- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Bungie.net represents a relatively benign dictatorship, but the analogy with government is kinda gonna screw up how it functions anyway.
The word 'relatively' and 'benign' are important. Interestingly, at least to me (for professional reasons) is the manner in which power and the influence of cultural capital work to effectively produce not just wide consent, but also to impose an impressive system of unquestioning subservience towards authority. Bear in mind, that's not to imply that mass adherence to the 'party line' (if you will) means a lack of intelligence. In fact, intellectuals and the more educated sectors of any social group are often the most susceptable to deeper levels of indoctrination. The process is age-old, and its manifestation in an online forum is fascinating stuff!
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm more interested in the priesthood and aspiring priesthood than I am the masses.
Finally, it's probably very wise to state here that, as far as moral judegments go, I'm not necessarily opposed to things as they are. I mean, one has to put the thing into context, and this is an online forum for a games developer. As a result, frankly, I don't really have much interest in arguments about the morality or immorality of the entire project. It's simply reflects the organisational base from which the interest in 'community' springs (which is, by definition, a rather narrow sense). That's not to say it's not well-intentioned, or on many occasions very sincere, but merely to acknowledge fundamental aspects of this whole enterprise.