A Time For Reform

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

My friends and fellow Atlasians,

As most of you know, I've enjoyed a long history in this game.  I still remember five years ago when a famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Atlasian politico named Napoleon recruited me for my first run for pubic office here.  Since then, I've seen Atlasia at its best and Atlasia at its worst.

Indeed, as I've lamented on in the past, there is an unending cycle within our culture that's undercut the true meaning of the game; these periods of malaise, if you will, distracting us from the real issues to be discussed - policy, game reform, activity, recruitment - to a fixation on personality cultism and petty discord among groups and individuals.  This all goes far beyond the spirit of healthy competition and runs counter to the common goal of increasing activity and expanding recruitment efforts.

And it is something we're all a party to.  And, as Justice Yankee said in a recent campaign speech, no amount of legislation can change the negative culture of the game.  Indeed, it's abundantly clear that we still face these challenges post-game reset.

In order for there to be real change in Atlasia, individuals and parties must do more than simply talk.  We must act.  And that is why the time is right for a new party in Atlasia.

I have been a member of the Labor Party since I rejoined the game several months ago.  I make no bones about the fact that my views are firmly on the left wing of the spectrum, and that Labor embodies the same values and philosophy that I would want in any party I should be a member of.  And indeed, I continue to stand with Labor on all fronts.  I will continue to support Senator Blair and work to elect Laborites up and down the ballot in this election and in future elections.  That has not changed.

But to progressives who seek a fresh, game-oriented approach to doing business in Atlasia, I invite you to join me in building this new movement.  I invite you to the Reform Party.

We stand, first and foremost, as a party dedicated to electing active progressives on all levels of government.  A true commitment to activity is the hallmark of this party.  This includes recruitment for participation in regional government, an often neglected but indispensable aspect of the game.  This is especially important to me for the bleak activity levels I've seen in the North, where two regional Assembly members are in the process of being recalled atop depressing levels of enthusiasm and involvement in the legislative body.  To be blunt, people who run for office on the Reform ticket must be active.  That is what will instill confidence in the Atlasian people and allow this new party to thrive.

Wiki reform is another issue we must address.  The wiki as it stands now is woefully outdated and this demands a coordinated effort to update and better maintain record of the going-ons in Atlasia.  This is a problem that both regional and federal officers must work to solve.  (I myself have been trying to get Wiki editing privileges for months.  I'm hoping to do so after a certain administrator *cough* fulfills that request...)

Finally, the question of game reform must constantly be at the forefront in order for Atlasia to continue.  We should listen to those who are dissatisfied with the mechanics of the game or have new ideas to improve the current system.  And that's where the conversation in this new party should begin.  I have personally lobbied (unsuccessfully) for the creation of a "Do Not PM" list after such was called for by the Harambe Freedom Party.  While the Senate was not able to come to agreement on this issue, I would like to continue advocating on behalf of constituents who desire change.


Now, I'll say that I have no idea how much interest this party will have going forward.  If Reform turns out to be a bust, I will return to Labor and advocate for these ideas in that capacity.  In the meantime, I'll wait and see if this becomes a viable organization to fight for progressive domestic policies and game reforms.

[NeverAgain]

ugh. luv u scott, but this is a stupid idea. I am all for reform, but a new party won't do it .

[Wells]

This is a great idea, but I'm just worried that the Reform Party may become a spoiler. What needs to be done is Labor voters doing all they can to insert this into the Party platform and getting Blair to support these developments. But if this must stick around, then please only run Reform candidates in races where there need to be more candidates, such as Assembly or House races.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

ugh. luv u scott, but this is a stupid idea. I am all for reform, but a new party won't do it .

It's a crapshoot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is a great idea, but I'm just worried that the Reform Party may become a spoiler. What needs to be done is Labor voters doing all they can to insert this into the Party platform and getting Blair to support these developments. But if this must stick around, then please only run Reform candidates in races where there need to be more candidates, such as Assembly or House races.

That's the intention.  It also is to run active candidates, so that we'll have fewer impeachments and vacancies.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Well, I'm sorry to see you leave Labor, but I can't fault your principles. Good luck - I hope we will be able to continue to work together in the coming months!

[White Trash]

I'm extremely interested in seeing this party's stances on issues not related to game reform.

