Games, lol. It’s been over half a year since CyberNations opened, and about the same length of time since the CN version of the New Pacific Order was founded. At the time, a great ruckus was made about the “new NS". But how has that “other game” really affected NationStates?
At first, there was a large migration, as people bored with the stagnation and monotony of NS flocked to greener pastures. CyberNations was the new thing, was the answer to our hopes and dreams of a renewed NationStates. None of us quite knew what it was, could be, or yet would be.
Personally, I wouldn’t become involved in CyberNations until mid-March (Pi Day, specifically). At this time, old NS conflicts were still prevalent, and CN had not yet truly developed into its own game, as many NS players had a difficult time separating the two. This was made quite evident in the “Citrus War”, where, if not the direct cause, conflicts and antagonism carried over from NS were an important factor. Interestingly, CN has brought together many players from NS who had previously fought each other, or simply never would have interacted. The founders of the CN NPO consisted not just of traditional Pacificans, but players of all stripes, including many who had fought long and hard against the original NS incarnation.
Today, CN is certainly its own game, and very distinct and separate from NS. And while it is true that NS may have lost some players to CN, it is more accurate to say that some players who were on the verge of leaving NS anyway were able to find a new home, a new addiction, if you will. Also, many of us emigrants found that CN may offer some new and different, even some more dynamic, options than NS, but, by and large, cannot offer the same level of intelligent and sophisticated political conflict. Quite a few, such as myself, have wandered back here for this reason, and now maintain a presence in both games.
The issues that led to the migration, the exodus of so many longtime, respected, and influential NS players still stand. Little new has happened here. The influence changes do not really affect gameplay in very many meaningful ways for very many people. Most of us simply sit around reflecting on the days of yore. But this game is not done, even if many of its elder players are.
CN has not had that much of a pronounced effect on NS, all in all. But if we want this game to continue, to grow, to cease stagnation, we must stop looking back, stop arguing over old, irrelevant conflicts, stop fearing change now because of what we think happened then, and start looking to the future. Make something new happen, do something you haven’t done before, and don’t be afraid to throw your preconceptions, your beliefs, your ideology and philosophy, out the window, if it makes things interesting.
After all, it is just a game.
At first, there was a large migration, as people bored with the stagnation and monotony of NS flocked to greener pastures. CyberNations was the new thing, was the answer to our hopes and dreams of a renewed NationStates. None of us quite knew what it was, could be, or yet would be.
Personally, I wouldn’t become involved in CyberNations until mid-March (Pi Day, specifically). At this time, old NS conflicts were still prevalent, and CN had not yet truly developed into its own game, as many NS players had a difficult time separating the two. This was made quite evident in the “Citrus War”, where, if not the direct cause, conflicts and antagonism carried over from NS were an important factor. Interestingly, CN has brought together many players from NS who had previously fought each other, or simply never would have interacted. The founders of the CN NPO consisted not just of traditional Pacificans, but players of all stripes, including many who had fought long and hard against the original NS incarnation.
Today, CN is certainly its own game, and very distinct and separate from NS. And while it is true that NS may have lost some players to CN, it is more accurate to say that some players who were on the verge of leaving NS anyway were able to find a new home, a new addiction, if you will. Also, many of us emigrants found that CN may offer some new and different, even some more dynamic, options than NS, but, by and large, cannot offer the same level of intelligent and sophisticated political conflict. Quite a few, such as myself, have wandered back here for this reason, and now maintain a presence in both games.
The issues that led to the migration, the exodus of so many longtime, respected, and influential NS players still stand. Little new has happened here. The influence changes do not really affect gameplay in very many meaningful ways for very many people. Most of us simply sit around reflecting on the days of yore. But this game is not done, even if many of its elder players are.
CN has not had that much of a pronounced effect on NS, all in all. But if we want this game to continue, to grow, to cease stagnation, we must stop looking back, stop arguing over old, irrelevant conflicts, stop fearing change now because of what we think happened then, and start looking to the future. Make something new happen, do something you haven’t done before, and don’t be afraid to throw your preconceptions, your beliefs, your ideology and philosophy, out the window, if it makes things interesting.
After all, it is just a game.
