World-Building Turn-Offs

[BRC]

Something that bugs me is aliance/morality stasis.

As an example:

I've been laying SW:TOR recently, and when I arrived on Alderaan, I learnt that there is a civil war between the various noble houses, with House Organa supporting the Good/Republic side.

Because of course, if Princess Leia's adopted family is good, then all their ancestors 1000 years must also be good. On top of that, I later discovered (via a lore unlock) that House Organa have basically been The Good Nobles for thousands of years, ever since Alderaan was first settled.

Now that is longer than most real-world nations have existed, or even civilizations. The idea that one nation/clan/family would consistently be "they good guys" for even a fraction of that time is absurd.



It would be nice, for once, to have a setting where - when the story revisits a setting a few hundred years later - we find that, for example, the "good church" has become corrupted and /or schismed; the noble houses have merged/split/etc so that the current heroes are decended from earlier villains, the militant order of religious fanatics have calmed down and become a harmless charity/social club/etc; the orc ravening hordes have established a nation that is no better or worse than any other kingdom, and enjoys just as good/bad relations with them as they do with each other; etc.

I think something like that happened in the "Red Faction" series, of which I have only played Guerilla (The third game)

IIRC
In the first game, it's the martian colonists fighting against the oppressive Ultor corporation, with "Red Faction" being the main rebel group. They win when word of Ultor's abuses get back to earth, and the EDF (Earth Defense Force) shows up, kicks out Ultor, and takes over the Martian Colony.

Red Faction 2 just kind of happens on earth.

Red Faction Guerilla: The EDF is oppressing the martian colonists in order to force the colonists to send lots of resources back to earth. Red Faction is now a Martian independence movement.

Heh, that would be a fun series of campaigns

Part 1: "The Goblin Warlord Krazah has found an ancient artifact and is uniting the Monstrous races for war! The council of five kings has ordered you (the PC's) to retrieve the artifact and stop his armies before it's too late!"

Part 2: "You are goblins/orcs/whatever. Ever since the Champions of the Five Kings killed Krazah and stole the artifact, the Council of Five Kings has been using it to put your entire race into forced labor. You (The PC's) must lead the resistance against the oppressors, strike down the Five Kings, and bring peace to the land."

Part 3: "Ever since the Five Kings were killed by assassins working for the Sons of Krazah, the land has been in chaos. The five kingdoms, as well as the Goblins, are all embroiled in a massive war. Only YOU (The PC'S) can find the lost artifact and bring peace to the land."

Part 4: "When they found the artifact, goblin and human alike hailed them as Peacemakers. At last, the long cycle of violence could end. However, as we crowned them our new rulers, we learned that they were not wise. They were cruel, greedy, petty-minded thugs who killed without mercy, financing their reign by looting the possessions of their victims. Only YOU (The PC'S) can defeat these tyrants"