What is the most important step a man can take?

[Placentica]

Best of luck in your new direction.  You and Guardian have always been extremely solid in the war-front and sad to see a treaty like this go, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Not sure this adds or takes away anything as far as the stagnation goes.  I've found that paperless does not actually add "Dynamism™" to the game because everyone just assumes you have lots of secret treaties.  The whole problem is no one wanted to step up and be seen as the bad evil aggressor and roll smaller alliances.  No one wanted to cultivate any grudges and act upon them.  I guess part of the reason is how brutal this game was on the losing side and all the character assassination attempts that were made pre-war and post-war and that reluctance for anyone to do anything for fear they'd be next and have years of FA torn apart and years afterwards.  I digress....

Sorta wonder if the evolution of these games has run it's course.  Took another game 5-8 years, took this game 1-2, lol.

[Starbuck]

I personally don't think this has to be the end. But getting rid of treaties is also not the fix all solution. The issue is that the culture of this game has become what Placentina has described. If anything, the most difficult aspect of this game is a to maintain a fairly ok FA legacy/reputation. I think people have been getting so invested in this game that they can't help but hold grudges and attempt to brutally character assassinate the people they dislike.

The reality is everyone is responsible for their own manner of playing this game. I am by no means an angel in this respect. But some times you need to step back, realize that perhaps you have become too emotionally invested in this game, and find ways to resolve this. I think people in positions of power have a lot of influence in how the culture evolves. You have the means of creating a community that is inclusive, friendly, and chill. One example of a community like this is CoS, in my opinion. Pixels, haters, etc. dont matter when you're having fun with a group of cool people.

If we all want to continue playing this game, each one of us is going to have to find the time to do some introspection. What kind of culture do I, as a person, encourage? Are my actions consistent with what I feel is right? Are those that look up to me and depend on my leadership happy and feel engaged enough? There are many questions one could ask. Take the time, I don't think you'll regret it.