Join the new world

I've asked myself quite a few times why I continue to play eRep. The game is practically better known as eRebuglik among players, at times it's extremely frustrating, and it's capabilities can be described as 'weak' at best. (Seriously, design a 'successor' button for at least Party Presidents for the love of everything merciful in the world.) Despite this, you can find me, 16 hours to 8 hours a day on IRC or here, PMing, chatting, debating, or simply begging for something to accomplish (ever since I stopped being a Party Whip, I've had far too much time on my hands, and the TD's upper management revolves around one person who, from what I can tell, ranges in speed from glacier slow to continental-drift speedy).

So why continue? There's nothing exactly in it for me. I have more "fun" watching TV shows on Hulu.

I've been trying to figure this out myself lately and I've come to the following conclusion: The social aspects draw me in. Where else in life can you be part of a community like this? Sure, you're surrounded by more childish minds than a kindergarten teacher, but there are some real gems that make you step back and think "wow, I wish I could be a bit more like them", as well as realizing that not everyone is as they appear. Where else can you be part of a community that enjoys simulating government? The stuff that we do here, through the portal of the Web, only large schools can properly simulate in real life, and it's much easier to get people active. Not to mention it's easier. The only thing to debate is foreign affairs and taxation. Imagine if that part of the game was larger!

Where else can you find a group of people willing to spend hours talking about a virtual war? Scheming on the money market? Learning how to maximize profits? Playing politics? There are more experiences here than most of us could begin to think about outside the browser, and eRep collects them all from far and wide. Through this, through my activity, and through my participation, I get a chance to meet with great minds I would have never met anywhere else. I log in every day to meet with them, to appreciate their presence, and learn a bit myself.

I continue to do my duties, and beg for more, to learn, to participate, and maybe act as a guide to another. To help a deserving person out.

There is no other place like this in the world, and it may be buggy mess, but it's our buggy mess. Let's all have fun together with it.

Editor's Note: It's 4:45 AM and I haven't really proofread. If this is actually a garbled mess, blame the Pepsi corporation.