[Fed] tl;dr Everyone Hates Me
fingerguns
With the threat of a PTO sitting comfortably in the Top 5, there has been much discussion recently about the importance of organized top parties and what value, if any, there is to be found among so many 6th parties (small parties, if you're unfamiliar with the term). This has me thinking about a lot of things, so sit tight. It's gonna get long and bloggy up in here.
Many of you know this already, but for those who don't, when I joined The Federalists in the Spring of 2009, we were a small party. A very small party, actually, with less than 50 members. There was hardly any activity except among 4 or 5 people at the top, who seemed to hold every title in the party, do every job and also serve in Congress and the Cabinet and/or Military. Feds were considered a 'powerful' 6th party because the few active members had influence and respect on the national level, hence their ability to win Congressional seats without the population to support it. But an objective look at the party would reveal that it really wasn't much of a party at all. It served no purpose other than a power base for those few players.
We had to change our mentality. It wasn't enough to just have a small cult following for a couple of power players. If we wanted real influence and we wanted real power and we didn't want to be so reliant on the activity of just a couple people (or the whims of bigger parties), we had to grow. We needed more members and we needed a new generation of powerful players. We set out to make that happen. When I took over recruiting, we added 40 or so new members in a month and a half. When I took over as Party President soon after, we had over 200 members. We eventually broke into the Top 5 several months later. And these weren't just warm bodies padding our stats, these were active, educated players that had ambitions and wanted to move up in the game. Being a Fed was starting to mean something and these noobs were it. The Fed machine was fully operational and we were seeing results.
I left eRepublik for a while. When I came back, most of what we had built was still standing and I was happy to see that the Feds were still solidly in the Top 5 while other parties who fought vehemently against us and our ideas of what a party should be had faded into obscurity. In many ways, we had been proven right. We said the Fed system could work and grow an active party, and it did exactly that.
Now, while I was gone, some of the old troubles that plague parties had crept back in to the Feds. The biggest problem all parties face is a split focus among individuals. Players are perfectly capable of working a job on the national level and also holding a position on the party level. But when the party leaders hold 3 or 4 party positions, sit in Congress, serve in the Cabinet and run an MU, you can guess that they aren't really doing all of those jobs to the best of their ability. Something has to be sacrificed and it is usually focus on the party. Party work isn't the most glamorous or impressive, but I personally think it's some of the most important work in the game. We built the Feds on that idea, but we had started to forget.
Relying on just a handful of older, active players to do all of the work can destroy a party. They don't have time to focus on new players, so it's unlikely there will be anyone to relieve them of their duty when they inevitably burn out or flip out or ragestroke. Someone will step into the power void, of course, but it could just be more of the same. If they aren't completely overworking themselves, then they probably aren't doing much of anything at all. They're just holding a spot and show up around election time either to regain their seat or hand it over to their friend or to put the entire leadership staff in Congress. Party leadership is just another title to put on a way-too-long signature.
Feds have fallen victim to this from time to time, as any party does when times get tough and the well of new players seems to dry up. Interestingly, though, it is often new players that are the only ones capable of pulling parties out of these ruts. I was just a baby Fed when I started creating programs and restructuring and rebranding the party and our baby Feds still bring it today.
The energy, excitement and passion have to come from somewhere and so many older players are too burdened by history to bring it like they used to. They can bring anger. They can bring indignation (sometimes righteous). But they are too deep into the problems of this game to really see the potential and the great possibilities. They put a lot of work into building their sandcastles and they're gonna stay there, even if it's crumbling. New players bring a serious force of optimism that can keep even the most jaded players smiling and moving forward. Once you've gotten high off noob power, it's easy to become addicted, and a structure like we have in the Feds brings in a steady supply of the good stuff.
We are in the midst of another great Fed revival, thanks to the energy and great ideas of new players. We will keep moving forward and keep pushing for how we want to play this game- with integrity. Through service. With the future in mind.
Older players in big parties find me painfully obnoxious. They think I meddle in party business. They think I'm annoying in how I push for parties to adopt models similar to the Federalists. They think I have this goal of absorbing every party in the eUS. Some of that is right, although I have no desire at all to absorb other parties. But I do think other parties should restructure and refocus. The way the Feds are organized is a positive thing. We have seen the results firsthand. We went from a tiny little party that was built on butthurt to a massive organization that serves this country by growing the next crop of great players. Look at how many new players we have in Congress this month. Look at how many of our new players are taking positions in the Cabinet and becoming popular in the media. This model works and these players are going to move this country forward.
Players in small parties find me painfully obnoxious, as well. They think I disregard them. They think I don't care about their opinions and want to horde all the power at the top and just dish out instructions to them. But I remember what it was like to be a 6th party. I remember being told that we were hurting the country because we didn't want to join one of the elitist Top 5s. We were told we had to merge with other parties or we were going to be labeled as enemies to democracy or something. We sought our revenge by growing and proving our ideals to be right. We showed them how wrong they were by working hard and fighting for influence and power THROUGH THE SYSTEM.
