Custer Stands Down

Day 1,025, 04:30 • Published in USA USA • by George Armstrong Custer

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TL😉R Summary, Up Front:
This article is long. This "TL😉R" bullet list is repeated at the end of it.

:1: I admit to being almost as much of an ass as my detractors.
:2: I'm not going to run for Congress or for AMP Party President.
:3a: I don't give a crap what imagery players use to portray themselves.
:3b: I remain firmly against cyber bullying.
:4: I am disappointed to find the main demographic of players to be so illiterate.
:5: Play the game seriously, don't be played by the serious gamers.

Dateline: Friday September 10 (Day 1025)
Location: Marshall Space Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Reporter: George Armstrong "Old Man" Custer


:1: You've seen this before
It's usually at or near the bottom of my paper, today it's the main topic if this edition of Custer's Stand.

What kind of game do you play, what kind of players do you like to align yourself with?
What kind of leaders do you want, what kind of leadership do you expect of them?
What kind of country do you want to "live" in and play for?

Not speaking from some "holier than thou" position, I've succumbed to the pressures and conditions of the game and have become just another of the very same assholes I have been so intent on calling on their own ill mannered behavior.
While I have not stooped to cheating or taking advantage of game mechanics, I have fallen down the hole of slandering my adversaries-- not so much on purpose, more out of ignorance (too lazy to fact check before accusing), but the motives don't change the facts.. and I'm no longer in a position to claim absolute righteousness in the battle of words.
To my friends and supporters, I sincerely apologize.
To my adversaries, nothing... taste a little bit of what you so freely dish out, and choke on it.



:2: Retiring From Politics
I played Soldier for a year before even considering playing the Politics aspect of eRepublik. I bought me a political Party (40 Gold is a lot of saved up wages!) and developed a sort of Mission Statement, gathered some support for a couple months and finally ran for Congress.
I ran three times, I won three times-- without the organized support of a large Party or a bloc of voters at my command.
I participated in Congress, contributing to Discussion threads and IRC chats and voting-- whether in agreement or against the tide, whether or not my contribution was appreciated.

It's been fun, I've gotten to see a side of this game I had always wondered about. I admit I played it all wrong and failed miserably. It's possible-- no, quite likely-- that the very same ideas and contributions I offered which were rejected may have been received a lot better had I not gone in like gangbusters.. Definitely things would have worked out better if I had not taken on the "power elite" head on and basically alone. It didn't help any to find that the enemies I had made through my newspaper were in great numbers and key positions in Congress.
I earned every bit of the "Don Quixote" moniker I was tagged with.

So I'll take it, to whatever degree of success or failure, as an experience in game and in life, and move on.
I won't be running for Congress come Sept 25-- this does not mean I will never run for Congress again, just not any time soon. I'll say my goodbyes and thank you's in a later article, closer to the end of this current term.
I won't be running for American Military Party President, either. I don't possess the organizational skills required to move this Party along, I've not only outlived my usefulness, I've become a liability to it. I am working on replacing myself, but win lose or draw come Sept 15 I'm out of this office.

For all my loving political adversaries-- the political Party with whom I've feuded, its members and leadership, the individuals of other Party affiliation who have joined the "troll patrol" and have had their turns in the Custer Kickfest.. you're welcome to call this a victory.
You have successfully pressured me to quit playing the political aspect of eRepublik, you have made this part of the game no fun for me, and you have (at the end of this term) successfully removed me from one voting seat in Congress. Savor the hollow victory, march around your bonfires and poke my burning effigy with pointy sticks, this day is yours.



: 3: For Your Amusement
I challenged a certain group of players on their cyber bullying tactics. They happen to have chosen a universally offensive model for their self-identity, emulating an unequivocal historical villain to a tee.
While the taking of this insane paperhanging pedophile as a model is reprehensible it is not against game rules, as long as the imagery and nomenclature are very carefully utilized in game, and off game references can be absolutely specific and exact without violating game rules.

But things went off track.. while my intention has been to focus on the cyber bully tactics employed, my pointing out the correlation to their chosen imagery's RL street thug bully tactics became the focus of discussion.
The ability to spin the reporting of events, to bend the truth, to cut the corners of the rules without breaking them.. to even break rules without being caught.. are skills that crooks and lowballers hone to perfection and employ with perfection.

It's a fact of life, an un-proud condition of the human element, that if something is said loud enough and long enough it will be believed as truth. The power of the media in eRepublik lies not in the ability to present truth, but in the ability to overwhelm the market with like-minded voices. A companion fact to the one stated above, is one known in Marketing circles, that "bad word spreads farther and faster than good." One unhappy customer can breed some pretty destructive discontent throughout the market, but happy customers pretty much stay quiet. And so we see this in eRepublik, where "gang-trolling" a writer's paper consistently with accusations and personal attacks can-- and has-- destroyed that player's reputation and thus their enjoyment of the game. And the "happy customers" play on around the mess, not desirous of the stress and discomfort of confronting the aggressors lest they themselves should become targets.

:a: Let me make this clear... and frankly I don't care who understands this as I say it or who manages to spin this to some other meaning: If players want to identify themselves with imagery, and use nomenclature and employ political game mechanics tactics, which associate themselves with RL historical scum, then fine by me.

😛: My objection is to the cyber bullying tactics and that's all.
(Ctrl+click to read this article when you're done here)

To the cyber bullies, no matter your game country nationality or Party affiliation:
It's clear that any opinion that isn't in line with yours is wrong, and anyone who dares to not back down is to be marked as a fag, retard, traitor and enemy of the state, and that there is a sizable following-- organized or not, doesn't matter-- who will come out in force for a street thug kickfest to put down the offending dissenter.
To me this represents a sad testament to the condition of our society, the state of our youth-- the main demographic of this game's players, the majority of those engaged in this type of game play-- that such head space and behavior has become the accepted norm.

