Until I realized that FFG totally caved into pressure and changed the premise from America being the villains to America just kind of being jerks. FFG wouldn't have had to have done that if ANY other nation had been the bad guys in this scenario, and it feels incredibly wrong that they had to be censored like that.

It would have been changed for another country, too. Germany and Russia would have been jealous because they like being the eternal villains of military gaming.

Well, FFG is a business like any other - their goal is to make money. I don't think they'd make too many sales if the advertised premise of the game pissed off the majority of their primary customer base. Personally, I'm inclined to put the blame on the society at large, if they're so narrow minded that they can't accept a game that makes them the villains in a hypothetical scenario.

(Present company excluded, of course.)

I'm also not at all convinced that other countries would treat such a game any differently in the same circumstances. I seem to recall a debacle with China Rails, where the publisher was forced to redraw the board before printing because the original map depicted Thailand as a separate country from China, or something like that (this was a problem since the company printing it was in China.)

I'm also reasonably confident that a board game which focused on the Holocaust would have trouble selling in Germany, particularly if it tried to rewrite history concerning the events thereof (I hear it's actually illegal over there to deny that the Holocaust occurred.) Every country has their own issues, particularly with political subjects. You can press forward with your uncensored idea in the hopes that controversy will raise sales, or you can back off and help to assure a more steady income by cow-towing to the majority opinion. FFG has evidently deigned to play it safe with this one.

However, this is all just fluff at the end of the day, right? No actual effect on game play mechanics. If you really want to maintain the hardcore "America as villains" theme, I'm sure you can print off a sheet of fluff that promotes that idea yourself and stick it in the box. That way, every time you and your friends play, you can revel in how eeeeeevil America is.

Leave it to our Canadain friends (Steve-O) to be level headed and logical about a situation.

I would like to reprint some of your comments on my blog, or prehapse you could comment yourself?

Here is a link:

http://miah000.blogspot.com/2011/12/fortress-america-causes-quite-stir.html

You have no proof that FFG "caved" to anything.

As far as we have been told, it was an incorrect copy that was released by the Creative department. Nothing said it was in response to anything. You don't know for sure, despite the timing, so making blind accusations and disparagements is wrong.

Reprints of many games have changed some things, including back stories, as well as various features and functionality. So, whether or not the back story is changed makes little difference. In fact, the game will play just fine, and the same, whichever backstory you want to use.

I'd suggest you either ignore the backstory althogether, or just use whichever one tickles your fancy more, and don't get hung up on whatever you think FFG should have done.

Steve-O said:

Okay, I think you missed the point. I'm not annoyed at the lack of the "hardcore" fluff, I'm annoyed that they even had to change the concept in the first place, no matter what it was. America doesn't care when we go around painting countries like Russia or Germany as being the villains in fictional circumstances, but suddenly it's a big deal when America is the villain?

You're right, though. At the end of the day they have to keep business in mind. I just think it's a shame that a tyranny of the majority creates a need to censor creativity.

Yanma said:

Yeah, I got that. My point was that games which villify Germany probably don't do so well in Germany, either. The need to make adjustments for political correctness is not a uniquely American trait.

Some times I can't beleive what I'm reading. Americans are too engrossed in the false sense that they are the moral backbone of the universe. It's a game! I'm Canadian and I wouldn't mind a game that depicts Canada as the evil villian(I can barely keep a straight face while typing that).

waging_war said:

Ok just poking fun, but what exactly would Canda due as a villian? Stop making good beer! Those bastards!

But I think Steve O has it right, having lived in various countries around the world I can tell you for example that when I lived in Germany people where not that thrilled to see the Swastika on my Axis and Allies game box on the shelf. Its silly until its your ugly history that is brought up. Imagine for example South Africa making a game about saving slaves from evil American southerners. How well would that game sell in the US? You think anyone would be offended in South Africa? I agree its being overly sensitive, I personally thought the first text was original and interesting with a great ominous tone, but given the outrage over it, I can understand that they don't want to pee in American cheerios if you know what I mean.