The Assertion of the Individualist

Day 2,030, 12:33 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by Arjay Phoenician III

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This is a philosophical article, and it isn’t for everybody. Just click on Bea Arthur and ask her what she thinks:



The great philosophical argument in my grandfather’s time was, game mechanics versus roleplay. Should your focus in playing eRepublik be all about your country and your alliance “winning”, or should it be playing the game with some sense of virtue or emotion? Are you a cog in the war machine, or can you aspire to something greater, for better or for worse?

At the end of the day, the argument was muddle😛 Yes, we all are roleplayers, but yes, we all need to understand and conform to game mechanics if anyone is to get anywhere, be they individuals or nations. We all see ourselves as badasses in whatever field we pursue, but the only real way you can prove yourself to be a badass is through hard work, paying your dues, pledging allegiance, jumping through hoops, and being in the right place at the right time.

While the citizens of the world just mashed the argument together and walked away, the admins solved it for us. By slowly turning this into almost exclusively a war game, the admins passively enforced conformity upon us all. By allowing aspects of the game to wither and die as they promoted perpetual warfare, they limited our options. Gone are the days where you could make a reputation for yourself primarily as an entrepreneur, the business module has been completely diluted. You cannot make a fortune using the economic module as you could once upon a time, the currency rates have been sabotaged. It was hard enough for an individual to make it as a writer back in the day, in most cases you had to either be in the elite of an elite nation, or you had to do tricks that gained you votes and subscribers without them ever reading the quality of your work; nowadays, journalism is tied to citizenship, which nearly kills one’s ability to create a newspaper with worldwide appeal.



While a good part of this has to do with the nature of the game—as some sought to take advantage of loopholes and try to break the game, others would complain loudly about it and force the admins to change the interface—most of this has to do with the realization that we all, like it or not, are soldiers before we are anything else.

Not citizens. Not souls. Not even people.

We’re soldiers, and by definition, we are to take orders from our superiors and shut up. Our measure in this world is based on battle damage. While alliances shift and inept leaders shuffle the deck over and over, you are expected to be obedient. Hail your flag on cue, hate the enemy-du-jour without thinking of how they became the enemy, do your daily routine, and if you have any interest beyond that, give it to your military unit or political party.

After giving so much of your time and energy and wealth (and possibly a few real-life bucks), what is in it at the end of the day for you? A few medals and an occasional pat on the back? Camaraderie with the buddies in your unit and party after a day of conformity? What is it that makes you stand out from the other quarter-million eRepublikans?

Most aren’t going to understand why I question all this. Most are pretty content with being part of a team, rising and falling within that construct, and if you’re one of them, more power to you. I am in no position to criticize you as a person for making personal choices, such as they are.



But there are others out there who, from time to time, ask themselves, is this all there is? Does it really matter if I’m here? I give up so much to my party and unit and country and alliance, what is left for me? Am I really happy being a pawn for others higher up on the ladder to manipulate? Are there other things in this world besides just racking up battle damage and groupthink?

This is a discussion that has been going on since this world was born. All I wish to do is shift it a little and promote the individual instead of the collective. I wish to explore this world as my own singular entity, unique in my own desires, making friends based not on their in-game or real-life nationality, but by the content of their character. I wish to understand the wars of the world, not in the generic us-versus-them alliance paradigm, but in and of themselves, and pick which battles are worth fighting from my own sense of right and wrong, not just because the MoD tells me to. I wish to spend my time on IRC, not making contacts that will serve me on a political level, and certainly not to talk shop, but to foster worthwhile relationships that will enrich my experience. I want to find others who believe they themselves are masters of their own destiny, they themselves are not slaves to the great war machine, they themselves are trying to break out of the box, embrace themselves for their own sakes, and become liberated.



The discussion will continue, because I believe in the philosophy of individuality, and I wish to define it, promote it, and find others who are also liberated. I truly believe, in my heart of hearts, individuality is the antithesis of game mechanics. Individuality can rot any party or unit or even country or alliance from the inside, and I want to watch it happen. I want us all to put on backpacks and explore the desolation of this world once the individual asserts himself. It would be more powerful than all the armies of trolls that scour the landscape, all the PTO artists, all the conventional militaries, all the meddling admins, and all the power brokers, because once you step up and say I AM SOMEBODY, and you believe it in your gut, no force of game nature can make you conform again.



This game is not about damage and medals. It’s about finding your unique place in this world. It’s about seeing yourself as yourself, first and foremost, and everything else is secondary. It’s about meeting your friends at a pub on IRC at the end of the day and talking trash to the waitresses. It’s about chatting with someone from another country until three in the morning because you’ve suddenly become fascinated. It’s about identity and finding new ways to declare it. It’s about falling in love with a beautiful girl and creating a new life together that has its own unique possibilities.

Yes, the exterior life, the political posturing, the relentless warmongering, they’re important, they have their place. But the individualist believes it is the pursuit of his interior life, his innervisions, his own expressions, that makes life in eRepublik worth while.




Belfast Lough Times: Issue #21