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Paranoia

Started by Aglondir, December 01, 2021, 06:08:52 PM

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Sanson

#15
December 07, 2021, 04:54:03 PM
Hmm... right you are, i'd forgotten the old story about the planetoid hitting and sparking a chain reaction that caused a nuclear strike... been ages since
i'd played and that story is forgotten (retconned) in newer editions.

WotC makes me play 1st edition AD&D out of spite...

jhkim

#16
December 07, 2021, 05:39:23 PM
Quote from: Sanson on December 07, 2021, 01:47:04 PM
Mongoose (not sure why they're still listed as green, not yellow) own the IP now... and the Commies are gone as the main antagonists now (though they're
still a secret society)

I'm not at all sure i'd say the game was made to "mock anti-communism", so much as it was simply a game rooted in it's era.  It's never explained exactly
WHY Alpha Complex exists, but the likely scenario most of us came up with was a post-nuclear exchange with the Russians
Quote from: S'mon on December 07, 2021, 02:24:52 PM
My 1e PARANOIA has a clear explanation. Alpha Complex's Computer was damaged and interpreted a big meteor strike as a Soviet nuclear attack.

The original game mocked a lot of things of its era - but most prominently Cold War anti-communist paranoia. The Computer blames everything on commie mutant traitors, but as S'mon says, the premise is that it is insane (paranoid, really) and the actual problem is the Computer itself. This was taken a step further in The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure, where it is revealed that there is a complex of communists, but they were created by The Computer itself as a simulation to help it learn more about its imagined enemy.

If one was to update it for the post-Cold-War era, then probably "communists" should be replaced with something else - but that depends on what angle the reboot author is taking.

Pat

#17
December 07, 2021, 05:52:09 PM
Quote from: jhkim on December 07, 2021, 05:39:23 PM
If one was to update it for the post-Cold-War era, then probably "communists" should be replaced with something else - but that depends on what angle the reboot author is taking.
The Computer becomes Woke.

mAcular Chaotic

#18
December 07, 2021, 07:25:10 PM
Quote from: jhkim on December 07, 2021, 05:39:23 PM
Quote from: Sanson on December 07, 2021, 01:47:04 PM
Mongoose (not sure why they're still listed as green, not yellow) own the IP now... and the Commies are gone as the main antagonists now (though they're
still a secret society)

I'm not at all sure i'd say the game was made to "mock anti-communism", so much as it was simply a game rooted in it's era.  It's never explained exactly
WHY Alpha Complex exists, but the likely scenario most of us came up with was a post-nuclear exchange with the Russians
Quote from: S'mon on December 07, 2021, 02:24:52 PM
My 1e PARANOIA has a clear explanation. Alpha Complex's Computer was damaged and interpreted a big meteor strike as a Soviet nuclear attack.

The original game mocked a lot of things of its era - but most prominently Cold War anti-communist paranoia. The Computer blames everything on commie mutant traitors, but as S'mon says, the premise is that it is insane (paranoid, really) and the actual problem is the Computer itself. This was taken a step further in The People's Glorious Revolutionary Adventure, where it is revealed that there is a complex of communists, but they were created by The Computer itself as a simulation to help it learn more about its imagined enemy.

If one was to update it for the post-Cold-War era, then probably "communists" should be replaced with something else - but that depends on what angle the reboot author is taking.
The newest Paranoia (that I don't like since it's more like a board game) replaces Communism with the War on Terror.

That said, I should check it out since I want to actually try it -- the impression I got was all from its Kickstarter a few years ago.
Battle doesn\'t need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don\'t ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don\'t ask why I fight.

DefNotAnInsiderNopeNoWay

#19
December 09, 2021, 12:14:39 PM
I have never RUN Paranoia but I have played it about a half dozen times.

None of these games were "played straight" as others mention and tend to side more on the side of being silly/slapstick fun rather than being gritty or dark and honestly, I'm not sure that I could really enjoy it being played in a more serious fashion as the people I play with are a rather more silly type of personality and I cannot really imagine any of us REALLY taking the game that seriously.
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