>> At least, every culture has
>> a common religion, even the heortlings learn talents and include some
>> small number of animists, and I think they are about as extreme as it
>> gets in terms of religious focus.
>
>Yes, that was the intent. But most people do not seem to have realized
>the magnitude of this.
>I don't know if it is because everyone is a minimaxer at heart, or if it
>is carryover from other games, or if it is just improperly presented. I
>tend to think the last.
Probably a mixture of all three. There's a desire to play a major hero and the obvious way to do that is to build up a good set of abilities which is how other RPGs work. The game mechanics then provide clear benefits (such as reduced cost for learning magic) but fuzzier costs for various player decisions. Devoting to a god should make your character an eccentric, though usually respected, outsider in their own community.
Presentation could be better but the idea that you become a hero by getting your community and others to follow you is different - alien to RPGs and literature. Players see themselves as Harrak rather than the Red Emperor. Same with the idea of the story being more important than the cool powers you gain by the end.
Once you get those ideas you realise that your PC doesn't need to be designed to perform a particular role.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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