A New Dawn Rises

Day 2,575, 12:17 • Published in United Kingdom USA • by Jude Conners

I'm Jude Conners and I want to talk to you about something.

I was recently in a war of words in a mass message with one of those "eRep is srs bsns" types. That player was arguing that blacklists from citizenship and labeling a player as an "Enemy of the State" was a justified course of action. In fact, the protagonist of the conversation believed that playing the game as a "srs bsns" player was the only noble and patriotic way of playing this game. I could only shake my head after trying... and failing... to show him or her the error in that way of thinking. I find myself wondering, "Whatever happened to good old fashioned mindless fun in a game?" Apparently, the idea that a game is supposed to be played for fun is a concept lost to many players today. In my frank and honest opinion, that's pretty sad.

Meta Rules > Game Mechanics
The Great Commandment of the "srs bsns" player seems to be Meta Rules > Game Mechanics. These types of players believes that only they and their affiliated society of like-minded adherents have the supreme intellect to decide the direction of their imaginary nation. Only they will lead their fictional land to victory against all others. Without them, and the ideological rules they instill in the meta game, the theoretical country would be lost. In short, they are better than not only the game in which they play itself, but also all who disagree with their dogmatic structure.

Is The Fun Gone?
So is the mindless fun of playing this game gone? Each and every community in eRepublik has been seeing a downward spiral in their membership for years now, with the more fanatical communities experiencing the largest exoduses. Once bustling IRC channels are now barren wastelands where you might catch an occasional conversation. Forums are being used less each and every day. The once mighty central hubs of the all-powerful meta game faithful are slowly but surly deteriorating into a struggling institution of a smaller congregation battling tooth and nail to hold on to their fictitious power.

Is It Already Too Late?
We see articles lamenting the approaching death of the game regularly. Players remembering "the good ole days" fill the shout feeds. The few conversations that take place in IRC seem to be old players reminiscing the days of eRepublik V-1. The facts prove that the game and communities are dying. Most players that have been around for years and are still left are just waiting for the apocalypse.

An eRevelation
It doesn't have to be this way, friends. We can still get joy from this game and lay the groundwork for a positive future. Get together with like-minded individuals and have some fun. Create your own communities. Quit letting a few people run players away. Get crazy. Challenge authority. Do whatever you can to bring some excitement back into the game. Hell, run for Country President if you must... Just do something that will get your community active and fun.

My Joyful Plan
Not to be a hypocrite and just complain about things, I have taking the first of many steps to bringing activity to my little portion of the game. Today, I purchased a military unit and am opening it to anyone in any nation that seeks to have fun once again. Named JOY DIVISION, it is an Ideal for Living - a new international military unit looking to bring fun back to the New World. Free of the imaginary boundaries of mock nations, JOY DIVISION will be open to anyone with a military rank of Captain or above, helpful, informative, welcoming, and fun. Members will have the choice to commune for supplies or be a self-sufficient member. There will be no ranking system other than the in-game ranks of Unit Commander, 2nd Commander, and Regimental Captain. This will be a planned community with a utopian outlook.

Your Own Movement
I'm not asking you to jump over and drink my Kool-Aid. If you want to join JOY DIVISION, feel free... you are welcomed to be a participant. If not, start your own movement. Do your own thing. But as I said earlier, DO SOMETHING!
BRING THE JOY BACK!!!

As always, it's been your pleasure.

Listen to the Magic Carpet Ride with Jude Connors - LIVE every Friday Night 19:00-22:00 eRepublik time on RadioStar.FM. You'll be glad you did!