Join the new world

Note: Written yesterday when cautious optimism for V2 was still "in." It sucks being a day behind a trend
🙁

[img]http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/21/THDOORS.JPG[/img]
tl;dr: Haiku timesaver


On July 6th 1971, the world learned of the passing of one of the most enigmatic and charismatic frontmen in rock history. At 27, Jim Morrison of The Doors chased his last dragon in a Paris hotel room, leaving behind a legacy of some trippy stuff on opening our minds to new states of consciousness, new ways of experiencing life. Let's not get into how so here, except to quote a line from the movie that explores the inspiration for their most well known song: "Kiss the serpent...kiss it with fear, and it will eat you whole. Kiss with strength, and it will let you through...through to the other side." So here begins our trip to the other side of a brave New World, one we can meet with trepidation and disgust or with a strong resolve to push past these period of rough transition.


For your ears and eyes: A polychromatic musical guide as we expand our minds and squeeze on down the V2 rabbit hole: CLICK HERE
(it's perfectly fine if you get Lost along the way, as I most certainly did while writing this~~not every trip leads where you expect)


You know the day destroys the night;
Night divides the day.
Tried to run;
Tried to hide.
Break on through to the other side.


On the last day of V1, I read through several "Last V1 Article" postings giving tribute to the game we have grown so involved in these many months. A favourite comment in many was the promise to "see you on the other side." The ones written by Alias Vision and Acacia Mason spoke of inspiration and the goals we set for ouselves here. Unfortunately, in the latter half of V1 I have been coming up short of the achievements set for myself in the earlier half. As RL pressures mounted, I tried to run from eRep, but could not hide from its pull. Letting go apparently requires more than dividing oneself from all responsibilities.

So, while I miss being able to contribute to the goings on in the Reserves and the Judicial Branch, the biggest loss has been my much reduced activity in the Writers' Guild of Canada. The problem has been endemic and for that our aims have dropped off, our projects have remained incomplete, and the cohesion of the group has begun to split. You know, there is little pleasure watching the sun set on 'the good old days.'


We chased our pleasures here;
Dug our treasures there.
But can you still recall
The time we cried.
Break on through to the other side


V2 brings new promises, but mainly promises in the economy and war module. These new interfaces won't do anything to help solve the problems that deteriorate the cohesion between eCanadians and our hard won institutions.

I haven't been much involved in business or party politics, so I can't say what amount of effort goes into growing and sustaining an active company or party. However, I did see how AngryMobMan worked hard to create in the CPP, only to have it dwindle in his unwilling absence. As well, I have only a general sense how much Alastar has put into the CEP over the weeks to foster its recent rise. But I do have an understanding of the work other media enthusiasts and I have contributed to the founding and maintenance of the Writers' Guild of Canada. Our spot in the forums was not easily won, so it is with regret that I watch its integrity slowly be lost. Whether it was a charter that needed better development, or a set of goals in the media that needed better implementation, or perhaps it all came down to needing more discussion between its members.

Whatever the case, the fact is that WGC has lacked relevance and a clear purpose for some time now. I've considered putting in a motion to close its doors to make room for other usergroups on the forums. So far it's only a logical consideration only because taking those steps would require severing some sentimental connections. When something you care about has become degraded, its either time to resign it to the trash-heap of history or dig deeper to unearth the treasures we once chased so easily.


I found an island in your arms,
Country in your eyes.
Arms that chain;
Eyes/I's that 1ie.
Break on through to the other side.


These words reflect the way I feel about WGC. But I also think many of us can feel this way about eRepublik. V1 held promise, despite its bugs, because of the connections we created that made us defend our pixelated provinces and build the superstructures of eCanada (the University, CAF, TCO, and militias et al., the 3 branches of govt. on Parliament Hill, eCan Health Services, and all the rest that has come and gone like SCOTIA). It's all a huge investment of blood and sweat at our keyboards (or rather, carpal tunnel and caffeine) that many of us just can't get up and walk away from. These are the bonds that hold some of us to eRep. Others stay for motives that are less honest, or perhaps more fun, perhaps more intellectual or numerical, perhaps you just like a good gab or a good fight (plenty of that going on here).

No matter what your game focus has been, you've no doubt put some time and thought, even some serious money, into this place. It sounds odd to say some of us feel chained here out of duty or addiction to a make-believe country in a bits'n'bytes New World. In-game mechanics are a great challenge and we'll need to work hard to learn how to employ them to our advantage in V2. But V2's modifications won't add to social-gameplay experience. eRep developers can't find a way to make a buck off that, unless there comes scheme to charge for bigger friend lists or extended comment slots in your article. Thankfully, they can't commodify the community nexus, at least not yet.



Made the scene
Week to week,
Day to day,
Hour to hour.
The gate is straight,
Deep and wide.
Break on through to the other side.


My best times in eRep were in the media scene, charting the billboards on who put out the best article each week. Even though it became a grind due to lack of free time, it stayed fun all the way through. Sadly, fun can't compete with the real daily grind. It would be so awesome to re-commit my efforts to the best articles of the week and the promotion of WGC projects. It would be equally awesome to orchestrate crazy prophecies or lay out another psychiatric session with eCanada. But eRep is a luxury of time and resources that some people take for granted, as I did in back in my e-youth: hours of "
teenage" fun, days of unremorseful addiction. Boredom with eRep is a pain I would gladly welcome if it meant I had accomplished all I wished to do in V2. I'm sure there will be plenty of reading and clicking to do in-between the 2-minute battle countdowns. The biggest worry will be finding a long enough stretch to sit through a whole battle. Some of us will no doubt become pacifists in a war game because battles take way more than 6 clicks in 30 seconds.

At the moment, the door is open. We are on the other side but we have yet to break on through the real threshold. It will take many days and weeks before we can gauge whether eRep has successfully passed over from its humble V1 origins to a new V2 paradise. I mean "successful" both as an enjoyable "free" game and as a financially viable software product paying the bills at eRep HQ.

In V2 Beta, we were told "to break it." Now I'm telling you to find a way to break on trough your failed expectations, your headless chicken frustrations, your gold-digging expasperation, your 2-minute battle clock blahs, and especially your sentimental connections to the good'ol days. Letting go of the past means passing on to something that is the undeniable present reality~~no going back. Let the memories of V1 gather dust in the volumes of articles stacked in our newspapers because now is the time to enter through the gate and meet up with those who made it this far.

eCanada, time to Rise and shine...like Lucy in the Sky with Titanium. We're a middling power about to enter a major shake-up of the New World's military and economic dynamics. Doors of opportunity will open, just as old ones will slam shut. From the rubble of this transition, we can build our economy bigger again.


In memoriam ~~ friends of V1 not here to see this day