Post

Back from the grave and I see that there has been some interesting conversation.

Klaus Devestatorie wrote:

New regions should just make a clean break from the very concept of gameplay and do their own thing. Find friends and allies off the region lists. They don't need to be already tied into the embassy exchanges, or have ties to existing gameplay, or be involved in R/D gameplay, or even have any "gameplayers" in there at all. Build a new thing somewhere else. Nobody even needs to talk to Europeia, or Osiris, or whoever else.

Armaros wrote:

It would indeed be best if new regions formed ties to other new regions, and start anew. The old “gameplay” (although that term is outdated and wrong, we’re all just playing the bloody game) regions don’t need new regions to ally up with them and eventually just be absorbed into those older regions. A new sphere, clean of the old mess, would be best.

This is an interesting take to see. As I have more or less stated outright before in public and private, one of the main goals of The Ascendancy (TA) was ultimately to do this. The hope was to carve out a sphere independent of the rest of NS Gameplay and exist therein. This wasn't altruistic, mind you, since hegemony within this new sphere was intended for TA, but ultimately this was the intent. After years of melodramatic conflict with Europeia and associated regions, including within this region when many of TA's core members were a part of Unknown back in the day, we felt that the best way forward was to ultimately carve out our own space. The trouble came from various members not being able to let go of old grudges and thereby seeking out conflict with the people that we were meant to leave behind, and some of the misguided and (in other cases) outright pointless antics of some other members (myself being one of them). Indeed, the conflict that TA had with this region was another example of the failure to follow the proper plan.

Perhaps it was inevitable in the particular case of TA due to the region's close ties to a past very much intertwined with the larger NS Gameplay community. However, I remain convinced that, if a true divestment with the "old world" of NS Gameplay is done and the new sphere is given time to incubate and mature, this is a viable strategy forward. I have intended to try it on numerous occasions since TA, however I have always been impeded by commitments outside of NS (unfortunately I am not all that young anymore haha!) and am a bit of a perfectionist with my regional set-ups (and thus don't roll them until I am satisfied) so I've never actually gotten to do so.

As Armaros correctly notes, participating with these older regions just means that you will be assimilated into them (even if your region remains nominally distinct). This was one of the catalysts that fuelled the coup attempt here when a certain person from Europeia was on the throne here many years ago, since the region was being overrun with outsiders who had no intention of really adopting this region as a home and instead just treated it as one of the many playgrounds wherein the same cast of characters more or less can be found, just in different chairs.

The best way forward imo is to seek out regions who are not tied into sphere dominated by a mainstream power (or in any sphere under any power, ideally). Establish relations with them and work to build bridges, maybe even help some of them with things that you have the capacity to offer. Resist the urge to try to merge/annex any of them. Instead, if you're looking at all to grow from them (which may not be one's goal), just establish strong relations and show your region to be a great place to be and you will very likely gain members that way due to their exposure to your region via these relationships, while those who don't want to have dual-citizenship in your region will still exist within the same broader sphere and as those other regions continue down their path, there will be the basis for strong ties between you to carry forward into the future. Further, in conjunction with the preceding, if you can bring new blood into the game entirely and populate your region with them, especially if you have strong ties to these people outside of NS, you can forge a great bedrock for a distinct and well-founded community that does not draw as much or at all from the same well that the mainstream NS Gameplay communities drink out of.