This week I
had the fascinating experience of participating in a political debate. Not real
for real politics, of course, although real enough to merit the attention of
myself and others. However, like most things that aren’t real, it granted very
accurate insight into the function of real politics – and I came out not only
with a greater respect for politicians, but with a much greater understanding
of why it takes them so long to get anything done.
The topic
for debate was around the development of policies for the group I joined that
is eagerly awaiting the release of the Chronicles of Elyria. In essence, a
decision needed to be made on how to deal with people who choose to settle on
our land, but choose not to officially join the larger group. It may not seem
like such a hard decision to make, but there are a lot of nuances surrounding
it.
For a bit
more frame of reference, in Elyria (which is a MMORPG), the governmental system
(including laws and taxes) is controlled by players. So a lot of things have to
be considered – such as military strategy, infrastructure, and resource management
(as resources are finite and can be exhausted). So the question was, if someone
takes control of some land and pays their taxes and follows the laws of the
larger governing body, but doesn’t engage in the co-operative initiatives of
the larger group, how should they be handled?
This topic
had been getting discussed by the policy-makers, and when it came down to being
time for making the policy, they put out a call for anyone interested in
helping to write it. I suggested an open forum for the discussion, and was
surprised when it actually happened – and resulted in a five hour long conversation.
I won’t
bore you with the details, but it boiled down to two polar ideals, with
everyone involved somewhere on a spectrum between the two. At one end were the
people who believed that the settlements should be left alone so long as they
didn’t prove hostile or cause problems by being unwilling to trade resources,
and at the other end were the people who believed such settlements as refuse to
join the bigger group should be immediately and forcefully eliminated.
The result,
in the end, is still yet to be determined – but we provided some new ideas for
the policy writers, and showed them that the will of the people had the same
spectrum of opinions as the governing body – which was determined to be a good
thing, as it meant the views of the people were accurately represented.
For my
part, it was mostly an enjoyable experience, working with the more open-minded
people to find a middle ground. There was also some frustration with the less
open-minded people who, rather than discussing, stated their opinion repeatedly
and wouldn’t sway from their viewpoint in the least.
Coming out
of it, my overall thought was, “Well... so this is why governments in the real
world take so long to accomplish anything.” Suddenly I have more respect for
what politicians deal with.
And, once
again, we see how well fiction reflects reality. Many people may declaim that “it’s
just a game”, but what we’re seeing is a microcosm that reflects our own world.
I can’t wait for this game to launch so I can see where this goes.
Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.
Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
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