decompinprocess - Tumblr blog

decompinprocess · 1 year ago

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So Idk how Aware you guys are of the game Helldivers, but there's something interesting starting to happen that I wanna comment on.

So Preamble: the whole joke is that you're in an intergalactic fascist dictatorship- literally Starship Troopers. You're either fighting giant bugs or automatons. While the Terminids seem to be just Giant Bugs, the Automatons have shown they have a few details baked into them. They can sing- not normal singing, but it's a noise that obviously is meant to be seen as singing. If you don't immediately start shooting at them, sometimes, they don't immediately shoot at you. This is the "She's afraid" portion of the satire- that moment that makes you stop and evaluate your situation, and makes you remember you're killing something that may feel just like you do.

But that's not what I want to talk about- I just want to stress that the game is purely satirical in how it portrays fascism, and does it very well. It's very compelling, which I think is where the fandom choice to lean into it's "propaganda" comes from. It's very obviously A Joke to pretend they actually believe in "Managed Democracy", but it's a joke they're having a lot of fun larping with.

Thing is, some of you may be thinking: "I wouldn't do that. I feel bad for the automatons. I would help them". And if you're thinking that, you'll be pleased to learn that a player named Gantzthedemon agrees with you. Right now, some players have been documented in participating in intentional friendly fire and sabotage. I'm talking about it because my husband experienced it tonight while playing with some randoms.

They are doing antifascist work in the game about being a fascist. While the realist in me wishes they'd maybe do this outside of a video game, the realist in me also knows they're probably not in any better position to do that than I am.

Instead, I see this as a very interesting moment of human behavior. You only win the game if you do the fascist work and kill your enemies. These players don't care about winning- in fact, they make the game a living hell for everyone playing against them, like some sort of event boss they have to overcome. It's a direct protest against the in-game ideology, executed through the game's mechanics. Basically, these people have decided that this PvE shooter is actually an RPG, and their "character" has chosen to dissent from the empire. Despite that, people don't actually seem to want to punish them for this. Instead, they've chosen to adopt this as an element of the game. There are dissenters now, and they're every bit a part of Helldivers as the automatons. And I mean they've leaned hard into it- they're creating wanted posters, propaganda fliers, all kinds of cool stuff warning about players like Gantzthedemon. The challenge they pose to the other players and the lore they supply to the community seems to excuse the fact that they make the game a living hell.

And to me, that's really interesting. It's almost like they respect these players for going their own way. Where they're content to just pretend to be mindless drones, these players refuse to. They see themselves in the situation of Helldivers, and they can't imagine themselves just going along with it. In universe, they'd be the good guys that we (the audience) would root for. I think that might be why people allow it- because they do kind of root for these players, as much as they pretend to hate them.

Honestly, I hope things are allowed to play out naturally. I don't want them to get banned for the actions, and I really doubt many people will copy them considering the need to Win The Video Game. I also hope nobody's information gets leaked. Things are bound to get more intense, but I want to watch this unfold within the creative confines of the game's universe and community.

And Gantzthedemon, if you ever read this: if you have no fans on this earth, I am dead. I respect you and what you represent in this game, and I admire everyone who attempts to copy you.

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