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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sette P ne la fronte mi descrisse
col punton de la spada, e «Fa che lavi,
quando se’ dentro, queste piaghe» disse.

Cenere, o TERRA che secca si cavi,
d’un color fora col suo vestimento;
e di sotto da quel trasse due chiavi
~~Purgatorio, Canto IX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Article song: “Full Circle” off of Dark Eyes by Half Moon Run

(if someone finds the words, please let me know ~ they sing a bit too fast for my ear to catch…so not sure if the song’s about an exorcism or how to pare fruit…)

Here’s my best shot at its lyrics:
1. “Got off early at the back of the church,
Feel the water on your brow, if it’s healing it hurts.
And first a sharpish pain that returns as a thought
That the needle in your skin will bring you closer to God.”


I thought I’d open with something heard over the radio yesterday that’s been running through my head as I write this article. Or rather, rewrite it. Last week it began as a draft about the ‘classes’ of eRep citizens and how the playing styles are now much limited from before when people would branch off into different 'careers/pathways' that would be complemented by the play of players filling in other roles. Basically, I was wondering if there still remained a ‘political class’ that would responsibly guide the management of the team on behalf of other players that either clicked their way through the days, or focused their energies on other avenues of the game, such as the military module/MU development, media/social venues like IRC/forum, or overseeing businesses. So here’s the only bit from “A Plebeian Plea” piece that’s still relevant for now:
~~~~~~~
“When complaining about the current state of affairs (from an EPC perspective), I’ve come across the common counter-argument, “Get involved and fix it yourself.” The claim seeming to be that by not being in Congress and active on the forums that a player is not engaged in making change. So I’d like to ask, “What is the threshold for ‘being active’?” Not everyone can be CP, nor can even a majority of players be Congressmen at the same time, and there even reaches a point on the forums when too many voices drown out the message.

So, is there a balance to be found between the different roles in an eSociety? Can’t I ‘be active’ in advocating for change by writing articles, commenting in the media, and responding in shout threads among friends?

Or, does ‘being active’ only count when you occupy an Executive position, become involved in IRC wheeling-dealing, attend Congress discussions on the forums, and keep track of the goings-on across a half-dozen political party and MU forums. If so, then ‘being active’ accrues a high cost of remaining on top of things and providing input at all the levels possible in this game.

Because it is a game. Not a lifestyle. But ‘being active’ in a way that does any apparent good seems to require a full-time commitment to a part-time hobby. Surely there has to be a middle-ground where the semi-engaged and fully active can meet.”
~~~~~~~~~~

A semi-immersed player like me needs someone to get the work done that I don’t have the time to do, just like I need the military-minded players to sort out the strategies. I don’t mind relying on you if you don’t feel I’m slacking or that you take advantage of the trust that comes with it. It’s an exchange of lending you our support for the work you put in on our behalf. There are not many rewards for the headache at the top, so the high turn-over rate comes as no surprise. But I like to hope that there is a political class I can rely on.


2. “Our hope is with a copy in a medical text,
It’s too easy knowing nothing, going off the rest,
And the riddles in the pages are too much to guess,
And the worry cracks a fracture from your hip to your chest.”


The musical theme of that “plea” article was supposed to have been ‘moving on,’ with reference to Canada’s favourite German shepherd TV star, who ‘keeps going down the road that never seems to end.’ Unexpectedly, I’ve failed to do just that (move on) and have instead come full circle back to eCan, again. Did I expect to? Not at all. My ‘escape’ plan may have been a failure from the start…mainly because eCanada is a habit, or rather, clicking on the eRepublik News link in the Favourites menu is the habit. I should have changed the link to eUS media if I was really serious, in retrospect.

Plus, there are the shouts. I can’t shut off the ones from eCanada without removing people from the friends list, so that was just another of the 12 steps that I failed to take.

Then there is Northraider who greeted me at the Citizenship Screening area. As he removed his latex gloves for a full-on elbow embrace, returning started to feel like the right thing to do for mending the EPC-Loyalist rifts. Admittedly, it was a bit awkward with his metal-detector wand jabbing into my thigh.

However, the main cause for my failed resolve at exile was the Captains of Industry, who kept ‘it’ in my veins. Completing the DO wasn’t the hook; rather, it was the sense of not wanting to let down Dereck Ryan, the CoI Commander. He’s done a great job of taking things in hand, without need for a slap on the back. Plus, Goran, Rearden, and klompicirani are regiment Captains whose dedication makes a guy want to return some of the same. So, I’m hoping the Daily Order Rewards program I’m setting up can give back what they’ve been so willing to provide. Way to pull me back in, guys. ; )

Now of course, the Mia Movement hastened the return. If I kept clicking on the media link every other hour, reading the shouts, and checking in with the MU, I would have been drawn back nonetheless (not easy kicking the eCan habit). Except, I think the relapse would have been weeks or a few months later, for reasons other than gambling on a snowball’s chance in Norsefire.

