I am enjoying the rise of video games as political commentary.
It is important to note that "Papers please" was considered the worst case scenario for America. We now must produce driver's licenses for anything, even sporting events.
The guy who wrote Papers, Please, Lucas Pope, has been doing some very creative games-as-political-statements stuff for some time now. He may be the most creative person working along those lines today.
For another example, check out his earlier game, The Republia Times:
(It's free and plays in the browser, no download required)
The storyline there: you're the editor of a newspaper in a totalitarian state. Each day you see the unfiltered newswire, and you have to pick and choose which stories to feature and where to feature them on the paper's front page in order to maximize public support for the regime. It's a delicate dance; completely ignore events that make the regime look bad and you'll lose credibility and readers, but give them too much prominence and you'll drive public support down rather than up.
Oh, and just to make sure your incentives are aligned properly, the regime is holding your family hostage. Fail to get people in line quickly enough and they will all be shot.
Like Papers, Please, it's really a brilliant way to take some pretty simple game mechanics and use them to make a point that sticks in the player's memory.
I appreciated that Republia shows up in Papers, Please. Didn't realize they were the same author.
OT a bit: I remember reading the code and turning my nose up at some of the implementation specifics. But then I remembered that he's the one shipping and getting things done.
I haven't been to a sporting event in decades, but I can tell you that many concerts are starting to require ID in order to pick up tickets at the door. It doesn't matter if you have the receipt in hand, etc. If you don't have an ID that matches the name you're not getting the tickets you paid for months ago.
Still, there is a distinction here: these are all privately owned businesses, and their rules. It's not the government.
I'll do you one better: explain how requiring an ID prevents ticket scalping.
To be honest, I couldn't care less about scalpers. The limit on ticket purchases already do a pretty good job preventing the "I'm going to buy ALL the tickets and resale them for 10% more" business plan. I see no reason a private individual shouldn't be able to resale their ticket for any amount they think they can get for it.
Requiring ID prevents scalping because you have to be the person who paid for the ticket in order to use it.
IIRC my last TicketMaster ticket was transferable - there was a webpage where I could change the name. But presumably if one credit card/IP address transferred the majority of its tickets, you could say with some confidence that that person is a scalper and shut them down.
The limit on purchases is reasonably effective, though.
Can someone tell me what's so bad about this? I don't see what the big deal is about needing identification to function in / move into and out of a developed society. I really don't find it an inconvenience, more of a practicality.
When I buy a ticket to go somewhere it's no one's business to know where I'm going. I don't have the imagination to see how the information can be abused, but the potential is there. If you don't need to know you have no business asking. That's all.
How else do you verify you're who the ticket belongs to? Do you really think the person checking people's IDs memorizes them all to put into some database?
When I buy a bus ticket at the counter with cash to go from here to there it's no one's business to know that I'm even on that bus. But even then they ask for a drivers license.
I find it strange to see people on Hacker News post-Snowden defend the nothing-to-hide mindset.
There should really be no need to know who I am before letting me board an airplane or purchase a beer. What's the practicality, exactly? It certainly doesn't help me.
So you think people should be able to just waltz right onto an airplane without identification? Someone could easily just have their ticket purchased by someone else, use that ticket, and get on the airplane, which would be a security risk. It helps you by helping you not have someone who stole your ticket get on the plane in your place. And how do you expect age restrictions to be enforced without ID? Some people look a lot older or younger than they are.
Yes, I think people should be able to just waltz right onto an airplane without identification. It works great for trains, why not planes? I don't see how the scenario you outlined is a security risk. There are plenty of other, better ways to make stolen tickets unusable.
How do I expect age restrictions to be enforced without ID? I don't. The US's age restrictions on alcohol are stupid and should go away.
Edit: actually, I don't see how the current regime prevents using stolen tickets in the first place. IDs are only checked at security, not when boarding. So you print out a fake boarding pass with your real name and use it to get past security, then use your stolen ticket to board the plane, where they make no effort to ensure that you are the person listed on the boarding pass you present. Easy! Well, until the real passenger shows up with a reprinted boarding pass and wonders why you're in their seat, at which point you get hauled off to jail.
Yes, I think people should be able to get on an airplane without identification. It is a perfect example of a bogus security check which causes hassle for everyone without materially impeding anyone who wants to cause problems.
It is important to note that "Papers please" was considered the worst case scenario for America. We now must produce driver's licenses for anything, even sporting events.