A national malaise.

Day 995, 00:54 • Published in USA USA • by Candor
This past few days eRepublik has been a downer. No easy way to say it.


(Jimmy carter, because he was the King of national malaise.)

Now, there will be a sizable contingent of you who will say, “Hey Candor, it’s always sucked, where you been?” But I’ve never been one to talk trash about the game I love, the game I spend 40 hours a week or more hanging out in and around. Which brings to mind a real life habit I’ve had since I was a teenager with regards to love:



In real life, when someone would make a positive comment about a girl I was dating, I’d respond with some version of, “You’ve got good taste”, humorous, but true, right? From my perspective, as the boyfriend who invested hundred’s of hours into that person, it would have been illogical to respond much differently.



Equally, after the eventual and inevitable break up, I always spoke candidly (I’m Candor, after all) about an ex, but never negatively just for the sake of trashing the person. She had at one time been the love of my life, right? Saying she was an evil bitch equally would have suggested I was a retarded imbecile. I had dated her, and my life had revolved around her for quite some time. They all had admirable qualities, but in the end, they weren’t right for me. Meh, I moved on.



Applying the same values to this game, you won’t find me jumping on the “This game sucks” bandwagon. Mostly because you people don’t suck. Even if some of you are a bit odd (above).

And at the end of day, this games really about our community, and our friendships. It’s about people. There have always been better military strategy games.



The communal goal setting, and the teamwork we put in together to “win”. Winning on the battlefield, sure, but it’s much more than that: Political parties, PTO’s, ATO’s, elections, Congress, a dozen military organizations, the Welcoming Committee, Meals on Wheels, The Flying Unicorn Squadron, and dozens of party equivalent programs in these areas and more. Quite literally, a hundred smaller communities within the larger community, all about team work, group goals and group resolution.



(really hot ass that makes me recall my tragic loss)

And like an old girlfriend, when it’s my time to go, I’ll look back fondly in regards to all the good times, good people, and attractive qualities of the game. I won’t dwell on what was less than ideal. I haven’t spent 40 hours a week here for many months because the game sucked. I’ve stayed because you people don’t suck, and tomorrow there’s going to be a new challenge for us all as a group to overcome. And I look forward to that communal effort, whatever it will be.

The past few days have been a downer though. Our community has seemed visibly smaller. And due to that feeling of malaise, I’ve spent some time reflecting.



And you know what? We will do tommorrow, the next day, and the day after that what we have always done: We will pull together as a community, we will shave what we can no longer support with our smaller numbers, we will prioritize our missions, and we will go on to conquer new challenges. Together.



Because while hackers, bugs, and Admin fails can bring us down, we have complete control of the elementary essence of the game: Our community spirit.