[Crimsondude]

/Pouts in a corner

[Simagal]

Is there going to be anything that might cause real world political annoyance?

[Wakshaani]

Is there going to be anything that might cause real world political annoyance?

There might be some crossover. UCAS and CAS both have Republican and Democratic parties, for instance, so if you talk about those countries, people who are real-world Democrats or Republicans might get in a tizzy, ditto for hot buttons like gun control or abortion or, well, all manner of things. The key is for people to approach it as an adult, both the readers and the writers, and for everyone to go in with an understanding. TORG was willing to tackle religious issues, for instance, and would put up disclaimers, but people were willing to go "This is for a role-playing game. You get a pass." You won't get anyone flapping a flag around on, say, free trade vs protectionism. This isn't a book that's trying to sell a political view to anyone.

Instead, you'll see things where someone will say, "This is a hot-button issue in this area. These people want Thing to pass. These people want Thing to fail. Both of them are waving money around to get their point of view across. Here're things that you can do to get their money." Info on what these kinds of runs entail, what you can do to make it interesting to gamers, and so on, that's what the focus is, then a bunch of set-ups and plotpoints for you to pick up and weave into your own home game.

You absolutely will not have anyone picking a political position and trying to beat you over the head with it. That's not how we roll.

[DWC]

Is there going to be anything that might cause real world political annoyance?

Mostly just that the UCAS gets what pretends to be an in depth look at the political landscape that's really just a sloppy rehashing of the current political climate that disregards the idea that the players of the US political spectrum might change in 70 years, despite how much they've changed in the last 30.  The bit about the Congressional races in each state would be neat if the same were done for the CAS.

Instead, the CAS gets a sloppy rehash of the same lame stereotypes.  For some reason, the CAS has a massive ork population that nearly mirrors the concentrations of African-Americans in the southeast, but without the hundreds of years of socioeconomic issues that led to the real distribution.  Instead, the orks are in the poor, shitty parts of the CAS because...reasons.

Oh, and the growth rate on kudzu is wrong.  The stuff grows about a foot a day, not an inch an hour.  Then the CAS chapter just kind of ends with a half-assed covering of most of the states, with the narrator declaring that he ran out of space and the shadowtalkers explaining that he didn't write anything of value because he doesn't care, because that's how people from the CAS are.

[Wakshaani]

And the first review is in. Negative it might be, but thank you for taking the time to share! Communities grow when people chip in.

The official population numbers from 2062 are 105 million, with 4% Elf, 8% Dwarf, 19% Ork, 3% Troll, and 0% other. The larger numbers of Orks and Trolls, and smaller numbers of Elves, has been talked about in books before. The Tir Taingire sourcebook, in particular, contained many theories about why it happened, and why the numbers are different in different areas. A painful connection that they found was wealth ... wealthier people were more likely to have Elves, poor more likely to have Orks. It was some uncomfortable science, or "science", to say the least. You'll find that the wealthier states have a smaller Ork population, and poor sections a larger one, which might be evidence for the theory, but it might also be coincidence... you'll also find that areas with higher Ork populations have a higher magical content, while areas with less Orks also have less magic. There are more factors at work than it might first seem.

Space issues and word count did involve the last few states getting shorted, and I apologize for that, but, to me, it was more important that they all get at least a token nod and some plot hooks, so that they could be expanded on later, rather than the usual "Texas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Done" treatment that the CAS has gotten over the years. I hope that future authors (And GMs!) will take the seeds from here and grow them larger. As for the voice, there are four different contributors in there, each with their own biases and interests. Each reflects that the CAS is largely an inward-looking country that's really more a coalition of states than a single real nation (Though there is a movement to change that, as you can see when reading more.) ... so, there's some sniping at one another, dismissing of concerns, and a notation here or there that someone's bias is clearly showing.

This should probably go in the OTHER thread, however, as this one was about getting people excited before the book released, and now that it is, this one should probably be left fallow. Again, thank you for your comments! I'm sorry that you're not happy with the book, but feel free to give suggestions on how it may be improved, as well as point out areas that might need correction. (The Kudzu speed, by the by, isn't one. It was supposed to have been a quiet change that most didn't notice. You got it straight out. Well done!)

[CanRay]

Dirty Tricks has been released on US Election Day/NA Halo 4 Release Day!  Buy early and buy often!