[Freeciv-Dev] Re: fascism patch

[Reed Meyer <rdm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 28 Jul 2000, Mathias Hasselmann wrote:
> Steve Hodge wrote:
> > Mathias Hasselmann wrote:
> > > As shild symbol of freeciv units it would be on a very
> > > prominent place.
> > 
> > Debatable at best. In Wolfenstein you have walls covered in Nazi
> > banners, soldiers in Nazi style uniforms wondering around, etc. That's
> > prominent. That's also a far cry from the small images used in FreeCiv.

That's a very good point.  Is "Wolfenstein 3D" banned in Germany?

> > That said, I'd vote for the teutonic cross instead, just on the grounds
> > that it's generally less inflammatory.

By "Teutonic cross", do you mean the Iron Cross?  For example, how about
the Reichskriegsflagge as a possibility?  (Imperial tri-color with the
Iron Cross in the center; see http://fotw.vexillum.com/images/de-jack.gif).

There is something to be said for the swastika flag, though.  It is a
powerful image, because of its history.  When I was play-testing the
"Fascism patch" with Juan Cortes, I decided to play as the Nazis.  Seeing
a sea of those bright red banners spanning the continent I controlled made
me feel like a malevolent dictator hell-bent on world domination.  The
flag looming menacingly behind each Nazi city seemed particularly evil.
I can imagine how Juan must have felt as he saw that damned symbol slowly
but surely spread over each continent like a plague.  You just can't get
that kind of effect from some boring everyday national flag.  This is one
of the things that makes games FUN to PLAY.  It was one aspect (certainly
not the only one, of course) that made Wolfenstein 3D fun to play, too.

There's a point I'd like to clarify.  A couple of people have said that
they didn't expect that anyone would want to play the Fascism patch.
Well, there are at least TWO people who would -- namely Juan Cortes and I,
the guys who made it.  We both felt it was a cool enough idea to actually
sit down and spend the time to work on it (and then upgrade it to freeciv
1.11 later).  Chances are there are others out there who, while not so
motivated as to design the patch themselves, would at least want to try it
out.  There's been a lot of buzz about wanting to include Fundamentalism
into freeciv -- but what is Fundamentalism but a modern-day Fascism,
where practically the only difference is the object of religious worship?
(And even there, the difference is less than you might think.)  I say this
only to remind you that one person's opinion on what's good or not doesn't
necessarily reflect everyone's opinion.

Cheers,
---Reed Meyer
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