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Is it the reason anybody does anything? Well, partially.

The reason anybody does anything here is for fun, because this is a game after all. If someone isn't enjoying themselves, they'll either try to make it fun or leave. And that's what everyone is trying to do, have fun. Doing their own thing, whatever it may be, to bring a smile to their face and possibly to the face's of those around them. The only difference is how people are making their fun.

Here is where we can look at “fun”, whatever it may be, from different viewpoints. Most people, when the word fun is mentioned, will think of a joke, a silly picture, or something that just instantly makes them smile. That is what I'll call “regular fun”. Those aren't the only things that are fun though. From what we see in eRepublik, there are two other types of fun: Intrapersonal fun and Interpersonal fun.

Intrapersonal Fun

The word fun has a synonym which has a much broader definition: “enjoyable”.

”Grafting your boss's face onto the hind end of a donkey is fun, but serious fun is when you create the impossible and it looks real.”
---2000, Robert Stanley, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adobe Photoshop 6, Alpha Books, page 377.

There are many things that people consider to be enjoyable, that others would not. I am a perfect example of this; right now I'm in the middle of many projects, [foreshadowing]of which only two could be considered fun[/foreshadowing]. So why do I do them? I do them because I am good at them. I do them because they need to be done and I take personal pride in being able to accomplish such things. But most importantly, I do them because I enjoy doing them. This is part of my definition of “fun”, just like many other citizens in eRepublik. It is an internal source of fun. Many would call this being serious, but I would like to call it being zealous.

“I take these roles very very seriously, although some would say perhaps too seriously. I take them seriously because I understand the depth of the responsibility.”
---Acacia Mason

Interpersonal Fun

Then, there are “teh lulz”. “Lulz” are a specific type of fun, just the same way that “zeas” (see: zealous) are a specific type of fun. Lulz are on the other side of the fun spectrum as the zeas, and for good reason.

"“Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,” said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity."
---2008 August 3, Mattathias Schwartz, “Malwebolence - The World of Web Trolling”, in The New York Times.

Lulz are different in that they are an external source of fun. Where the amusement is derived from what happens to other people, specifically something that happens at their expense. This isn't to say that there aren't times when it's hilarious, but it's to say that when lulz happen, someone gets hurt.

I am in no way trying to say that lulz are a bad thing, I actually enjoy some good lulz every once in awhile. In fact, I will look at myself again and say that I'm planning on making some lulz. I've been trying to get my roommate to join eRepublik for some time now, and when he finally does, I'm going to try and get as many other players as I can to PM him an inside joke we have, at the exact same time. It will be random, it will be unsuspected, and it will cause him utter confusion. Now isn't that funny?

It is funny, but not in the same way that causing a national scandal is funny. Lulz don't need to be a huge event, where everyone hears about it and someone gets in trouble because of it. They just need to be funny. It's as simple as that.

Fun

So we have these two types of fun, on the opposite sides of the spectrum with “regular fun” right in the middle. Is one better than the other? Absolutely not. They are both needed in this society. The zeas to ensure that the system keeps running smoothly, and the lulz to ensure that the game is interesting. So, what am I trying to say? Absolutely nothing. As long as you're having fun, keep doing what you're doing. Just don't overdo it.

~Q.E.D.