Politics in games - are some subjects too controversial?

[Zhukov]

I don't think anything is inherently too controversial.

Obviously damn near anything can be mishandled. But that'll the fault of one specific game and its makers, not of games as a whole.

Oh, I've actually seen a game where the player got to make choices about hot button political issues. It was a strategy-ish game called Divinity: Dragon Commander. Or something like that. Every now and again you'd be asked how your empire would handle a specific issue. Gay marriage, women's rights, arms controls, the lot. They basically chucked everything in there. I don't remember anyone getting pissed off about it and declaring it a subversive attempt to brain wash the world's children or whatever. Although the fact that it took place in a fantasy world may have forestalled that. (Apparently undead are very conservatively minded.)

 

[DEAD34345]

[snip]

I'm clearly not saying that discussion on topics shouldn't happen. What I'm saying is simply that if you have a topic that is going to be sensitive and requires a mature and steady hand, you shouldn't do it in a series that is well known for being anything but mature, sensitive and guided by a steady hand.

Saying, for example, that child soldiers is a topic that shouldn't be dealt with on The Wiggles TV show doesn't mean that the subject of child soldiers can't/shouldn't be dealt with on a TV show.

The Wiggles TV show is for children. And actually once again, I'd applaud it for dealing with sensitive issues. While maybe child soldiers wouldn't make much sense and wouldn't be particularly helpful, dealing with racism and and acceptable contact between children in a format they're likely to understand and take on board would be great.

You earlier were saying that an 18+ game shouldn't have tackled sensitive issues, which is pretty different. I still don't really "get" your viewpoint. Why should certain topics only be dealt with in a "mature and steady" way? More media, more discussion, and more action on sensitive topics is almost universally a good thing as far as I'm concerned, so why limit it only to things you consider "serious" enough?

[snip]

Deciding someone's effort wasn't good enough - for you and in your opinion good enough in general - is a completely normal part of any Art or Entertainment consumption. Same with deciding someone's effort was exceptional or excellent.

That's part of being an artist, producer, actor, writer, game developers - whatever. You make work, you put it out there, and people form judgements - good or bad - about that work.

Where did this idea that opinions of the consumer shouldn't exist come from and why has it become so prevalent is what I would ask, rather than what gives a consumer the right to say someone did something well or poorly in the media they are consuming.

That wasn't what I was saying at all. Everyone is free to like and dislike things, to call out views they disagree with, etc, etc, etc. It doesn't annoy me when people say a piece of media wasn't good enough for them, it annoys me when they say it wasn't good enough to talk about sensitive issues. That's what I think no-one has a right to decide. Even then I fully support their right to express that opinion, it just means that I'm likely to express my own opinion back claiming that sort of thing is wrong.

 

[PBMcNair]

snip

I can't really think of any subjects you shouldn't use, but just remember to have consequences, lots of consequences. Both good and bad. And try not to have one set of morals or the other be too powerful in game, or it forces people to chose based on effect rather than belief.

And of course, never include something just for the shock value. Obviously, I don't mean the game shouldn't be able to shock people, but subjects shouldn't be there solely to do so.


For example, putting a rape scene in a game just to have a rape scene is bad. But, using your game as an example, your empire has no rights for women, no women in the military and a no mercy attitude to enemies, then having to deal with rape committed by your forces after defeating an enemy city/country makes sense.