Here we are again with another article by Felipe Pepe, who has has written on RPG history, the preservation of gaming history, classifying the RPG , and the dreadful Quest Compass. He's also the one working on the CRPG book project.
Article: Why I want more Politics (and Economy) in RPGs
Before I continue, this article isn't about the politics surrounding gaming, but rather politics IN gaming.
Funny enough, as I was reading the article I thought of another great example to use, and so did the author apparently (I hope you don't mind me posting snips from RPG Codex posts):
If you're reading this, I wouldn't mind seeing the uncut version.
Article: Why I want more Politics (and Economy) in RPGs
Before I continue, this article isn't about the politics surrounding gaming, but rather politics IN gaming.
Divinity: Dragon Commander (2013)
Far from the stupidity of Fable III, here each of the 60 policies presented are representative of real-world issues - Public Health Care, Gun Ownership, Piracy, Torture, Deporting Criminals, Press Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage and even Breastfeeding in Public:
These policies are argued for or against by the five council members. While each is rather archetypal, they aren't GOOD nor EVIL, just different; making points you often hear in real-world's debates.
I.e., should there be Government Healthcare?
Elves demand it, for there's a huge income gap;
Imps approve, for they are often injured;
Lizards think it's good for the people (and will piss off Dwarves);
Undead say nay, for that would interfere with the work of the Gods;
Dwarves are outraged, for it would cost a fortune and "lead to laziness".
What do YOU think?
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 Evil™, 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.
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.
I won't spoil it here, just tease it a bit:
Funny enough, as I was reading the article I thought of another great example to use, and so did the author apparently (I hope you don't mind me posting snips from RPG Codex posts):
Which reminds me that I cut a huge chunk of text on how writers often write 10 billion years of lore not to make their settings deeper, but rather to have excuses for dumb power relations & isolated conflicts. Arcanum and Morrowind are so interesting because I can instantly imagine conflicts based on their macro environment & faction interplay.
DA:O, Skyrim and the likes have nothing like this... like, what's the College of Winterhold side on Skyrim's civil war? Game never mentions, it was too busy delving into isolated & irrelevant ancient lore with no real consequences whatsoever. Supposedly, they are an extremely powerful & old faction, yet you can remove them entirely from the game and not a single thing would be changed. They exist in a vacuum.
The original article was huge, had bits on Morrowind, the lore thing I've mentioned above, an analysis on how micro & macro environment theory applies to RPGs...
Cut all that and still ended with a massive article few people will bother to read.
If you're reading this, I wouldn't mind seeing the uncut version.