Prophecy, pre-destination, and free-form gameplay: the Nerevarine prophecy in Bethesda’s ‘Morrowind’

‘Morrowind’, Bethesda’s 2002 game, marries an explicit attachment to the type of free-form, gaming experience that allows for intensely personal character creation and role-play, with a rich and complex main storyline based on the theological concept of prophecy - the story of the reincarnation of t...

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1. VerfasserIn: Slater, Angus (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
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Veröffentlicht: Heidelberg University Publishing 2015
In: Online - Heidelberg journal of religions on the internet
Jahr: 2015, Band: 7, Seiten: 161-184
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B Morrowind / Held / Prophetie / Liverollenspiel
weitere Schlagwörter:B pre-destination
B Narrative
B user-created texts
B free-form gaming
B Morrowind
B Prophecy
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Zusammenfassung:‘Morrowind’, Bethesda’s 2002 game, marries an explicit attachment to the type of free-form, gaming experience that allows for intensely personal character creation and role-play, with a rich and complex main storyline based on the theological concept of prophecy - the story of the reincarnation of the legendary hero, Indoril Nerevar. The interaction between these two aspects of the game puts Morrowind in a particular position at the point of interaction between theology and computer game design. By seeking to balance the competing demands of an explicitly prophetic main story with a free-form user experience, Morrowind produces an effective synthesis of both narrative gaming and theological prophecy in a new light which changes the common paradigm of both. This paper aims to trace and highlight the way in which this tension has been resolved within the game, relying on a voluntary understanding of prophecy and a distinct approach to narrative urgency.
ISSN:1861-5813
Enthält:In: Online - Heidelberg journal of religions on the internet
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.11588/rel.2015.0.18512
URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-rel-185126