Jodo's Opinionated Culture Post That Is Entirely Opinion. Also Opinion Post.
Entry posted by Jodo ·
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The following is my opinion. See that door? Go back through it if you have an issue with what I say.
Jodo, I am curious what these three or four major cultures in P&W are, from your perspective.
Drop some knowledge on this ausländer.
Here is how I see Orbis and the main 'cultures' that are at play within it. They are in no real particular order or anything, and my knowledge of them varies. For what its worth I've spent the last 8 years interacting with many of them in various forms, and I hope that maybe you'll find this at least interesting. The three main cultures at play right now are:
- CyberNations
- eRepublik
- LunarWars
There are of course more minor cultures around as well as various people who fit into multiple or none at all. That said, lets get started.
The Old Guard: Cybernations. Yes, lets just get it out of the way. We all know what (That terrible game that is totally irrelevant and I shouldn't be bringing it up anyways) is, and it is more or less the oldest 'culture' at play here in Orbis. My experience with them is actually the most limited out of all the cultures I'll be talking about, so by all means take everything I say here with a grain of salt. In my experience with (That terrible game that is totally irrelevant and I shouldn't be bringing it up anyways) and its labyrinth of Politics it all really boils down to a few simple things. First off, treaties are king. The be all end all of the political thought process. Their culture revolves around forming pacts with one another for various reasons ranging from "We're friends, so lets protect each other." to "These guys are !@#$, lets treaty them so they can't fight against us when we murder their friends next week.". Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to me. But then again, I'm part of another culture that I will get to later on in this post.
Secondly, these guys/gals are pretty easy to spot. They like to be 'official'. They speak, act, and operate in specific patterns. Everything they say, do, and sign is done in a very prim and proper way. They dislike and do not understand others who simply prefer a more informal way of doing things. I've seen the term 'childish' and things of that nature used when they come across a group or alliance that isn't a cookie cutter mold of themselves. For all intents and purposes they are the 'Elitist' group. That said, their way of doing things shouldn't be offhandedly considered bad. Its actually the opposite. Their system works, if a bit slowly. The pacts between themselves and others are generally very long lasting. They are very loyal to those pacts and treaties, partially because thats the only thing they know and also because its stable and the safe way of doing things. They know how to organize, but again their main drawback is speed.
eRepublik: Read This. Based on my experiences with eRepublik its very accurate. There isn't much I can add to it.
LunarWars: Go back and read the CyberNations part. Read it? Good. Reverse everything. Now add in a dash of hate towards (That terrible game that is totally irrelevant and I shouldn't be bringing it up anyways). You have the LW crowd. Doesn't make sense? I'll do my best to explain that world and how it operated.
This is the culture that I'm "part" of. Its the one I know best, am known best in, and have been an off and on leader within for the past 8 years. Its also doesn't have a home any longer. (That terrible game that is totally irrelevant and I shouldn't be bringing it up anyways) and eR both have worlds that they call home. LW is different as it no longer has a home. It was destroyed. The game they hail from no longer exists and was taken down long ago though a security flaw. Numerous attempts have been made to recreate it and every single one has failed. So, they have no where to go but forward to new worlds. They arrive in force and claim what they can. Without a home world to recruit from they have very little in the way of numbers. They adapt to the new world, or they die. They have to. There is no retreat back to a safe world. It doesn't exist for them.
As for LW, it was a place of constant hate and betrayal. Treaties were somewhat uncommon. Alliances largely either stood alone, or in massive blocs. Wars were very common, but the reasoning was vastly different than that of (That terrible game that is totally irrelevant and I shouldn't be bringing it up anyways). Simply put, betrayal or even no reason at all. Alliances stabbed each other in the back because they could. It was common to have alliance heads smile and speak of peace, while simultaneously planning out the systematic destruction of one another. Treaties would be cancelled and dropped with no explanation, a war declaration posted, and an organized beatdown followed within minutes. Alliances would go to war because it was a Friday night and someone ran out of beer. There was very little reason behind much of it beyond just killing each other.
However, it was also balanced out. Alliances that had no formal treaty between one another, but had friendly relations, would stand together and take beatings together. In a way, it was a odd sense of 'honor'. But in a world of constant betrayal, the only person you knew you could trust was the guy who had taken a bullet for you. It was their way of counteracting being rolled monthly. With no way for an opponent to know who would side with a potential enemy, and thus their total strength, it provided a way for those alliances to survive and continue to exist.
The LW culture is quick to war, and very efficient at it. Maximum damage is the rule of thumb, extensive knowledge of mechanics, and always wary of anyone that approaches. Formal treaties are viewed with distrust, and treaties between potential rivals are generally considered a future threat. Blocs are hated, even though the nature of the LW culture forces them to be in a paperless one. Because they have no home to return to they are forced to be well organized, educated in the mechanics, and brutal in war. There is no retreat. Surrender isn't something they understand, because surrender is basically death. The LW culture has two major flaws to it. First, because of its distrustful nature its very hard for an outsider/recruit to acclimate to it. Nobody in the group trusts them, and they are viewed as a potential spy or leaker. Unless you have LW street cred (As in, you played) you are very rarely considered an equal. Think of it as a bunch of old war vets swapping war stories from WWII, and in walks a 20 year old who shot a pistol once and wants to hang out with them. The second major flaw is their distrust of one another. Sure, they may have taken bullets for one another in the past, or even recent history, but deep down... that distrust of a potential betrayal is always there. An innocent comment, and friendly "Hello" to a potential enemy suddenly becomes something else entirely.
Well, thats my culture post. As I said before, its my opinion. Take it with a grain of salt. Its not meant to piss anyone off but to kind of explain how I view the main groups/cultures of Orbis. Maybe this will help others understand them or at least bridge the gaps between them.
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