Emperor Cole at the end of the Power Loyalist Arc...

**SPOILER ALERT!!**































At the end of the arc, Emperor Cole pulls open the curtain to reveal everyone you killed (or saw killed) along the way. He admits that the whole thing was staged, ala "The Truman Show", including a sizable budget on blank ammunition and blood-colored dye packs.
"It made ratings history, <charactername>, but you are one sick, evil sonuvagun. You disgust me."

You get the option to ignore orders on the Loyalist side, too. Also, judging from some of the missions, some amount of free thought is allowed (Otherwise there wouldn't be enough people willing to hold public protests or even riots)

You can agree or disagree with Cole, to his face at at least one point, too.

James... You're applying external opinion to the game's situation...

The game is a dictatorship with hints at Tyranny. There are some Orwellian Themes, but no in-game proof that most of what you're saying is true.

The "Thought Crime" idea. If Thought Crime was enough to warrant execution there wouldn't -be- a resistance. They'd all be executed before they decided to reach out to the other malcontents. Or are we to believe that the psychics in the Resistance are able to shield the minds of people they don't know are thinking about becoming resistance members -before- the Seers (Who are actively scanning for seditious thought, according to the thought-crime theory) realize they're there?

If seditious thought were enough of a crime to warrant being "Disappeared" then the Resistance would have been crushed a decade ago. They wouldn't have been able to recruit new members, since the government would be executing anyone with the spark of sedition, and the members they HAVE would be killed in duty (mostly by being terrorists)

It -cannot- work like that, since there -is- a resistance. Ergo thought crime is not how it works, but an assumption the players like to think of because they're reading into it.

Further evidence that they're not hunting seditious -thought- is the statements of the Seers "I'm sensing hostility toward my person, Citizen. And will react accordingly" or when you're told the Seers have detected panic and fear and you're sent in to save the people who are panicked and terrified. Hostility, Panic, and Fear are all -emotional- responses, not logical ones.

By all means, refute me! But use evidence from the game and not assumption.

As for my characterization of Dictatorships. I have lived in one before. I was in Thailand for a month, during which I did some of the "Touristy" things, but I spent most of my time talking with people who had been living in or visiting Thailand for years.

In a month of talking to doctors, hotel owners, shop keepers, street vendors, and temple caretakers I came to understand they were not having their rights trampled. Mind you this was near Christmas of 2006, while the entire nation was under Martial Law. The people of Thailand adored their Monarch. not out of Fear, but of genuine respect and love. Why?

Because as a young man he went around the nation with a camera hanging around his neck, talking to his people, learning what they need and want, helping to bring modern farming techniques to rural communities, or making grand donations to charities. When you see people on Thai TV networks commemorating him or honoring him it's -genuine- not some fake lip-service.

So I've seen how a Dictatorship can be a good thing for a nation. And it's evident that Cole -does- have elected representatives chosen by the people. Otherwise Luke Larson wouldn't be a politician looking to curry favor. The Magisters wouldn't have different leanings. And a Constitutional Monarch can intervene, as well, within certain limits. So Cole over-riding some decisions the Magisters bring before him isn't tyrannical.

And a lack of Freedom of Speech? Protestors in Nova Praetoria. Magisters with political leanings toward the Resistance.

-Rachel-

Everything the Resistance says about the dictatorship is backed up with proof - which is why the game puts all the players on their side at level 20

Although as a stormtrooper, your attitude is understandable - just like in RL, supporters of a dictatorship will frequently deny that the crimes against humanity the dictatorship carried out ever actually happened.

Golden Cole, Golden Cole... please, hush, so the grownups can debate properly. If you want to go on and on babbling incoherently, go talk to a wall. It has about as many relevant things to say as you do.

Ah, the Ceasar thing makes the most sense, since it's 'Praetoria' after all.

And, Golden Cole, the only one desperate here is you, and you've always been desperate.

Desperate people ignore counter-arguments. Desperate people shout 'AMERICA!' again and again. Desperate people have to FORCE everyone to think and believe the same way as them, such as you with your 'Democracy is always right, dur-hur!'

Et cetera, et cetera.

Incoherent fascist rambling isn't really a counter-argument - except to the stormtroopers, of course

See what I mean? Desperate.

Poor girl.