The current grave marker is not religious — it just relies on common cultural icons which are iconic or symbolic of death (the cross as a headstone and the flower bunch for roadside accidental death markers).
But it would be really cool if we could choose from a menu "In case of accidental death, I want my marker to look like this:" and have some choices. You know, Glitch funeral planning. Where we put the FUN back in funeral markers.
Yeah, got to disagree with you on that one Stoot: a cross for a grave marker might be a piece of mainstream cultural iconography in Christian countries, but it's certainly not non-denominational.
I think a simple headstone would be more appealing in general, but it would be fun to have different options.
Sorry, I was being a little bit "funny" but I guess it didn't come across: when I hit my thumb and say "damnit", I don't think of that as a religious act. The grave markers are "not religious" in the same sense: they are not placed there by people acting out of convictions about the origins of the universe or humankind. And I don't think, say, the Catholic Church or the Southern Baptist Convention would count them as religious items. Nor do I think any serious practicing Christian would regard them as sacred or otherwise religiously significant. So, that's what I meant by them being "not religious".
Something can be a "common cultural reference" without existing in every culture in the world, surely. And given that we are all speaking English here, I suspect there are some cultural commonalities that we share (at least the awareness of) for the simple reason that literature, media, entertainment and a bunch of other stuff in English will expose us to some of the same ideas. (Even then, I suspect that a cross as a grave marker would be recognizable to a typical non-English-speaking Indonesian, whether they hail from the Muslim bit or the Buddhist bit.)
Stoot, a cross may or may not be considered sacred by different practicing Christians (I don't know - I'm not Christian), and I agree that 99% of Glitch players will understand what they mean. However for at least some non-Christians, a cross bears significant meanings that they do *not* want to associate with themselves. Personally I would prefer to see a generic headstone.
My Grandma would roll over in her grave if she saw "Here Lies Rachel" with a cross for a marker. Oy Vey! She is already pretty unhappy that I am a secular Jew. 'course, Grandma did understand the difference between a game and RL and she did have a sense of humor so, to me, it's not that big a deal.
But, a more generic marker would be nice.....maybe it would even make me go for the Zombie badge:) I like Faereluth's suggestions. Or just a plain clump of white flowers. Oh, and stoot, your language is much nicer than mine when I hit my thumb.......
I am Jewish by heritage/tradition, but was raised in a non-religious household in Canada. I have lived (for much shorter periods of time) in the UK and the US. I'm very much an atheist. To me, the cross as a gravestone marker is generic and no more offensive than people saying "god bless". BUT! I understand that some people will not like it (and I wanted a more generic marker when we first designed it).
Even bigger BUT: I am extremely reluctant to go down the path of trying to remove every symbol, metaphor, line of text, likeness, etc., which some person finds offensive about the game. We've had a few people quit because, as vegans, they couldn't stand the thought of playing a game where pigs can be nibbled, even if they didn't nibble themselves. And just yesterday we had someone quit in a fury because they thought the description of butterfly lotion was somehow sexually explicit. If we tried to respond to every one these, then Glitch won't work. So, as a matter of principle, while we'd never try to do anything with malice or deliberately offend, we don't want to spend too much time removing things that a relatively small audience finds distasteful — there will always be someone.
Completely get where you're coming from, but I don't think anyone was saying it was distasteful or offensive — just that it was definitely not devoid of religious connotation and, as the OP suggested, it would be nice to have more options, not fewer :)
Interesting. Born and raised Episcopalian... probably closer to a Pantheist in RL. The cross is SO Christian... I can see the possibility for offense. (Personally, I'll take any blessing from any deity... I'm sure I can use all the help I can get!!)
But flowers, alone, don't necessarily denote a "here lies" sort of message, so I see the need for some sort of symbol.
i don't care if it changed, tho i do think a headstone with "RIP" or "Here Lies PlayerName" would be funnier.
but the cross is super-christian and non-generic. it's like, the surface upon which christ was executed and stuff. it is more culturally loaded than possibly any other symbol ever.
it doesn't offend me personally, but i will admit to thinking about christ dying on a cross pretty much every time i see it.
I'm pagan and I don't find the cross offensive as such. I find it out of place in an otherwise funny game. When you think of a grave in any other game or media, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Most likely the generic rounded top tombstone with RIP on it. Not a cross.
I am also vegetarian and I wouldn't say that nibbling piggies offends me, we don't kill any animals in the process. It doesn't hurt the pigs, does it? I just really wish I could avoid cooking recipes with meat while still levelling up my cooking, I find it icky. But that belongs in a separate thread.
If I dragged my bear on top of the grave marker of a friend (you know, like those little stuffed animals people often leave at memorial sites), it would nice if that meant an instant Get Out of Hell free pass for that person, or (because some people go to Hell strategically to grind/work) if it meant more elevated mood/energy when they returned to life.
Although...the people who go to Hell strategically also use the New Day strategically, and therefore don't need the benefit of elevated mood/energy upon return, since they return with the new day. But I still like the idea of an gesture of remembrance benefiting the rememberee.
I think having your grave marker be a little headstone with the symbol of the Giant you have the most total favor with (counting all the favor you've spent/received emblems for) at time of death would be wonderful. It would remove the problem of the cross, and make the different markers more likely to be different. It would be a little like Arlington National Cemetery, where all the headstones are the same design, but many have symbols indicating the religious association of the person as well as their name, etc.
and one more vote for duien! When I said I wanted to design my grave marker, that is one of the things I could picture in my mind - a little giant of flowers. I'll go for that!
It might cause more giants = gods thinking. I thought the cause of death (or what the person last did before energy ticked to 0 if they weren't afk at time of death) could be on the headstone like a clock face for afk, a pick, a saucepan, a no-no packet, a butterfly,... as a warning to all.
⩍ ☚ There's a generic gravestone. You might need a mac to see it.
Hmm the age of political correctness, it's a tough one huh! I'm sorry though, I will admit to rolling my eyes on this one...it's a game folks! The cross is a universal symbol - whether or not it subscribes to your personal beliefs that fact stays the same..we can't go around expecting everything to change to perfectly match our own beliefs, the world just doesn't work that way. I'm vegetarian and felt more than a little weird nibbling piggies I must admit LOL - but you click your buttons, realise no piggies were harmed in the making of this game and move right along.
I really do think (although I know there are some that won't agree with me), that there are greater things to worry about in life, understand it is not meant as an insult to you or your beliefs and just enjoy the game. After all, if you take this virtual world literally, you are a Glitch...not a human being...and the accepted symbol of death in Glitchdom may well be a cross....who are we to argue?!
Forget the graves. crosses etc - you cannot please everyone. I vote for a ghost - that we can maybe skill to have some more interesting haunting activities :)
Just want to add my +1 to Duien's excellent idea, and to say I also don't think the cross is a very good design for the grave. It's not 'universal', it's just the most common in predominantly Christian countries. Yes, there is a difference.
It doesn't offend me, but I don't see the point in insisting that a real life religious symbol won't be taken as such, even in 'only a game!'. The cross in this context of death IS a religious symbol. I'd rather have a plain gravestone which is much more universal.
Love the ghost idea..maybe we should become ghosts after we die...go through the hell scene (just because it's too cool to scrap) and have to do community service before we can interact with the game again.....a ghostly social worker of sorts....how's that for creepy...
LOL Morticia!!! Now the idea of having to do community service to get out of hell might deserve a thread of it's own. Imagine seeing a ghostly version of your friend wandering through the game... and I wonder what the community service might be? Tend the community gardens? Help a new player?