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Vatican Wars [http]

I wonder why they thought of something like this for FB. I mean, I read what they are saying, but to me it seems odd. Though I guess not since a lot people have time to sit on the computer.

Link didnt work Pani Rose.

Humm, sorry, let's try it this way

http://gamepolitics.com/2011/06/22/introducing-vatican-wars-facebook-game-catholics

Vatican Wars is the successor to Priestville.

The game is pretty well documented and I find it an excellent educational resources to teach people about Latin Catholic clerical culture.

The gameplay is not exciting, but it is engaging. I actually got pretty hooked up. Right before Preistville was retired, I managed to get all the way up to Archbishop of Manila (regional bishop and archbishop titles lasted a week in Priestville), and I was also made a Cardinal a couple of times (I believe you are in the college also for one week at a time and after that, you remain ineligible for one additional week).

In the original gameplay, the major milestones were to get named a monsignor, then consecrated a bishop and then named archbishop. Those titles remain with your character permanently, regardles of what you do in the various regions of the game.

The strongest criticism I have seen for Vatican Wars is that players will eventually be able to manipulate the in-game Church's stance on certain issues, not all of which are actually open for change in the real-world Church.

For Christ's sake, it is a GAME! Nobody believes that you are actually influencing what the Catholic Church believes about something just by playing a silly game!

And nobody assumes that because your character is aligned with a certain belief in the game, you are also aligned with that belief in the real world. IT IS A GAME!

Anyway, I do suspect there is some correlation between in-game beliefs and real world ones. If that is true, the statistics are actually kind of encouraging. 75% of Vatican Wars players chose to align with conservative beliefs.

I even tried to sign up as a liberal, but out of the 5 beliefs you are asked about, I sided with the conservatives for 3 of those (Abortion, Women Ordination and Same-sex marriage), so I had to switch sides and become a conservative (Go figure!)

In case you are curious, the other 2 beliefs you are asked about are: Birth control and Ordination of married men.

All in all, I believe the game is fun and I do not see any moral implication by playing it.

Shalom,
Memo

If the game is indeed accurate, then perhaps it could be used to screen applicants for presbyteral formation. Those who consistently make bishop, archbishop, cardinal or pope would be immediately disqualified from Holy Orders.

Stuart,

I do not follow. If you play the game regularly your character will eventually be made a bishop and then an archbishop (again, once achieved, these titles are permanent). Your character will also be made a cardinal every now and then (being in the college is strictly a temporary occurrance). There is no way around this. For instance, as of this morning my character ranked #29 among the conservatives in the game. With the current player distribution, the first college of cardinals will be composed of 58 conservatives and 2 liberals, so it is very likely my character will become a cardinal in the upcoming "consistory" (Would that make me a Cardinal Deacon? ).

Much like in real life (unfortunately), why would you play the game, if you are actively against becoming a hierarch?

If you concentrate your activity in one of the game's archdioceses (Mexico City, Chicago, Boston, Dublin, Manila and New York, so far), it is very likely you will be elected a bishop there and eventually you will be the best player among the bishops of one period and that will make you the archbishop for the next period (regional bishops and archbishops are also named for a period of time and then "retire" right before the next "election", but they can be elected again after a brief period of ineligibility). Again, there is very little you can do to prevent this other than not playing the game.

As for Pope (also a temporary position in the game), the new rules make it much less automatic than it was in Priestville, but I still have to see the new rules in action. The first pontifical election in Vatican Wars is still a couple of weeks ahead.

Shalom,
Memo

My position is anyone who wants to be a hierarch ought to be disqualified ever from becoming one. If you want a game that reflects the spirit of ministry as diakonia, and embodies the teaching that the last shall be first, then only those who have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the altar would ever make it to the episcopal ranks.

Alas, we know that is not true, so we have to ask whether the game intends to be idealistic or realistic. If idealistic, the players won't get a good idea of why the Church is the way it is today. If realistic (and the only difference between today and the era of the Borgias is less incest and nepotism, as well as less reliance on poison), then the guy who keeps his nose clean, log-rolls, glad-hands, sends nice gifts to the Papal Nuncio and back-stabs his rivals is a shoe-in for bishop, and maybe bigger things in store.

Cynical, I know--but ecclesial politics is still politics.

Well, it is called Vatican Wars, after all.

Shalom,
Memo

Interesting recent development in the game:

Now you can only debate members of the oposite team, and when you do so and win the debate, your oponent becomes ineligible for a debate with you for a period of time.

Darn it! Now I cannot pick on that guy who was 100 levels behind me and debate him time and again (and win most of those debates)!

Shalom,
Memo