Why You Should Embrace Flaws and Imperfections
By: The Macabees
My lecture last year was on economics and I wanted to do something a little different this year. I wanted to focus more on world building and storytelling. As it happens, the point I want to make is best introduced by an economics analogy.
In an introduction to economics class youre taught supply and demand through the model of perfect competition. It looks like this:
And you learn that you can explain a lot of stuff using this simple model, like why a minimum wage creates unemployment (something, by the way, which isnt true if you use a different model) or how a price ceiling can cause a shortage. This model represents a perfect economy. As it turns out, the world of a perfect economy is quite boring.
Explaining why a perfect economy is boring is best done by way of example: in a perfect economy, there wouldnt be any warrantees. In 1970, an economist by the name of George Akerlof wrote a paper titled The Market for Lemons. He explains why in an economy with asymmetric information where one person knows something the other doesnt markets can break down. He uses the used car market as an example.
Suppose the buyer doesnt have any way of corroborating the quality of the car (which in 1970 was more true than today), meaning the seller of a lemon can pass it off as a non-lemon (or the highest quality for a vehicle of that year, with that mileage, etc.). That is, the buyer can sell his lemon for the same price as the non-lemon, because the buyer doesnt know any better. Because of this, sellers have an incentive to sell lemons over non-lemons, degrading the average quality of the product.
The buyer will eventually figure out that the average quality of a used car has fallen and price will fall, but the same problem still exists lemons cant be distinguished from non-lemons (remember, we just know that on average the quality of used cars has fallen). The average quality continues to fall, because the incentives are the same, and eventually the market will break down a market imperfection.
But, we know that, despite this problem, used car markets in the real world havent broken down. Why? Because weve developed institutions to solve this market imperfection, such as the warrantee. A seller can offer a warrantee as an incentive to pay for a higher price, promising the buyer to return his or her money if the quality of the product was not up to a certain standard. Another institution is the idea of brand name or recognition. Sellers who have a reputation for honesty and high quality products will be able to command a higher price. If there were no informational asymmetries, these institutions wouldnt exist and our economy would be blander and a lot less interesting.
The truth is that most of what makes our world so rich the firm, property rights, money, etc all exist because markets are imperfect. The firm arises partly out of informational asymmetries, property rights are needed to solve externalities, and money arises because of incomplete information (formally, the problem of value imputation). In perfect competition, all these beautiful facets of human society wouldnt exist and the world would become much more boring.
Lets apply this economics lesson to roleplaying.
Imperfections Require Creativity and Solutions
Theres a player in Greater Dienstad I have a lot of respect for: United World Order. He plays a fascist country, basing himself on an alternative history where Nazi Germany survives World War II. It would be very easy to make his country into a bland fascist superpower, where an authoritarian government is coupled with a strong economy and a strong military, but thats not what he did.
Instead, he embraces the facets of fascism that makes it so interesting and so different price controls and the economic disadvantages they bring, restrictions on freedoms and the social tensions they cause, and he accepts the repercussions of his policies in the context of his international relations. And he finds his own solutions and his own consequences to these imperfections. The result is a very interesting country, and one thats very unique vis-à-vis Greater Dienstad (and the rest of the game really). I dont think there is another player who has so successfully built the world of a fascist country on NationStates. And the reward to him is that hes able to create great stories based on these flaws.
Why do flaws make worlds that much more interesting? Its the same principle behind giving your characters flaws. The best characters are the kind that the reader can identify with, because the fact is that everybody is flawed in some way and its hard for us to identify with someone who isnt.
Flaws also make room for tension. They allow for the existence of problems which need solving, and part of what makes a story interesting is seeing how the character solves that problem, despite her flaws. The same is true of world building, especially on NationStates, because on this game its often the world that we focus on the most its a game of international relations, where macro-events heavily shape micro-events.
