Join the new world

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***Disclaimer***

There are many who are more qualified than me to talk on the subject which I am about to attempt, I am by no means claiming to be an expert on alliances or anything of that kind, this is just my perspective on what has happened. I enjoy pondering upon this kind of things and I hope others enjoy my pondering too.

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Hello eWorld!

There is much talk of a change in the winds:
The Romanians have signed an MPP with Serbia; an event which for most of the last 3 years has been considered unlikely if not impossible.
EDEN is slowly fading away into the abyss as their members face continued struggles to stay on the map
And even now the Romanian congress are voting through a bill to officially leave EDEN.

To many in TWO and CoT countries EDEN has been set up as a straw man for much of the last 3 years: they are the enemy, nothing else needs to be known about them. They are trying to destroy us, and we are trying to destroy them; our friends are their enemies and their friends are our enemies. But what happens when the straw man reaches across the divide to shake our hand?



In the past few days Romania, traditionally a very strong supporter of EDEN, has signed an MPP with Serbia amid speculation that a three pronged attack against the USA is being lined up between Serbia, Poland and Romania. Many have labelled this move as the beginning of the end for EDEN, anticipating a complete collapse of their nations and a realignment of countries into a new bipolar world scene which would see TWO pitted against CoT.

As things stand, it is my perspective that EDEN is being sustained by a cocktail fear of what the future may hold, and a hatred for countries both in CoT and TWO. Of course, some countries would naturally gravitate towards one or other alliance simply because their major enemies are in the other alliance. For example, Croatia will undoubtedly end up on the opposite side of the battlefield to Serbia. However, not all countries are afforded such luxury. Turkey, for example, would have to face up to either joining an alliance with Serbia and Poland, or with Macedonia and Bulgaria, and that is assuming either alliance would actually welcome them, which is unlikely.

Whatever the outcome of the following days, we can be assured that words like betrayal will become commonplace, at least for a time. However, as we face up to the uncertainty of the future, we are also given a unique opportunity to look back at the past and to learn from the mistakes and successes of the past. So what can we learn from EDEN, from the enemy who simply refuse to roll over and die?


Organisation

Throughout most of the time which EDEN has been in existence, it has had to face the reality that it is the weaker alliance in erepublik. Of course, there were the days of the great tanks who could take on and defeat small countries single handed, when Romper or Argrob were a constant threat, and often a very real frustration. That aside however, most countries had to fight against the odds in order to try to secure victory.



What got EDEN through those times was, in my opinion, a mixture of fierce loyalty and often superior organisation. While their opponents poured damage into an already secured battle, there would be a clear procedure to follow so that everyone from those in HQ right through to the newest player would be hitting in the battles where a victory could be secured.

Expecting Victory

One of the things which I have been taught from the struggles I have seen and fought against EDEN is that one should never expect victory. I remember the days of ONE where every battle seemed to be won by our fighters, and where all that seemed to be in the news was which country was the latest to fall. It seemed only a matter of time before EDEN folded. However, history will tell a different story, a story in which EDEN would outlast ONE by 8 months (to date).



To expect victory is to invite defeat, simply because you begin to get complacent. Once you believe that you are good enough to beat your opponent, there is no incentive to continue improving, and so while your enemy works to close the gap, often you will find yourself sitting back and ultimately losing ground.

Brotherhood

EDEN is an alliance which has made championing brotherhood one of its major objectives throughout its existence. This may seem like an odd idea to the newer players in our midst, those who never saw EDEN as anything more than it is today, but once upon a time, EDEN really was a brotherhood.

However, it is undeniable that somewhere along the road EDEN began to become a shadow of its former self. It is unclear as to when exactly it happened, although that is not a surprise as these things are often transitions rather than moments in history. However, while the exact timings are unclear, it is my belief that the cause of this deterioration is clear.



As I already mentioned, of all the alliances in the eWorld, EDEN was (and is) the one with the biggest emphasis on brotherhood. I believe that it is also the alliance which, in its prime, achieved brotherhood more successfully than any other. They employed the theory of synergy and clearly showed that it is a crucial part of this game.

Synergy is an idea which is used in business, economics, politics etc. Simply put it means that together people can achieve more than any of them could achieve on their own. That is as true for us in the eUK, in TWO and in CoT as it is for EDEN. This game is a social game, it always has been, and the best way to play is together. While I stood against EDEN throughout its existence, the collapse of the friendships forged between its members is something which saddens me somewhat.

However, while the brotherhood falls, many of the individual friendships created within the halls of EDEN remain, both among those who still play, and also among many players who have moved on. It is this writer’s humble opinion that this is the true legacy of EDEN. In time, the memory of EDEN will fade and it will become just another chapter in history, but the impact that the players within EDEN will have had on one another will be far greater than many will give it credit for. Both in this game, and also in real life.

That concludes today’s article, and all that remains for me to say is a huge thank you to those in EDEN who gave us such trouble for so long. After all, without them, this game would have been pretty dull, and let’s be clear, many people have put in huge effort to build and sustain EDEN throughout its existence, and that deserves respect at the very least.

Good game EDEN o7

Stay safe and play hard!

(Michael Crookes)