I think sticking with fascism would be better, to the casual reader fascism and communism are more diametrically opposed than communism and royalism. As some have pointed out already though if you get to far out into the left or right you end up in the weird non-space of the political spectrum where there’s surprisingly little distinction.
As for the problem of portraying fascism you might want to consider making it a goal of the fascist MC (admittedly not something I ever thought I would type so we’re breaking new ground here) to purge the party of those elements to create obvious ideological separation. I don’t know whether you could reasonably use an anti Semitic element as this adversary without risking distribution problems still but you certainly couldn’t be accused of normalizing it. Otherwise you could create yourself a repressed minority in the vein of what Valkyria Chronicles did but you know… do it well.
I agree on the point that this may seem a controversial topic to base an interactive story on but this is a work of fiction. Not that its a perfect excuse for “everything” of course but I do not see any harm in exploring any ideaology that may exist in this political game.
As long as it’s dealt with honestly and without bias there shouldn’t be anything wrong with writing/speaking about anything. And for what has been shown so far I believe that the author can do that.
Sure, not everyone is going to be pleased at the possibility of an ideaology they dissagree with being shown in a positive light, especially one that has had a destructive impact in our world. But the fact of the matter is that we are not trying to overlook or dismiss what has happened. We are just exploring these ideaologies in an interactive and ficticious way. Which can serve to entertain and educate.
Left Wing, Right Wing, Authoritarian, and Libertarian, all of these have extremes which should be discussed in an open and honest way. We all have our own personal leanings but there shouldn’t be anything wrong with having an open discussion about them.
And no I don’t think it has to be set in Germany, as I believe that would restrictive. In having it based in a ficticious world we can explore these ideas without our own history limiting the potential direction this story can go. We would instead worry about adressing certain events in our own history rather than create new possible situations that could arise in this given setting.
Personally, I believe that the author should write however they wish. And to not feel obligated to write in a certain way out of fear of censorship, political correctness, or appealing to the masses. This includes listening to me… just ignore me if you wish, no hurt feelings here.
I find it funny though that it is the Fascism (authoritarian extreme) side which is concerning most people when any extreme can be potentially fatal, such as Anarchism (libertarian extreme).
I agree - however, as the story reads, the fascist play-through is so “German” that the setting becomes Germany irregardless.
I have not played the leftist side yet - trying to save it for when more story is available to test but it would be like if the left’s party leader came back in a train car and was exiled originally in Germany… things I hope I don’t see when I do play that side because if I did I’d be thrown into Russia’s red party before the October revolution… whether the author meant it or not.
I agree, it has a very “German” like feel to it but that’s because we understand our own history and we find similarities because of that.
I think any resemblance can be rationalized as our own minds coming to that conclusion because that is what it seems because of our own knowledge. Even if the author hadn’t intended for it.
But I don’t think that the author is ignorant to that fact. And it will be up for them to decide how to approach this in a way that will be… intriguing. Without being dismissive to our own history.
That’s why I think it should be in a fictional world rather than a possible parallel timeline. This is because we could address these ideaologies purely in a ficticious ways than address all historical events associated to these movements.
Wow, quite a little debate we’ve got going here! Great to read all your responses, some really interesting stuff.
On the issue of the setting being German or Germany, its supposed to be a small fictional state in central Europe, similar to Austria or the Czech republic. Funnily enough one of the inspirations was the wes anderson film Grand Budapest Hotel which has a setting similar to what I’ve described, fictional, germanic and thirties. The world and events are obviously inspired by wiemar germany, as well as the spanish second republic and interwar austria.
A few of you have suggested introducing the player’s background, great idea, i’ll probably implement this.
On the fascist question, there’s clearly more support for them staying in on this thread, which I suppose will be my position for now.
PS @Eiwynn, excellent profile picture, I wrote my dissertation this year on 11th century byzantine empresses.
Thank you. Perhaps a Easter egg of having Zoe, Eirine or Theodora as a name choice might make it into your story - @poison_mara is sweet enough to call me the “Mosaic Virgin” obviously she knows her stuff as well.
I honestly think my concerns could easily be addressed by tweaking the narrative just a little. For example, instead of having the Fascist leader serve in the trenches (as Hitler did) have him be a fighter ace … just small differences that reinforce the fictional and de-emphasise the historical similarities.
About the problem with the Facist Party you could watch the movie “The Wave” (Die Welle is the original name). Because even if it starts with just this order thing, there is always bad seeds. You could use it as a villain maybe (?).
Well you know the history so know why the nickname fits same time is ironic. Theo was in many historical founts a courtesan and others directly a whore. Daughter of a ejemmm exotic ballerina she was from Cyprus i think? It was considered the place where whores and sex slaves come in 500 ac . But she become a pious women powerful and a saint. Also the mosaics appears with the empress or godly halo usually virgins were portrayed so it fits.
Man this made me giddy, the second I ran out of options to redo and tweak I realized by your name you made Divided We Fall! The intro is nicely polished and I’m overall really enthused.
My question is, is Germany going to be attempting to annex our poor state anytime soon? Will it perhaps go down some different route depending on the MC’s actions?
Yes, I was casting around for a central european type name and hit upon Moravia and liked it, and also it is geographically where I imagine our little country would be.
Thanks everyone who has praised Divided We Fall, it’s lovely to have your comments (especially as it isn’t mentioned that much on the forums) and encourages me to keep writing.
In terms of how long it will be, i envisage the game will cover ~2 years, up to 1936. It’ll be mainly concerned with domestic, internal issues but perhaps I could do a sequel focused on international relations which takes the story up to WW2
Good idea
@Eiwynn@poison_mara
Well i believe that mosaic is portraying the empress Zoe, who, like Theodora (although perhaps not to the same extent), was certainly no virgin…
Yes but I did not want to derail your thread. Zoe was co-empress with Theodora but this is Zoe. All Byzantine emperors and empresses are portrayed with halos
Moravia is set up in a actual place, in the Czech Republic…but it’s an interesting game and I wanted to point out this fact to you because of the “fictional country” thing ya’ mentioned.
To be honest with you I dont think a huge lot of peoples are going to notice or care. Goering story isnt as known as hitler one so it does make a difference to most peoples.