One of the best moments for the Federalists while we were a 6th party was acting as the unbiased entity that could bring the Top 5 together during war time. Congressional elections were a dangerous and dividing time for our nation as parties vied for power in every held region. The quality of the candidates didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was party affiliation. We faced too many threats at the time for that to keep going on. The Feds stepped in and pushed for organizing in such a way that would result in the maximum number of GOOD Congressmen, regardless of affiliation. No one handed us that job, we took it. And there's no way we could've done that if we had been a Top 5 party at the time.
So when a 6th party tells me they hate the government, they hate the political process, they have no desire to participate in a number of aspects of the game but still DEMAND equal voice and influence, I say no. I say no because their parties are about them, not any sort of ideal. I say no because they are right now where the Feds were in 2008/2009- a party built on butthurt. They are blind to the bigger picture. People are completely free to do whatever they want. If they want to nominate themselves for PoTUS during a month when UNITY is necessary, they can do that. If they want to vote against the eUS candidate to satisfy their personal desire to try and hurt a specific individual, they can do that, too. But I would personally feel an ethical conflict if I pretended those individuals are representative of anything other than themselves and a handful of embittered friends. And I wouldn't feel right about encouraging a new player to join such a group. It seems like a death sentence.
Not all of the 6th parties are this way, of course. Some are actively trying to grow and want to break into the Top 5, just as the Feds did, so they can earn the respect and influence they want to have in this game. They are building structures and systems that can help new players and move this country forward. They function like a real party, not just an angry social club. To those parties, I want to give everything. FOR those parties I fight for inclusion in things like Unity elections.
6th parties can have value just by being outside of the Top 5 system. They have a different vantage point and without any mechanical stake in some operations, they can be anything from peacekeepers to mediators to a strong mobile political force and many things in between. They can be the next party to break into the top 5 or a strong buffer holding the #6 spot. But regardless of the voice they choose to have, there should be no mistaking that they are partners in our shared future.
Comments
first, like a boss
great article, voted
voted
The Feds are the party for new players. Players that need help get the answers they need, and the new players that get on their feet early get support and promotion. These new players then support newer players and the cycle repeats.
Enterawesome's approval of awesome.
It was a long read since im on my phone but i read it all! Great stuff
"If they want to nominate themselves for PoTUS during a month when UNITY is necessary, they can do that." It was an accident, most of us make them once in awhile. And while you were gathering your 200 party members for the purposed of gaining yourself "influence", I was training and helping over 2,500 new players during my time serving quietly in the Training Corps. Take your self-righteous, holier than thou attitude and shove it right up your ME ME ME ass..
Some of us have real lives and can no longer commit 10+ hours a day to this game. Hence, we do not take on responsibility we cannot manage. And unlike you, some of us do not crave power and influence to the point of alienating an entire player base. EVERYONE matters to the success of this team.
The Feds were better off without you. Selling your integrity for members doesn't make you better, just bigger. I tried to understand you at the request of friends, but you are just unreal.
I wrote this article just for you, Bia.
Have a wonderful day.
I'd choose an unactive 6th party to represent me over yours any day if yours is the attitude shared by it's members. Up until you came back, the Feds would have been my first choice had I decided to join a top 5, Not any more.
Yeah that was obvious, Jan Brady.
Cool story.
Take care.
I took a good five minutes to read Bia's comment, and I came away with was blah blah blah blah blah blah LOOK AT ME!!
It's hard to call other people self righteous when you carry on in such a manner. If fingerguns really wanted to grab influence, she would have run for CP instead of supporting unity.
Oh wait.......that was you that did that wasn't it Bia?
As for you training 2500 new soldiers quietly, you sure seemed willing to brag about it just now.
V
I think... PWNT is the correct term.
🍿
so... runs for potus to fill the lineup n forgets to resign candidacy, spends the day shouting to everyone to not/quit voting for her while changing avatar to "vote for Cerb", gets called out in article... huh..
/me doesn't get it... better then the "disgruntled ppl" voting for AFA, no?
Can you both just stop fighting? Bia, FG. I love you both, but this is stupid. You both have done awesome things. You both have different opinions. Attacks get ya no where? Bia's right though, you can help noobs in the game by giving them more than just a party.
And the feds before you were not an elitist butthurt club. We were trying to get growing. I sent out messages by hand close to every day a few months before you joined, FG. You had the right programs and the right time to get us...
growing. But while the party may have started as a spliter butthurt sect of the RFC, we turned into less butthurt, and more of an actual place that helped new players. At least it was that way when I was PP.
*shrugs*
V ~ As always, well said fg.. please continue being your badass self.
stewy: That's hardly what this article is about.
Besides, she wasn't the only person who ran for PoTUS. She just decided I was talking about her, specifically.
Tiacha: I must've misunderstood your history lesson. It sounded like the Feds were created out of butthurt.
We were created out of butthurt, but we didn't stay that way long, especially after rise disappeared.
