Nuance in Lore

[dee pixel]

Heyo.

This is a topic that I find is dismissed oftentimes in the way of writing lore. A lot of servers and communities both in the past and present have exhibited tendencies to implement things - gameplay mechanics, lore pieces, etc. - simply because they are "dystopian". Oftentimes these elements are contrived, inconsistent, and merely frustrating rather than atmospheric primarily because they are implemented without any thought given to the logic behind them. The logic that does sometimes exist is usually ad hoc and easily disproven.

A decent example is the concept of "UU food". It's an HL2RP mainstay for sure, but why? A common reasoning behind many iterations is that it's created by the Combine to act as a substitute to better nourishing food, thus keeping the populace on the cusp of starvation so they do not have the strength to rebel. This logic is faulty; intentionally starving the populace would likely make them more predisposed to lead insurrections, stoking their feelings of anger and disenfranchisement. Furthermore, the Combine wouldn't have to create an entirely new brand of food to starve the populace; they could easily accomplish this by just giving them less of the real stuff. There is also the issue of making "real food" illegal, which adds an unnecessary layer of difficulty and complication to their hunt for dissenters and rebels.

Another example is the idea of executing people for "imperfection" - that is, killing people with disabilities. The logic typically involves an argument of resources: it would be easier just to kill the disabled than to allocate extra resources to assist them. This is a false dichotomy; the Combine do not have to allocate resources to the disabled, nor do they have to execute them. It is more in line with their paradigm of efficiency to pay no mind to those with disabilities as they would either die off due to a lack of resources or make do with the few resources that they have available to them.

Nuance and subtlety are important when creating lore. An organic dystopian story with an organic dystopian atmosphere will always be more enjoyable than one that is overflowing with odd contrivances. The aforementioned lore tropes are just that: contrived. They are like flashing arrows that announce to the player, "You are in a dystopia. You are being oppressed." They do not make for a decent story, nor do they establish any atmosphere.

When you write, be sure to write with reason. Don't try to add something just because it fits the dystopian bill. Consider logic and try to weave an organic tale rather than introducing something merely to oppress people.

 

[TheDeNuke]

Society in HL2RP is dystopian, but clearly not be aimed at a level such as 1984 or even our Soviet or Nazi Empires of yesteryear. We should develop a experience that is ultimately entertaining for the players but not deliberately designed for the purposes of permanent oppression to the point of literal insanity. Honestly, I've always preferred the concept of this combine regime to be at the level of a ultimately oppressive government that far more, as you say- subtle in its oppression.

A good start is to state that everyone, even the enslaved Vortigaunts should be fed to a reasonable level (unless they are a citizen of lower "social credit score") unless the city has proven itself to be in a state of endless unrest. Indeed, even in that circumstance it should be possible for the Combine to spin the idea that the lower supply of rations is the result of sabotage by THEM and not to blame the citizen population as a whole. Effectively, making the citizens turn on the Resistance rather then support them.

A system of effective propaganda messages which constantly push the idea that the resistance is the enemy to the future of humanity and yes, the blue party does indeed represent you in the city government in "fair and reasonable" elections. Yes, citizen. Do not pay heed to the citizen getting dragged out of his apartment with the black bag over his head. He was clearly a traitor to the future of humanity and not just a individual who knew too much about the regime. Subtle, and indeed logical authoritarianism that leads to citizens fearing the government without having to be "oppressed for the sake of being oppressed" through the obnoxious means of UU Food (somehow) causing malnutrition, brainwashing drugs, robocops and 10-103m. Society is still as open as they want you to think it is- until a citizen bothers to actually do the research regarding the true state of society.

In conclusion, rather then try to emulate 1984 (at least in regards to active militarism and being oppressive for the sake of being oppressive), we should try to build something far more interesting for the players. A broken society that seems completely normal and democratic on the surface but is instead a rabbit hole of a Totalitarian Dictatorship that actively lies to its population about the reality of the world.

 

[Imperator RAD-X]

Hi.

Firstly I would like to say that I sympathise with your line of thought, and it is something that I'd like to personally address.
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Old Age, Imperfections, etc...
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The community lore within TeslaCloud is not to emanate a full on dystopian setting - we know this already exists so we don't need to touch up upon it. It would be contradictory for us to go into full detail as it would have a negative impact on how we want people to partake within both the server and community made lore. Even with the Combine being in full control of the planet, I'd believe even they would find it unethical to bring the sword towards a subjugated enemy. One thing for certain is that while the governing body is a complete regime, this shouldn't halt any player's advancements in exploration or interaction, especially based on their character's traits or profound disabilities / obstacles or challenges to overcome. I find this very important in the character development aspect for those that are old, disabled or just impaired in some way that makes it a more interesting venture.

