Political gaming
Do you have RPG gamers in your class? Maybe you can tempt them with something that has educational potential.Nation States appears to be a cross between a Second Life-like virtual world and an RPG. Judging from a quick sampling of the discussion threads, many of its active participants are more interested in the RPG competition than in making a political system that works.
But, that doesn't mean that a comparative government and politics student (or several of them) couldn't strike off in the direction of testing political theories as well as national defense and/or aggression.
And perhaps you'd be willing to offer some credit for a documentation of the ideas to be tested, the methods of testing, and the results of the testing.
Max Berry, the creator of Nation States describes it in this Q&A:
"--So what is this?
"Jennifer Government: NationStates is a nation simulation game. You create your own country, fashioned after your own ideals, and care for its people. Either that or you deliberately torture them. It's really up to you.
"--Is it a serious political thing, or just for fun?
"Well, you can play it either way. NationStates does have humorous bent, but that's just because international politics is so inherently funny.
"--Who's Jennifer Government?
"Jennifer Government is a novel by Max Barry, on which NationStates is based. The book is set in an ultra-privatized world, of the sort you can create in NationStates, if you're mean enough. For more information check out www.maxbarry.com...
"--How do I play?
"Click on the Create a Nation link and follow it from there. You'll be asked to choose a name for your nation, a motto, a national animal, and a currency. Then you answer a short questionnaire about your politics. This will determine what sort of nation you end up with: authoritarian or permissive... left-wing or right-wing... compassionate or psychotic... you get the idea."Once a day, you'll be faced with an issue, and need to make a decision as to what to do about it. This determines how your nation evolves...
"--How do I win?
"Ah, but what is 'winning,' grasshopper? There is no way to win as such. Which is better, a left-wing civil rights paradise with no money, or a right-wing economic powerhouse where the poor are left to fend for themselves? (That's a rhetorical question.)"One way to succeed, at least in a sense, is to make it onto the top rungs of a United Nations report. These are compiled once per day, one for each Region and one for the entire world. Nations are ranked on anything from economic strength to the most liberal public nudity laws (the UN has a lot of time to fill in). There's a certain glory in making it onto one of those.
"--Which region should my nation be in?
"It's up to you. New nations begin in the Pacific, but you can move out. You can even start your own region. This is a good idea if you're playing with a few friends: create a region and all move there. To do this, visit your current region's page and click the link that says, "Tired of life in (your region)? Then move to a new region!"
"Unless your nation is a member of the United Nations, its region only determines which daily rankings list it appears in. For UN members, however, region is more important (see the 'United Nations' section of this FAQ)..."
posted by Ken Wedding @ 10:05 PM
1 Comments:
If you wish to use a massive online multi-player RPG to explore concepts in International Relations, NationStates is OK, but Cybernations (www.cybernations.net) is better. I think neither lends itself so well to Comparative Politics, however, although some of the debates in the forums for the games and the player-created alliances can get into CP territory. I am very familiar with both games and would be happy to answer questions from any readers. Contact me at webbe@dickinson.edu
Ed
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