Join the new world

...and that's why I've gotta leave them.



A Quick History Lesson
Back when I first got involved in this game, the top party was the USWP and the American Advancement Party. Those were the two major players and I wanted to be a part of something big. As a new player in a world like this, you come into it with a certain amount of mysticism and wonder. I remember legitimately researching the differences between the USWP and the AAP. The USWP was the mainstay, the big dogs, the zombies on the block. The AAP were newcomers, upstarts, who were here and being led by interesting minds.


_{We'll get back to this.}

I remember spending a couple of days deliberating on the decision. I wanted to start out on the right foot. I knew I wanted to be involved with the major party (who doesn't) and I wanted to get started right. So, after two days of thinking, I joined the USWP.

I mention this because it's key to understanding what I have done politically over the course of four years of the game.

I did nothing as USWP. It was clunky and uncommunicative. And so I looked around and studied more and one day ended up in SEES.


_{In Dio Veritas.}

For those of you who never experienced SEES in it's hey day: you missed out. SEES was this single greatest party this nation has ever seen and there is no debating it. Emerick, Krems, Hamilton, Glove, Rainy Sunday; some of the greatest minds and coolest people were in it. And Chickensguys was pretty cool too. It was the proverbial shit.

But I still didn't feel at home. The big party had ignored me, and SEES was way too cool for a halfling like me. I still needed a home.

And then, one day, SEES joined a small and relatively still burgeoning party in order to prevent an ATO. Their members moved to the United Independents Party as a sort of refugee deal. And while we all were still just SEES members in another party, I took the time to get to know our hosts.

And I liked them. And they became my friends. And when SEES called time to move back to their party in game, I stayed in the UIP.

Because I'd found home.


_{They were pretty gay.}

I had a great time in the UIP and I'm still friends with most of the people who had been in it. It was the most active I was ever in the game, and I had the most fun. Nothing else in this game has ever equaled the experiences I had with that party.

I went on to be Party President 2 times. And consequently burn the party to the ground. But that tale is for another time. While I was watching the flames fall around me, I wondered. Because I have Party Wanderlust. It's a condition, and you all know how it goes: you want to try something new. And there again I was faced with a choice: USWP or Feds.

I had been Libertarian briefly, I had been SEES and UIP. But I was bored. I had hit walls. And so I the choice was between USWP (still relatively strong and with friends like Blank Keating and Fionia in it) or the Feds (an enigmatic and very cloistered cult like situation back then). I again chose USWP.

The point? The point is that time and again the Feds had almost been the choice but never the chosen. They were different: a society apart. And they always have been. Talio Extremist, fingerguns, Hamilton, and their Zooey worshiping? It was a very foreign concept and culture, but one I had always wondered about.

So when I came back as a noob, I made it my goal to try the Feds. After a stint in the WTP (who remind me very much of the UIP and I love you guys for it), I went Fed. It had always been my intention, and here's what I learned.



Feds Are Awesome
The thing I learned over the last 9 months is that the Feds are awesome. There's a reason they're the longest living party in Emericka, and I'll delve into that now.



First, they foster a culture. The Feds have a brand, and they stick to it. Culture is everything in terms of forming a community in this game, and the Feds had it capitalized long ago. From Firefly to Proud and Horny to Zooey Deschanel, the Federalist lifestyle is full of in joks and pride.

And pride is good. The pride I felt as a Fed is the sort that keeps old people active and new people wanting to try. It's the part that spurs competition among others in wanting to overtake, and if you're at the top of the game like the Feds, that desire can be a very good thing. It breeds a good environment for all parties.

Secondly, despite what you may think, Feds are really nice and helpful. Theirs is a community genuinely focused on getting people geared for helping and turning the party. As a noob, I was helped along, mentored, always given advice, and could rely on people to give me jobs and help me grow in the party. People like Malarkey83 are the people I will always think of when I think of the ideal Fe😛 someone who is hard working without boasting, humble but loyal, and helpful without desire for anything in return. People like that have formed the heart of the Federalist party and kept it beating ever since I left the game nearly two years ago.

Third, they have the right balance of taking the game seriously and still having fun with it. It's a hard mark to hit. Too serious and you become the USWP: a worn out shell with a fleeting pulse, worn from caring for so long. Too fun and you become the UIP: no one takes you seriously and thus you cockblock your own advancement in the game. Feds strike the balance again with their carefully cultured community and in jokes, as well as with a rather striking and fun forum.

But this also lends them an air of professionalism. It gives them credit. And speaking of professionalism, that is the fourth point.

