In a more bizarre bid to promote Russian history, President Dmitry Medvedev has proposed the creation of a ripoff of the computer game "World of Warcraft" based on the country's glorious past.
"I've checked what our youth are playing with, and most games are pseudo-historical and fantasy-based," Medvedev told a gathering of his culture and science councils at a joint session Friday.
"Take 'World of Warcraft.' … It's not all about destruction. It has a subtext about developing human civilization," the president said. "We could try to make something similar if it's so popular — not globally, perhaps, but at the domestic level."
Medvedev's interest in history stems from the 1,150th anniversary of Russia's statehood next year. Russia's history is considered to have started in 862, when a Viking named Rurik was invited to rule the land after warring tribes failed to choose a king from among themselves.
Medvedev also proposed holding contests and awarding prizes to history buffs to mark the anniversary. He did not elaborate.
"World of Warcraft," which with 11 million users is the most popular online multiplayer role-playing game, follows a conflict between races of humans and orcs. Representatives of gamer maker Blizzard Entertainment have not commented on Medvedev's idea.
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