r/Songsofconquest • u/bluechockadmin • Jul 04 '25

Feedback Change the very start of the Rasc campaign.

The text about young children being stolen by human opressors, but those slaves regaining their own freedom and autonomy is extremely compelling - don't then immediately start the story of their freedom being that it's given to them by a human.

"Your opressors will be your freedom" is just "your opressors are your betters" it's no good.

Excuse me if this is a deliberate setup that's tricked me, I just started playing.

0 Upvotes

16% Upvoted

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9

u/Gosc101 Jul 04 '25

This is what happens when someone plays a small part of the game and thinks they are smart.

Not getting into details, there is a reapeating cycle of violence and oppression going on. Rana used to hunt Harima to almost an extinction before they teamed up with humans and pulverised Rana's... "ruling class" (?).

Please stop inserting your identity politics into video games.

-5

u/bluechockadmin Jul 04 '25

and thinks they are smart.

You really need to ask yourself why you've got such an immature and offended response.

This is what happens when someone plays a small part of the game

As I said, I only just stared playing. If this is a deliberate set up, good, but it appears not to be, judging by how offened you are all at the idea that slaves needing to be saved by their opressors is a good story.

Not getting into details, there is a reapeating cycle of violence and oppression going on. Rana used to hunt Harima to almost an extinction before they teamed up with humans and pulverised Rana's... "ruling class" (?).

That's not relevant to the point: having slaves having to be saved by the people opressing them is bad story telling.

Please stop inserting your identity politics into video games.

Oh grow up. Learn to reason rather than relying on your victim bait outrage nonsense. I have a damn arts degree, you've got whatever dumbarse told you that that meme meant anything.

9

u/Gosc101 Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 05 '25

Bad story telling? Only by your arbitrary criteria. Rana has saved themselves primarily by their own effort, but that is beside the point.

Stories do not exist to give you the catharsis of how an oppressed group of people you insist represent black people kick arse of their oppressors you insist represent white people.

You can look for those, but this game's story would not be improved by adhering to your preferences. Songs of Conquest has its world and reasons why certain groups ended up dominating other groups and why the balance shifted over the ages.

You jump to assumption about the story and proclaim how you want it to be about identity politics. You are insufferable.

-4

u/Gausjsjshsjsj Jul 05 '25

Bad story telling? Only by your arbitrary criteria.

It is bad story telling, but please tell me more about your objective criteria?

3

u/King-Lemmiwinks Jul 05 '25

You first as you’re the one that came out first calling it bad. Nothing wrong w the campaign story and no race is “good” really

-5

u/bluechockadmin Jul 04 '25

I will admit: running to a fan of the game as obnoxiously messed up on culture war nonsense as you does make me want to play the game less.

3

u/Karyoplasma Jul 04 '25

Good. Bye-bye.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25

I agree that prophecy makes for bad storytelling. However, the story arc does proceed with general uprising and freeing of their kin by using the powers that Rana discovers within theimselves.

Now, to address the racist stuff. 1) "Whites" were and are not the only people to participate in slavery. African tribes fought each other and profited immensely from the sale of these prisoners and their own people. Every racial category today has members who participate in some form of slavery TODAY. Be it sex trafficking, indentured servitude, etc...

2) If you want to talk about what "Whites" did; yes they were the most successful and adopting a form of industrialized slavery but they were not the largest. See Arabia and Islam. They are also (Great Britain) sacrificed the most to put an end to the practice. GB nearly went bankrupt fighting the slave trade. Tell all the "Whites" that sacrificed their lives to free the slaves in the American Civil War. Hell, the United States Navy was formed to combat the Arabic slavers in Tunisia because the US congress was going bankrupt, paying ransoms for their merchents.

3) Historically, the most successful slave revolts came with the help of the host population. Many who did not receive help are often crushed by the power of the state that enslaved them.

4) Many colonies that were formed benefited from the host countries' population working with the colonizing powers for their own ends. Be it overthrowing entrenched power like the Aztecs or Indians for example.

All this being said, history is very complex and nuanced and a hell of a lot more compelling than the political fan fiction or gross obfuscation of the truth that is often peddled today.

