>>6236314>LIFE or DEATH, Freudian Eros / Thanatos Death Instinct human motivation etc, >high threat scenarios, why not just cosy / comfort simulation all the time? (womb world lol)(Thank you RQM for your lore explanations on the virtual Digital World - that was very helpful background understanding for me!)
So I think in the two examples you gave for business management simulations or a comedy setting etc, the so-called Freudian "Death Instinct" distress scenarios would be SUBLIMATED, ie expressed in a manner fitting to the genre.
For a commerce game, "Death" could be bankruptcy or insolvency, or say a catastrophic accident burning down the firm, loss of a commercial license or a competitor hostile takeover or something etc.
Similarly I have a long list of "Death substitutes" this is compiled from the dreaded pbta games and their complications lol but basically these are the things a dungeonmaster can threaten which fall short of outright killing or incapacitating or maiming players lol, inconveniences like
-you must reveal something about yourself, vulnerability or disadvantage to the enemy
-a friend is placed in danger
-you must leave something behind
-a countdown is triggered
-an ally betrays you and sides with an enemy
(obviously this list changes with the genre and setting etc)
generally if you need to invoke "a threat" ie that Freudian Death Instinct thing, you can attack resources other than just the hero or his physical body parts ie the WFRP your limb is severed! etc, you basically operate along dimensions of
-limit hero ability to act
-affect hero emotional sphere
-affect hero social relationships
-affect hero self perception
-affect hero physical condition
-limit time available to hero
-limit resources available
-place constraint on hero
-insinuate doubt in hero's mind
etc. So this is what I mean by the "sublimated Death Instinct" high threat action environment from the GM side.
It seems the Death Instinct thing is pretty negative, why can't we just live in the happy Eros / Love Instinct / womb world all the time?
They are conjoined, because the motivation behind the Love Instinct is to create social bonds necessary for SURVIVAL (ie the civilisation, relationships laws that act to constrain individual wanton satiation of desire through violence, rape etc) absent the HIGH THREAT / violence, DEATH INSTINCT impulses, there is actually no need to form deep and meaningful social bonds in the desperate struggle to survive. This intensity demonstrates how the SEX and DEATH impulses are interconnected
