Current Events > Why is there such crossover between WH40K, Paradox games, and the alt right?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm not suggesting that people who write 40k or work on Paradox games sympathize or enable the alt right

I've just noticed a weird crossover. Like a good chunk of altright people have those interests in common

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is there though, or are there just a lot more 40k/paradox fans than you think?

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I'm a huge SJW and love Crusader Kings 2, and soon will love 3.

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This referring to idiots calling Trump a "God emperor"?

Imagine your entire revolving around like 10,000 people in the whole country who nobody actually knows.

Oh boy what a shit take

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40k has a lot of ironic nazi/fascist imagery, and some fans don't get the irony.

EDIT: Additionally the fanbase was overwhelminly white and male for an extensive period, even moreso than traditional video games.

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Rathinor posted...

This referring to idiots calling Trump a "God emperor"?

well that ones funny since the "god emperor" is a desiccated corpse kept 'alive' off the blood of the innocent...

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The Empire in WH40K have pretty much the ideal government type for the alt right. A totalitarian dictatorship which is xenophobic as hell and requires you follow the state religion. I can't think of any particular reason Paradox games would be popular amongst the alt right.

Bad_Mojo posted...

I'm a huge SJW and love Crusader Kings 2, and soon will love 3.

I mean I love Stellaris and CK2. I'm not suggesting liking 40k or games by Paradox makes you a member of the alt right

Just an odd commonality I've noticed but it's probably just my monkey brain trying to pick out patterns

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My old roommate in Seattle loved those things and was a communist. So I am not saying my anecdote is better than your anecdote but I am saying exchanging anecdotes probably won't allow us to tell if these things are actually some kind of hive of alt righters.

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JE19426 posted...

The Empire in WH40K have pretty much the ideal government type for the alt right. A totalitarian dictatorship which is xenophobic as hell and requires you follow the state religion. I can't think of any particular reason Paradox games would be popular amongst the alt right.

i mean 40k presents this government as deeply dystopian, fundamentally corrupt (often with literal traitors) and nearly all of its heroes are those seeking to reform it

you'd have to be consuming 40k without any of the narrative to think it's glorifying fascism

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Sackgurl posted...

i mean 40k presents this government as deeply dystopian, fundamentally corrupt (often with literal traitors) and nearly all of its heroes are those seeking to reform it

you'd have to be consuming 40k without any of the narrative to think it's glorifying fascism

Recently in 40k (since GW came under new management in 2015) there's been a move to de-grimdark 40k. Not overwhelmingly so, but there's a general trend of making the Imperium (or at least certain space marine chapters like the Ultramarines) more traditionally good and heroic. Though you are right that they generally want to change the Imperium for the better.

That said I think a lot of the alt right presence in 40k kind of predates that. There was a bit of a scandal earlier this year where a prominent 40k focused YouTuber was outed as a neo nazi.

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Blightzkrieg posted...

Recently in 40k (since GW came under new management in 2015) there's been a move to de-grimdark 40k. Not overwhelmingly so, but there's a general trend of making the Imperium (or at least certain space marine chapters like the Ultramarines) more traditionally good and heroic. Though you are right that they generally want to change the Imperium for the better.

isn't that because the narrative included the revival of roboute guilliman and his ascension to lead the imperium

the more upbeat tones seem to be driven by the idea that the loyalist primarchs are not fascists.

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It started with the stupid trump emperor meme, and then that attracted actual fashy brainlets.

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Sackgurl posted...

isn't that because the narrative included the revival of roboute guilliman and his ascension to lead the imperium

the more upbeat tones seem to be driven by the idea that the loyalist primarchs are not fascists.

I'm gonna confess I'm not super familiar with Guillimans politics so idk. He's definite good guy in the narrative but I've still heard players refer to him as a space fascist. I'm more into AoS so I haven't read anything featuring him.

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I remember reading that Paradox has trouble staffing up Hearts of Iron teams, because Wehraboos make up a significant minority of people who are into WW2.
Paradox games also let you live out nationalist fantasies with ease.

Though I think the funniest thing is that Victoria 2's economic system was designed by a free market Thatcherite, and because the AI of the capitalists is so poorly implemented and the economy itself so opaque*, it actually incentivizes the player to get parties which favor government control of industry in power**
*For example, if you force Britain to release India, the entire world starves, because India is released as "uncivilized" and thus has production maluses, and the game was tuned to vaguely work and not to accurately reflect the fact that India wasn't a major exporter of food stuffs at the time. And, if China westernizes, there will literally never be enough lumber, cement, munitions, etc. on the global market ever again.
**Unless you're Russia or China, because there is no automation and manually building that many railroads is a hell on your clicking finger.

i only played the first game, but i found that victoria 1's guiding lesson was that providing liberal reforms, however costly, was a conservative government's method of maintaining sufficiently low voter consciousness as to not require election reforms that put their dynasty at risk

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