Techno-Religion and Cyberspace Spirituality in Dystopian Video Games
Slavomír Gálik
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article is very interesting. The games discussed are well chosen for the purpose. The methology chosen is adequate. But, the article needs a lot a work in the details to be able to be published.
* The author makes a lot o general remarks that are not backed up by references studies.
* Key notions are not explained clearly or rather later in the article.
* The choice of case studies is not argued for.
Here under I have listed my primairy concerns with a lot of examples. Please address them.
References. The author happen to make general observations which - eventhough I share them - are not backed up by referenced scholarly research (which is definately there). I urge the author to reference sources for his/her general observations.
P1. "Religion and video games are getting more attention as many authors point out that the relationship between the two is almost unavoidable." Who are these authors? Please make references.
P1. "On the one hand, video games are seen as an apotheosis of modernity, as a signifier of secularity." By whom? Please make references.
P1. "Conversely, games are full of religious expressions, contrasting with the expectation that religion will decline as technology advance." Whose expectation? Not mine for example. Please make references.
P1. "From a sociological perspective that draws on the works of Karl Marx and Max Weber, contemporary sociologists have been claiming that modern society is progressively secularized and that technological progress will be religion’s eventual downfall." Which sociologists? Please make references.
P1. "This is true to a degree, as the “churched religion” is in decline, at least in most Western countries." According to whom? Please make references.
P2. "Most studies on technopaganism in game worlds follow various neo-pagan religious concepts." Which studies? Please make references.
P2. "Few explore the other side of New Age technopaganism mirrored in technologist spirituality." Which others? Please make references.
P2. "The study of video games is relatively recent in academic settings, and methodolgies for analyzing this topic are still being explored." Explored by whom? Please make references.
P3. "Sociologist Max Weber famously claimed that technology would strip the world of any mystery as it is calculated and logical." Where does Weber claim this? Please make references.
P3. "They are entangled with the 121 genre of literature, “cyberpunk.”" Says who? Please make references.
P3. "Religion and spirituality have become inseparable parts of games." According to whom? Please make references.
P3. "CD Projekt Red, developer of Cyberpunk 2077, and Kojima Productions are pioneers of the future of video games, both technically and culturally." According to whom? The author of the article? Please make references.
P3. "Death Stranding and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture mainly aimed to 144 go beyond mere entertainment." According to whom? The developers? The players? The critics? Scholars? The article's author? Please make references.
Choice of case studies. The author has chosen Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Cyberpunk 2077, and Death Stranding as his/her case studies. A fine and understandable choice as far as I am concerned. But the author refrains from explaining to the readers why he/she has chosen these specific games. It probably needs one or two sentences, more not. But they are necessary.
Definitions. The author speaks about 'technopaganism' on page 1, but only gives a definition of it on page 3. I recommend to give a (work) definition already in the begining, so readers know what the author is talking about. The notions of trandhumanism and singularitarianism are, on the other hand, given a quick explanantion in footnotes. I would recommend doing this in the actual text itself. The notions of "New Age spirituality" and "New Age messianism" are also left without any reference.
Choice of focus. The author writes about the article's focus: "The focus of the article is on which ways the beliefs of technopaganism found their way into the spiritual concepts of contemporary dystopian futures imagined in games. More precisely, how are transhumanism and singularitarianism represented in the dystopian worlds of these three games." Excellent and very interesting. But again, why? Why choice contemporary dystopian futures images in games as a focus? Again, probably add a few lines.
The author writes "Therefore, this paper aims to explore whether and how the technopaganism of techno enthusiasts and technologists is represented in in-game worlds set in dystopian futures." The question of whether is obsolete, since you wouldn't write an article on how something is presented if one did not assume it is presented in the first place.
Other feedback:
The explanation of NPCs does need a footnote, just explain it in-text.
I would recommend to print Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Cyberpunk 2077, and Death Stranding in italics fo the convenience of the readers. The same applies to other game names in the article.
When mentioning a game's name for the first time, please indicate year of release and developer in-text.
The author writes (page 3): "In Death Stranding spirituality is expressed in a strong need for a connection and cycles and patterns connecting all life inhabiting Earth. On the other hand, Cyberpunk 2077 deals with the spirituality and concept of the soul inside cyberspace. The concept of spirituality tightly connects cyberspace, algorithmic patterns, and databases in all three main stories." Why does the author not tell anything 'extra' on Everybody?
