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All warfare is based on deception.
Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable;
when using our forces, we must appear inactive;
when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away;
when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

_{~Sun Tzu, The Art of War}



There's been some talk in the media recently about how we can restore this game and bring back some fun. Gnilraps believes we need a baby boom. John Killah thinks we need to nurture our young better. I don't disagree with either of them. I agree with their articles in full. I've suggested as much to various people over the last couple weeks as well.

But for the sake or brainstorming and for the sake of our own continued hope of ever making this into a decent game, let's assume that those two things aren't enough.

Let's assume we start a baby boom, and we take good care of those new players.

We raise them right, put them through the hoops, they grow, become leaders and then...

...they die off.

The baby boom shrivels up on the vine just as soon as it's planted, and the work it takes to maintain the players isn't what we all want to put in. This is the most realistic scenario; we all have our own apathies and distractions, our own reasons to not want to give those two ideas our 100%. It's reasonable to assume that despite our best efforts a baby boom and raising noobs right won't work.

I wish to Dio I was wrong in this thinking, but it's the logical conclusion. Because the problem isn't with our players. It isn't with the people who login each day or come back after a year or so. It isn't with the noob who signs up and then gets bored, or who gets frustrated by the metagame or has RL take a toll on their hobbies.

The customer, my friends, is not wrong.

But we keep blaming ourselves.

"If only we weren't wiped, we'd have the moral."

"If only we could all just get along."

"If only..."

If only our nation wasn't the only one suffering from inactivity and decreased numbers, I would agree. But we aren't. The game is suffering, and that's not a problem with the players.

So.

How do we start to solve the problem?

In the business world, when workers were feeling underpaid and underprivileged even though they knew they were working hard, they would form a union for the purposes of striking. It is that method that I propose as the third possibility to the already well thought out methods of revitalization proposed by my friends JK and Gnilraps.

I propose a consumer strike.

We play this game. Some of us even put money into it. That gives us some voice. And if the maker does not respect the consumer, that's a big issue.

I'm not a genius in organizing these things. There are far better people for it and proposing methods for how it could be done. But refusing to participate has always been of equal value to casting a vote.

So maybe we take a week off.

Or maybe alliance leaders stop fighting and settle on a truce.

Or maybe various nations decide to have blackout days in protest.

I don't know where this idea could go. It isn't mine, and it probably shouldn't be mine, because I'm stupid and not very good at thinking.

But there are people in this game who are.

And maybe it's time we try different tactics.

I mean, what do we have to lose? Our nation?

This could just all be my thinking and feelings on it, but I thought I would throw it out there. Regardless, have a happy Monday. See you at next login, I suppose.