From the Mail Bag

We recently got several questions by e-mail about the nature of the Collapse, as it was presented in A.C.: After Collapse.  Creator Justin Oldham provides the following commentary:

"I grew up during the Cold War.  NATO vs. Warsaw Pact (i.e., USA vs. USSR) was all the rage in books, movies, and television.  At the time, the most common 'theme' was quite often nuclear war.  As much as it was hyped, I still couldn't stop thinking about the other potentials we'd eventually face, especially as the 21st Century got closer.  For most of us born in the mid-point of the 20th Century, the future was all about teh 21st Century.  We had high hopes for it, even though we were still busy with the whole Soviet Union thing."

"As we lived through the 1990's, many things became a little more apparent.  They included the rise of stateless terrorism and the perils of artificial intelligence.  You can add what we now call Climate Change to that roster of risks.  As we laid out the game's architecture, it became clear to most of us that referees could have their choice of a Collapse that began for many reasons.  That's where we got the phrase, a Collapse of many causes."