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Apr. 15th, 2019 11:07 pmRather than talk about what fiction endorses, I think it’s better to talk about what fiction assumes.
I’m reading about a Hearts of Iron IV mod called The New Order: Last Days of Europe. It proposes an alternate history where the Nazis won WWII, then realized their economy is still in shambles. Four would-be leaders each have a different plan to make Germany functional again, and as soon as Hitler dies, they’ll descend into civil war.
Regardless of what beliefs the devs hold, there are assumptions that need to be made one way or another in order to bring this setting to life. For instance, Göring wants to wage ever-broader war in order to strip the victims of resources and funnel the cash into the German economy. The devs needed to decide on a victory for him, and they concluded that he doesn’t really have one. He will never get the economy to a point where it’s stable, and he will never be able to conquer Japan or the US without mutual annihilation through nuclear war. If he wins the civil war, his story leads to either the end of Germany, or the end of the world. So is this an assumption you agree with? Do you think this endless warfare can ever reach a stable state, and whether yes or no, why do you think that?
Or take the Deutsche Sozialistische Republik, Germany’s only anti-Nazi faction. They claim to want to institute socialism, and they’ve gotten unironic support from socialist players. They engage in mass murder of suspected Nazi loyalists, cause famines through mismanagement, and don’t even abolish slavery. The devs tend to double down when people argue with this. In one’s terms, “These are not actions you're supposed to celebrate, they're more reasons for you to go "Jesus Christ what the fuck" and root for a side you can actually support.” But what do you think of this? Do your assumptions about the viability and morality of socialist reformers in Nazi Germany lean more towards the devs or more towards the socialist players, and whichever you choose, why do you choose that?
This isn’t just about what the devs believe, because not everything in the game is about their beliefs. The economic system, for instance, was kludged together from different ideologies in order to avoid having one choice be obviously better than all others. Rather, it’s about what you believe, and where your assumptions differ from the ones they chose. Rather than passing judgment or laying blame, the goal is to come to a greater understanding, and maybe see things from a different point of view.
I’m reading about a Hearts of Iron IV mod called The New Order: Last Days of Europe. It proposes an alternate history where the Nazis won WWII, then realized their economy is still in shambles. Four would-be leaders each have a different plan to make Germany functional again, and as soon as Hitler dies, they’ll descend into civil war.
Regardless of what beliefs the devs hold, there are assumptions that need to be made one way or another in order to bring this setting to life. For instance, Göring wants to wage ever-broader war in order to strip the victims of resources and funnel the cash into the German economy. The devs needed to decide on a victory for him, and they concluded that he doesn’t really have one. He will never get the economy to a point where it’s stable, and he will never be able to conquer Japan or the US without mutual annihilation through nuclear war. If he wins the civil war, his story leads to either the end of Germany, or the end of the world. So is this an assumption you agree with? Do you think this endless warfare can ever reach a stable state, and whether yes or no, why do you think that?
Or take the Deutsche Sozialistische Republik, Germany’s only anti-Nazi faction. They claim to want to institute socialism, and they’ve gotten unironic support from socialist players. They engage in mass murder of suspected Nazi loyalists, cause famines through mismanagement, and don’t even abolish slavery. The devs tend to double down when people argue with this. In one’s terms, “These are not actions you're supposed to celebrate, they're more reasons for you to go "Jesus Christ what the fuck" and root for a side you can actually support.” But what do you think of this? Do your assumptions about the viability and morality of socialist reformers in Nazi Germany lean more towards the devs or more towards the socialist players, and whichever you choose, why do you choose that?
This isn’t just about what the devs believe, because not everything in the game is about their beliefs. The economic system, for instance, was kludged together from different ideologies in order to avoid having one choice be obviously better than all others. Rather, it’s about what you believe, and where your assumptions differ from the ones they chose. Rather than passing judgment or laying blame, the goal is to come to a greater understanding, and maybe see things from a different point of view.
