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[faust]

So, I have been looking for new themes for mafia games, and thought about a couple of things that could be fun. Only problem is we're diving into political areas that are usually restricted to the RSP forums with good reason.

So, to get a bit more concrete, I thought the US presidential race would make for a great theme. There are two parties fighting each other, multiple candidates on each side - it screams for a mafia game. And well, it seems relatively harmless to run that.

But then the question is where to draw the line. If I started a game featuring refugees fighting against Frontex (the border guards of the EU), then that might already be trouble. Take it a bit further and we have stuff like Islamic State vs Israel. And nobody wants that.

So I wondered what the consensus is. Ban completely? Allow "soft" political topics? Feel free to discuss! (And feel free to move this thread to RSP if you feel that's where it belongs)

[UmbrageOfSnow]

I don't think my opinion is the one you most need to hear: I'm not easily offended by taking serious things lightly.

That said, I'd really enjoy this, if played out as a joke more than serious.  I would even be okay with the Refugees vs. Border Guards if it could be done satirically somehow.

The U.S. Presidential race is interesting, but I think limiting it to just the Republican Primary this year would be better, it's more current, there are plenty of factions without limiting yourself to the obvious flavor options, and it's more ripe for comedy.

I think the important part is, when dealing with serious real-world topics, they need to be treated less seriously than they really are to not feel weird/preachy.

[sudgy]

I personally think anything would be fine.  RSP is more for discussion about those topics.  I've seen religious, sexual, and political jokes in the non-RSP forums many times before.

[gkrieg13]

I think that would be fine.  I would stay away from the more sensitive topics.  But presidential campaigns isn't that sensitive I think

[Witherweaver]

You could potentially run into trouble if one group is the "good" Town and the other is the "evil" Mafia.  But you could just add a disclaimer like "hey, in this game Democrats are good and Republicans are bad (or vise-versa) and Independents are third-party (heh), and that's just the flavor and is not mean to be representative of any particular viewpoint, so don't get offended."  Or you could just generate the "good" team randomly so not to imply any bias.

At any rate, I personally have no problems.  Though I do agree there is a line; certain events would be distasteful to run a game on.

[ashersky]

I've had an RSP BM game in mind for a long time, but it would have to be run in the RSP subforum for sure...imagine some of the roles you could come up with with flavor names just taken from topic titles...

[Teproc]

You could potentially run into trouble if one group is the "good" Town and the other is the "evil" Mafia.  But you could just add a disclaimer like "hey, in this game Democrats are good and Republicans are bad (or vise-versa) and Independents are third-party (heh), and that's just the flavor and is not mean to be representative of any particular viewpoint, so don't get offended."  Or you could just generate the "good" team randomly so not to imply any bias.

At any rate, I personally have no problems.  Though I do agree there is a line; certain events would be distasteful to run a game on.

Most likely you'd just roll flavor independtly of alignment, that makes it easier, though less thematic I guess.

[Witherweaver]

You could potentially run into trouble if one group is the "good" Town and the other is the "evil" Mafia.  But you could just add a disclaimer like "hey, in this game Democrats are good and Republicans are bad (or vise-versa) and Independents are third-party (heh), and that's just the flavor and is not mean to be representative of any particular viewpoint, so don't get offended."  Or you could just generate the "good" team randomly so not to imply any bias.

At any rate, I personally have no problems.  Though I do agree there is a line; certain events would be distasteful to run a game on.

Most likely you'd just roll flavor independtly of alignment, that makes it easier, though less thematic I guess.

Well I was assuming Faust had linking flavor and alignment in mind.

[UmbrageOfSnow]

That's why a primary is superior, you dissociate good/evil from party.

Also, if I got a role I strongly disagreed from some RSP topic title, I think I would have to say sarcastic things about it in game, so I think some rules should maybe be in place for players regarding being allowed to make fun of your flavor, but not being a huge jerk about it or something?

[Witherweaver]

That's why a primary is superior, you dissociate good/evil from party.

Also, if I got a role I strongly disagreed from some RSP topic title, I think I would have to say sarcastic things about it in game, so I think some rules should maybe be in place for players regarding being allowed to make fun of your flavor, but not being a huge jerk about it or something?

Probably falls within civility pledge.

[XerxesPraelor]

I mean, this has already been done in "Blarnia" Mafia, and nobody objected then. I agree primary works better because it gets less into good guy/bad guy mentality.

[chairs]

I wouldn't be offended if someone made my party the Bad Guy party.

Maybe this is because <insert joke about other party here>?

[gkrieg13]

I feel like everyone should understand that the party or candidate that they support has some people who thinks they are the bad guy. Otherwise elections wouldn't be interesting if candidates or parties were polling 100 positive. That is something that they just need to realize.

[XerxesPraelor]

I feel like everyone should understand that the party or candidate that they support has some people who thinks they are the bad guy. Otherwise elections wouldn't be interesting if candidates or parties were polling 100 positive. That is something that they just need to realize.

Most people know that -it's not the problem with party favoritism.