posted 10-27-05 05:10 PM EDT (US)
Some back ground:
Age of Empires III covers the age in which the biggest holocaust in the history of humanity took place - the entire peoples of the western hemisphere (one half of the planet).
I found the campaigns in aoe3 to be very unique in its story line with a tinge of justice, saving enslaved Mayans and Caribs, etc. But it speaks to one human truth proven by history. Freedom can never be given it only be taken - Franz Fannon. This explains the racist dynamic of the game where the Native Americans are only caught in between and can only be saved by a good colonizer - where there is no opportunity for the Mayan to resist the Spanish with out the help of the Scottish Mason and European Pirates. This explains Iraq, where the United States finds itself in a quagmire trying to render them "freedom". The Native Americans, Mestizos etc, since the beginning of conquest have always tried to ally themselves with other colonizers and then would find themselves still subjugated.
It was only during campaigns of revolution with a united indigenous front (and second class mestizos much of the time) that freedom from foreign powers was relatively won. For example the Untsuri Suara of Eastern Ecuador crushed colonialism so bad that no foreign power ever dominated them until the modern Ecuadorian military of recent times. The Suara never seeked "help" from any foreign powers or even locals. On the other hand in Puerto Rico, during the revolution against Spain, they used the United States (who had just declared "Manifest Destiny") as an ally and found themselves and still find themselves as a US "territory" with no voting rights for President and over 30 military bases and recent political assassinations.
In short, it is not enough to allow a European power to ally itself with Caribs, Mayans, Cherokee etc. These first nations must speak for themselves! They lost horribly but they did not loose without war (and disease). Major war worthy to be focused on in the world of Age of Empires. It is those major wars and immense regional conflicts that concluded in global human and environmental changes which affect us till this day, that I would like to see represented in the next expansion pack.
To be included would be represented over 3,000 maroon societies, where escaped Africans, Native American holocaust survivors, and whites who were disgusted with the realities of colonialism lived together and at many times found themselves engaged in long term armed conflict with Status Quo Colonial powers. These societies existed during the entire age of empires in the what is called the "new world" from the perspective of the colonizers.
You can say that I am emphasizing a focus on the perspective of "resistance" and "revolution" - the perspective of the Native Americans and the Mestizos. A world where Simon Bolivar is just as important as Washington; the People of Chiapas who have been fighting conquest for 5 centuries even up until this day, the Maroons, the empires of the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas and the major North American nations, Caribs, Mexico, Colombia all represented as players - maybe some only when the campaign is beaten. These are all histories and legacies that deserve their voice in Age of Empires just as equally as the Nations who annihilated all of the nations of three continents into near extinction.
Campaigns:
The empires of south America were only conquered by the Spanish because the Spanish united all the surrounding smaller nations into revolution against the Mayan, Aztecs Empires, etc. In reality the Spanish were militarily nothing and powerless in the "new world" and only won by being able to effectively divide people and take advantage of the current oppression from the Mayans and Aztecs, by inciting revolt. It was only later that these smaller nations realized that they would be enslaved and subjugated even worse by the Spanish in ways they would have never imagined.
Maroon societies found themselves in the middle of this and were also the outcome of these conflicts. The first historically accepted successful revolution against a colonial power ever in the history of the Americas is known as the Haitian Revolution (I argue the Suara of Eastern Ecuador). Anyways, the Haitian revolution was started by these Maroon societies, with women "heroes" that can be characters in the game for a better gender dynamic.
With this alone many exciting stories can come to play, all the people at Microsoft need to do is pick one. Also, the market is expanded to South America and racial and gender concerns are answered, because AOE3 as it is, is pretty condescending to the ancestors and cultures of people who still suffer from post-colonial woes, inequality, poverty, general human rights abuse and social injustice. It should not also have to be this way in the fantasy world of video games. Plus, think about how damn fun it would be to be a Maroon society stealing all of the citizens and pioneers, or Simon Bolivar and the Plains Indians fighting Mexico and the United States cavalry, or being a Maroon society fighting Napoleon in Haiti, or being the Apache fending off the Spanish, then Mexico and then the United States, or the demise of the Natchez by fighting with the French and other Native nations seeking refuge from the Creek and Chickasaw. What about the major Mayan revolts where they maintained liberated territory with Native American Governments for decades fighting off Spanish and British and sometimes even both at a time? Jesus, the stories from this perspective of "resistance" in the age of imperial conflict of the Americas are too much to ignore! Seriously.
Civilizations: (Many to choose from)
Mayans
Aztecs
Incas
Chipewyan
Cree
Kuskowagamiut
Cahuilla
Crow
Hopi
Navajo
Mesquakie
Iroquois
Natchez
Cherokee
Oneida
Cheyyene
Apache
Arowaks
Zapotecs
Tzeltal
Tzotzil
Tipu
Itza Maya
Colombia
Mexico
Peru
Atleast two or three Maroons
Atleast two or three smaller nations of the amazon (ex. Untsuri Suara)
Ages:
The same as in AOE3
What do the rest of you think? I think game designers can have allot of fun with this. Let these civilizations speak for themselves - they were as a peoples the most negatively effected during the eras dealt with in endless adventures encountered in Age of Empires III. They were there and their warriors and armies fought gloriously.
[This message has been edited by CheTzu (edited 10-27-2005 @ 09:18 PM).]
