Leichenberg in Crisis

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Max II
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Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Max II »

Leichenberg is in crisis.

Attempts to arrest the recent demographic decline have proven unsuccessful and now the living population teeters upon the brink of total collapse. The outlying cities- long retained in the rather optimistic hope that it might one day be possible to restore the realm to its former extent- are now beleaguered islands of civilisation amid a rising sea of barbarity and hopelessness.

In this situation, the news that our Alexandrian neighbours are not only reclaiming their lost lands, but have planted a colony to control the Barbary Straits, represents the final blow to our illusions. Do not misunderstand me...I have a large measure of sympathy for Alexandria's desire to redeem their old borders and wish them well. However, the fact remains that once again, our small kingdom will be reduced to the status of a bit-part player upon a continent utterly dominated by a single power; our Jingdaoese friends, perhaps rather more attuned to the fluctuating rhythms of the living, seem to have foreseen this reality and opted to quit the shores of Cibola.

And so the time has come for some difficult decisions. Leichenberg's current situation is not merely untenable...it is pointless. It may be necessary to follow the example of the Jingadoese and arrange a wholesale evacuation of the continent; at the very least, some manner of retrenchment and consolidation will be required.

Elwynnese officials like to end every speech with a rousing chant of "Elwynn Prevails!". As I pen these lines, I wonder whether they genuinely believe that, or are merely trying to rally their flagging national spirit. Such propagandistic delusions are not in my nature, so in place of optimism I shall end upon a note of honest realism: the hopes upon which this realm, itself the final reminder of long-vanished Treisenberg, were founded are sadly depleted. Even the dead must accept a measure of change and that true strength lies in recognising its inevitability and adapting oneself to meet it.

As shall we.

Max
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Nathaniel
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Nathaniel »

I'm actually surprised there is a living population still in Treisenberg. I thought only liches remained...

(Natopia and Haifa are negotiating on the future of Wahlstadt -- if Wahlstadt ends up Natopian under my princeship, I would love to collaborate on something with you for something fun!)
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Raz
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Raz »

Saxon Brother,

It is with a heavy heart that I have read your letter, these are testing times for our people. After the demise of my father Mordechai II, the last Heavenly Light, our nation was unable to fend off the Purple Horde and we had to flee Cibola. With the Alexandrians now taking over the Strait of Barbary, we believe Cibola is no longer a land where the Saxons can live in peace. Would Leichenberg chose to evacuate from the continent, I would order the entirety of the Jingdaoese fleet to assist in this evacuation.

Nothing sure can be said about the fate of nations, they rise and fall. But Noabership between the Saxon people will prevail, even if we are divided by oceans.

Grüß Cato.

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Edgard II
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Edgard II »

I think Leichenberg being "reduced" to a small player in Cibola is more in part to its own inactivity and pretty much 0% to Alexandria, considering there has never been any meaningful interaction between us. Kind of a bummer though, as we pose no threat and never have intended to, despite the seeming prevalence of a narrative based on no real grounds stating otherwise. Suit yourself.

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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Aasmund Vigeland »

I'm sure a treaty for the free navigation of Leichenberger ships through the Strait of Barbary wouldn't be anything difficult to achieve, right?
Elwynn prevails!

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Edgard II
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Edgard II »

That would be something for the Imperial Assembly to decide via ratification. But I would not be opposed to it. We'd be more reasonable to work with than, I don't know... Jingdao? :p

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Max II
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Max II »

What follows is entirely OOC...

IC hyperbole aside, I wasn't blaming Alexandria: you were simply reclaiming lands lost during your own slump and in any case I've always maintained that green territories are fair game for expansion plans.

It's hard to maintain your motivation in a solo project. There's no one else to bounce ideas off; no-one is invested enough in things to pick up the slack when RL becomes intolerable. Alexandria's claim was simply the final blow to my motivation, not least because I spent a lot of last week working on my vector mapping project of the area...with a view to possibly adjusting the border to better fit the terrain I'd sketched out. I finished the latest version by the middle of last week, but decided to postpone requesting a boundary modification until I'd had a change to mull things over. Alexandria literally beat me to it, which means I now need to go back and revise my map yet again. Not perhaps the end of the world...but I found myself asking why I'm doing this. It's a diverting challenge in some ways, but I'm not sure I'm actually enjoying it. In fact, if I wanted to map a fictional country, I'd probably have a lot more fun creating one from scratch instead of trying to fit my ideas in some unclaimed corner of Micras.