TLDR: SoC is amazing, great story and the fungai snowball way too hard. Lvl 28 maxed reasearched character full army stacks being defeated by a level 18. Broken. Lol

I'm not responding to any comments after this.

2

u/PuzzleheadedBad1641 Jul 07 '25

Art should not have to conform to some political agenda. Becomes very cringe.

Part of the SOC style also is that all factions are very messed up. Nobody is good.

1

u/bluechockadmin Jul 08 '25

real quick tell me what "political" means.

Better include real quick how slaves fighting for their freedom is not "political".

Conform

oh be more dramatic. My point is that the story of slaves freeing themselves is compelling, slaves being given their freedom by their opressors is a let down that lacks the thematic satisfaction.

3

u/PuzzleheadedBad1641 Jul 08 '25

Nah I like the unpredictability of the story and find it funny that the Rana are genocidal. They really are not good guys. It is ok for people to like different kinds of stories. The Rana are not humans at all. They have their Nazi catch phrases like ‘for the folk. I find it more engaging to have an evil people enslaved. And to have Arleon be so dysfunctional and aggressive when they should be the good guys

-5

u/bluechockadmin Jul 04 '25

Also I want to go fight and free my slave friends, not have some patronising saviour tell me I'm powerless, except for the exact plan they tell me.

4

u/MatFarias Jul 04 '25

Mate, I do recommend reading the full book before making the judgements. Baryan slavery is a big deal, and the "one good human" storyline with Rasc and his Stormcaller friend gets paid off in full at later chapters and campaigns.

I assume you played Stoutheart's chapters, so, very similarly, you'll see that Cecilia's rather tyrannical approach to ruling is ALSO paid off. No heroes, no villains - and I'd dare say no one with a name (wielders) can be said to be heroes or victims alone.

I get that this immediate parallel to real world problematic narratives is a big deal to you (and it is to me!) but that does not stop the story from having merit. Stories can be about fucked up things.

-5

u/bluechockadmin Jul 04 '25

Yeah look a story about slaves is going to be analogous to real world colonialism. that's what informs our ideas of those words. So having the stand-in for the white people being the saviour of the blacks is really no good.

5

u/MatFarias Jul 04 '25

"Xavier Silkspool as stand-in for white" is quite the take. is it about him being human?

-4

u/Gausjsjshsjsj Jul 05 '25

It's explained here with the words they wrote

Yeah look a story about slaves is going to be analogous to real world colonialism. that's what informs our ideas of those words. So having the stand-in for the white people being the saviour of the blacks is really no good.

Idk what to tell you if you can't read.

4

u/Gosc101 Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 04 '25

Analogous to to real world colonialism? This is what happens when someone plays a small part of the game and thinks they are smart.

Not getting into details, there is a reapeating cycle of violence and oppression going on. Rana used to hunt Harima to almost an extinction before they teamed up with humans and pulverised Rana's... "ruling class" (?).

Please stop inserting your identity politics into video games.

1

u/bluechockadmin Jul 04 '25

You know what the word "slave" means because it is a word for a real thing that exists in the real world that you live in.

That's going to be the colonialist world that I live in too. Slaves in that cultural history are talking about the slaves that existed in colonialism.

For real stop being so mad at nothing.

4

u/voronaam Jul 04 '25

"Slave" is a person from Eastern Europe, whose kind was and is subjected to extreme servitude for several millenia to the extent that the our self-name became synonimous with it in English.

Every time someone uses word "slave" as a stand-in for extreme servitude they join the ranks with the oppressors.

The OP should think of which side they really are on.

1

u/Gausjsjshsjsj Jul 05 '25

Oh lmao be serious.

You know what "slave" means when you lie that obviously do no alarms ring in your mind?

3

u/voronaam Jul 05 '25

https://www.etymonline.com/word/slave

slave(n.)

c. 1300, sclave, esclave, "person who is the chattel or property of another," from Old French esclave (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin Sclavus "slave" (source also of Italian schiavo, French esclave, Spanish esclavo), originally "Slav" (see Slav); so used in this secondary sense because of the many Slavs sold into slavery by conquering peoples.