On page 4, the author writes: "Moreover, the creator of Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima, uses the imagery of Ludens, a man in a space suit bearing the flag of his company Kojima Productions. This imagery shows an astronaut exploring digital space and references the Turing machine (Hideo 140 Kojima Interview, 2016). Kojima Productions further popularized the concept of “Homo Ludens” as a race of beings engaged in a play." I have so many questions on this paragraph: who is this Ludens? (And if the answer is in the footnote, replace it in-text.) How do Death Stradning, Kojima, Ludens, the Turing machine and the 'race' connect to one another?
I think the author should re-arrange his article as follows:
* Research question: How do EGttR, DS and C2077 (cf. the game-immanent approach) refer to the relationship between technology and religion (answer: by adopting some kind of technopaganism).
* Methodology: game-immanent approach
* Theoretical framework: technopaganism
* Argument for the choice of case studies (because these three are well-known games, loved by players and critics, and all three deal explicitly with religion-technology)
* Roadmap: tell the readers what you will do in the rest of the article
* Case study 1 through 3
* Conclusions
I highly recommend you rework your article, because I believe it is absolutely worth the trouble.
Author Response
I am thankful to the anonymous reviewer for their careful reading of my manuscript and many insightful comments and suggestions. Below is my response to the comments on each point, with reviewer comments in bold. This has resulted in a more substantial manuscript, and I am very thankful for the kind comments and suggestions for my first article.
References. The author happens to make general observations which - even though I share them - are not backed up by referenced scholarly research (which is definitely there). I urge the author to reference sources for his/her general observations.
Thank you for your comment. I’ve added all the references that were missing.
Choice of case studies. The author has chosen Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Cyberpunk 2077, and Death Stranding as his/her case studies. A fine and understandable choice as far as I am concerned. But the author refrains from explaining to the readers why he/she has chosen these specific games. It probably needs one or two sentences, more not. But they are necessary.
I appreciate the reviewer’s constructive suggestion, which will help to clarify the goal of the manuscript and avoid confusion from the readers. As suggested, I have added a few sentences explaining this.
Definitions. The author speaks about 'technopaganism' on page 1, but only gives a definition of it on page 3. I recommend to give a (work) definition already in the begining, so readers know what the author is talking about. The notions of trandhumanism and singularitarianism are, on the other hand, given a quick explanantion in footnotes. I would recommend doing this in the actual text itself. The notions of "New Age spirituality" and "New Age messianism" are also left without any reference.
I have changed the introduction and moved the explanation of technopaganism at the beginning of the text.
Choice of focus. The author writes about the article's focus: "The focus of the article is on which ways the beliefs of technopaganism found their way into the spiritual concepts of contemporary dystopian futures imagined in games. More precisely, how are transhumanism and singularitarianism represented in the dystopian worlds of these three games." Excellent and very interesting. But again, why? Why choice contemporary dystopian futures images in games as a focus? Again, probably add a few lines.
I am thankful for this suggestion; I have added a few sentences about this at the beginning of the text, as I agree it is essential to clarify this from the start.
The author writes "Therefore, this paper aims to explore whether and how the technopaganism of techno enthusiasts and technologists is represented in in-game worlds set in dystopian futures." The question of whether is obsolete, since you wouldn't write an article on how something is presented if one did not assume it is presented in the first place.
I agree, and I’ve corrected the sentence.
The explanation of NPCs does need a footnote, just explain it in-text.
I moved it to the text.
I would recommend printing Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Cyberpunk 2077, and Death Stranding in italics for the convenience of the readers. The same applies to other game names in the article.
I agree with the suggestion, and I changed it as you suggested.
When mentioning a game's name for the first time, please indicate year of release and developer in-text.
I’ve corrected this as you suggested.
The author writes (page 3): "In Death Stranding spirituality is expressed in a strong need for a connection and cycles and patterns connecting all life inhabiting Earth. On the other hand, Cyberpunk 2077 deals with the spirituality and concept of the soul inside cyberspace. The concept of spirituality tightly connects cyberspace, algorithmic patterns, and databases in all three main stories." Why does the author not tell anything 'extra' on Everybody?