That flaws create problems that need solving also makes for better world building because each player can bring out his or her own creativity and personality out. When you are solving issues you bring your own solutions, and these details are what makes your world and your characters unique and different. I, for example, have a fundamentally stable government, where an emperor competes for power with democratic local governments, and this allows me to create stories around the solutions to and results of these tensions. And by roleplaying these tensions I can differentiate my world from other worlds that are built on similar root assumptions.
Theres an incentive on NationStates to make your country the best. But, remember, that in the literary world the best country is not the one with the biggest military, or the most powerful government, or the largest economy. Its the one thats the most interesting, and big militaries, powerful governments, and large economies just arent that interesting on their own, because on NationStates those details are average.
http://s15.zetaboards.com/NSWF4/single/?p=8066798&t=8262812
By: United Gordonopia
The art of roleplaying is, at its core, the art of telling a story collectively. What sets the RPing community apart from general fiction writing is the collaborative effort expressed through the written word. This emphasis on roleplaying as a group effort is not merely a part of its definition, rather it is the origin of and facilitator for one of roleplayings finest aspects: stylistic diversity.
Any individual who spends significant time trawling through NationStates roleplaying subforums, as well as those offsite, will likely be struck by this. In the NS Sports forum, for instance, one can search through a single thread and find dozens of unique forms of storytelling, from poetry (both in existing forms and those created to fit into a built-world) to surrealist comedy, gritty war reporting to light, feathery conversations, advertisement and newspaper copy to flowery, romantic prose.
More than anything else, a wide range of styles makes NationStates a more exciting place. Collaborators in a roleplay are certainly kept more engaged when their partners each have a unique way of telling their part of the story. For the individual the challenge of developing and refining ones own style is a key part of growing as a writer. Given that roleplaying itself is all about fun, it follows that a primary goal of any community leader should be to help facilitate it within their group.
Diversity in writing style can, at one level, be attributed to diversity in its broader sense. It is no hyperbole to say that the greatest contributor to an individuals creativity is their past experiences, be they in reading or in real life. Thus, an individual who grew up reading Hemmingway may very well orient their writing towards such a terse, direct style. Meanwhile, a young German writer heavily influenced by Gunther Grass is likely to express themselves through complex, intricate, rhythmic sentences, pervasive figurative language, and extensive experimentation with the rules. An individual suffering real life hardships may be adept at expressing such situations in writing. Therefore it follows that one of the primary ways to encourage diversity of style is to encourage diversity as a whole within a roleplaying community.
While out-of-character and real life chatter is absolutely necessary for community building, leaders in any group need to make it clear that there are limits. The phrase safe space may carry negative connotations for many, but it frankly applies quite well to a roleplaying community. No one should feel they arent welcome in a community because of their personal background when they have the common interest in roleplaying, and a group that excludes them will be worse for it due to the loss of a unique writing perspective.
Stylistic diversity is also fostered by experienced writers and mentors keeping an open mind during roleplays. The goal of helping a new player should not be to bring the way they write in line with ones own methods or those of the group, but rather to aid them in expanding in their own direction. My own process for going about this is to try and break down how a newer writer is trying to express their thoughts on top of simply what those thoughts are. Rather than translating those thoughts into my own style, the goal is to provide guidance in order to lead them into expressing in their own style more fully.
While the word diversity may seem somewhat of a cliché, there is a reason it is so often encouraged. Simply put, roleplaying would be boring if everyone played their role the same. The most vibrant communities are those that enable their members to grow and express themselves in their own way, providing unique, varied entertainment to those who read and a rewarding challenge to writers.
Diversity in Nationstates RP: Why is it important?
By: The Free Republic of Lamoni
1.) What is Diversity?
According to the website dictionary.com, the most fitting definition is:
“The inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, color, religion, socio-economic stratum, sexual orientation, etc.”
As far as people go, the definition is fine. In the NS world however, the definition can be expanded. There are democratic nations, fascist nations, communist nations, nations which follow eastern styles of government, theocracies, monarchies of various flavors, and others.