It is clear that further down the line of the occupation within the base game that people with these type of "mental imperfections" or "physical apprehensions" are actually more or less very small in number. This is either due to loss by natural causes or inability to be given a basic support structure, which leads to these unfortunate accidents or run-ins with the Union's authority. Personally, it's more an accidental case they end up where they are assuming that they don't get on the wrong side of something like Civil Protection.

There are always anomalies when it comes to the extreme zone in saying "Subject is deemed mentally unfit. Commence immediate amputation." Same can be said in relation to the state of health care and particular. Executions of individuals labelled with these imperfections would indeed cause a cascade of general unrest throughout many established city sectors and would only fuel the rebellion. In a logical sense, they'd be playing it smart by diverting important resources that aren't a downgrade. Hence the problem deals with itself - it's up to the population to help one another in that regard if they truly care.
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Food Production
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Food production - in our storyline setting does make an appearance and it was just after the war. Food stocks had been highly effected due to the global situation regarding the mass loss of aquatic and land based ecosystems, Xenian-Earth incompatibility and general chaos on global climate. Last but not least, situations regarding fighting and struggle was also on the table. While food production facilities and complexes exist, they are not made to be of quality consumer good products. Synthetic food production is not our main goal, more like to rush growth utilising acceleration techniques (albeit at a quicker digestion, less appealing and faster deterioration.) Quantity has a quality of its own regarding UU-branded foods. As such, real food is grown but is formally left to human responsibility and can still ultimately be found rather easily.

Rebel activity causes ration and food deployment to become scarce as a general punishment for others to fall in line on a temporary basis, but we already know this. Hence our Overwatch voice stating loudly: "Attention occupants. Your bloc is now charged with permissive inactive coercion. Five ration units deducted." Propagandised efforts to actually distract the population from actual punishments retorts to loyalist or collaborative efforts being rewarded with superior food imports. The blame game usually works very well.

I hope this answers your questions and thoughts on it.

 

[dee pixel]

Society in HL2RP is dystopian, but clearly not be aimed at a level such as 1984 or even our Soviet or Nazi Empires of yesteryear. We should develop a experience that is ultimately entertaining for the players but not deliberately designed for the purposes of permanent oppression to the point of literal insanity. Honestly, I've always preferred the concept of this combine regime to be at the level of a ultimately oppressive government that far more, as you say- subtle in its oppression.

A good start is to state that everyone, even the enslaved Vortigaunts should be fed to a reasonable level (unless they are a citizen of lower "social credit score") unless the city has proven itself to be in a state of endless unrest. Indeed, even in that circumstance it should be possible for the Combine to spin the idea that the lower supply of rations is the result of sabotage by THEM and not to blame the citizen population as a whole. Effectively, making the citizens turn on the Resistance rather then support them.

A system of effective propaganda messages which constantly push the idea that the resistance is the enemy to the future of humanity and yes, the blue party does indeed represent you in the city government in "fair and reasonable" elections. Yes, citizen. Do not pay heed to the citizen getting dragged out of his apartment with the black bag over his head. He was clearly a traitor to the future of humanity and not just a individual who knew too much about the regime. Subtle, and indeed logical authoritarianism that leads to citizens fearing the government without having to be "oppressed for the sake of being oppressed" through the obnoxious means of UU Food (somehow) causing malnutrition, brainwashing drugs, robocops and 10-103m. Society is still as open as they want you to think it is- until a citizen bothers to actually do the research regarding the true state of society.

In conclusion, rather then try to emulate 1984 (at least in regards to active militarism and being oppressive for the sake of being oppressive), we should try to build something far more interesting for the players. A broken society that seems completely normal and democratic on the surface but is instead a rabbit hole of a Totalitarian Dictatorship that actively lies to its population about the reality of the world.

Agreed. I think a good source of effective dystopian imagery and world-building is the movie Children of Men. Here's the opening scene for those who haven't seen it.



Even in the first scene, the viewer is made aware of the fact that this world is not one he or she would want to live in. The smog, the implied infertility crisis, the dreariness, the claustrophobic street, the massive screens blasting government propaganda - all of these come together to paint a terrifying picture without showing any sort of contrived brutality or excessive oppression. The dystopian nature of the world is further explored throughout the movie; the protagonist walks by cages of illegal immigrants being herded off to camps like cattle and eventually delves into a camp himself, where the conditions are as horrid as all of the foreshadowing suggests. It is also made clear that the aristocrats of society enjoy posh lifestyles blissfully separated from the slog and strife of everybody else.

I hope you can forgive the rambling, but that is a spectacular example of good worldbuilding.