Granted, the ‘multi’ mystery doesn’t help the cause. Possibly, the denouement may undo the momentum. But I like to imagine that there’s chance of return to a place that matters more than the stuff we can’t let go off again and again.


3. “We got Lost in the travels in a spiritual book,
Miss the pictures from Nirvana and the way that they look,
And the crooks they run the island, killing to keep her in,
An inverted sentence in the past of eCan, yeah that seems to be workin’.
Is that the best that I can do?”


I have no idea if Mia will be the ‘keel’ to help right this listing ship of state or just another revolutionary flight of fancy to go swirling down the drain. The vote on the 15th will be a good poll on how far a message can spread in the media.

I’ll say that there was one thing Mia said in a PM thread that caught my attention, as it indicated there is a view beyond the election, though there is much yet to be seen what shape will come from these rough figures drawn in the san😛

“I know, as I progress in this game, I'll be tainted, it's going to happen, I will get myself in a strange predicament, a no-win situation, and I can only hope I treat it with honor and class and dignity. If I'm upfront and honest with people, and if I believe I acted honorably, I can live with the repercussions.

And so you know, I want this party, should I win, to be my baby. I don't plan on running for Congress any time soon. Don't count on President Mia for a long time. I want to use this party as a microcosm for the country, and if I can implement the things I talk about on a party level and I'm successful at it, not only will the party rock and the members excel, but other parties will copy, because success breeds copycats. The makeup of the goverment would inherently change because the parties have changed."


Can’t say I believe this is the start of something new, yet in combination with Sperry’s new efforts, there seems reason to be optimistic. Nevertheless, to be honest, someone like me is better off in the eUS, where there is a larger pool of leaders to learn from and support. Perhaps I’m a follower, though I’d rather consider my efforts as ‘enabling’ or just plain supporting the one I think will do all the lengthy hours of work on the forum, IRC, and PMs. Yet even so, if on the 16th the movement falters, or in a month the new upward cycle loses its steam, there’s no point of me going into exile. I’m too set in my ways to learn the in-and-outs of another team, figure out the names, faces, and associated histories. Political landscapes and MU dynamics of another country feel like too much sort through when you’re aiming for quiet retirement on the backburner.

Should Norsefire persist, or just the typical culture of one-upping the other, I’ll take to the backstage where effort used to develop the Captains of Industry will have small and steady benefits, so long as there is a country left to manage it in, and a government that has not ruined what has so far been a rather efficient and balanced MU funding plan (or at least it was when I started writing this article yesterday, and the treasury wasn’t empty).



I think I’ll end this meandering article with a nearly non-relevant story:

Back in the days of 386DXs, I used to boot up Simcity off of 3 1⁄2-inch floppy disk and devote a stupid amount of time setting up residential blocks, zoning for business districts, and hooking it all up with utilities and roads. Then came the long haul of balancing growth, expenses, and income as buildings came and went, or slowly developed to the stage of profitability. The tediousness would then be broken by budget crises, disgruntled citizens, a plane crash, or the dreaded earthquake.

Cleaning up the mess would prove to be the better fun than keeping a metropolous finely tuned. When a city finally became too big or too dull, I’d select a random array of disasters to befall the digital denizens of ‘Somewhereville,’ then watch the mess unfold to the point where it seemed a point of no return. Some of the fun was seeing if it was possible to recover from a nuclear meltdown with unchecked wildfires, since the fire dept. had no funding. Yet, even disaster gets tedious, so it was time to turn it off or restart another ‘Heresville’ from scratch.

eRepublik was not designed to be a Simcity, at least not before it went Farmville. There’s no way to reset the blueprint or even effectively repair certain broken parts. In fact, you can’t even specifically diagnose what the problem might be. The only Sim-papers that alert you to civic dysfunction are made by other players, perhaps as equally perplexed as you.

What I’d really like is a new start. A way to go back to what it was like first entering eRepublik and being amazed by the grand design of the whole game, with its citizen-run companies in an organic environment, escorted along by an evolving political-economy made apparent through each of our newspapers. I know you can’t recapture the amazement of opening that first citizen account or the innocence of feeling lost in the maze of feuding factions. There may never be a time when Father’s Sins in War of Contrition are won to let dark purgatory brows be purified. But I like to believe that things can be set back to a time before the trenches were dug.

Until that happens, I can settle for completing DOs, updating spreadsheets, flinging together an article about this nonsense, reading the media and clicking for food. It’s not necessary to have more than a bot to buy all my stuff or a battle to waste hundreds of rations for some points on a profile. Things keep rolling on whether we change a government, elect a new administration, pay less or more taxes, and click on a ballot. I don’t need a big brother to set up a law to keep others in order or show me how to behave. But though in the end I know that this a game about wasting dollars and hours, yet there could be a point I’m probably missing.


So eCanada,
4. “You look guilty even though you look so deceived,
And the sparks are always flying because you drink for relief.
With the heart of a child and the wit of the Fool,
It’s a wonder why I don’t try to put a wall around you.
Nothing to do but watch as your head turns full circle.”

(because you certainly do keep mine spinning)