One well-known example that would fall into the “others” category would be the Protectorate of Lyras. Unlike traditional nations, the Protectorate is a true Stratocracy. Another point is that Lyras is not a state with a military, it is a military with a state. While the Protectorate is a strong nation, diversity in yet another guise makes it stronger. Through a close alliance partnership with the Free Republic of Lamoni, both nations benefit. While Lyras can field one of the largest and most powerful military forces in all of Nationstates, as well as advanced military technology, the Free Republic of Lamoni has the second strongest economy in Greater Dienstad, as well as a wide range of diplomatic contacts, and their own military technology development companies. Where the Lyran Protectorate is a true Stratocracy, the Free Republic of Lamoni is a democratic nation. Both nations balance the other out, and provide what the other might be lacking in any particular field. This example of diversity has allowed one of the strongest two nation partnerships in all of Nationstates to grow and flourish into a force to be reckoned with.
Another example of diversity is the region of Greater Dienstad itself. Each nation in the region has their own style, which leads to interesting conflicts. Another thing that can make conflicts in Greater Dienstad interesting is the complex web of alliances that can (and has) resulted in allies being on opposite sides of a given conflict from each other, and enemies having to come together in order to make their respective desired end games a reality. This can lead to very interesting situations, which can seriously be fun to RP, making it easier to retain interest in the RP itself.
Diversity will cause imperfections in a story, as well. But as demonstrated on the part of this lecture which has been written by The Macabees, such imperfections can contribute to the story itself, if handled wisely.
2.) Players these days want their nations to be perfect in every way. How does this affect RP?
While perfect nations are a dime a dozen on NS, players should stop and really think about such things when deciding on what their individual nations will be like. Take a look at real life, and youll see that there is no such thing as the perfect nation (part of why everyone tries to create one on NS, right?). Each and every nation, no matter how well run, has flaws. They might be large, obvious flaws, or they might be more subtle, but they are there regardless.
These flaws are what make for an interesting national character, which is important for RP purposes. Sure, you could run an RP with exact cookie-cutter nations A through F, but it wouldnt be all that fun or exciting. There also would not be much reason for people to keep going with such an RP. If you can exploit a nations flaws in order to create interesting situations however, you can create some of those great RP moments which everyone wishes that they could have.
In other words, being a perfect nation is actually detrimental to RP, and should be avoided, if possible.
3.) Where can I get inspiration for flaws that my nation could have?
Looking at RL nations (and history) to see the flaws which led them to where they are today is a good idea. If your nation just so happens to be patterned after France, then taking a look at France (and French history) might well make sense for you. While stereotypes of real life nations can provide amusing anecdotes, they typically do not reflect the reality of the nation that they attempt to portray, especially since stereotypes are often not positive, and are frequently used to make fun of the nation/race/person that it is used on.
For example, there is a common stereotype in America that the French are cheese eating surrender monkeys. While it is true that the French do eat cheese, French military forces have historically only surrendered when their own numbers had been severely reduced due to battle, and the military situation looked hopeless. Another piece of evidence that the stereotype is false would be the large French holdings outside of Metropolitan France itself. So when looking for national flaws, it can often be a good idea to ignore the stereotypes, and focus on things that actually happened. The actual history can often be far more interesting than the stereotypes, anyway.
4.) How can I help to create diversity in my own region?
Start with your own nation first, making it different from other nations in your region, and get into some RPs with other nations in your region. Exploit your nations flaws, along with the flaws of the nation or nations with which you are RPing in order to create some interesting RP moments that might not have been there otherwise. When people see how good use of national (or character) flaws (depending on the type of RP in question) can lead to better RPs, they might start to emulate what you are doing, in their own nations. Encourage people to come up with different ideas or solutions to problems, and see how well that the proposed ideas or solutions would work. These differences need not prove fatal to an RP. If in doubt, ask! Veteran RPers and Mentors can help you, if you need it. Remember, diversity of opinion, as well as national flaws, can bring some much needed spice or flavor to your RPs, and can turn a bland RP into a better RP.