How these small things affect the future.

[Kaelri]

Sydney Austin resigned from the Anti-DRC Movement yesterday. She has apparently left the cavern for the foreseeable future. And this news comes on the heels of Nick White's two-week suspension. While I'm sure that Ethan and Professor Ovesen will make some effort to maintain the "movement," the consensus that I have seen, and with which I agree, is that these events spell the death of the ADM.

I hope that this can bring an end to a brief, ugly chapter in Uru's history. But all indications predict a chaotic, confusing fallout from this, especially on this forum, where there are a lot of social and philosophical loose ends to tie. I think that this is a good opportunity for us to take a stab at some kind of still, encompassing reflection.

I had the pleasure of partaking in a long, illuminating debate last night in the Unbound Hearts' Bevin - please allow me a moment to express some joy in the fact that the UHB is becoming exactly the intelligent, free-speech forum that I hoped it would be - with several explorers, particularly Simon Bitdiddle and Kolian, whose writings here have been impressively cogent. We had a handful of powerful minds digging relentlessly for some insight, and I think we were successful. Thus, I accredit these two gentleman for much of the thought behind the observations that follow, as well as the many of you who have been saying the same things all along.

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"I find myself here... in a familiar place, that suddenly holds so much more meaning. Here at the very crossroads... It's been my pause. My chance to ponder. I've been wandering for three weeks, grieving, thinking, fasting, reflecting... pausing. Pausing from the cares of work, of rebuilding, of rules, of structure, of people and places, of frictions and factions... of life and death.

~ Dr. Watson

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It's important to understand how the ADM became as enormous as it did. And let's not kid ourselves - in terms of Vicki's goals for the project, it was remarkably successful. Her serial announcements created an atmosphere of suspense and anticipation in the cavern; her announcement, which included Chloe's provocative hypothesis, was a debacle that achieved infamy; her protest, probably the climactic accomplishment of the "movement," drew in dozens and dozens of explorers, a feat that usually requires the celebrity presence of a DRC staffer. On the whole, the ADM managed to concentrate the explorer population's attention on a single affair to an extent outmatched only by the Phil Henderson ordeal. And I would say that in terms of player-initiated plot, this achievement is unprecedented.

And there are some positives coming out of this, which I would sum up in one word: galvanization. This was the first real "conflict" of the second Restoration, and the whole process has left us with a basic foundation, on which we can build the stage for the future of Uru's tale. Before this point, the arguments among us were only extensions of the qualms that were left unresolved for three years; the ADM affair was a chance for new explorers, the growing majority of the population, to get involved in something in the now, and see how the path is actually shaped by the ongoing actions of people no different from themselves. We have also seen the evolution of a very healthy relationship between the in-game Cavern and the online Community. The true power of the forums, especially this one, is as a dynamic and sprawling crucible for new ideas, new theories, new proposals, new movements.

But the forums are not the place for action. Cyan recognized this early on, I know, and has been encouraging us to use them only as a relay for communication and intellectual exchange, and to make sure that everything that happens here somehow translates into "physical" gameplay. And this is where the ADM has really shone. Though they often did it through hyperbole and fixation on the most miniscule quotes and occurrences, they worked hard to relate the entirety of their creed and calling to what was actually happening on the ground. This is similar to the structure that has worked for the D'ni Network - their in-game KI-mail updates ensure that their online messages are translated into in-Cavern communication. This is also why so many other attempts have disappeared quickly. Kolian's example of this is Montgomery's Pento Letter - a great idea, its logic sound, its purpose meaningful, and it was clearly liked and supported. It was sent. And then it was gone. I don't think the general population ever knew about it. It wasn't enough to form any battle lines of opinion on the "Pento issue."

I'm convinced that there are three vital elements of an act of interactive storytelling, of the kind that Uru has been made for. The first element: Physical Action. For better or for worse, something needs to happen. Stories need characters, and they need those characters to do something. And on this level, I respect Sydney and the ADM immensely. They had high ambitions for simply getting explorers involved in something, and they nailed it.

That, however, is where my respect for this misadventure ends. Because what I just described is a successful use of a deeply-flawed system.

In the months before the ADM's rise, and throughout this cold April during its existence, this forum has appeared to be, as Kolian aptly phrased it, "an environment hostile to all ideas." Of course, this is not entirely true - my experience was proof that there is still an inspiring potential here, waiting to be properly harnessed. Same with the initial message of the Restoration Realists; the rapid and overwhelmingly-positive response that they received was, to me, a clear message that the "silent majority's" hope for true progress clearly hasn't died.

Unfortunately, this community's energy has rarely been manifested so purely. Last night, we three philosophers spoke with a number of people, including a reatively new explorer named Noelia. She described herself as an "outsider," and a "non-activist," which I think is always a valuable point of view.

"All I see," she said, "is some aggression."