Put simply, Sangun-Leichenberg lacks coherency, whether geographical, cultural or historical. In retrospect the Highpass land exchange was probably one of the worst decisions I ever made. It helped out Shireroth and Aryasht but damaged the Union. Possibly fatally. A daft sentimental attachment to some of the places I've created (or others have created) is the only reason I haven't wound up this project and started afresh...to be honest, I imagine that's the only reason several micronations are still ongoing concerns.

So...this isn't about Alexandria, or the straits...or borders. It's about feeling trapped and unfulfilled. Alexandria's claim just made me realise that I need to consider everything about this micronation.
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Raz
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Raz »

Edgard II wrote:That would be something for the Imperial Assembly to decide via ratification. But I would not be opposed to it. We'd be more reasonable to work with than, I don't know... Jingdao? :p
We have ALWAYS offered unrestricted free access to our Saxon brothers. You are wasting your time portraying us as bully to Leichenberg, the people of Leichenberg know that we have not betrayed their friendship.

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Stellus Yastreb
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Stellus Yastreb »

Max II wrote:It's hard to maintain your motivation in a solo project. There's no one else to bounce ideas off; no-one is invested enough in things to pick up the slack when RL becomes intolerable. Alexandria's claim was simply the final blow to my motivation, not least because I spent a lot of last week working on my vector mapping project of the area...with a view to possibly adjusting the border to better fit the terrain I'd sketched out. I finished the latest version by the middle of last week, but decided to postpone requesting a boundary modification until I'd had a change to mull things over. Alexandria literally beat me to it, which means I now need to go back and revise my map yet again. Not perhaps the end of the world...but I found myself asking why I'm doing this. It's a diverting challenge in some ways, but I'm not sure I'm actually enjoying it. In fact, if I wanted to map a fictional country, I'd probably have a lot more fun creating one from scratch instead of trying to fit my ideas in some unclaimed corner of Micras.

Put simply, Sangun-Leichenberg lacks coherency, whether geographical, cultural or historical. In retrospect the Highpass land exchange was probably one of the worst decisions I ever made. It helped out Shireroth and Aryasht but damaged the Union. Possibly fatally. A daft sentimental attachment to some of the places I've created (or others have created) is the only reason I haven't wound up this project and started afresh...to be honest, I imagine that's the only reason several micronations are still ongoing concerns.

So...this isn't about Alexandria, or the straits...or borders. It's about feeling trapped and unfulfilled. Alexandria's claim just made me realise that I need to consider everything about this micronation.
That is an incredibly candid statement. You articulate your pain well enough that I now feel it on your behalf.

It's a demoralising hazard of this business - and of its culturally motivated participants in particular - that a painstaking masterpiece prepared behind the scenes can be rendered completely void at the last moment by the machinations of one's more mercurial peers. The hazard is a familiar one, although I haven't seen it wreck the revitalisation of an entire nation before now. In being the victim of that, you have my sincere sympathies.

It's certainly essential that one's micronational work has to be enjoyable, otherwise it's just unpaid labour. I hope you can find a path that keeps things enjoyable for you - not least because I'm approaching the edge of enjoyability in micronations myself, based upon the recent and gradual departure of several individuals whose presence I enjoyed, whose work I looked up to, and of whom you are one.

Run through all of your options with equal weight, then sleep on it. That's my advice. Many a silly thing has been done in micronations at 2am (especially where IRC is involved, but that's a whole other story)
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Orion
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Orion »

Max II wrote:It's hard to maintain your motivation in a solo project. There's no one else to bounce ideas off; no-one is invested enough in things to pick up the slack when RL becomes intolerable. Alexandria's claim was simply the final blow to my motivation, not least because I spent a lot of last week working on my vector mapping project of the area...with a view to possibly adjusting the border to better fit the terrain I'd sketched out. I finished the latest version by the middle of last week, but decided to postpone requesting a boundary modification until I'd had a change to mull things over. Alexandria literally beat me to it, which means I now need to go back and revise my map yet again. Not perhaps the end of the world...but I found myself asking why I'm doing this. It's a diverting challenge in some ways, but I'm not sure I'm actually enjoying it. In fact, if I wanted to map a fictional country, I'd probably have a lot more fun creating one from scratch instead of trying to fit my ideas in some unclaimed corner of Micras.
Creating a fictional project, or conworld/concountry, has been something I've been mulling over for about a year now. Between the MCS' hesitancy to grant small claims (before the reforms), hangups on continuity, and lack of interest on behalf of others, the idea of running a blog wherein I create my own fictional country through loosely connected stories and informative articles has been looking more and more promising. What has consistently kept me from doing it is that same daft attachment to creations (in my case this borders on a near-maddening level) and the fact that I enjoy having others participate in my work. I used to want to exercise absolute control over my projects, but as the years wore on realized this was a false pretense and that what I really enjoyed was having a tiny bit of real community in something that sprang from my imagination. I think that's what really drives a lot of us to keep doing this.

