elanaagain
Posts: 254
Joined: 6/6/2013 Status: offline
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I feel the diplo hits one takes are relatively mild. Consider that diplo hits, in part, derive from a cultural consensus. In Babylon 5, the Centari take a big diplo hit for using mass drivers in there bombardment of the Narn homeworld. Their prior occupation did not seem to generate quite the same level of animosity. General consensus was that mass drivers are an ‘unciviliized’ weapon of war. Also, look at Terra (Sol 3) in the early 21st century of the Common Era. The general consensus among Western nations, since the end of WWII, is that waging war among civil nations excludes using chemical weapons. Chemical weapons are ‘bad,’ while some other weapons are ‘OK.’ Consider the diplomatic responses to chemical weapon use: USA during Viet Nam War (err ‘police action'), Iran against the Kurds, Iran and Iraq 10 year war (c20 years ago), and most recently Syria’s evil chemical weapons. However, amongst many 3rd world nations, there is a strong feeling that many of the uber-high tech ‘conventional’ weapons currently being used by the West against persons in 3rd world nations are also WMD. Think how you would feel if a number of ‘OK’ cutter bombs were dropped in your city, town, or workplace. Each bomb releasing 100’s of razor sharp swirling blades, slicing everything they encounter, clothing, flesh, your friends, your family. Their consensus matters less in terms of diplomatic fallout because they have less power. But the use of particular weapons does elicit political / social / diplomatic responses. BTW, my intention is NOT to take sides, but merely illuminate the social context in which diplo hits often happen, both in fiction, and in RL. Finally, some games have attempted to incorporate aspects of these diplo hits into the game. The Civilization franchise with its congresses and United Nations comes to mind. The designers, in this case, felt that some weapons were so ‘bad’ (uncivilized?) that a game mechanism needs be introduced to allow players to attempt to limit or ban some weapons. In DW, the diplo hits (and the consensus its intended to represent) are a ‘given,’ fixed, and immutable. DW's diplo hits are IMO actually quite mild.
< Message edited by elanaagain -- 12/2/2013 6:48:53 PM >
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