Animadversions on "Labyrinth, The Global War on Terror"

[Cyrano]

With the coming of the expansion intended to cover the "Arab Spring", I just wanted to disgorge a couple thoughts on finally getting around to play the original over the weekend with my beloved...

1:  I don't know how intense this argument ever became, I only know it existed, but those who don't think the author approaches these circumstances from the perspective of the West are wrong.  My wife (she played the jihadists) commented about three hands in that one of the things (more on this in a second) that was giving her the squick was performing actions that reduced the quality of a nation's government from "Good" to "Fair" to "Poor" to, shudder, "Islamist Rule".  It also cracked me up from time to time -- until it eventually cost me a damn game -- that every time the terrorists hit within Schengen, she could test a number of those who had not yet determined their attitude towards the Global War on Terror with a two-thirds chance that they'd come out "Soft" on terror.

2:  The other thing that was giving my wife the squick was being a terrorist.  I now know why the author felt compelled (he's said as much in interviews) to create a terrorist bot as many playtesters indicated they wouldn't want to play that side.

3:  The game really is an amazing exercise.  It's the first in a very long time to make me want to come back and give it another go -- from either side -- shortly after the previous game ends.  If you're so inclined, you can readily reduce contemporary events to "Labyrinth" terms, viz.:  jihadists are presently playing the "Houthi" militia card in Yemen; it will either turn out to be a minor or major jihad, depending on the outcome, although with the "ruler" of said country currently hiding in Saudi Arabia, the latter appears more likely.  Much of this, I suppose, will be swept up in the expansion.

4:  For the record, I lost the last game when, with the play deck expiring, my wife got a pair of cels through "The Patriot Act" (thanks, Canada) and played that nasty skilled suicide bomber card that lets the jihadists place two plots.  I was able to alert one of the two, but didn't have points sufficient to alert the other.  Oh, perhaps I should mention that I was so busy in Afghanistan that I didn't notice her building up forces in and destabilizing the government of Pakistan before it was too late.  She fired up a major jihad, overthrew the government, and took possession of its nuclear arsenal.  She told me, if the story was told, she had taken out Las Vegas.  As Professor Falken once said, "a suitably biblical end for the place."

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[bayonetbrant]

there's been some controversy about the new 'updates', as noted over at CSW

There were cards for the Charlie Hebdo attack and the Kayla Mueller death, within 90 days of the events happening...

[Hughes, David]
I think it is easier to see Labyrinth's value if you remember that it is a ruthless simplification of a complex reality. And it is easier to stomach if you interpret governance as meaning "the propensity of a country to generate suicide bombers" rather than "democracy and the good of the population," and label the track from high to low. So "good governance" actually means "low propensity," and as in reality the US player will be indifferent as to how this is achieved.

Labyrinth is undoubtedly a game beset by flaws. Nevertheless, it has many virtues, and a case can be made for it.

But no case can be made for putting the expansion in the hands of someone who thinks "The GAME is FUN.....That's the key, folks."

It's surely an open question whether you should be making a game about today's tragedies before time has healed wounds and provided context; but to do so for the primary purpose of FUN is so crass I still don't believe he posted it.

On the strength of what we have seen, you need to get another designer and another developer, or shelve this project.

[Kirschenbaum, Matthew]
I think David really puts his finger on it here, including why the original LABYRINTH was an important game even for those (like me) who would not accept its geo-political model if it were presented as, say, an op-ed piece.

But this is the main thing: what happened yesterday touched off a firestorm not because a novice "made a mistake" and the pack pounced (because CSW isn't a nice place for nice people . . .); rather, I think a number of us felt like we had gotten an unexpectedly candid window into why this expansion was being made in the first place.

It's this: someone was interested in doing the game--doubtless out of sincere passion and every good intention--and GMT figured it would sell (and it certainly seems like it will, based on the pre-order numbers).

But that's not enough, at least in my view. It may be enough for another Gettysburg game or another panzer pusher, but it's not enough for this game. LABYRINTH (and its successor) are not only topical, they're also important.

Wait, you say: ***they're only games!*** Well, if that's true, then no one has much business making a game--for "FUN" as David so damningly quotes--out of these events.

So either these are "just games" (for FUN!) in which case the project should be shelved on principle, OR they can aspire to be something even just a little more--a statement, a package of insights--in which case you darn well get someone whose statements and insights matter.

(I'd bet the price of a pre-order that such a person would also make a more funner game as well.)

So I would pledge LABYRINTH II if it were Volko or Brian Train at the helm; I would not pledge it under the current situation.

[Cyrano]

Brant, you have my respect for daring to develop a modern game.  CSW and related boards are a sufficiently hard crowd on historical offerings without adding in the real-world service and therefore expertise -- real or imagined -- of some participants.

Yeesh...I mean, as I indicate above, I respect the craft and effort of "Labyrinth" a great deal, and it got the designer a write-up in the NYT, but, heck, even the ConSims that are used to train real-life soldiers are just games in the end.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[bayonetbrant]

[Cyrano]

Somebody call Hank.

STAT.

[Nefaro]

I've still not taken the time to learn Labyrinth.  And now there is an expansion on the way. 

Need 32 hour days.


While there hasn't been much time for reflection, on the recent events it's based upon, I think the usual grog crowd are just being crabby old men per usual.  I should know, I've earned my membership.  :D

[Cyrano]

Any time you'd care for a game, just holler...

The COIN games generally, but this one and FitL in particular, are great experiences as well as games.  I love the stories they tell.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[Nefaro]

Any time you'd care for a game, just holler...

The COIN games generally, but this one and FitL in particular, are great experiences as well as games.  I love the stories they tell.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

Yes.  I need to get off my lazy ass and proceed further into my stacks of unplayed tabletop games.  Both Labyrinth and Fire In The Lake have been opened, punched, and that's it thus far.  Along with many others. 

Maybe I should stop buying until I get caught up, or my focus will just become even more scattered.   

[bayonetbrant]

if you do that, you won't buy anything until 2018

[Nefaro]

if you do that, you won't buy anything until 2018

My wallet would thank me.  But not my addiction.  ^-^

[Barthheart]

Any time you'd care for a game, just holler...

The COIN games generally, but this one and FitL in particular, are great experiences as well as games.  I love the stories they tell.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

Bring one or both to Origins and we'll get a game in.... not like we're doing much else.  ;)