Fourth being that they have uniformity. They have art, they have sigs and styles and propaganda. They have an MU. They have reasons not only for people to join and stay, but ways in which those people can show their colors and flaunt their pride. SEES was almost entirely successful because of the high level of propaganda and quality of artistry both in articles and jpegs they were able to produce. Many upstart parties have failed because of a lack of aesthetic.

The Feds have theirs. But I could have really used a lot more Zooey sexiness. Perhaps that dates me, but it's a sign of our times that she's not present. The Feds mascot only comes out when there's trouble and people need an image to rally around. It's a banner to raise the troops. And they don't need it right now.

And finally, Feds are connected. With longevity comes an ability to act and get people promoted. Their staying power has allowed them to be ingrained into the nation and provide for it in a good way. The Feds of today are very different from the Feds I remember when I left last time. The party I left and saw was very closed, very secretive, and very behind doors. Over time, it seems that cold disposition has thawed and the Feds have come out of their shell to the betterment of the nation.

They are great. They keep the country running. And it's time for them to be knocked from their perch.



Leopards and Spots
I have a history of somewhat being a Party Political Merry Poppins. The point of this game is to experience, and I long ago made a pact with myself that I would never leave myself in a situation which was boring, not engaging, or did not allow for me to learn something new.

I have stagnated in the Feds these last few weeks. And that is because there is only success. There's has become a daily grind of being in charge, and there's nothing interesting there to me. They're about action and occurrence.

So, where to go?

AFA is right out. I've tried ATO operations in the past or working from within. It wasn't fun. I won't do that. But I do want to help new players who are perhaps mislead by Ajay and who genuinely want a party what the AFA stands for: American pride, independent minds, and an upstart spirit.

The WTP has that, but I'm not going back. I love Mazzy and Talo and all the bunch. It feels a lot like the UIP. But I've danced that dance. I know where that road ultimately leads.

AMP is looking really attractive, especially with Paul and sarah running things hot. But I've had my fill of military aesthetics for a while. Good on you AMP, but I won't be joining you.

And USWP was dead the last time I left the game.

I am attracted to a certain type of party. It involves close-knit friends, hard-working second-string, behind the scenes types who can have fun but also get shit done. I like the underdog; it's American, it's independent, and it's a place I've always found I can cause a ruckus and be accepted.

And I have unfinished business. Because I always wanted to be in AAP. It's the one party I never got to try.

And now? I have that chance again.



Liberty and Lifestyle
I am joining the Liberty Advancement Party because I love the Feds.

And I want them out of the first party slot.


_{Caw caw, mother f*cker.}

Don't get me wrong: it'd be great to knock any of the Top 5 parties out of the spot, especially the AFA. And LAP? We can dance. We've got the moves, we've got the grooves, and we're about to go places.

I go where there is potential, and as far as I'm concerned all of the Top 5 parties are resting on their laurels. LAP has everything that's needed to be a Top 5 and more: catchy acronym, dancing, a throwback to previous party appeal, and a group of people who are very smart and on the edge of doing great things in this game.

NewAzazel - A very old friend and my co-Deputy Secretary of Media, as versatile with the pen and paper as he is in the foreign embassies
irule777 - An awesome guy I just met, a former two term CP of Australia of all places and our current DHS Director
Thomas Killah - Heir to the Killah line and crazy with the ambassadorial affairs
Othere - Narwal, awesome Interior decorator, and generally a bitchingly decent fellow

And now? Me.

What you see here is called potential. It's chemistry. It's the right people, for the right party, and the right rise to power. It's the names you'll remember as they rise up to the top, and it's the folk who have for months and years put their time and awesomeness into this nation without a single pause for thanks.

You're welcome by the way.

But that's besides the point.

The point? Is we are America, and so can you. We're going to take our collective experience, our models from other parties that we've learned, and we're gonna make something awesome out of it. Something new. A little bit of Fed and AMP pride and power, a little bit of WTP independence, a little bit of AFA Americana.

Zombies you can keep your dead.


_{They'll rise again. They always do.}

It's time to shake Top 5 politics up America. You're gonna see great things from this group. If you're a new player, you may be as I once was. You may be looking at the top parties and wondering if you should automatically join.

And you could. And that'd be fine.

AMP, Feds, USWP, WTP; they're all there for a reason. But they've got no reason to try. They've gliding, living on their supple clouds and resting on comfortable laurels. There's no developments there.

And for those genuinely interested in the well-being of the AFA? In want of a party with American ties? You can't fight Ajay from within.

But you can still have your dream.

Join the Liberty Advancement Party.

And you can bring about a new culture, a new party, and a new life to this party and this game. Instead of just being a part of something, create something.

Come. Dance the night way.





Thank you Feds. I'll see y'all in the Top 5. 😉



Gelidis manere.