GoranZ wrote:thenobodies80 wrote:I'm open to push the mapmakers for improvement but it doesn't have a political discussion or with me, at least on the web, you'll find only closed doors.
But as the map is proposed it has enormous political influence.
The problem is this: What if someone tries to make a map of unification of Great Moravia? It will consist of present day Czech republic, Slovakia, Hungary and small parts of Ukraine, Poland and Romania. I'm sure that the idea will have huge support among all Slavic nationalities on this site, and huge disapproval from Hungarians. I'll give you why for the map if needed... "All Slavic nations will be connected". Everyone can correctly guess what will be the main goal of the map.
But from present day Unification of Great Moravia is only a desire that has around 0% chances to be achieved, more or less similarly as Unification of Kingdom of Hungary.
And what if everyone starts to make maps from mixture of desires and Countries/Cities... where will that lead?
It will lead to some good games, that's where.
What are you doing if you play a Napoleonic wargame? You are playing a scenario predicated on Napoleon's desire to rule Europe. That doesn't mean you are a Napoleon worshiper, or that you're French, or even that you like the French. It simply means you enjoy taking on the challenge and seeing thing from his viewpoint.
What are you doing when you play Third Reich, or one of its variants (probably the most common wargame type in the entire world)? You are pretending that you're the German High Command, trying to take over the world. It doesn't mean that you're a Nazi in real life, or that you're German, or that you even sympathize with 1% of the Nazi agenda. It's just fun to imagine yourself in that position, wielding that much power, and showing that you could use it better than the people who actually had it.
What are you doing when you play a game like Crusader Kings? You are pretending that you are a great Crusader, leading your armies to the Holy Land to butcher Mohammedan scum. That does not mean you hate Muslims in real life, it doesn't even mean that you're a good Catholic, and it certainly doesn't mean that in real life you would want to spend 10 years traveling through hostile lands, looting and pillaging just to eat. Hell, most of us, with our 20th Century city-bred sensibilities, would probably vomit if we really had to chop someone up with a sword. But it's fun to pretend.
I will gladly play this Magyar-perspective map, even though I am not a Magyar. Make that map of Greater Moravia, and I will gladly play that too! Make a map of Greater Somalia, and I will gladly play that too, even though I'm not Somalian. Make a map of Mussolini's aspirations for a New Roman Empire, and I will play that too, although I'm not Italian and I'm not a fascist.
I once designed a gaming scenario based on the premise that the French succeeded in kicking the British out of North America and the whole thing was French. In real life, I'm a big supporter of the British parliamentary system, and I'm glad the British won. But that doesn't stop me from being able, in a game, to immerse myself in hating the British and kicking their ass off the continent. If you are unable to make this kind of leap, then you are letting yourself get too straight-jacketed by your real-life bias.