One Year Later
Entry posted by Bob Ilyani
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Nemesis: One Year Later
On December 2nd, 2010, the alliance that we knew as Nemesis finally came to an end. As the Triumvir who proposed and executed the disbandment, a lot of that pressure, that sense of failure, that sense of disappointment was a burden that carried on my shoulders. But, at the same time, the memories of our triumphs, our successes and failures, and the people that I met there and the legacy that the alliance left help cool the resentment I feel myself for the disbandment.
To add a little context here, Nemesis was an alliance founded by Bob, Van Hoo III, Soccerbum, and a few others in the early weeks of 2009, before the start of the Karma war. It was meant to be an elite alliance, never huge in NS or members but with those who are active, influential and make a difference in CN. When the alliance began, these ideals were fulfilled and plenty of CN's biggest names soon called Nemesis home. It was at that point that I myself joined the alliance. We fought in Karma and BiPolar, and had tons of fun along the way, but after that it became evident that the core values Nemesis were founded upon were being compromised. Many of the active and powerful Nemesis leaders, infused with excitement following the fall of their long-time enemy the New Pacific Order (Nemesis was quite shamelessly pro-Karma at the time) left to form their own personal projects, and lesser people took their place. By the time late 2010 rolled around, the problem was so significant that I made the decision to disband the alliance.
With that little history lesson aside, I want to talk about a few things I regret from those days. One thing that I didn't realize when Nemesis disbanded was how strong of a community it was to so many people. While I did merge Nemesis into Ragnarok (which still technically protects the AA to this day) the strong relationships that the active Nemesis community had in CN led to many people leaving to go to other alliances. We drifted apart, and so many of us are gone or deleted now. Of the final Triumvirate, one moved to Exodus and since deleted and the other I talked to for the first time in months yesterday (hey Kat, hope you read this). I'm not even going to begin talking about the regular membership... of the 15 or so Nem'ers that went to Nemesis, only 2 or 3 are still around. The alliance is what brought people to this game, and it's the reason that they stayed. And, to a certain extent, that's really the one big reason I regret abandoning Nemesis. I essentially ended the game for an, albiet small, community of people. That's something that I've thought a lot about and something that has given me stress... I don't want my legacy to be that of someone who disbanded a once-significant alliance.
Of course, being in such a small and tight-knot community and then moving into an alliance of almost 150 people was quite the jarring change. But, it also allowed me to learn a little more about parts of this game and it's community. I know it really comes down to personal opinion, and that there's a lot of people out there who enjoy kicking it back in a smaller alliance, but I really like the political relevance that comes with being in a larger, more influential alliance. It's a completely different beast from a smaller alliance. In the span of a year I've gone from Triumvir of a small alliance to the second-in-command of a considerably larger place, and let me tell you, the change is enormous. But I like it. And I think most others also relish the chance to earn power, respectability, responsibility. But, at the same time, they want to keep their vibrant communities alive. Why don't they, then, combine to create strength in numbers? One single 3 Mil NS alliance has a lot more political clout than 3 smaller 1 Mil NS alliances. It truly is the best of both worlds; the culture grows as more people join it and the dream of political relevance is achieved. With the addition of hindsight, this is what I realized I should have done with Nemesis; found an ally that complimented us well and discuss the idea of forming a union with them. IAA was inactive and a good friend of ours, maybe a joint merger would have been the spark that kept both communities alive... it's semantics at the end of the day but it's still something I like to think about.
Of course, I too have changed a lot in the past year. I've moved to RoK and moved up government, and now I'm Regent. I'm in a lot more super sekrit discussions than I was before. I'm also a lot more of an ass. That's been a conscious decision on my part... it's a way I get fun out of this game. Somewhat sick, I know, but a part of life. I play the antagonist here because I don't do it in real life. Either way, as much as I loved Nemesis and everything it brought, and as much as I hate myself for killing off that community, and as much as I wish we could have kept it alive, I've learned something from the experience. Small alliances are just not for me. I'll stick with us larger political players.
R.I.P Nemesis- Too late to live but too early to die.
20.02.2009-02.12.2010.
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