Genre(s): Simulation, Social/MMO
Credits: Max Barry, 2002
Unsurprisingly enough, if good authors can write good stories, they can write good game stories. Or at least concepts. And so this week on "transcending pixels" we visit the multimedia-advertisement cousin of author Max Barry's novel Jennifer Government, a slightly satirical social simulation called NationStates. Unlike some multimedia-advertisement cousins that are too obnoxious and ruin the parties for the author and his audience, however, NationStates is a genuine and enjoyable title in its own right, completely standalone; you don't have to know a thing about Barry's novel to have fun running your very own nation on your every whim. Barry himself planned it as a live-and-let-die game, but with the aid of a devoted fanbase (2.5 million "nations" have at some point or another existed on the site), the indie MMO is approaching its tenth birthday with no sign of slowing down.
Following up last week's dastardly dominion schemes in Pandemic II, NationStates takes a more practical approach to conquering the world by placing you in charge of your own nation. You initially choose a general government style (mine is designated "anarchic"), and later refine it with proposals and legislation that come across your virtual desk. Each (real-world) day, your government receives a set number of "issues" that you handle any which way you want. In addition to managing domestic affairs, you have the option of participating in regional and world politics, which introduces complications I'll address in a few moments.
When I signed up for the site, I realized quickly that a nation, simulating my own political ideals, would be very unoriginal and even repetitive. So, adopting my role-player's persona, I decided to be even more unoriginal and design my entire nation as a Light Yagami-centric universe. For those of you unfamiliar with the reference, my nation is run by a narcissistic teenager anxious to force justice and morality on the whole world at absolutely no matter the cost.
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| Each nation is designated its own publicly-viewable profile page, complete with an encyclopedia entry that writes and updates itself to reflect the nation's stats and statuses. |
Moments after the Kiras finished settling, I received half a dozen "telegrams" (game communication) from various other nations welcoming me to the game with a small plug for joining their particular "regions" (new nations are automatically placed in a Pacific region, but they can relocate to any of the 8,000+ others at any time). Some I sensed were copy-and-paste-work; some were personalized, friendly greetings from curious players watching the new member ticker, but they were all unanimously in-character. I learned almost instantly that NationStates is not an ordinary, trifling social entertainment. It's politics: dirt, trunk, and leaves.
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| This piece of legislation came across my desk yesterday. There are currently 265 issues that can be played, although users are encouraged to contribute their own recommendations. |
The game may be firstly a political simulator, secondly a social title, but you can't cover the full breadth of real politics going solo. Therefore, despite the strength of Barry's initial concept ten years ago, the game itself is being continually rewritten for the players, by the players. The author may own the IP, but the narrative is in the community's hands. If you want to become actively involved in your chosen region's affairs, so you can gain peer support for your own proposals and (maybe, eventually) climb to the ladder's top, you'll want to join the region's off-site message boards and be prepared to dedicate at least as many hours to (role)playing politics as you would spend playing League of Legends any old night. If you're good enough to be voted the regional delegate, or just want to have a say in international politics regardless of your experience level, you can also join the World Assembly (bearing mysterious resemblance to—what's the name of that one group?) and vote on proposed resolutions while hot-headedly debating their ramifications in the on-site forums. On the other hand, if you don't want to invest the extra time, aren't used to forum RPGs, or have lived enough flame wars to know what's bad for you, your nation can pretty much live in a bubble in the Pacific (the automatically-assigned region for all new nations) while your government sips on the two issues-per-day it receives and casually votes in the WA every so often. So while NationStates thankfully leaves the foreign interactions to your decision, the game's model example of truly boundless, player-driven narrative is best appreciated when you're in on the action yourself. Granted, this is an inherent staple of the forum RPG, but when combined with a fitting graphical interface and a hyper-organized player hierarchy, the result is—wow.
Finally, although political "what-if" games aren't anything new, they are almost always designed to favor or discourage certain parties and agendas, especially when civil rights are concerned. On the other hand, NationStates doesn't particularly care how you run your government. A communist's paradise, a dictatorship's glorious empire, an anarchic meltdown—to each his own, as the saying goes; and furthermore, no system is ever perfect nor is it totally despicable. You can "advance" in the game by getting popular, representing a region, or writing useful resolutions, but there's no definite "winning" or "losing." It's just life. And this game is a pretty darn good simulation of that life. But unlike the political trauma, you can always abandon your nation, or start a new one. I admit I have some regrets about making an entirely Death Note-themed country, lest I am misjudged to be an otaku.* Now, if GlaDOS managed to wrangle her own nation out of Aperture... that would be interesting...
Next time: Your clue is "famous author" plus "pseudo Zynga game."
*Wearing my leftist goggles: "NOT that there's anything wrong with that, of course..."
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