this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2026

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"I don't want Politics in my Gaming!" (infosec.pub)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by juergen_hubert@ttrpg.network to c/rpgmemes@ttrpg.network

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Seriously. Every form of entertainment has baked-in political assumptions, and that definitely includes #ttrpg . You might choose not to examine them, but this is an active choice on your part, and you don't get to pretend that your entertainment is "free of politics".

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[–] sirico@feddit.uk 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Politics in gaming is awesome, ham fisted writing and design wrapped up in an opinion lecturing the player so it breaks the universe ruleset is crap and does more damage to what ever message you were trying to push.

Sadly a lot of socially important messages are pushed as a selling point by people who don't really have the background to fully create a bridge that speaks to People.

This is the same for a lot of creative work our artists are increasingly coming from privileged and protected backgrounds that we're losing the depth and edge of the art. Indie games as usual are the standard games like Star dew address so much about humanity in a beautiful way.

I play crusader kings for the plot not the politics😄

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 points 2 months ago (5 children)

When I say "I don't want politics in my gaming," I mean it literally.

Like, I don't care for the Star Wars prequels because they spend a lotta time just doing politics instead of space battles.

I don't wanna sit through boring ass senate sessions listening to motions and passing votes. I wanna blow shit up!

[–] Susaga@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So, you want less bureaucracy and more warfare? That's a pretty bold political statement right there. I'm sure there's nothing political about war.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Imagine if you had to file paperwork for every demon killed in Doom. You'd practically never be killing demons after the first level because of all fhe paperwork from all the demons you killed in the first level!

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[–] NannerBanner@literature.cafe 3 points 2 months ago

I think there's a middle ground where the game 'world' can acknowledge there are political maneuverings happening, while not forcing you to track the shipments of food and goods so you can squeeze nobles who depend on certain economic routes into complying with the king's orders to rally troops for a cause.

Bounty orders style campaigns are fun for a short while, but there's only so many 'go here, kill x, biggest change is the layout of the dungeon and enemy vulnerabilities' before the game sessions all bleed into one long blurry dice roll. That's close to warhammer/battletech/etc territory. I want a real story to go with the campaign, and that necessitates a 'politics' somewhere unless you're playing one of the barbarian/end-of-the-world games where there is no civilization or npcs at all aside from enemies.

But I think we can all agree that the "politics" of motions and passing votes is not what was being addressed by OP.

[–] Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 months ago

Prequels? You don't think the original Star Wars had tons of politics in it?

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[–] LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm very curious what political message shapez is sending. It's a factory building game that takes place in a seeming void where magical shapes appear out of nowhere and then simply get thrown into what appears to be a black hole there's no particular discernible story or message just a fun puzzle

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[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 3 points 2 months ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ame0j8jbMY4

[–] Aeri@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I mean sometimes I just want to take a break from thinking about it and larp as "The good guys" for a while

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

"Politics" or "the way one sees the world"?

Because I'm pretty sure there's a language disconnect regarding worldview.

A dev has their game reflect their worldview, and a social curmudgeon experiences political rhetoric cognitive dissonance, illustrating the incongruency and the fact that they are, indeed, a tool. ARRGHHH MUH FREEDOMS

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's a classic case is "What I do is my world view, what you do is politics." Maybe sometimes the more radical variant "What I do is reality, what you do is politics."

You know, like the older version of that, "What I do is religion, what you do is superstition."

When talking to people, especially on the right side of the political spectrum, it's sadly quite common that people cannot separate their opinion from reality.

[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 months ago

"faith based"

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ghost of Tsushima:

A Samurai and several of his battle-ready female companions try to reclaim their island after Mongol invasion.

I remember thinking "did they really have female warriors and lords back then who called the shots and fought alongside the men? I like the message, but a bit of realism would be nice...."

And then our brave stoic rugged Samurai literally prostrates himself in front of his lord/uncle at every opportunity constantly grovelling and professing how unworthy he is and how he seeks only to serve, and then I'm thinking "oh yeah... the stoic Samurai is a trope, they were either small militias or snivelling arms of the state."

So I'm okay with realism being bent if it means I'm not constantly questioning the values of my main character.

[–] stray@pawb.social 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm not super familiar with either the game or Japanese history, but I found this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna-musha

It seems that women were regarded more equally prior to confucianism.

The page for the game says:

Jin's samurai armor and katana are not historically accurate, with his armor based on that of the Sengoku period during the 16th and 17th centuries. According to Chris Zimmerman, one of Sucker Punch's cofounders, samurai armor from the 13th century was "jarring looking" and did not align with players' expectations of what samurai armor would look like.

Totally-not-samurai-looking armor:

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[–] Alandrus_Sun@ttrpg.network 1 points 2 months ago

Honestly, with how things are right now politically - FAIR!

Let me roll some silly dice as a silly little guy while I ignore the prelude to another world war.

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