Now that I've been kicked till I'm down (public perception, reputation ruined) then kicked some more till I'm dead (political career ended) let's watch these thugs continue to kick a dead man.
That'll very clearly illustrate and prove my point, but they'll do it anyways. Question is, will it resonate with enough people, to remember these people as their names come up running for office and supporting candidates of a similar mindset?

And the general population watches and cheers like it's a show being put on for their amusement.
Which brings me to my next segment.



:4: Burning Bridges?
From the Comments of my Sept 7 article:
Zheng He: "Custer's problem is he expects all readers to use that soft stuff between their ears ... unfortunately, MANY DO NOT, and thus do not understand what he says."
CHS: "Wow, so you think many Americans are stupid. Hmmm, I hope you won't be running for office because insulting the players won't get you any votes. I think Americans are AWESOME and I promise they can read and comprehend just fine."

Sorry, my dear Cold Hearted friend, I'm afraid you've misinterpreted brother Zheng He's message. At least, if not the meaning then the numbers. "Many do not..." is not "most do not..."
But you do have the intent spot on. Apparently they don't teach language skills like they did when I was in school. Sometimes I use metaphors (sometimes bad, but recognizable) or colloquialisms that throw people. More often I use expressions familiar to my generation, which is represented in this game by a very small percentage of players, so my meaning is lost in the obscurity of my manner of expression. Most confusing to many readers are compound sentences, this one being an example of same, containing two or more related ideas separated by commas or sometimes a semicolon. Compound sentences require the reader to slow down and comprehend each segment and then run all segments together for an overall understanding; this thought process is apparently too much for some readers... many readers. Too many.

Many just don't understand what I'm trying to say, even before we get to whether or not they agree, then whether or not they can express their disagreement in a civil manner. Higher language and advanced civilized behavior are not practiced so much in RL anymore, and even less on the "anything goes" internet, and apparently not at all in the world of internet social network gaming.

I expect more of people in general, and I shouldn't.. I should know better. It goes back to an old psych lesson I've long taught and forgot, and now I have to learn all over again-- "accept, don't expect," which means that people are gonna be however they are, like it or not, and to not expect them to be any different or for them to change.
I am sorely disappointed in humanity in general, most specifically the players in this game..
But for a very, very few, and Zheng He is one of them, I would not care to have nearly any of the eRep players I've encountered as neighbors, much less sit down to a meal with them. I don't have people in my life like most I've encountered here, and do not enjoy playing with them even with the relative safety of separation of having the internet between us.

If you feel like I'm making this statement about you and are offended, then it probably is directed to you. If you become indignant, proclaiming yourself to be right and righteous, or above such personal judgement, then this statement is definitely directed to you.

Damn, this is a long article! Depending on your reading speed you may have run out of music by now.
Anyways, here's a really nice tune to get you through the last bit of text: (Ctrl+click)

:5: It's Up to You, America
I'm not cut out for politics, at least not how it's played here in this game. As I said at the beginning of this article-- it's an aspect of the game I hadn't tried, I tried it, and because I worked it against the grain from the git start I had a hard time all the way and ultimately failed at it.

Yet I will continue to encourage anyone with an interest in guiding the future of our country to give it a try. Talk to your own political Party President or representative about opportunities-- every Party needs Blockers in every election, and every Party could use help within its structure.
I especially encourage soldiers to think about their commitment to America, and see if they might double it by also serving in Congress. Most branches of the military allow soldiers to hold political office, check with your Commander to see what your branch allows. The American Military Party President will help you transfer to a more politics-friendly branch if yours has a zero tolerance policy.

Of course it's not all about serving in Congress, or gaining a Presidential Cabinet position, or working for your Party.
It's about voting-- every time, all three elections every month. Voter apathy is telling those who do serve that you don't much care what they do, how they set taxes, whether we have war or who we make alliances with. Not voting new people in is allowing the same old players continue to run the game like it's their own, and you're not a player but a pawn being played.
It's about speaking up, speaking out.. in your newspapers and in the forums and in IRC, and especially in Comments to newspaper articles. When arrogant elitists shout that the status quo is fine and you know damn well it's not; when personality cultists pitch quasi-fascism and call it nationalism; when international villains sell patriotism to newbies to boost their own numbers; when crackpots like me go off half cocked without all their facts straight... it's up to you to call 'em on their bullshit.
Try to be civil and literate as you do so, and show basic societal respect to other players.

Play the game... play the game seriously, don't be played by the serious gamers.


TL😉R Summary Redeux:
For the short attention spanners among us, and for those who I expect to twist what I've said in order to make their lies the last and most memorable words readers see, here's the bullet points of this article repeated from the very top.

:1: I admit to being almost as much of an ass as my detractors.
:2: I'm not going to run for Congress or for AMP Party President.
:3a: I don't give a crap what imagery players use to portray themselves.
:3b: I remain firmly against cyber bullying.
:4: I am disappointed to find the main demographic of players to be so illiterate.
:5: Play the game seriously, don't be played by the serious gamers.



The American Military Party
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George Armstrong "Walt" Custer
US Congressman (3x)
American Military Party Founder, past President
US Cavalryman, PFC Trooper
US National Guardsman, retired
Australian Drop Bear, retired
USArmy Major General, retired

It's all in your head.
:::