Don't know who Rise is. Way before my time. It was basically a ghost town when I joined. I know it looks different to the people who were in the party and then left. This is just my perspective from when I joined. We were still pounding our chests because the same people won Congress seats every month, but the rest of the party was completely dead. When the 3 remaining active oldfgts left, there was just us noobs. We spent about 6 months building from the ground up.
Bia please for the love of Dio stop touting your time in TC as an example of your righteousness. Sure you helped alot of new players(it was hardly just you though), but you also alienated a ton of people in the process.
I have seen the TC ban list from your time.
Different times, same attitudes.
Rise was the party founder. I know when you joined I quit the game cause of the USWP BS around end of april 09, Gaius and Bill took a step away from the party, so it may have been like that when you joined. But late 08/early 09 was another story. I didn't get back to the game till around Sept. 09. Not saying you are wrong, just coming at you with my perspective and a little more info about the months around when I was PP. I got us going with a new website/forum activity/ and starting our mass...
You should have stopped writing at the animated gif. Everything after that seems catty.
campaign. Just kinda died out cause the wrong people left/got burnt out at the time you came in. But you still did awesome. Your contributions to the party are unmatched, but it doesnt negate what others like Bia have done for noobs too. Different arenas, same result.
This is a relic of Fed history gone by...
https://sites.google.com/site/federalistpartyorg/
"Party leadership is just another title to put on a way-too-long signature."
I can't help but think that this, and the part above it, were a nod to me.
Tiacha, I understand what you're saying, I would just like to throw in my two cents here, if it okay....I throw myself at the mercy of the reader.
The only problem I see here is that Bia took ONE PART out of an entire article and made it all about HER, and then she proceeded to accuse FG of trying to make everything about herself. Then she blasted OUR party. It was a fight that Bia picked, that's what she does.
She can't say someone is ME ME ME, while trying to make everything HER HER
I'm trying to find the part where I said I'm the only person that has ever helped noobs.
By the way, I consider this article wildly successful because so many different people think it is about them.
But FG said the article was for her. Unless I can't tell sarcasm in Times New Roman 12. It happens sometimes.
"I wrote this article just for you, Bia.
Have a wonderful day."
I don't want to take sides here. As both Bia and FG are my friends, both of whom I value greatly. Both of whom, did good things for this country. Both of whom, have put noobs first. This argument is counter-productive and hurts everyone and only cause more division when there should be unity among our country.
V
great article.
all true.
and i hope to see you as the president one day.
I don't want to take sides here. As both Bia and FG are my friends, both of whom I value greatly. Both of whom, did good things for this country. Both of whom, have put noobs first. This argument is counter-productive and hurts everyone and only cause more division when there should be unity among our country.
x2
You didn't FG. I just mostly came here cause Bia asked me to step in and here I am. I'm a terrible mediator, but I really don't think Bia's party is one of the parties that's just and rage against the system party.
It doesn't actively recruit, so noobs will not find their way there.
It supports the unity candidates and the govt. (Bia's nomination was a mistake).
"So when a 6th party tells me they hate the government, they hate the political process, they have no desire to participate in
I thought it was obviously sarcastic. I don't know Bia.
"
Just because they don't want to participate, doesn't mean they don't hate the gov't. It just means they feel they don't fit within a top-5 party socially and want a new place to be socially. But do not want for whatever reason to grow. It's perfectly cool and doesn't mean we should exclude them from participation in our country.
2c
Its cool, FG. Sometimes sarcasm is very hard to read over the internets. This is coming from a internet junky who started in 1994. 😛
Damn, I didn't even know the internet was around in 1994 🙁
Of course, I just learned how to screenshot in the past week lol.
So let me get this right... once again nothing I said actually applies to Bia or her party, but she's having a ragestroke about it anyway and had to call in someone for reinforcements?
lol
Being defensive is silly when no one is attacking.
I think we all have a tendency to get defensive when people have perceptions about us (not implying you) that are wrong in our hearts. I know I get defensive when I think people have a perception about me which I know is untrue. Even if the perception may or may not exist at all. Sometimes, its in our heads. I know this so much cause I'm hyper-paranoid.
Yes, JL, internets did exist back then. I had AOL 2.0 and it was pretty killer XD
I used to collect AOL Internet disks that they sent in the mail. idk how they got the whole internet on one disk...
"I have seen the TC ban list from your time."
Holyyyy shit. Yes, talk about that. Many great officers saw the banhammer under Bia. Utter bullshit.
Voted
i do not.
I would like to apologize to the good people in the Feds. Many of you have been such wonderful and sweet friends to me for a very long time. I should not have allowed the actions of one person to shadow the entire group. Many Fed members are the best people left in this game to me. You deserve more than that from me, you've earned it. I'm sorry to you guys and I
@ FG - learn from them fast, not the other way around, they are better than us both.
wtf did I do???
Oh Dio this was glorious.
Comments were more fun to read than the article
These comments were . . . moist. Thank you both.
ftr I like both Finger and Bia.