Roshambo said:
Real world religions fit in about as well as real world guns, real world cars, real world city names in the post-apocalypse, and real world events.
I have to say that I don't see why it's inherently better to call something that's clearly Los Angeles "Adytum". I suppose you could say that it's in Lolifornia and that the United States of Flamerica was fighting a war against the Mommunists, but again, if it's that transparent, what's the benefit? A gun is a machine, mass-produced. With a specific name, people associate a lot of quantifiable things with it. Cities, governments, and religions are made up of people and change over time. Los Angeles in 1930 isn't like Los Angeles today and it's doubtful it would be like the Los Angeles of the 2070s. Still, using Los Angeles can allow a certain level of familiarity to play with.
For a long time, I've believed that one of the major themes of Fallout was the conflict between post-war (WWII) era naive optimism and the realities of survival in the wasteland. You see this most clearly in the portrayal of the residents of Vault 13 juxtaposed against the communities of the Fallout world. I think the idea of a Mormon community in the wasteland plays into that and gives the player a decent cultural starting point for empathizing with the residents. They aren't followers of a completely fictional cult, they're members of a traditional historical denomination that has been transformed through their extraordinary circumstances.
Many people living in the United States today understand the fundamental concepts of Christianity, and a subset of that group understand the fundamental concepts of Mormonism. Having that background helps the player empathize, in my opinion. It's easier for most people to empathize with familiar things, even transformed. The basic elements have a lot of cultural currency, and thematic ideas pop into a player's head just through the initial presentation.
Do they follow the Ten Commandments? If not, what did they break, and how do they justify it?
Are they polygamists, as the Mormons used to be (and in some cases, still are)? If so, how do they justify that?
Do they still follow a Living Prophet? What happens when two people claim to be the Living Prophet? Are the visions of the Living Prophet genuine, or some hallucination caused by an unknown source?
How do they decide when to let people into their community? Do they accept all believers? Do they reject mutants (echoing the racist past of the Church of Latter-Day Saints) or accept them (reflecting the new stance of the CoLDS)? How do different members feel about this?
How do the people feel about accepting and rejecting people of other beliefs in a time when human resources are so scarce? The bible tells believers to reject and not associate with non-believers. How much do the Mormons enforce this? Are they ever tempted to go against what is written, purely as a matter of survival?
That is why I liked the idea of using a real-world religion (Mormons, specifically, since they fit into the area). I understand where you're coming from, but I think a line can be drawn between good real-world stuff and potentially problematic real-world stuff. I think we all want people to have some frame of reference to the altered world in which they play. It needs to be familiar enough to draw the player in, but foreign enough to make the player think.
Roshambo said:
It helps to be the vocal minority when the vocal minority have a good idea of what would fit.
Then you do not at all fit into the category that I described: a nonsensical vocal minority. Dismissing the vocal minority is a bad idea when the vocal minority has good ideas. Dismissing the vocal minority when they're a bunch of reactionary, illogical pinheads isn't a bad idea. Mormons irrationally complaining about the portrayal of Mormons in an M-rated game that they would never purchase fall into the latter category.