Thank you for pointing this out. I probably missed it when I was writing. It is now added to the paragraph.
On page 4, the author writes: "Moreover, the creator of Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima, uses the imagery of Ludens, a man in a space suit bearing the flag of his company Kojima Productions. This imagery shows an astronaut exploring digital space and references the Turing machine (Hideo 140 Kojima Interview, 2016). Kojima Productions further popularized the concept of “Homo Ludens” as a race of beings engaged in a play." I have so many questions on this paragraph: who is this Ludens? (And if the answer is in the footnote, replace it in-text.) How do Death Stradning, Kojima, Ludens, the Turing machine and the 'race' connect to one another?
I’ve reread this paragraph and decided to delete it from the text. I agree with your comment that it is not coherent enough, and explaining it in detail would not add to the points I am trying to make.
I think the author should re-arrange his article as follows:
* Research question: How do EGttR, DS and C2077 (cf. the game-immanent approach) refer to the relationship between technology and religion (answer: by adopting some kind of technopaganism).
* Methodology: game-immanent approach
* Theoretical framework: technopaganism
* Argument for the choice of case studies (because these three are well-known games, loved by players and critics, and all three deal explicitly with religion-technology)
* Roadmap: tell the readers what you will do in the rest of the article
* Case study 1 through 3
* Conclusions
Thank you for your suggestion. I have rearranged the article according to your suggestions as much as it was possible, keeping in mind I had other suggestions to implement.
Thank you for your kind suggestions and the time you have spent helping me improve my article.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
I am thankful to the anonymous reviewer for their careful reading of my manuscript and their many insightful comments and suggestions. Below is my response to the comments on each point, with reviewer comments in bold. I feel this has resulted in a more substantial manuscript, and I am very thankful for the kind comments and suggestions for my first article.
- What is the relationship between spirituality and religion? For example, "enlightenment" in Buddhism connects both the Buddhist religion with its external manifestations and Buddhist spirituality with inner experience. If we are also talking about the current broad New Age movement, it too draws spirituality from various religions that syncretically merge
Thank you for your comment. I have added a more detailed explanation regarding the relationship between spirituality and religion.
- What is the goal of spirituality? Is it "liberation", "salvation"? It is not clear in the text what is meant in this sense. The author talks about a "spiritual experience" when playing video games, but that seems pretty little to me. How does playing video games make a person spiritually? And is spirituality possible without a body? The body (along with the mind) is a key element on the path to liberation or salvation. The Buddha once said that "in this body six feet tall is the path...". More or less in all religions the body is the conditio sine qua non of salvation or liberation. According to Eastern religions, the body even has an evolutionary potential and with the help of hidden internal energies (kundalini, chakras) it can be transformed, thus expanding and uniting consciousness with the Absolute.
Thank you for pointing this essential aspect out. I have added a few sentences regarding the question of the relationship between spirituality and body, as well as my understanding of the goal of spirituality. I’ve also added some of my thoughts on body-spirit limitations in conclusion.
- I lack critical distance in the article. Especially in the Conclusion, the author should comment on the possibilities and limits of techno-spirituality. I agree with the author that a person's religious desires are also projected into cyberspace, so cyber-spirituality can also be a supporting activity of real spirituality. But who is the creator of the techno-spirituality video? Is this person spiritual enough to lead another person? And is it possible to fully realize this spirituality without a body?
Thank you for pointing this out. I’ve added several sentences to my Conclusion (and a few other chapters) to strengthen my claims and point out a few limitations when it comes to cyber spirituality and video games, as you were right to point out.
I could not answer more of the questions regarding the creator of the techno-spiritual video and whether this person is spiritual enough, as it would reacquire me to conduct a new study. However, I am thankful for that comment as it gave me a few new ideas to ponder and possibly turn into a topic of study, as it is an exciting thing to point out.
- Regarding the problem of spirituality, I recommend the journal Spirituality Studies to the author. There are a number of articles on this topic.
Thank you for suggesting reading. I’ve found a few very relevant and interesting articles in this journal and referenced them in my corrections according to your suggestions. It is a very interesting journal (I also love the web formatting), and I will definitely use it.
Thank you for your kind suggestions and the time you have spent helping me improve my article.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Nice improvements; not perfect, but nevertheless interesting enough to allow publishment.