Also, I am still willing to participate based on my previous discussions with you over Moorheim, now that real-life has settled into a more amenable routine; if that would be at all helpful.
Max II wrote:Put simply, Sangun-Leichenberg lacks coherency, whether geographical, cultural or historical. In retrospect the Highpass land exchange was probably one of the worst decisions I ever made. It helped out Shireroth and Aryasht but damaged the Union. Possibly fatally. A daft sentimental attachment to some of the places I've created (or others have created) is the only reason I haven't wound up this project and started afresh...to be honest, I imagine that's the only reason several micronations are still ongoing concerns.

So...this isn't about Alexandria, or the straits...or borders. It's about feeling trapped and unfulfilled. Alexandria's claim just made me realise that I need to consider everything about this micronation.
Possibly you need to do what I'm doing with Ashinthael - just start over with a fresh slate loosely based on a previous project. Creating your own cataclysm is always an option; wipe yourself out in order to provide the basis for rewriting things the way you wish. Or just wing it and see what you come up with. Before starting Ashinthael I sat down with a notepad and wrote down a bunch of ideas and how I could develop them. Several quickly lead to dead-ends where I couldn't envision further than the concept. Sometimes it helps to just sit and think on stuff for a while rather than acting on the impulse.

Hopefully that comes as some helpful advice. Like Krasniy said, your presence would be greatly missed if we were to lose you.

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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Raz »

I want to echo Orion's comments, I would however also like to point out that solo projects do have an advantage over nations with citizens. In Jingdao and South Batavia I could never fully implement my ideas, not even despite being Heavenly Light, because of it, I didn't support the creation of that office at first and wanted us to stay the Grand Duchy of South Batavia. But when you're working with other people, you have to go along with their ideas sometimes and that can be fun, but when they leave, you end up with a nation that is tailored to someone else.

I think that is why Jingdao has ended up changing itself all the time.

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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Verion »

I agree it's a delicate balance, especially if you work together with people whose ideas for the nation and their own participation in it are unclear at best. I personally would prefer having a solo project, roughly along the lines Orion described. I think that is the best way to ensure that you are going to like what's going on. Unless you have a totally like minded companion, things are going to divert from your originally intended path when you work together with others.

This 'paradox' is one of the reasons I have, in the past, made the rather shortlived proposal to create a 'League of Nations'. Something similar like the Grand Commonwealth of old, where individuals can have their own one-man project without losing connection with others. Perhaps this would still be an option.
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Max II
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Max II »

Nathaniel wrote:(Natopia and Haifa are negotiating on the future of Wahlstadt -- if Wahlstadt ends up Natopian under my princeship, I would love to collaborate on something with you for something fun!)
Choygal Kamala wrote:Also, I am still willing to participate based on my previous discussions with you over Moorheim, now that real-life has settled into a more amenable routine; if that would be at all helpful.
The door is always open to you guys. To be honest, I would be more than happy to give you a totally freehand over Moorheim and the neighbouring islands (originally Bluelight) as that area has never really fit in with my own development efforts. I would also like to resume some sort of contact with Wahlstadt. But please...while I do appreciate the offers, please don't feel you need to do this to help me out! If you're not sure about this, I'd much rather scrap all this and collaborate with you guys on another venture, something we can all enjoy more.
Stellus Yastreb wrote: It's a demoralising hazard of this business - and of its culturally motivated participants in particular - that a painstaking masterpiece prepared behind the scenes can be rendered completely void at the last moment by the machinations of one's more mercurial peers. The hazard is a familiar one, although I haven't seen it wreck the revitalisation of an entire nation before now. In being the victim of that, you have my sincere sympathies.
Again, I want to stress that I have no complaint against Alexandria...it's simply an instance of unfortunate timing.

