Red State/Blue State Politics At Lord of the Rings Online

During some of my leisure time I play Lord of the Rings Online. It's based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe, with orcs, hobbits, elves, dwarves and men all interacting with each other in real time.

Right now a "Summer Festival" has begun in the game, and with it, a division of the players into different factions, which run along the same lines as the red state/blue state political division in the US. These divisions are the result of the Summer Festival "horse race."

During previous festivals the horse race took place in a single location, the town of Bree. This year a second horse race site has been added, in the hobbit-land of The Shire. While at Bree the players treat the horse race as a legitimate horse race, and compete for the chance to win a horse in-game, in The Shire another group of players has decided to act in accordance with blue state principles of egalitarianism/equality of outcome.

What this means is that, in The Shire, the horse races are fixed so that, by simply standing in line long enough, you will be given an opportunity to "race" without competition, so that you are guaranteed to win a horse. This is perceived as "fair," since players who have slow internet connections who otherwise would be unable to compete, have a chance to "win" a horse.

Friction occurs when someone who is not an egalitarian/blue stater comes to The Shire and jumps the queue. This causes all sorts of chat griping by the blue staters, who treat the line-jumper as if (s)he were a criminal of some sort. They talk of their player-made "rules" about queueing for a horse, and about how the game is about "human decency" and "fairness to all." These self-declared makers of rules would enforce them, had they they power and opportunity. Unlike in real life, though, they don't.

I'll point out that The Shire egalitarianism only works because there is an infinite supply of virtual prize horses. If the game developes had announced that the number of horses available was finite, or only available for a single day, there would have been no pretense at "fairness;" it would have been every player for him/herself, and devil take the hindmost.