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i always say i cant like heavensward too much because i find it "morally unambitious" but. let me explain what i mean by that. "art no one asked you" let me expl
NOW LET ME START BY SAYING by no means do i expect a fucking huge mmorpg to be a critical s*cialist text or sth lmao but. the worldview of the writers in hsw is so implicit in the writing and i honestly, Honestly, think that it can be
distilled into "hsw writers think the current capitalist structure of the world is the best". and what i mean by that is that they genuinely accept that typical structure of society are a Good Thing and only need to be Reformed, not Destroyed (i.e. dont need to be deconstructed)
case in point: how HSW approaches nobles. i think the writers genuinely believe nobles are an okay thing. you could argue shit like "oh the game just takes a realistic approach bc you cant remove nobles in a day" but
i genuinely dont think thats what happening, BECAUSE, the writing explicitly valorises tons of nobles and CONSTANTLY writes shit like "noble good if he is caring in his station :)" (haurchefant, artoirel, edmont, francel...)
again, i dont think this is an "in character" thing, i think u can take cues from the writing that this is the writers ideology. the writing essentially, never, at any point, takes effort to acknowledge the flaws of nobles--
even where it Does, it approaches criticisms of nobles in.... the same way c*pitalism does lol . "they just need to be nicer :)" "they need to open their minds to working with poor ppl :)" (how about talking, just Once, about how we should get rid of the ishgardian houses?)
the game also focuses on 'improving' nobles by simply... removing the Evil Ones. personality-evil ones. wow doesnt this sound like reality (we hate jeff bezos but bill gates nice man hehe :) )
the fact that even PEOPLE FROM THE BRUME subscribe to this uncourageous criticism of nobles, imo, makes it the most fucking obvious that the writers genuinely believe society should be ordered a certain way.
supposed revolutionary hilda, who u think would be advocating for more power to people of the brume (this isnt even radical, its just common sense that sm1 CALLED A REVOLUTIONARY would do this), gets reduced post-introduction and post-hsw into...
sm1 who just gripes about how nobles racist towards brume folks. her solution to that? what, working more towards equality of power? no.... become cop so that nobles see wow brume people can work hard and well too :) (wow that doesnt that sound like reality x2)
her "revolutionariness" is reduced into what is considered acceptable by capitalism - working on a micro level to change the mental mindsets of the rich. but. we all know that will absolutely not solve the problem lmfao. its not that im saying that at every turn hilda should
say "disclaimer: i am only doing this b/c this is what I can do At This Very Present Moment, nobles cant go away in a day :)" but the game GENUINELY positions her in a way that this is GENUINELY what she thinks and GENUINELY the extent of her ambition. i hate it
other revolutionaries who get forced to fit into the mould of c*pitalism: ysayle. ultimately, the game implies that her Ultimate motivation was merely wanting to get rid of her OWN loneliness. note that even the next line, abt a child in the snow, implies that all of her beliefs-
wrt reforming ishgard are underpinned by the own loneliness she felt as a child . thats not a problem in itself but its problematic that its suggested to be the Only foundation of her beliefs. what about other foundational principles, a sense of care for the plight of others?
why the fuck is even the revolutionary implied to be motivated by solely her own personal circumstances instead of being invigorated by her peers and community (wow doesnt it sound like criticism of activists "who are just doing it for themselves" but... taken as true lol)
so revolutionaries in ishgard are written to see the world thru a capitalist lens (for hilda: as if fixing 'moral character' of nobles is enough to fix the inherent evils of a system of nobility) (ysayle: motivated by issues of the self, like everyone ostensibly is in capitalism)
my braincells kind of died at the end but thats the lowdown of my thoughts abt heavensward i think the writers would never vote for AOC :)
also sorry for using the word c*pitalism a lot in all honesty i havent read much political text. but i used it as a catch-all phrase for. yanno. current order and understanding of society Good.
