Gamasutra - More Politics (and Economy) in RPGs

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This editorial by Felipe Pepe discusses why RPGs should have more politics and economy in them.

Should politics be in games?

This odd but recurring controversy was covered extensively by Errant Signal, Cool Ghosts, Kotaku and others, usually following the line of thought that everything has political undertones - from Civilization's winning conditions to Sonic's eco-friendly tone - so there will always be implicit politics in games.

But I'm here to defend the inclusion of explicit politics, of actively debating issues that we face daily in our democratic coexistence. Especially in RPGs, where having an interesting setting that enables thoughtful choices is highly desirable.

And let me tell you, after playing +200 RPGs for my CRPG Book Project - most of which I simply BATTLE EVIL! or make color-coded binary choices - I am desperate for games with a better (or SOME!) sense of economics & politics.

Sadly, when people think about "Politics in Gaming", what comes into mind aren't open debates, but rather political messages ill-disguised as choices... which leads to this poorly articulated controversy.

Because propaganda usually sucks.
[...]

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (2001)

Arcanum's world was a cookie-cutter Tolkien-ish realm. Elves in forests, Dwarfs in mines, Orcs in the wild, humans lock in power struggles, mages casting fireballs, knights in armor, etc...

Yet, instead of an Ancient EvilTM, it got a steam engine.

Its creator, Gilbert Bates, didn't use it to create an army of steam-punk robots to take over the world or anything - he started an industrial revolution. And the developers went crazy figuring out how one of the biggest events in human history would change a fantasy world.

Plagued by roaming tribes of barbarian, Orcs and Lizards, Arcanum is a dangerous and large land, so mercenaries escorted trade caravans while mages offered safe teleportation at a high cost. The technological progress and creation of railroads have since put mercenaries out of work and undermined the Mage's influence - after all, who will study Fireball when any idiot can throw a grenade?

The revolution began in Tarant and was embraced by its King. But the rising bourgeoisie soon overthrew him and turned Tarant into a democracy, capital of the newly formed Unified Kingdom; The King of Cumbria rejected technology as blasphemy and saw his kingdom crumble economically, while the Kingdom of Arland embraced it and it's now petitioning to be a part of the UK - all these events are explored in interesting side-quests.

Racial relations also changed - Gnomes, the weakest race around, began investing in this new technology and found themselves enriching and rising in power... which upset other races and lead to one of the best side-quest in RPG history (and believe me, I've played A LOT of them) - the Gnome Conspiracy.
More information.
 
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In-game politics, hell yes.
Real world politics, hell no.
 
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For ages we have politics presence in RPGs. It's not just about minorities, sex, monetization, we have racism issues and different governmental forms covered too.
If there is something we don't lack of in RPGs, it's politics. Somewhere briefly mentioned, somewhere storymeddling. Doesn't stop there, thanks to DX games we have covered also conspiracies.
Economy is present in it's basic forms. We had seen items exchange, classic stores, crafting2sell, loot2sell, loans and somewhere even investing $ into some business.

We've also seen games with both of it - for example slavery and buying/selling slaves.

Do we need more of it?
In fantasy RPGs I'd say no. It'd most probably sidetrack the game onto unnecessary stuff.
In Sci Fi RPGs I'd say yes. There is a huge opportunity of exploring different possibilities only crazy minds can think of in both politics and economy. With thousands of different species and endless plantes, there should be a place to bring in fresh ideas.
 
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I like my RPG's to happen on a squad level. That is, grunts spending a good deal of their time moving over the country (and countryside). As such, I don't think it's a great thing to make the player participate in politics. Personally I wouldn't pick my campaign team to include a brawler, a pickpocket and a witch.

As far as the player feeling the effects of politics, hell yeah. I don't think I've ever played an RPG where you were really, tangibly in the middle of a war, although a lot of stories claim this.
 
That is a great and very thoughtful article. The historical look at politics in RPGs is also interesting with the author explaining how simple and binary things are presented in many games. Good bad and no gray. No outside forces that might somehow unpredictably impact political issues. Worth a read IMO. And I agree with wiretripped that Arcanum is on my current Replay/Play list.

Many thanks for the news post.

__
 
Nice article. Darn it, I should really get to playing Arcanum…

Had the same feeling. I even have it with the thick handbook that came with it ... I don't remember anymore in which box I've stored it, however ...
 
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Journalists (apparently even gaming ones) just can't resist the urge to push their cultural Marxist agenda on everything they touch. It is disgusting.

