Are games that involve the Nazis inherently problematic?

I ask this because we're about to release the aformentioned mini-setting / adventure and we've taken extra precautions with the product trying to ensure that we don't step on anyone's toes.  

The Nazis are not glorified in any way.  We stay away from anything that could be related to the holocaust.  Yet, there are swastikas (albeit, most of them are painted over with a big, red "V").  And the bad-guys are Nazis.

(Which means we probably can't sell the product in Germany...)

But should we be overly concerned with Nazi bad-guys in our mini-setting?

In a word: no.

A few bleeding hearts who love to get offended might not buy the product, but who cares.  Nazis make awesome bad guys.

We don't portray them in any light other than "aggressive, evil, invaders".  

And there's lots of "dead Nazi pron" to ensure that everyone knows we're in it to kill the Nazis.

The NPCs are all nasty, from a closeted, sociopathic serial killer secretary to the guy who has a pact with a demon and murders people to satisfy the lusts of the demonic entity.  There is just nothing likeable about these Nazis, at all!

Plus, it's so much fun to shoot Nazi bad-guys with their own Gauss needler technology...

Quote from: Ben Rogers;713960Are games that involve the Nazis inherently problematic?

No.  

Quote from: Ben Rogers;713960The Nazis are not glorified in any way.  We stay away from anything that could be related to the holocaust.  Yet, there are swastikas (albeit, most of them are painted over with a big, red "V").  And the bad-guys are Nazis.

Quote from: Ben Rogers;713965We don't portray them in any light other than "aggressive, evil, invaders".  

And there's lots of "dead Nazi pron" to ensure that everyone knows we're in it to kill the Nazis.

The NPCs are all nasty, from a closeted, sociopathic serial killer secretary to the guy who has a pact with a demon and murders people to satisfy the lusts of the demonic entity.  There is just nothing likeable about these Nazis, at all!
(Which means we probably can't sell the product in Germany...)

So stupid, one-dimensional, smokes-cigarette-weirdly, blonde orcs, unable to pronounce the letter "w", in uniforms with nazi insignia.
Gotcha. Why?

Wherein Ben's latest stunt is to try to get people to tell him about good, likeable, non-stereotypical nazis.

Bonus points for the crack about Germany where it's illegal to glorify the nazi regime.

Problematic only in that you won't be able to sell the game in any country that's banned representations of the swastika, like Germany. Overall to a North American audience? Nazis have been playing a role as default supervillains in Comicbooks for nearly a century. Ditto Hollywood.

Quote from: The Traveller;713978Wherein Ben's latest stunt is to try to get people to tell him about good, likeable, non-stereotypical nazis.

Bonus points for the crack about Germany where it's illegal to glorify the nazi regime.

I think his stunts are always stealth ways of promoting his products...

So far I've had only one person express concern about the content - and they only expressed it as "potential concern" that "someone might be bothered by the swastikas".

Quote from: barageiSo stupid, one-dimensional, smokes-cigarette-weirdly, blonde orcs, unable to pronounce the letter "w", in uniforms with nazi insignia.
Gotcha. Why?

I didn't write up the NPCs, but they are actually quite detailed and multi-dimensional. No orcs.  No pictures of blondes in Nazi gear. No mispronunciations of "w" either.  

Quote from: JeremyRI think his stunts are always stealth ways of promoting his products...

One nice thing about the negativity and cynicism is that if this was an attempt at promoting a product, then many thanks to Jeremy and Traveller for bumping the thread back to the top.

(And, for the record, I had a very long discussion on an industry insider forum about this earlier and wanted to get a more "consumer" perspective via this thread.)

I wish I had half the strategic and guerrilla marketing chops Jeremy and Traveller think I have...

Here's the cover art, if you're curious...

Why are Nazis so popular as bad guys? Because they are cool. Just ask Spielberg. That dude spanks it to Nazis.

Why so cool? They had badass uniforms with lightning bolts and silver skulls and leather trenchcoats. Hollywoodized, their evil is perfect to make them disposable in droves without the audience ever stopping to think about their destruction. And unlike cowboys vs. Injuns or rebels vs. redcoats, there is no need to humanize or understanding the rank and file of the Nazis thus making them the gold standard in guiltless kills.

Quote from: baragei;713973So stupid, one-dimensional, smokes-cigarette-weirdly, blonde orcs, unable to pronounce the letter "w", in uniforms with nazi insignia.
Gotcha. Why?

That's like asking why the amplifier goes up to 11.

JG

Quote from: SpinachatWhy so cool? They had badass uniforms with lightning bolts and silver skulls and leather trenchcoats. Hollywoodized, their evil is perfect to make them disposable in droves without the audience ever stopping to think about their destruction. And unlike cowboys vs. Injuns or rebels vs. redcoats, there is no need to humanize or understanding the rank and file of the Nazis thus making them the gold standard in guiltless kills.

Also the whole occult angle - the weird science and hollow earth stuff and eugenics and all that crazy mythology - makes them perfect as vaguely "eldritch" villains out for powerful artifacts and the like.

Quote from: Ben Rogers;714044I wish I had half the strategic and guerrilla marketing chops Jeremy and Traveller think I have...

You don't, that was the point.

Don't think this belongs in the general forum. Moving it to Design, Development and Gameplay.

We have released Invasion of the Fourth Reich

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=28438

The funny thing, is that the "Fourth Reich", could be considered modern Germany.