Nor would I call my map a masterpiece- it's just a rather involved piece of work. The working map has four levels. The first is a much more detailed version of the MCS terrain map of the area, produced using MS Paint. Over this, there is another MS Paint map with the international and subnational boundaries shown on the MCS claimsmap. The next layer is the vectorised terrain map and finally there is a vectorised map of the various boundaries. The complication is that I'm trying to precisely align all four maps, so that the terrain and political features shown on my vector map precisely replicate the features shown on MCS scale pixel maps...and that means that any change on the latter- even something as small as a matter of a couple of pixels, requires me to update three other maps and then ensure that everything fits together smoothly. Which can be a lot of work.

Why is this level of precision even necessary? Well, my attitude is, if you aren't going to do something like this properly, then there's very little point doing it at all.
Stellus Yastreb wrote:It's certainly essential that one's micronational work has to be enjoyable, otherwise it's just unpaid labour.
Choygal Kamala wrote:Creating a fictional project, or conworld/concountry, has been something I've been mulling over for about a year now. Between the MCS' hesitancy to grant small claims (before the reforms), hangups on continuity, and lack of interest on behalf of others, the idea of running a blog wherein I create my own fictional country through loosely connected stories and informative articles has been looking more and more promising.
These two comments really nail the source of my malaise. I feel that a lot of my development work has been done for the wrong reasons. At the most basic level, there is the need to demonstrate activity in order to retain your pixels on the map- it's not unreasonable to think of that as a form of rent. I also feel I've been sidetracked by a desire for expansion. I've never wanted a nation as large as Natopia or Hamland, much less Shireroth, but at various times I have found myself chasing the dream of a nation that looks meaningful when the map is zoomed out. It's silly really...what you do with your pixels ought to be much more important than how many you have, but unfortunately I think people do judge the "success" of a nation based on its size.

Ultimately though, I have been really struggling to find a way to develop my nation without it feeling like a chore. Football and other sports competitions seems to be a big thing for many nations at the moment, but although I've tried to join in, it's not really my thing. Fiction writing, again, doesn't play to my strengths. I massively enjoy reading the stuff you guys come up with me, but I simply don't enjoy writing anything more involved than very short, humorous, dialogue heavy pieces. Anything too long, or requiring a lot of description...is a really chore. I've tried repeatedly, sometimes collaboratively, but each occasions has merely confirmed this.

I enjoy coming up with wacky ideas. I like making maps and coats of arms...or tinkering with military organisations. Lately I've been soliciting help from the folks over on Shipbucket for my ship designs; in the back of my mind is the idea of some sort of collaborative venture whereby I create and post "Alternative Universe" designs over on SB for my micronations here.
Rasmus wrote:I want to echo Orion's comments, I would however also like to point out that solo projects do have an advantage over nations with citizens. In Jingdao and South Batavia I could never fully implement my ideas, not even despite being Heavenly Light, because of it, I didn't support the creation of that office at first and wanted us to stay the Grand Duchy of South Batavia. But when you're working with other people, you have to go along with their ideas sometimes and that can be fun, but when they leave, you end up with a nation that is tailored to someone else.

I think that is why Jingdao has ended up changing itself all the time.
I actually envy the way you have reinvented Jingdao, in order to continue having fun. Perhaps this is one of those instances where the grass seems so much greener on the other side; I see you placing the enjoyment of the moment above all else and not getting tied up in knots worrying about continuity...but perhaps you miss the lack of long-term stability.
What has consistently kept me from doing it is that same daft attachment to creations (in my case this borders on a near-maddening level) and the fact that I enjoy having others participate in my work. I used to want to exercise absolute control over my projects, but as the years wore on realized this was a false pretense and that what I really enjoyed was having a tiny bit of real community in something that sprang from my imagination. I think that's what really drives a lot of us to keep doing this.
Absolutely. I agree with what Jack says- working with others requires compromise and often that means people dragging you places you really don't want to go, which can be hard if you have a very fixed idea for your project. Having said that...you do lose a lot if you isolate yourself from other people. Some of my best ideas have been inspired by others,or have grown out of collaboration. I think it's also important to have, for want of a better word, an audience.
Choygal Kamala wrote:Possibly you need to do what I'm doing with Ashinthael - just start over with a fresh slate loosely based on a previous project. Creating your own cataclysm is always an option; wipe yourself out in order to provide the basis for rewriting things the way you wish. Or just wing it and see what you come up with. Before starting Ashinthael I sat down with a notepad and wrote down a bunch of ideas and how I could develop them. Several quickly lead to dead-ends where I couldn't envision further than the concept. Sometimes it helps to just sit and think on stuff for a while rather than acting on the impulse.
That's a very good idea. If I was creating a fictional country purely for my own amusement and without reference to anyone else's work, then I wouldn't set it on Micras. I'd probably create an alternative history scenario set on Earth, for example; I have several ideas for such "what if" states.

