Canada portrayed negatively in games?
- Thread starter Roudi
- Start date
Let me start by saying that I do not know of any specfic bad rap Canada gets in any roleplaying games. However, I can see WHY they would get a bad rap in most modern era games.
#1) Nowhere in the world is gaming as prevalent as the US. Take out console and computer games, I'm talking people who buy dead tree books to play with minis, dice, figs, cards, or other in person social interaction games.
#2) Because most gamers are in the US, many games are written by US authors, and the 'default' setting is usually somewhere in the US. It's nature that we write what we know, and using your home country as a premise makes writing easier.
#3) Extrapolate 1 and 2, and suddenly to create a game other than "Real Life Gaming" you need to have the hook or the twist. Zombies, apocalypse, etc. Sure, that could be enough for some people, but gamers like fluff, and we want to know what our close proximity neighbors are doing. Also, maybe the game needs more adverseries than just the hook, so we take the 2 closest countries to us and make them "eeeeevil" (TM).
Now, adding those up, you get a communist canada, which is either:
a) Misinterpretation by us southerners as to how your government is handled.
b) Extrapolation - seeing what happens if we take your current government to the extremes
c) Pure fiction for the purpose of gaming fun.
Dude, relax. You're in CANADA, eh?
Hell, if you want to kill this big stereotype, then write your own setting where Canada, eh, is the greates country in the world and the US is the axis of "eeeeevil" (TM).
#1) Nowhere in the world is gaming as prevalent as the US. Take out console and computer games, I'm talking people who buy dead tree books to play with minis, dice, figs, cards, or other in person social interaction games.
#2) Because most gamers are in the US, many games are written by US authors, and the 'default' setting is usually somewhere in the US. It's nature that we write what we know, and using your home country as a premise makes writing easier.
#3) Extrapolate 1 and 2, and suddenly to create a game other than "Real Life Gaming" you need to have the hook or the twist. Zombies, apocalypse, etc. Sure, that could be enough for some people, but gamers like fluff, and we want to know what our close proximity neighbors are doing. Also, maybe the game needs more adverseries than just the hook, so we take the 2 closest countries to us and make them "eeeeevil" (TM).
Now, adding those up, you get a communist canada, which is either:
a) Misinterpretation by us southerners as to how your government is handled.
b) Extrapolation - seeing what happens if we take your current government to the extremes
c) Pure fiction for the purpose of gaming fun.
Dude, relax. You're in CANADA, eh?
Hell, if you want to kill this big stereotype, then write your own setting where Canada, eh, is the greates country in the world and the US is the axis of "eeeeevil" (TM).
Cergorach
The Laughing One
Canada is populated by Mounties and mooses.
America is populated by country hicks, hillbilies, and rednecks.
The Netherlands is populated by hookers and dealers.
There are a lot of preconceptions and sterio types, in fiction they are often used to illustrate a point and be easily recognisable by others. It's often difficult to accurately portray a culture to folks that aren't familiar with it. It's really difficult for writers that are in a certain culture to note the differences with other cultures because everything native is so natural for such a writer.
I for one know of Canada that it's full of nature, sure i know that there are large cities in Canada, it's just not the first thing i think of when Canada is mentioned. The TV series Intelligence gave me a glimpse of Canadian city life, while it's similar to city life in other western nations, there where a lot of subtle differences (of course you have to wonder if a tv series can accurately portray such a thing).
The same goes for my own home town of Amsterdam, Americans often think of hookers and 'free' drugs when Amsterdam is mentioned. Or of clogs, windmills, and tulips when Holland (The Netherlands) is mentioned. In the mind of the 'common' (wo)man these are non-issues, other issues are far more current. Alcohol and tabacco are far more pressing issues then hard/soft drugs are...
America is populated by country hicks, hillbilies, and rednecks.
The Netherlands is populated by hookers and dealers.
There are a lot of preconceptions and sterio types, in fiction they are often used to illustrate a point and be easily recognisable by others. It's often difficult to accurately portray a culture to folks that aren't familiar with it. It's really difficult for writers that are in a certain culture to note the differences with other cultures because everything native is so natural for such a writer.
I for one know of Canada that it's full of nature, sure i know that there are large cities in Canada, it's just not the first thing i think of when Canada is mentioned. The TV series Intelligence gave me a glimpse of Canadian city life, while it's similar to city life in other western nations, there where a lot of subtle differences (of course you have to wonder if a tv series can accurately portray such a thing).
The same goes for my own home town of Amsterdam, Americans often think of hookers and 'free' drugs when Amsterdam is mentioned. Or of clogs, windmills, and tulips when Holland (The Netherlands) is mentioned. In the mind of the 'common' (wo)man these are non-issues, other issues are far more current. Alcohol and tabacco are far more pressing issues then hard/soft drugs are...
Rob Toth
First Post
A New Leaf
A Canadian gent once complained that I sank the country in Damnation Decade. But I think his point was that I was dodging Canada (i.e., not coming up with interesting fluff for it) rather than slandering it.
A Canadian gent once complained that I sank the country in Damnation Decade. But I think his point was that I was dodging Canada (i.e., not coming up with interesting fluff for it) rather than slandering it.
The_Gneech
Explorer
I for one welcome our Canadian Overlords!
-The Gneech
-The Gneech
Loincloth of Armour
First Post
jezter6 said:
We don't need to write this setting, it's the default for the real world.
Ambrus
Explorer
The worst portrayal I've ever noted of Canada in an RPG was in White-Wolf's original Changeling game. In the main book, all of Canada fell within the mythical "Kingdom of Ice and Snow" ruled by a Sidhe Ice Queen. It was described as a land perpetually shrouded in an endless chimerical (i.e. imaginary) winterscape year round.
The idea that PCs would have to bundle up in winter clothes to walk down the street in Toronto or Montreal in the middle of July is absurd, and I don't know anyone who ran a Changeling game based in Canada that stuck with the setting's cannon description.
The idea that PCs would have to bundle up in winter clothes to walk down the street in Toronto or Montreal in the middle of July is absurd, and I don't know anyone who ran a Changeling game based in Canada that stuck with the setting's cannon description.
Seconded.Loincloth of Armour said:We don't need to write this setting, it's the default for the real world.
Vigilance
Explorer
JDJblatherings said:As a citizen of the U.S. I'm not sure if i trust Canada at all. over 80% of their population is poised within a 100 miles of or border? And just what are they trying to pull by calling ham "bacon" just becasue one serves it with breakfast?
And don't even get me started on the metric system. My god!
coriolis
Explorer
Negative? Maybe sometimes. Inaccurate? Yes, but not any more than the general media.
My favorite example is the West Wing special that aired after September 11th: a suspected terrorist enters the U.S. through the Ontario-Vermont crossing... even though they don't border each other!
My favorite example is the West Wing special that aired after September 11th: a suspected terrorist enters the U.S. through the Ontario-Vermont crossing... even though they don't border each other!
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