ORIGINAL: RFalvo69
An interesting article that recently appeared on The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/styl ... SdJWTwuWdU
It is worth noting how the "Scramble for Africa" is basically the theme of the second expansion for Paradox's "Victoria 2" (titled "Heart of Darkness") - and how at the time no one objected.
Personally, I just hope that we are not entering in a #metoo (*) movement towards boardgames and wargames - both tabletop and digital. It would be retrograde, damaging and, IMHO, futile.
Please, let's keep the discussion civil and apolitical, as mandated by the forum rules.
(*) Just to be clear, I support the #metoo movement for women's rights.
warspite1
So
Victoria 2 was binned because of the subject matter.
I am not a huge fan of censorship – and certainly not in the exploration of history - but I can certainly understand why this game – the way it appears to have been described – could be seen as less than ideal for gaming in the 21st Century.
So what’s the difference between playing the Germans in
World In Flames or the Japanese in
WITP-AE and the Belgians in
Victoria 2? Well in neither WWII game are the Axis players rewarded for atrocities committed or how quickly and efficiently the Final Solution can be implemented. In other words, the games are focused on the military angle.
Yes
Victoria 2 apparently had rewards for ending slavery and penalties for atrocities but presumably players can also choose to forego the rewards and take the penalty as there is likely to be other knock-on events.
I think one of – if not the - biggest problem with all these types of thing is the unknown of who decides what is acceptable and what is not?
Is it beyond the realms of imagination that in future some self-important, ignorant career politician would demand the banning of, for example, all US Civil War games – even those that concentrate solely on the military aspect – on the basis that ‘surely no one would want to play the ‘evil’ south’ and if they did then they must obviously be an inherent racist…..’.
There is nothing that politicians and preening self-promoting 'celebrities' love more than a cause. But only if that cause is an easy target. Middle-aged wargamers with a military history fixation are about as easy a target as they can get [;)]
And apologies if that moved into the political arena but let's be honest, the motivation for this type of thing is political first and foremost.