I'm not sure I'm ready to wipe clean the slate completely, but I would love to "go back to basics" and try to create something more consistent, benefitting from everything I've learned.
Jack wrote:This 'paradox' is one of the reasons I have, in the past, made the rather shortlived proposal to create a 'League of Nations'. Something similar like the Grand Commonwealth of old, where individuals can have their own one-man project without losing connection with others. Perhaps this would still be an option.
I really like this idea. For a long time now I have been championing an "Archipelago on Micras"; a gathering of small, solo-projects, preferably in the same area, where people can support each other, morally if not practically. If people want to come up with a collaboratively history, then great...if they want slightly more freedom to just go their own path, okay...but just somewhere we there is a support net for creators who are all in this same boat.
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Orion »

We had Archipelago for a while and it seemed to just fall flat. I think part of the problem was that we were trying to use Micras as a basis for the geography. It might be better to pursue a revival of Archipelago, but with its own "continuity map", where people can either use it or do their own thing (or even allow changeable geography) - something with a much greater degree of flexibility than the present, more rigid system we use for larger, more established nations.

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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Verion »

Choygal Kamala wrote:We had Archipelago for a while and it seemed to just fall flat. I think part of the problem was that we were trying to use Micras as a basis for the geography. It might be better to pursue a revival of Archipelago, but with its own "continuity map", where people can either use it or do their own thing (or even allow changeable geography) - something with a much greater degree of flexibility than the present, more rigid system we use for larger, more established nations.
This could work, but only when enough people would be, and stay, interested. Otherwise it will just be a second Green-project.
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Max II »

Choygal Kamala wrote:We had Archipelago for a while and it seemed to just fall flat. I think part of the problem was that we were trying to use Micras as a basis for the geography. It might be better to pursue a revival of Archipelago, but with its own "continuity map", where people can either use it or do their own thing (or even allow changeable geography) - something with a much greater degree of flexibility than the present, more rigid system we use for larger, more established nations.
My main issue with Archipelago was the whole "this is the future of Micras" spiel. That basically destroyed any chance of meaningful collaboration with mainstream Micras, which in my view, was a mistake.

Are you saying you'd have a map completely separate from Micras?
Jack wrote:This could work, but only when enough people would be, and stay, interested. Otherwise it will just be a second Green-project.
The "Green Project" was an utter joke. A lot of people agreed it was a great idea, but very few people actually did anything. The whole idea was to make things easier for new projects but no-one, to my knowledge, even approached the MCS about the idea.

My view is that a group of us with ideas for solo projects should get together and each establish a small city-state in an area of Micras with not-very-much going on. If a project fails, we don't agonise about it...we either encourage the participant to start something new in the area or we find someone else. And then just see what happens. If it works, great! If it doesn't...well, what have we really lost?

Really I'm advocating a sort of "guerilla micronationalism". Back to the basics...keep it fun and in the moment. I honestly think many of us, myself included, get too caught up in the details and regulations.
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Flavius Myksos »

Jack wrote: This 'paradox' is one of the reasons I have, in the past, made the rather shortlived proposal to create a 'League of Nations'. Something similar like the Grand Commonwealth of old, where individuals can have their own one-man project without losing connection with others. Perhaps this would still be an option.
Isn't that mostly what Shireroth is these days?
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Verion »

Flavius Myksos wrote:
Jack wrote: This 'paradox' is one of the reasons I have, in the past, made the rather shortlived proposal to create a 'League of Nations'. Something similar like the Grand Commonwealth of old, where individuals can have their own one-man project without losing connection with others. Perhaps this would still be an option.
Isn't that mostly what Shireroth is these days?
By no means. Shireroth is rooted in history so much that it barely leaves room for new inventions other than footnotes and localities.
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Orion »

