Comments on: Fiddling While Rome Burns?

Fiddling While Rome Burns?

mr. strange — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 04:37:15 -0800

Can you save the world? This engaging flash game from the BBC lets you try. And it's based on Science! too.

By: uncle harold

uncle harold — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:19:34 -0800

Very nice. It just fails to tell you that your effort as the EU president will help fuck all as long as China, India, and the US give you the finger. Still very educational.

By: jcterminal

jcterminal — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:33:03 -0800

every time i come close to saving the world, conservatives starts screaming how i'm making them poorer and how climate change is a big lie. f'ing end bosses. ugh.

By: dflemingdotorg

dflemingdotorg — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:34:07 -0800

i ran a regime aimed at water conservation and carbon emission control, achieved the support of my foreign compadres and was swiftly voted out of office. ain't that just the way.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:55:52 -0800

I used Interest Interest Interest Fire.

By: djgh

djgh — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 06:26:42 -0800

I managed to go all the way. It's interesting though - your final scores seem to be based entirely on the last round (especially popularity). Never mind that throughout my tenure I enjoyed an over 50% popularity rating, the fact that my final policies were massively unpopular meant that apparently I'm some sort of despot. Screw it, I got 92% for environment, and thus saved the world.

By: sindark

sindark — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 06:52:00 -0800

Perhaps the greatest flaw of the game is how it deals with the popularity of initiatives. The way in which public opinion is modeled seems badly off-kilter. One would not expect to be able to get a screen at the end that says all of the following:

Well done!
Europe emitted a very low level of carbon emissions, which is likely to result in global temperatures increasing by 1.4-2.5 degrees Celsius.
You left the economy in ruins. Hyper-inflation and joblessness are endemic across Europe. People are starving and crime and lawlessness have taken hold.
You were generally liked and seemed to consider public opinion on almost all the decisions you took.

I am not sure what this 'victory' screen says about the BBC's opinion on European voters, but the combination strikes me as supremely implausible.

By: biffa

biffa — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 06:53:36 -0800

I reduced emissions to almost zero and everyone in the world loves me, including all my voters, despite the fact that Europe is now an economic ruin. Just like sindark I see.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:02:03 -0800

I, too, saved the environment and will be remembered as the most popular president of all time, despite leaving the continent in utter economic ruin. Go me?

By: divabat

divabat — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:13:44 -0800

Add me to the "well loved and saved the earth but am now dirt poor" contingent. Is it always a 2 out of 3 thing - you can achieve two of the goals at the detriment of the third?

By: oddman

oddman — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:34:58 -0800

Well, I helped the earth, but didn't quite save it. I was frustrated by the fact that in the last few rounds I consistently over-produced energy but couldn't export it.

By: sindark

sindark — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:39:03 -0800

oddman, Energy is no problem, but producing food and water without massive emissions seems impossible. This game is not so realistic, despite what they claim on the 'science' page.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:48:26 -0800

from link: "...you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office." This game seemed tough, but it's only part 2. It's not half as hard as part 1, Constitution Challenge, where you had to quell the civil unrest and anger caused by the fact that one man had taken control over dozens of formerly sovereign nations.

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 07:54:06 -0800

Wow, me too. Saved the world, wrecked the economy.

By: leapfrog

leapfrog — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:46:13 -0800

Also, what game were the refs watching? I easily had twice as much money in the bank as when I started and they told me I'd bankrupted the EU. What gives?

By: mr. strange

mr. strange — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:40:37 -0800

leapfrog: Yeah, I know what you mean. I tried playing it again, this time trying to keep my money-bar as low as possible. I speculated that the idea was to take as little money as possible in taxes. It made no difference. I still devastated the economy.

By: IronLizard

IronLizard — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:54:49 -0800

So, it's like that thermonuclear game.

By: nkyad

nkyad — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:08:53 -0800

I wonder if it is possible to keep the economy stable while reducing carbon emission and keeping popularity. Anyway, it seems wise to use "Spin your policies" whenever it is available.

By: bhouston

bhouston — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:36:31 -0800

Environment 86% Wealth 6% Popularity 83%

By: nkyad

nkyad — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 10:39:44 -0800

Interesting but somewhat flawed. I cut all foreign subsidies from the start, but always voted to reduce emissions. Eventually the world saw the light and everyone was voting with me. On the other hand, I ended up with 72% in Environment and an amazing 100% popularity, having nevertheless managed to raise the retirement age to 80, raise taxes here and there, etc. Increasing pensions must have helped a lot. But my Wealth ended up at 6%. The extremists were vastly influent. Since my popularity was absolute, I guess I was the leader of the extremists.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:01:55 -0800

89-12-88. Looks like I'm strictly better than you, bhouston. Also. Ditto what leapfrog said about the economy/wealth.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:55:03 -0800

77/7/88 I feel like Castro.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:28:35 -0800

OK that economy is definitely buggy. I just clicked on the wealth thing to get a graph this last time around and the graph is a steadily rising slope from where you start out and I somehow ended up with 10 for economy.

By: -harlequin-

-harlequin- — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:46:18 -0800

* You left the economy in ruins. Hyper-inflation and joblessness are endemic across Europe. People are starving and crime and lawlessness have taken hold. * You were generally liked and seemed to consider public opinion on almost all the decisions you took. I am not sure what this 'victory' screen says about the BBC's opinion on European voters, but the combination strikes me as supremely implausible. Pretend it's the USA then. George Bush was voted in for a second term despite a very solid record over the previous four years. In only seems implausible if you assume people rate and like leaders based on their job performance, which seems pretty tenuous :)

By: asfuller

asfuller — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:30:50 -0800

Environment 93% Wealth 3% Popularity 50% I never supported fossil fuels or any current model, and balanced energy requirements every other round with something to make the people happy. In the last round, I had to spend alot to decrease the CO2. I can't believe there were never any significant options for food at the local or household level. And organic farming was only big industry.

By: linux

linux — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:24:30 -0800

89/9/93 first time around, and I didn't realise there was a "more cards" button (durrrr). 93/9/100 using more cards. Eco-friendly, extremely popular, but lawless!? Yay.

By: Malor

Malor — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:09:02 -0800

They posit working fusion reactors, but they don't have much effect. If we actually get fusion power working, everything will change.