March 1st, 2012 
Rob Parker
It is 2012, and there are games covering almost everything I can think of, some topics I can’t think of, and things I can think of, but would rather not. Some game designers seem to be running out of ideas and simply knock out the same tired old format each year, yet there are still topics and time periods left relatively untouched in the world of gaming, and I want to know why. This will be the first of three articles that look at some of these untapped resources.
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The American Civil War
Just in case you don’t know, the American civil war was fought between the United States and the Confederate states of America in the mid-19th century, as the southern states attempted to secede. A long and vicious war followed in which the Confederacy was defeated and the U.S was whole again and everyone lived happily ever after.
Now, let’s play a little game. I want you to hold your breath until you can come up with one recent game about the American civil war. No googling! No the recent rumours of the new Assassin’s Creed do not count either!
If you’re still there, then you are a liar or you have access to very obscure knowledge. Like Wikipedia. Oh you tech-savvy internet wizard you.
If you passed out, then I admire your commitment, but maybe it’s time to go outside and play with a brick wall. We don’t want you passing on those genes now do we?
Back to the topic at hand, there are no good and recently made games set in the American Civil War.
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The civil war offers up a rich storyline for the player to enjoy and has a massive conflict to focus around. The war involved different people from all walks of life who experienced vastly differing stories. What does this sound like? That’s right kids, an RPG!Multiple possible openings can give the player a Dragon Age style beginning; a slave who has to escape the south, who then joins the Yankee armies to fight for revenge and to free his people; an unruly northerner who fights for the south as a rebellion against his preacher father; the son of a wealthy southern plantation owner who fights against all his father stands for; a foreign mercenary come to get fat off the troubles of the land; a Native American dragged into a fight they want nothing to do with? There are so many different opportunities to think of, let Bioware write it once they are done churning out Mass Effect 3 DLC. You can choose sides in the conflict, or perhaps your origins will choose the story for you. We can call it Civil War: Origins. Or has that been done? Maybe it is about the awakening of a united spirit within your people. Civil war: Awakening? I admit that one was terrible.
You also have a key aspect of modern RPG’s, which is, sadly, racism. This was unfortunately present at this time in the US and indeed worldwide, and as modern RPG developers feel that they have to inject this into their games these days *cough* SKYRIM *cough* Mass Effect *cough*this would suit them fine. I just can’t help feeling that they would be completely distasteful and over the top about it.
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RPG’s are usually found in a fantasy setting. Elder Scrolls; KOTORs; Mass Effects; Fable; Mount and Blade; the witcher; they all have fantasy settings, no matter how closely Fable’s Albion apes Britain. While this is done to allow the creators of a game to have greater freedom, it does lock out certain opportunities like the Civil War.Sure, Skyrim has a civil war, but it is easier to relate with someone from your home town than it is to identify with the Arch-Mage Harbinger who wears the scales of a dragon and can topple mammoths with the power of their voice. Feeling close to the characters and empathising with them can make you feel more closely involved in a story, making it that much more powerful when something emotive happens.
However, the allure of aliens, dragons, lightsabers and magic is more appealing to both game makers and fans than a deeply engrossing and moving story, and as long as this is the case we will continue to play Mass Effect 3 and Skyrim. That is not a bad thing; Skyrim is a master class in RPG design and with the creation kit I will be playing for years to come.
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I will attempt to rspeond through the post-pub haze!From my perspective, econometric analysis of conflict is not an objective tool that can “pick things up” – it is a highly subjective, reductive methodology that regularly misrepresents human agency in its attempt to define it. There may be a connection between resource and conflict, but not one that has ever been convincingly, econometrically defined. In regard to this study, consider the importance of, for example:- Ease of extraction (e.g. “easy” alluvial diamonds vs “hard” offshore oil)- Geographic distribution- Ethnic / cultural / class distribution of returns- Socio-economic marginalisation- Political exclusionAll of these things are not only relevant, they can change the outcome of resource discovery / conflict completely. These factors have a very direct correlation to what the study is measuring but are not taken into account.In regard to “battle deaths”, I understood this term as defining the “actual damage” – it is used in this context in the abstract. As a term it is highly misrepresentative of what actually happens in civil war, implying that military confrontation is the primary cause of death. The qualification of civil war is a controversy in itself – war economies often, if not usually, encourage military actors to avoid direct confrontation. As such, skirmishes or direct engagement are a very poor way of gauging incidence.
call of juarez biatch