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Is it wrong for a game to have an agenda?
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<blockquote data-quote="eyebeams" data-source="post: 2031301" data-attributes="member: 9225"><p>One of the truisms in the study of art and culture is that everything has a political and social message, because people will reflexively frame things according to their political and social biases. So basically, all an agenda does is make this conscious, instead of unconscious or unacknowledged.</p><p></p><p>I think it's better to write gaming material in a conscious frame of mind for one important reason: You can us that to harness other people's persectives. For instance, I'm strongly anti-capital punishment, but I have written an account of a fictional group who were strong for it. I think it ended up being effective because I wrote thinking of what I might reflexively say, then I went, "OK, let's see how *these* guys go at it."</p><p></p><p>Political thopught also lets you rethink assumptions about a game. In my own fantasy setting, for instance, I've gradually moved away from standard orcs and goblins in favour of a species with a psychology and political mindset that naturally puts them in conflict with humans (and leads them to follow gods that are evil by human standards). </p><p></p><p>Plus, there are some ideological assumptions in games that can be played with, such as the idea that all achievement is individual (XP per character), that there are objective forces of good and evil (Jonothan Tweet came up with some excellent variations on this himself), or that, say, traditional capitalism and nation-states will always be there (something I'm playing with in my Terminal Identity work).</p><p></p><p>Otherwise, writing to send a message about something is fine, too. In my experience, you gain about as much audience as you lose. White Wolf gained a whole bunch of new fans just by acknowledging that non-heterosexuals exist and by playing up environmental and political themes. Ultimately, though, thise stuff is a springboard for satisfying gaming.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="eyebeams, post: 2031301, member: 9225"] One of the truisms in the study of art and culture is that everything has a political and social message, because people will reflexively frame things according to their political and social biases. So basically, all an agenda does is make this conscious, instead of unconscious or unacknowledged. I think it's better to write gaming material in a conscious frame of mind for one important reason: You can us that to harness other people's persectives. For instance, I'm strongly anti-capital punishment, but I have written an account of a fictional group who were strong for it. I think it ended up being effective because I wrote thinking of what I might reflexively say, then I went, "OK, let's see how *these* guys go at it." Political thopught also lets you rethink assumptions about a game. In my own fantasy setting, for instance, I've gradually moved away from standard orcs and goblins in favour of a species with a psychology and political mindset that naturally puts them in conflict with humans (and leads them to follow gods that are evil by human standards). Plus, there are some ideological assumptions in games that can be played with, such as the idea that all achievement is individual (XP per character), that there are objective forces of good and evil (Jonothan Tweet came up with some excellent variations on this himself), or that, say, traditional capitalism and nation-states will always be there (something I'm playing with in my Terminal Identity work). Otherwise, writing to send a message about something is fine, too. In my experience, you gain about as much audience as you lose. White Wolf gained a whole bunch of new fans just by acknowledging that non-heterosexuals exist and by playing up environmental and political themes. Ultimately, though, thise stuff is a springboard for satisfying gaming. [/QUOTE]
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