We tend, too often, to equate passion with aggression; and so, when we want to take a passionate stand, we assume that it must be done with aggression, even hostility. Then, as we all know, violence begets violence, and the fate of so many potent ideas has been dissolution into the merciless cacophony of destructive argument that this forum has largely become. And the ADM is a Darwinistic paragon, an establishment that is designed to thrive in this climate. They built the ADM up around a charter of legitimate complaints against the DRC's policies. The DRC has indeed been too silent, too distant, and may well be withholding information that we have an implied right to see; and seeing the way the ADM phrased their concerns, when I invited them to the Unbound Hearts' Bevin after their announcement, I was completely willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. But they amplified their protests with inductive logic and confirmation bias. They drove their arguments with the preconceived assumption that the DRC was lying, distorting the truth, and concealing information, to the point that any silence, reservation or ambiguity on the DRC's part was seized upon as evidence. The only way they could perpetuate their accusations was with the philosophy that the DRC was "guilty until proven innocent."

The ADM was intellectually devoid of meaning. It had to be. How else could they get everyone to argue with them? At this point, we can see how their success is only a sad irony. Its message failed to self-sustain. The flame couldn't be kept alive by any self-reinforcing resonance in the beliefs and philosophies of the explorers; Sydney and Ovesen had to do it themselves. Anything to keep the volley going back and forth, even if they had to cheat. On a logical level, their claims were consistently and convincingly defeated; thus, the only way to keep it going was to repeat themselves endlessly, ignore the rebuttals, and spout distorted observations that "the Army is growing." (Personally, I thought their campaign against the DRC's inaction on behalf of "the poor, innocent animals" of Negilahn was the first real sign that their project, as a "movement," was slipping.) And it could have been stopped before it started, by either side, had we as a community ignored them, or had they themselves ceased to put in the effort. It would have gone the way of that ridiculous "Beneath You" project - Templeton Davis didn't realize that without an independently-compelling motivation, the people only react as long as you give them something to react to. But the ADM affair involved persistent effort, and, moreover, an overblown sense of perspective. Acts of political spin and intellectual dishonesty can make for a good story, but only as a side-plot, a bit of intrigue and drama, rather than the behemoth that it became.

For those things to make up a central pillar of the plot violated what I think is the second element: Logical Vindication. A movement has to make sense, and it has to be something that people can get behind, so that it is able to cut its umbilical cord with its creator's ambitions. Otherwise, we'll end up with the cynical, political, confrontational dynamic that we see so often on the surface. People don't like that. People didn't like the ADM; they only reacted against it out of frustration that it wasn't going away. Instead of forming sides on their message, we formed sides on them, because their methods and tactics were blatant enough to keep the two permanently separated.

But it took time for the inevitability of that scenario to come to fruition. And that's because the mass of the people, outside this much smaller network of storytellers, wanted to see the ADM as a representative of the common complaints that they commandeered; they participated out of a genuine, if ignorant, willingness to give it some legitimacy. This community is desperate for leadership. We need purpose. All people, everywhere, in all times, demand purpose. The DRC and Yeesha are perfectly poised to provide us a compass for the tangible and spiritual purposes of this Restoration, and in their silence, they leave the people vulnerable to anyone who can promise an artificial alternative. The ADM took advantage of that.

The people rallied around them, but they never gave the order to march. They tapped the incredible energy that this community wants to release, but they only ended up spinning in place - they never moved forward. Sydney didn't see the difference; she only saw the energy, and called it success. They built their "Army" before realizing that they had nothing to do with it. And the danger that we face is that the new explorers who stumble upon this cavern of limitless potential will perceive that a "movement" like the ADM is how things actually get done around here - or, more to the point, that this was something getting done. It wasn't. The Anti-DRC Movement was no "movement" at all. This was nothing more than an experiment: they created the physical reality of a movement, and a theatric replica of an intellectual structure, but those were not enough to sustain a movement without the third element: Spiritual Imperative. This subtle and sublime world with which Cyan has provided us begs for us to seek the threads of deep, ancient purpose. We, as characters in this visionary pageant, cannot do what we do just for the sake of something being done. We must do what we do, somehow, in some way, sometimes only a small way, but always fundamentally, for D'ni.

I will not deny this: we need controversy, we need confrontation. A story without them is no story at all. But if a war is to be fought, it must be a war worth fighting. The storm is coming. As Kaelri, a character in the story of Uru, I am wary of it; but as a player, I embrace it, and I want this community to make the most of this opportunity to tell a story as it's never been told.
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KI #49612 | Unbound Hearts | Home

[Maratanos]

Sydney said she was coming back, actually.
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For cowards die a thousand deaths, while heros die but one.

Well, unless they're playing video games, in which case heros die a lot too.

[Zander]

I saw that Vicki said she was coming back...

Again, a profound, thoughtful and valuable post, Kaelri. I need to re-read it, possibly more than once. Thank you.
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Zander
the Heretic

[Montgomery]

Brilliant, Kaelri, simply, sublimely brilliant.
... and I would have said that even if you hadn't mentioned me.
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Montgomery (KI #175538)
Founding Member of the Believers of the Great King's Return Group (BOTGKRG).

[M@]

A bit long , but I suppose you felt it was all necessary in order to get your message through.

VERY well-thought-out and insightful, Kaelri If I wore a hat (which I don't), it would be off to you

I especially loved the first half of the next-to-last paragraph....it almost perfectly summed up my feelings about the ADM that I've never been able to put into words

--M@
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Have you hugged a squee today?

[ces]

Sydney is back, and Cate is her focus now. See chat logs for details.

[Al'Kaera]