Bethesda's ESO and EA's dragon age are 2 glaring examples of unwanted LGBT garbage being shoved in the faces of gamers to appease a tiny minority of degenerates.

I say keep politics and political agenda's out of our games unless it is really necessary and relevant to a compelling story.
 
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Someone make Arcanum 2 already, damn ! (a dozen play-throughs is just not sane)
 
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Nice article. I might have to replay Arcanum now…I don't have the time for that!

Saying that, most games conform themselves to the player choices and considering the amount of gamer pissed that something X happened in a game without their consent, I'm pretty sure it's on purpose. This is very true of BioWare hardcore fans, which is kinda amusing when the writer listed Dragon Age Origins and how everyone is waiting for the player to do something.

Kinda sad now The Witcher 3 wasn't mentioned, the Novigrad/Redenia/Temeria storyline side quests and the Skellige island ruler had their own resolution if Geralt didn't do them...and Novigrad/Redenia/Temeria had some ending state that require doing and not doing some of that storyline quest.

The stats about Dragon Commanders are rather interesting too. I didn't even know Larian released those.

"LOL, I'M AN ASSHOLE!" moments.

hehehehe, my favorite ME2 renegade prompt is so that.
 
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btw, was there a reason to tackle economy and politics in one swoop? They're both quite complex elements.
 
I've always wanted an rpg that has the politics of a Babylon 5 or a Game of Thrones. It would inform player motivation and make playthroughs much more interesting. Anyone else want a Babylon 5 rpg?
 
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btw, was there a reason to tackle economy and politics in one swoop? They're both quite complex elements.

The article doesn't tackle economy much, it's mostly reference economical repercussion caused by the setting politics and that's mostly in reference to Arcanum.
 
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I didn't read the article, partly because I am in love with Arcanum despite not playing nearly enough of it yet - and I don't want to spoil anything. :)

But, politics in game, I love them. For me, politics started with the Suikoden series, or even some early Final Fantasy games, or possibly even Tactics Ogre, which was an early political-based RPG that I played.

In these games, politics are front and center. I always enjoyed that. I always found it fascinating to learn about some empire fighting another empire, or some king or prince being dispatched midway through the game. Political revolutions, etc. That stuff makes for interesting RPG stories, in my opinion. Especially Tactics Ogre, which was like political done to the nth degree. Great stuff. :)
 
I didn't read the article, partly because I am in love with Arcanum despite not playing nearly enough of it yet - and I don't want to spoil anything. :)

You don't have to worry as he doesn't spoil anything. Just a couple of pics hinting at what its about generally.
 
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You don't have to worry as he doesn't spoil anything. Just a couple of pics hinting at what its about generally.

That's enough for me to not look at it. Yes, I'm basically that crazy. :p

I like going into a game and just absorbing that game and not knowing background info, etc. I like to learn what I will about the game in-game.

Seems like a small issue but it's an important one to me. I really dive into games deeply and 100%. I always have been that way since my childhood.
 
I've always wanted an rpg that has the politics of a Babylon 5 or a Game of Thrones. It would inform player motivation and make playthroughs much more interesting. Anyone else want a Babylon 5 rpg?

I'd love one - or one based on the same sort of idea of competing self-interested factions who can go from a foe to a friend (and sometimes back again) over time, and of allies turning out to be foes. Of making deals with a powerful faction that really benefit you, only for you to realise how it's screwed you over or has other unintended consequences ten hours later into the story.

Yeah, I'd love an rpg like that.
 
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I'd love one - or one based on the same sort of idea of competing self-interested factions who can go from a foe to a friend (and sometimes back again) over time, and of allies turning out to be foes. Of making deals with a powerful faction that really benefit you, only for you to realise how it's screwed you over or has other unintended consequences ten hours later into the story.

Yeah, I'd love an rpg like that.

Thats exactly what I was thinking of :nod:
 
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(Troll elco detected.)

Of course we need more politics. Both as political correctness\inclusivity and as wars of factions, subtle conspiracies, betrayals, etc. The goal of most games to battle some ancient resurrected evil (which is evil b\c it's evil) or some Empire (which is evil b\c it's evil) is getting old. Something more complex and realistic is very much desirable. And something unpredictable...

People above wish to have an RPG like Game of Thrones. Arguably what makes GoT so good is that it's unpredictable. Anyone might die, anything at all might happen, it follows no predictable traditional pattern. I'd love for games to have that much complexity, as well.
 
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