Jack wrote:
Flavius Myksos wrote:
Jack wrote: This 'paradox' is one of the reasons I have, in the past, made the rather shortlived proposal to create a 'League of Nations'. Something similar like the Grand Commonwealth of old, where individuals can have their own one-man project without losing connection with others. Perhaps this would still be an option.
Isn't that mostly what Shireroth is these days?
By no means. Shireroth is rooted in history so much that it barely leaves room for new inventions other than footnotes and localities.
Agreed, to some extent. My attempts to revitalize the Kitanus Fields is proof enough that change is not openly acceptable.
Max II wrote:My main issue with Archipelago was the whole "this is the future of Micras" spiel. That basically destroyed any chance of meaningful collaboration with mainstream Micras, which in my view, was a mistake.

Are you saying you'd have a map completely separate from Micras?
Yes. Start from scratch. Let each person design their own geography. Limit god-modding (e.g. nobody gets to claim a whole continent), but keep it freeform.
Max II wrote:My view is that a group of us with ideas for solo projects should get together and each establish a small city-state in an area of Micras with not-very-much going on. If a project fails, we don't agonise about it...we either encourage the participant to start something new in the area or we find someone else. And then just see what happens. If it works, great! If it doesn't...well, what have we really lost?

Really I'm advocating a sort of "guerilla micronationalism". Back to the basics...keep it fun and in the moment. I honestly think many of us, myself included, get too caught up in the details and regulations.
I don't see how a city-state is any less confining. In fact, I view it as more restrictive than the "Green" project. A city may work for you, but for others they may want more than that - be it the freedom to have a nation of several cities, or simply to follow a different path. If you try to cram people with wildly differing ideas into a city state where each vies to make their vision preeminent, then you only create an environment for infighting. If you go with the blank map approach, everyone gets what they want.

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Raz
The Mikado, as played on catgut strings
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Re: Leichenberg in Crisis

Post by Raz »

Max II wrote:
Rasmus wrote:I want to echo Orion's comments, I would however also like to point out that solo projects do have an advantage over nations with citizens. In Jingdao and South Batavia I could never fully implement my ideas, not even despite being Heavenly Light, because of it, I didn't support the creation of that office at first and wanted us to stay the Grand Duchy of South Batavia. But when you're working with other people, you have to go along with their ideas sometimes and that can be fun, but when they leave, you end up with a nation that is tailored to someone else.

I think that is why Jingdao has ended up changing itself all the time.
I actually envy the way you have reinvented Jingdao, in order to continue having fun. Perhaps this is one of those instances where the grass seems so much greener on the other side; I see you placing the enjoyment of the moment above all else and not getting tied up in knots worrying about continuity...but perhaps you miss the lack of long-term stability.
Looks around, sees only ice...

The grass is greener here, absolutely. However I do feel the idea that Jingdao has no continuity is not entirely justified. We have always created a backstory and I can easily tell the fictional history of the Jingdaoese people from the back of my mind:

First there was the Empire of Jiandao, on Cibola. This was colonized by Batavia. South Batavia emerged on its place during the Batavian Civil War, it re-united Batavia under King Mordechai I, Grand Duke of South Batavia. After the demise of Mordechai his son Simon was crowned Emperor of Jingdao because of a misspelling of Jiandao, he was succeeded by Sisera. Sisera committed genocide on the Jingdaoese people, some were able to flee to the Six Islands. After she killed off her people, she went to Hurmu to murder the population there as well, she died in the Hurmese city of Ghawlama, not far from the Six Islands. From Ghawlama, the Six Islands were conquered by the Siseran Tegong, led by Jezza, a grandson of Sisera. Jezza was succeeded by Hirohito, who returned the focus of the empire back to Cibola. Hirohito was succeeded by Sisera II who was a wacky feminist who wanted to restore genocidal Siseranism but died during childbirth of Mordechai II, which led to the Regency of Jing Xing. Jing Xing was removed and Mordechai II was placed on the throne. He fathered Sisera III and Simon, named Sisera III his heir, made Simon admiral of the navy and took his own life after Sisera died. Without a heir, only the navy led by Simon survived.

There is continuity there, even if it does not always make sense. But it's not worse than the average soap opera.

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