Natural Enemies, you say?
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by Rigour6
Tolstoy wrote (yep, you read that right, we’re starting with a Tolstoy quote – that should separate the sheep from the goats a bit earlier than usual) that
it is easier to produce ten volumes of philosophical writing
(only ten? Lazy.)
than to put one principle into practice.
But surely one should try.
This is a game,
and games are about abstraction
but this is also a simulation
and simulations are about verisimilitude.
It is about looking at something and seeing the real in it.
For some time now I have bemoaned the lack of principled play.
I am not speaking about cheating.
I am speaking about playing with some sort of consistent set of values behind your in-game decisions.
I am speaking about taking individuals and providing them with enjoyment and satisfaction in shared adventures and common purpose.
Without such a common cause, any life (real or imaginary) is shallow, lonely, and hollow.
How many factories can a player have before it’s just ho-hum? How many medals? How much wealth or fame?
As the Good Book says, “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he loses his soul?”
If Canada and the US were fighting over some broader issue, it might be a fight worthy of these two great nations.
But to pull our nations into conflict over these puffed-up slights is a sign of immaturity all around.
If we want to do this as a friendly contest, fair enough:
I wish we would do it the way God intended (in a hockey rink) but sure, we can do it here too.
Question: what does a fight between an elephant and a mouse resolve as to - what was it again, exactly?
Who was right about what, now?
If ever a conflict lacked for a clean and inspiring casus belli, this one sure does.
If only this was about creating a supernation so that Canadians could enjoy 100/100.
Or Manifest Destiny.
But alas, no.
This isn’t Nave’s Toe anymore. Toenail, maybe. Or Toenail Clipping, more like it.
I would be tempted to invoke more such reductio ad absurdi,
but US and Canada as NE is definitionally its own reductio ad absurdum.
If ever two nations on earth had less reason to fight, I’d like to know which two they were.
This is what happens when orienteering is practiced
without a compass,
without principle,
based on vicissitude,
personal whim,
ego.
It is pretty thin gruel, my brothers, even for our trumped-up make believe eworld.
It holds as much as interest for me as the Real Housewives shows, and for a lot of the same reasons.
N by NE, Volume 8, Number 1
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Comments
Well put, old friend!
indeed.
omg i'm turning into Funky lol
In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful.
But you know that the Americans would have insisted that it be settled on a basketball court & not on an ice rink, especially in these temperatures. 😛 😛
My personal view is that the whole scenario reeks pervasively of an R&R set up. No doubt in some irc backroom, R&R & their shill Code-Y, who plays his role to perfection, are having a good laugh, along with another couple of key player engineers, especially as the blocks just seemed to fall into place with very little effort on their part.
With the multi situation in eRep, it's not really surprising that it's so reminiscent of JB.
If ever an American CP was the target of an ehit, this is a perfect example of what looks to be a successful attempt, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. But given the surprising amount of anti-American rhetoric being spewed by many "military" minds, including by some "top" players, who themselves have been banned in the past for multi'ing among other reasons, it would seem that no amount ...
... of rational thinking by less vocal players, will turn the tide set against him.
It's really unfortunate for Evry, as one of the most experienced, well-versed, reasoned minds, with the support team that he had assisting him, to help breathe some new life into this game, to have it slip away like this. I feel sorry for him, the team & especially for the babies. o7
C'est la vie.
Indeed...though I still have a special place in my heart for Ezekiel 25:17
Punisher 1389 "omg i'm turning into Funky lol"
^ Please don't.
Sorry for the spammage Rigour. o7
No, good points all.
You put your finger on it in a way I failed to: without a clearly expressed casus belli, there cannot help to be suspicion that this is some sort of phoney exercise, in which the "big" players are having their laughs, but the "ordinary" players are being taken for a ride. Not exactly the sort of exercise which builds esprit de corps or induces player retention.
"playing with some sort of consistent set of values behind your in-game decisions."
For some time now the only consistent value our government up here has expressed is: What does me the best? Not the country, not the party, themselves. It's not that surprising when they look on themselves as a dictatorship and others are willing to follow them blindly. Our population is dropping and dropping yet they continue and somehow think they are improving the country.
As Coffin put it "Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."
Sadly, where one might hope that the "elite" level players would see themselves as stewards of the game, instead more often they are bored narcissists. All Caligula and no Constantine.
how did I miss reading this when it first came out...grrrr
leftovers can be good too
"This is what happens when orienteering is practiced
without a compass
without principle
based on vicissitude
personal whim
ego"
I'd be okay with an ego-trip if there was a planned destination. But there ain't.
Big huff'an'a puff'an'a blow this whole thing over for the heck of it
Stupidity is frustrating. Worse when it is cheered en masse. But they have grown quieter as of late Instead enjoy pointing fingers in wrong directions at enemies they could have so easily had as allies