shouldn't become something that replaces Jesus in anyone's life. If that happened, then I believe it would be sinful to continue, but, as a pastor once said, there is even a way to drink orange juice to the glory of God. In other words, if something that isn't explicitly spoken against in the Bible doesn't bring glory to the Lord, either drop it or find a way to praise the Lord in it. I know too well that I don't praise Him in my life nearly as much as I should, but then, Christ died for us because no one can!

At any rate, I look forward to seeing some of you in-game when I have the time!

Thanks again,
Servant of the King

[ChickenSoup]

Wow I can only play a limited time a day, and I'm homeschooled. If I do something good I can play more than a couple hours though. Besides, I'm hooked on Gmod.

When I was in middle school, I think my parents' system was a 1:1 ratio of video games to reading, working, exercising, etc. (so 30 mins of those things for every 30 of video games)

[micah211]

Hmmm I should see if my mom likes that idea...better than an hour a day on weekdays