A Brief History of the Universe

Day 1,708, 08:20 • Published in Switzerland USA • by Penguin4512

The Swiss one, at least...

Now that f4uc0n's gone, I think I can finally claim my title as oldest eSwiss player still active.

And since it's important to pay respects to your elders, it's time to come and listen to a history lesson, the topic being Switzerland... who know's maybe we'll learn something.

Well, how do I start...

Let me make something clear. I have not been around for the entirety of Switzerland's existance. Before me, there were great Titans who ruled the world and dinosaurs walked the eEarth...

I was born into an Age of Light. As far as I care to define it, an Age of Light is a surge in player activity, where the new players who join remain to become veterans, and there is a significant progressment in eSwiss cultural identity... as a people...

...or something like that...

Anyway, there have been only two Ages of Light. Yeah, only two. The one I was born in was the Age of Eleriel.

I doubt any of you young whippersnappers know who Eleriel is. He was once the judge, jury, and executioner of Switzerland... elected four times as president... and during my novice months he exercised complete control over everything that happened in Switzerland...

We have never since encountered a president who had his level of power. Eleriel had connections in EDEN, back when EDEN was powerful... he led the liberation of Switzerland and for that we obeyed him unflinchingly...

It would seem ridiculous to us now, but back then, as president, he would draw up lists of who would be elected to Congress and who wouldn't. His word was law.

As it was, there was eventually one faction he could not control, the Shaolin Monastery. He declared an internal war against them, and we were all forced to one side or another. Almost all of the Swiss joined Eleriel and his minions. Only one player, Clifford Burns, joined the Shaolins.

We looked up to Eleriel as some kind of demigod during those days... even after he left, we rallied around his image, and thus the Swiss Resistance was created...

Even after Eleriel had long since gone, his era, his "Age" had created a new generation of players... me, F4, Pascal, JNArno...

And once the Shaolins had tired of the game and they too left, we found ourselves, the generation of Eleriel, with a country to run... Those with the patience to stick it out all had our chance to try our hand at president... some were more successful than others.

But eventually, we began taking less and less interest in the game, and one by one disappeared. A new generation of players stood up to take our place. Among them, Rican, Monsieur Guillontine, Luka... etc...

This was the second Age of Light, I suppose, and it was mostly centered around Rican's presidency. Though for a long time he had worked with me and Paul in the SFP, eventually he approached the rest of Switzerland with a vision greater than any who had come before him... his passion is reflected in his continuing popularity among the Swiss people to this day.

And now... commercial break.





Changing topics now...

I'm about to reveal a huge secret - most Swiss politicians coordinate their runs.

This will be big news to anyone who has spent the majority of their life living under a rock...

There really isn't that much of a competitive nature these days. "Oh, you'll run this month - I'll run the next." The nation is simply too small... and too closely knit, to allow long standing competition between separate factions to emerge.

The last time such competition existed was when the SNP was still around... those days are long gone.

That's not to say there aren't multiple people running... it's just that there is never really much of an ideological choice of who to vote for.

It's either:
- That one guy who worked in the government last month
- That one guy who uses multies

Wow, what a choice.

Here's my thought... If more evenly matched players agreed to both run at the same time, at least occasionally... this country would become a lot more interesting...

Ah, well.



Now, here's a controversial idea, one I'm not sure even I agree with.... Here it is: Instead of avoiding political infighting and dramatics, maybe we should try to encourage it.

Why? It goes against all common sense, right? After all... infighting detracts from the real FIGHT, the fight of liberation, right?

But take a look at it another way...

By focusing all our energy on the fight against a much stronger enemy...
... We frustrate ourselves and general player activity declines...
... If we were to focus our energy on resolving issues within our own society...
... We could make tangible progress, gain a sense of productivity, and general player activity would, as a result, increase...
... meaning that with more player activity, we could then have more strength when fighting the real enemy, our occupiers.

It sounds stupid, but look at larger countries like the United States and Canada. The fierce competitive nature that goes on within their own country makes them, arguably, stronger as a people.

There are many people who would vehemently disagree with me on that statement.

I'm not even sure if it makes sense myself.

But while we have many in the media who are currently decrying the feud between Mungos55 and Hunter&Astorwald... I say, THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

Yes, bickering among ourselves seems fruitless at times...

... But it's better than sitting on our asses with our thumbs in our mouth... and sometimes, it can even be fun.



That was today's lesson... run along, children.

Also, I'll be having a new avi soon...

It'll be a surprise.

Vote and leave a comment, and I'll write you a wiki page. Hugs and kisses, Penguin.