Politician Archive

what i think will be interesting is not so much if such corrupt practices will happen, but who will perpetrate them. from an anthropological or sociological perspective, the archetype or the player type who will resort to such tactics is interesting to see in relation to other gaming elements and traits.

my argument in another thread that voting should be open to more than home owners is in part a desire to have a more inclusive political system. the greater the numbers, the more absurd corruption and similar practices become. the smaller the system, the greater the chance for corruption.

with that said, money will inevitably influence swg politics. certainly this is already true with the swg economy, and politics are always embedded with economies. so expect master artisans to have considerable influence, as well as master architects. similarly a strong milita led by a strong fighting mayor might also have sway and influence. what role might protection money or racketeering play in the life of a city.

I think it will be interesting too! I am a Bounty Hunter at the moment, and Semi-RP as one. My motto is "Creds, Friends, Then Faction." And everyone who knows me knows it isnt true (it is really friends first). That said, I already plan on being a... how should I say... corrupt city official when I RP, but not when I am really running the city. I will hint that I accept kickbacks when roleplaying, but never actually do it! I just think it would be fun to RP as a shady politician.

What I am having A LOT of fun with right now is actually BEING political. Our (future) town has a Rebel PA, some Rebels not in a PA, and some Rebels in a PA that don't want to move to their PA's town, AND many neutral merchants. It is neat already to compromise between what the PA wants, what the Merchants want, and what the regular old citizens want. Luckily everyone involved is being REALLY cool, so I haven't even been offered a bribe yet!!!

Play a politician as if you were a politician in RL. What would you do? Would you accept Bribes? Would you want to hostily take over another town? If so, have fun playing the game! Just don't piss off the taxpayers too much!!! THEY are who you are working for. And if you have to BUY votes, maybe the politician Tree isn't for you.

-Bin'nra Sha'tria

Shadowfire Galaxy

I hope no one ever says "Nerf Politicians."

Warning: Philosophical Thread Ahead

I wonder how long it will take (if it hasn't already) for politicians to buy votes, or accept bribes or payment from large groups (PA's, loose guild of merchants, etc).

As a social study, this intrigues me. We often complain in RL about our governments and corruption, but will we also stand for it in our virtual lives? Will we pay our politicians to encourage decisions and/or pay other players to vote for our candidates?

With the politician skill tree dependant on getting votes for XP, how long until we see politicians standing in front of the effective starport yelling, "Paying 1000 credits for votes" much in the fashion of people trying to get apprentice points?

Will our streets be flooded with droids campaigning? Or worse, mud slinging? These forums are bad enough, sometimes.

Will our cities begin to mirror the US two party system, if rebels and imperials somehow manage to join the same city? An aligned mayor could certainly make it illegal to be the opposite faction, at least until the next election.

As a future cantina owner, I'm looking forward to the excitement this system will bring. Yes, even the abuses.

Myr'ddin

You bring up some very interesting points. Very interesting stuff. I especially like the idea of there being a town split between Rebel and Imperial, however I doubt it would happen or last long if it does as PvP would just make everyone in the town enemies, unless you had some really cool mayors/militia for their respective side in which they would not just warn all the opposing faction when they get elected. Anyway, really cool post.