Propaganda is a tool that some have used very well in the past, I question its value for crushing the morale of enemies, but the right piece at the right time can definitely reinvigorate your own side. It also works as fabulous advertising for your alliance/coalition, because it sits there on youtube and future gamers come across it and get lured in. I've spent many a bored afternoon enjoying watching propaganda videos for eve.
What I've noticed however, is that the majority of videos tend to fall into two categories, either "here's this massive battle that we recorded, look at us win" which is nice and all, but honestly big fleet fights aren't generally that interesting to watch, and you just know that for every "big win" video there's 3-4 utter welps that aren't posted to be watched, propaganda is meant to be one sided, but that knowledge taints it for me.
The other type is the "ever so serious narration with pretty video background" which puts more onus on the verbal content and topic, and these I find considerably more interesting.
Sometimes however, there's a third category, the one I enjoy most of all, where it doesn't take itself seriously, and is just a little fun.
The problem with this third type, is that if your propoganda video isn't taking you seriously, it might be hard to convince others that YOU should be taken seriously, so there's a risk involved, I guess it depends what you're aiming for.
Some examples:
Here's Rooks and Kings: Clarion Call 4, their latest release. Rooks and Kings are a group I admire greatly, they don't do blob warfare, they win (or lose) by skill and tactics rather than by throwing more and more meatshields forward. They've innovated fittings and tactics for years, and almost everybody ever has heard of them. Pipebombing is something many players would love to try, but I've yet to hear an FC outside of Rooks and Kings be willing to go balls-to-the-wall enough to actually do it. Here, a slow, somber voice relays some of the history of the group, It discusses the changes to the world around us, which we can all relate to, then demonstrates the brutal efficiency of a tactic now utterly synonymous with them.
The video, is brilliantly put together, and brings little chills to me every time I watch it.
(Note: long, and contains bad language)
As such, I present an older goonswarm propaganda piece, from 2011. There's better out there, but it demonstrates well their style. Fine out of game graphics helping to punctuate excellent wordplay, If The Mittani ever wrote a speech for a politician, I'm pretty sure they'd get in, the guy has made an utter artform of inspiring speeches and chilling threats. Goons may not be your cup of tea, and thats fine, but appreciate the work and skill that goes behind their videos at least!
And last, but no means least, I present to you one of the latest offerings by "Darkeshi", the coalition of Darkness and Kadeshi. Rather than taking the serious line, the "we're awesome because of x doctrine" or "we're taking your space and your women" line that other propoganda videos hint at, they poke fun at themselves, they have a bit of a laugh. Their golden child FC Pheon Silver is the focus of the video but there's very few missed out in the fun-poking. This propaganda style also requires less effort from those who make it, as it's using existing sound and video, simply with names added.
I'd be very interested to see what Darkeshi could manage as "serious propaganda" but their fun propaganda has certainly brought a smile to my face.
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