Join the new world

To say that there is more time behind me than what lays ahead of me in the New World is to state a simple fact. I could be wrong but the tone and nature of the evolution of this game leads me to believe that this will come to pass. Either the plug will be pulled or I will have become so irrelevant that the addiction will be broken and I will move on to other things.

Luckily for me, you can always return home. If one thing has become abundantly clear this past week, it is that Canada is in my blood. There is a psychological trigger that was flipped in my head that let me know that, yes, this was right.

Initially I was thinking of making the transition back on December 4th which would coincide with my 5 year ebday. Then I got impatient and figured that since I had made the mental move already, I might as well make the physical one.

Leaving to better return

When I left Canada for the US, I did so for many reasons but the timing coincided with the Rebellion. Although I would never end up actively fighting with the rebels, I agreed with them and supported them at the time. My restraint in contributing influence to the conflict had nothing to do with class or honour and everything to do with laziness, boredom, being a bit player and trying to maximize my turns getting involved with a new MU. My personal time was invested in getting involved politically and I was successful in joining their Congress twice. My time with our neighbours down south is also when CFovetS recruited me and I would join UAgg, a decision that would colour all my choices to this day.

Although I was successfully integrating in my American home, I wasn't happy and was gradually neglecting the social part which you need to progress politically there. I had no interest in one day leading a political party and no ambition of being their country president. For one thing I had enough experience to know just how massive of a time commitment that would be, an investment I wasn't going to make. Second, I was aware enough to know that it would never come to pass, not even close.

There was an internal discussion in UAgg where many people expressed being restless and open to a move. After some negotiation with the Indian Government of the day, UAgg officially made the move halfway across the New World.

Ambition and the games we play

What a... complete... and utter... fiasco. UAgg members were isolated, blocked, attacked and in no uncertain terms, told to go home. UAgg fought back, sometimes nastily. I won't go into details (maybe in a future article) but the end result was a second exodus out of India as fast as we first arrived. I stayed behind.

One thing my Indian friends never understood is that UAgg was never a monolithic entity. There are more strong personalities and independent thinkers in that group than pretty much any other I've been a part of. It is why I remained their friend while they went to Turkey and we fought on opposite sides and it's why they can count on my help in the future. I respect their intelligence and value their individuality.

Anyways... one thing that stood out to me during UAgg's Indian fight was someone telling us that we needed "time to integrate and that we should do it fully" (I'm paraphrasing). I decided to test that out and so I gave myself a few personal goals. I would integrate and play the game in a way that I never did before, I wanted to stand for a PP election and a CP election and see how well I could do. At that time I didn't have thoughts of winning yet.

I ran the largest Indian political party for multiple months and I would be successful in being elected Indian CP. Both achievements, considering how far I was coming from, are amongst my best. I did this by investing more personal time than I ever did before. In part I was able to do this because India's active time on IRC coincides with mine (late evening for them, early morning for me).

My term as CP of India was a disaster. I was a horrible leader, in large part because I stopped fighting against the people opposing me. But I was personally hurt in a way I never was in Canada or elsewhere. I had let people get to know me and some took advantage of that to set me up and undermine me. That went so far beyond my sense of game ethics that I almost quit right then and there.

I stopped writing for over six months. I had nothing left to say and no desire to explore it further.

I left India quietly, CFovetS once more giving me a home in UAgg in Turkey. I went through the motions and dutifully clicked the buttons I had to click.

I did just enough damage to convert to Canada as most in a campaign for my citizen. I was running out of saved worker days for my companies... I was getting ready to say good bye.



Then I came back to Canada.

And I feel the desire to talk again.

And contribute.

And I owe it to my home and I owe it to you. Thank you.