What's in the name?

[Rhyden]

Just a quick, meaningless query, has anybody other than myself ever thought about the name of the game we play? Armageddon. That's like latin for the 'end of the world' isn't it (I saw the movie). So, erm, does the title of our gaming world have any significance at all to the world? I'm just really curious and now a little paranoid...anybody else thought about this?

[John]

We live in a post-apocalyptic world. That's why we're only NOW re-discovering how to travel to Mars... err.. oh you mean Zalanthas.

Well Zalanthas is a post-apocalyptic world as well. Armageddon has come and gone and it's current state is the aftermath.

[Tlaloc]

Reading the History might help shed some light onto your question.

[My 2 sids]

Personally, I think just changing the name of the game from Armageddon to Zalanthas (or something) might bring in more players.  I would bet we miss a few new players who simply bypass us based on the name alone.

[sacac]

Like what I did, Sounded Hack and slash to me.

[Manhattan]

uh, the name's more than a decade old...wouldn't wanna change it now.

[sacac]

and of course, crackalanthas.. doesn't sound as fun as Crackageddon.
Well.. Maybe it does. No name change anyway

[Rhyden]

Armageddon "The anti-hack-and-slash world"

-Nah

[EvilRoeSlade]

I'm going to call it Armageddon no matter what new-fangled name you n00bs decide it ought to have.

[moab]

I thought that Armageddon was Greek in origin.

[Anael]

Actually, it's from hebrew 'har megiddo'. Both greek and then latin used the word.
On topic: Changing such an old name? Uh... I don't think that would work, really.
crackalanthas sounds... weird.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Actually, it's from hebrew 'har megiddo'. Both greek and then latin used the word.
On topic: Changing such an old name? Uh... I don't think that would work, really.
crackalanthas sounds... weird.

Anael got there before I could.  Megiddo was a specific location, 'Har Megiddo' was the battle at Meggido.  It was a particularly nasty bloodbath, and was referenced in the book of Revelation.  A subsequent misinterpretation of the passage led people to believe that some kind of future "end of the world" battle was being referred to, hence the use of the word Armageddon in its modern context.

[Cut & Paste]

We live in a post-apocalyptic world.

Megiddo was a specific location, 'Har Megiddo' was the battle at Meggido. It was a particularly nasty bloodbath, and was referenced in the book of Revelation.

Apropos of this fine juxtaposition, we have a few words from Merriam-Webster:

apocalypse - Middle English, revelation, Revelation, from Late Latin apocalypsis, from Greek apokalypsis, from apokalyptein to uncover, from apo- + kalyptein to cover -- more at HELL
hell - Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old English helan to conceal, Old High German helan, Latin celare, Greek kalyptein

Almost as if to suggest this was the real world all along, and we just didn't know it yet. *amused*

I would bet we miss a few new players who simply bypass us based on the name alone.

Undoubtedly. Marketing versus tradition. And although I agree most of those bypassers assume it's an H&S mud, I'd dearly love to meet that lost newbie who came in looking for a Christian one. "Ermm ... I suppose we could throw you into the arena with some wild gortoks. Would that do?"

And even farther off topic ...

A subsequent misinterpretation of the passage led people to believe that some kind of future "end of the world" battle was being referred to ...

Right. The "'end of the world' battle" is actually Ragnarok. >wink< We're offline now, so we'll have to switch over to Oxford (Please excuse the omission of special characters, as a I can't get a word processor open to help me with them.):
Ragnarok - [Old Norse ragnarok, -rokkr (Icel. Ragnarok), f. ragna genitive of regin the gods + rok destined end or (later) rokr, rokkr twilight] Scandinavian mythology: The destruction of the gods; specifically the defeat of gods and men by monsters in a final battle. Cf. gotterdammerung.

So, if anyone decides to go off and start and Old Norse RPI (or a old-style Japanese one, for that matter), do let my anonymous self know.

[Sanvean]

That was interesting; I had no idea where the word "armageddon" came from.  Thank you for posting that.

[Laeris]

Anael got there before I could.  Megiddo was a specific location, 'Har Megiddo' was the battle at Meggido.  It was a particularly nasty bloodbath, and was referenced in the book of Revelation.  A subsequent misinterpretation of the passage led people to believe that some kind of future "end of the world" battle was being referred to, hence the use of the word Armageddon in its modern context.

Just so there's no misinformation being spread.  The text you're referring to is a prophetic text in the Book of Revelations in which the author is discussing the Second Coming of Christ.  The Battle of Megiddo is to be the last battle between the nations of the world, led by the Antichrist, and the forces of Heaven at the Valley of Meggido.  Whether you choose to believe that these events will actually unfold is entirely up to the individual, but don't confuse the accuracy of the prophecy with the accuracy of the translation.  There can be a huge difference, heh.

[Cenghiz]

When  was really bored of the fool H&S games, one day I made a search in TMS. The only one having all the qualifications (RP enforced, levelless, huge world) I chose was ARM. So I'm here.
We're living the post-armageddon. The world is already half-dead.. It's still dying even more every day. I believe the name is really suitable.

[Anonymous]

Megiddo was a specific location, 'Har Megiddo' was the battle at Meggido.

Traditionally the hill of Megiddo, a great city that guarded the pass between the coast and the valley of Jezreel or Esdraelon; see Jdg 5:19 ; 2Ki 9:27

Armagedon: The Hebrew form of the name would be "Har Megiddo," meaning "Hill of Megiddo," where many battles were fought in ancient times (see Judges 5.19; 2 Kings 23.29,30).

It was a particularly nasty bloodbath, and was referenced in the book of Revelation.

The only appearance of the word "Armageddon" in the Bible that I'm aware of is Revelations 16:16, which does not mention the history of the place. The KJV rendition is, "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." If you prefer "The frog-demons gathered the kings together at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon," try a translation called The Message.

On the other hand, there are most definitely references in the Old Testament. As per the above cross-references, we have Judges 5:19 (NIV) -"'Kings came, they fought;/the kings of Canaan fought/at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,/but they carried off no silver, no plunder," plus the more individually oriented mentions in Second Kings.

The Battle of Megiddo is to be the last battle between the nations of the world, led by the Antichrist, and the forces of Heaven at the Valley of Meggido.

Generally in support of this viewpoint, we have Revelations 16:14 - "They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty." It seems we do have the kings gathered for battle at the Hill of Meggido. Can you help us out any more, Laeris? I'm afraid Revelations makes me a little dizzy - we seem to skip to other visions for the next three chapters before returning to the theme of battle in chapter 20. Is the same battle? Where is the key link that lets me know?

Many thanks, of course.

[Angela Christine]

And the moral of the story is that if you are a king or in the diplomatic corps and you get invited to a peace conference at Meggido, just say no.  Seriously, phone it in, teleconference, whatever you gotta do.  

AC