In an innovative solution to the problem of griefers (players who specialize in killing other players' characters), a new game offers a content-appropriate solution: Roman crucification.
Tim Burke rightly sees this as an exercise in sovereignty-building for Roma Victor.
I'm reminded of the Girardean scapegoat. Roma Victor has chosen well, given the popular hatred for griefers and related players, meshing with the cultural resonance of Roman crucifiction.
I wonder how the production and maintenance of the scapegoat will continue. Will players try to rescue the crucified, sabotage the spectacle, interrupt the process? Could the supply become too plentiful, say in the case of a massive, Spartacus-style revolt (180 CE saw many unhappy latifundiae inhabitants), and the spectacle lose its savor? If so, Bataille might recommend some other social response to this return of the cursed surplus, such as another round of sacrifice, a massive war, or a new religion (to replace Christianity!).
Perhaps we'll see someone stage one of my favorite heresies, the Gnostic magic trick of Basilides, whereby the sacrificial victim ducks out, replaced by a stooge, and heads underground.
If we're going to be serious about spectacular justice, I await the French Revolutionary MMOG.
And there's something... unsurprising about the first punished player being from Flint, Michigan.
"Don't fear the griefer"
Posted by: Ceredwyn Alexander | April 02, 2006 at 16:49