The biggest hat goes to the clan leader most capable of manipulating the game on the microscale, where Paradox's commitment to simulation is most apparent. Faced with a situation - let's say a powerful noble plotting to split away from your clan – the amount of options available to you are staggering. You could strip him off his title, and force his hand. You could marry his family into the line of succession. You could turn his closest allies with gifts and visits from your Master of Ceremonies, or send your Master of the Guard to discredit him, or hire ninja to ruin his reputation or simply kill him. This is one common but very specific scenario, and each of these courses of action branches out in a fractal explosion of consequences.
There’s something really endearing about a company this devoted to simulating a particular political reality - and I'd love to see how far they're able to take it, even as I suspect that there’s a terrible tennis accident in Paradox’s future.
Even though that's the least essential aspect of your post - thanks for pointing the way towards the Decembrists. Just got to the Eschaton chapter in "Infinite Jest", so it's really a lucky coincidence. And let's hope that Paradox can stay well clear from nuclear and or tennis accidents for a while.
ReplyDeleteNo problem - found that video in similar circumstances myself. Wanted to make an Eschaton reference in the review, but really needed some kind of easy shorthand for people who hadn't read Infinite Jest. Googled around to see if anyone had done any kind of adaptation, found that.
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