What Has This Game Become?
Acacia Mason
I am at a crossroads…I'm not sure why I am still playing this game and I am not sure what this game has become, and continues to become.
There was a time when I played the game for the well written and informative news articles. For the scribes who took the time to provide content that was worth reading and commenting on. The articles were voted up based on the merit of the work and their thought provoking content.
Now the news is filled with articles that are all about self aggrandizement, political back biting, and more often than not, pointless and witless innuendos that are nothing short of a complete waste of space and time. Articles are voted up based on the depth of the writers pocket instead of the depth of their intellect. Worse still, comment sections are littered with pointless dialogue that does nothing to further what little conversation may have been started in the article.
It was at this juncture that a little part of me died in game…
There was a time when a citizen could actually have an impact on the outcome of a battle in a meaningful way, and time strikes were organized as a community builder. Walls fell as troops charged, hitting as hard as they could, and actually having a meaningful impact on the outcomes of key battles.
Now the military module is all about who has the deepest pockets in real life. It is about who can spend the most money. Battle hero medals are no longer within reach for 90% of the citizen base. The average players contribution is meaningless and has little to no impact of significance. The only reason to click the fight button most of the time is to try and scurry up the ladder of military rank for no real reason of significance, and to claim some meaningless prize in yet another meaningless competition to which most of you and I will never see any rewards of significance.
It was at this juncture that a little part of me died in game…
There was a time when Political parties and their members ran forums and Ambassadors from other parties would visit and open dialogues on the issues of the day. There were genuine political battles where the issues of the day were wielded like weapons and used to hack down your political rivals. Kingmaker parties pulled strings and backdoor deals brought about coalitions that rose and fell like the tides. Most importantly, political battles were focused on the actual issues, and not on the person behind the screen. Congress and CP articles were torn to shreds based solely on the positions being taken, and not based on the person typing on the keyboard. It was about pulling apart your opponents ideas, not pulling apart your opponent in real life. It was about exposing the flaws in their arguments, not exposing their personal information. It was about playing within the confines of the game…not the confines of the four walls the person lives in.
Now the Political module is all about multi farms and artificially inflated party memberships to gain Top 5 status. Congress members rarely write meaningful election articles and CP candidates do only the bare bones to get elected. Now the political module is all about how you can personally attack your opponent or what information you can dig up on them within the confines of their RL in order to secure a victory. It is about PTO's and bullying. It's about electioneering and importing votes. Its about who has the most money to buy a win as opposed to who has the greatest ideas for the Nation.
It was at this juncture that a little part of me died in game…
There was a time when the community came together and rose above the issues that threatened to tear it apart. There was a time when leaders stepped up and did the heavy lifting. There was a time when our best and brightest waged war with their intellects and ideas. There was a time when brilliant writers shed light on issues in ways we never thought of before. There was a time when the media evolved past the written word and suddenly videos and podcasts emerged…we were getting to know each other in game in ways we never thought of before. There was a time when the game was an escape from the day to day of the real world.
Now the community looks for every opportunity to tear each other down. Now leaders don't step up like they used to because they simply don't want the aggravation of dealing with the fallout. Now our best and brightest wage wars of words and leave their ideas and intellect at the door. Now our writers simply look for ways to buy as many votes as possible for the sheer sake of the prestige of being in the top 5 or 10. Now the media is void of spoken, magazine style podcasts and alternative media. Now real life is the escape from the game.
It was at this juncture that a little part of me died in game…
Now I can't figure why I bother anymore. I can't figure out why I try to evoke change in government. I can't figure out why I consider running for office in a hopeless attempt to try and do something positive. I can't figure out why I continue to fight in battles when there is nothing to gain. I can't figure out why I bother to write these articles when the message is lost.
Frankly, I can't figure out why I am bothering at all…
Yours In National Unity,
Comments
I would say beyler dank tebrikler anan liseli....
But the fact of the matter is all we have left in this game is the trolling, the insults, the douchebaggery and the bullying.
The admins have made it so ~_^
Politics in good times have always been nasty and not what a person wrote, but who wrote it. I'm not sure what your remembering. Maybe you managed to avoid a lot it because your were well liked by all. It is only in times of great stress like a war or a wipe that people work together for the better good.
I very much enjoyed the game during our wipe. Everyone working together to come up with a strategy to win an RW or two. Those that did not care, left. Really good people rose to the top during the wipe. Now most those same people cannot stomach the current political antics.
Good times.
You must admit, some of the best politics were during the forum days when the DAL and CPF went toe to toe month after month...it was about ideas moreso than the actual person...those were the days and I remember then fondly.
Completely agreed Acacia, the game we all knew and loved was killed a long time ago.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
This game will not be more than us
trying to make sense and order
fun and excitement
of nothing
at all
🙂
Forsan miseros meliora sequentur
The game that most of us joined is not the game that we are playing today...
Such a shame when a brilliant spirit like this loses hope.
Maybe the future lies in the past.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-dio-a-new-dawn-2335655/1/20
Dio.
This is nostalgic bullshit. The relative importance of gold tanks goes down every day. All the rest was always like that.
"Congress and CP articles were torn to shreds based solely on the positions being taken, and not based on the person typing on the keyboard."
You sure you were playing the same game as me way back when? I don't recall this magical land of mature conversation and friendly political rivals who had respect for each other.
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