[Leinad]

This is a great idea, but I'm just worried that the Reform Party may become a spoiler.

Thankfully we have IRV or STV in all races, so the spoiler effect is basically non-existent.

[Wells]

This is a great idea, but I'm just worried that the Reform Party may become a spoiler.

Thankfully we have IRV or STV in all races, so the spoiler effect is basically non-existent.

I've realized this.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm extremely interested in seeing this party's stances on issues not related to game reform.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=18844.msg5326049#msg5326049



I'll move to non-game reform issues if this gets any interest, but I would envision the platform not being much different from Labor.

[Oakvale]

I don't really know how things work these days but speaking as one of Atlasia's most revered, even beloved, and widely respected statesmen surely the issue here is that literally every candidate vows to be active? Whether they're Communist or Fedoralist (deplorabilist?) or 'Reform' people will still get lazy if there's nothing interesting to do.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I don't really know how things work these days but speaking as one of Atlasia's most revered, even beloved, and widely respected statesmen surely the issue here is that literally every candidate vows to be active? Whether they're Communist or Fedoralist (deplorabilist?) or 'Reform' people will still get lazy if there's nothing interesting to do.

Going by the number of impeachments and vacancies and lack of participation we've seen in the last few months, I can say that's far from the case.  Even Assembly campaigns used to be far more engaging than they are now.

[Oakvale]

I don't really know how things work these days but speaking as one of Atlasia's most revered, even beloved, and widely respected statesmen surely the issue here is that literally every candidate vows to be active? Whether they're Communist or Fedoralist (deplorabilist?) or 'Reform' people will still get lazy if there's nothing interesting to do.

Going by the number of impeachments and vacancies and lack of participation we've seen in the last few months, I can say that's far from the case.  Even Assembly campaigns used to be far more engaging than they are now.

Is it possible that things are actually worse now than before the big shake-up? How does that happen?

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Might be because we are in the midst of a historic election IRL, I suspect activity will significantly increase post-USA election

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I don't really know how things work these days but speaking as one of Atlasia's most revered, even beloved, and widely respected statesmen surely the issue here is that literally every candidate vows to be active? Whether they're Communist or Fedoralist (deplorabilist?) or 'Reform' people will still get lazy if there's nothing interesting to do.

Going by the number of impeachments and vacancies and lack of participation we've seen in the last few months, I can say that's far from the case.  Even Assembly campaigns used to be far more engaging than they are now.

Is it possible that things are actually worse now than before the big shake-up? How does that happen?

I mean, obviously I was gone for the last two years so I can't compare the current situation to the last clusterfck.  From what I remember mid-2011 to 2012 saw some of Atlasia's better days.  Things started to decline fast in 2013 and by 2014 the game was hardly playable.

[Adam Griffin]

Participation always drops when the kids start getting ready to go back to school/college. It happens every year. That's what happened this year. It was booming during the summer and right after the reset, and then began to trickle in August. It'll pick up again during the holidays when people are cold/depressed/on vacation, and will increase slowly over the first seven or eight months of next year before dropping off again.

If you look back through history, most of the instability and activity woes occur between August and November. This is also when a lot of the chaos tends to occur; takeover of regions like the Mideast due to low activity (2014), Tuesday Night Massacre (2014), OpCot (2012), last year's rebellions, etc. Last year's rebellions and subsequent drop-off in activity was what finally got the ConCon off the ground in a meaningful way. Sometimes, there are events that spark interest during the lull times and I'll admit that 2012 was a busy time, but this pattern is largely cyclical and totally predictable.

[Adam Griffin]

^^^ I'd note that in 2012 specifically, there were like four or five power-players all recruiting immense numbers of players into the game simultaneously, and that definitely helped with making the game far more active during that time. I can't remember if we hit 200 players or not, but we were very damn close regardless. Basically, the game increased in size by like 50% during 2012.

This is a presidential year and so if the parties/power-players actually want to do the hard work of recruiting, there are plenty of people out there to bring into the game. Many of the people who were brought in during the wave of 2012 are still here (I'm one of them). There's no real evidence that there has been any huge surge of recruitment efforts across the spectrum this year.

[NeverAgain]

Shouldn't have said this was stupid, I love game reform and your policies are great ideas. I #1 dislike you leaving Labor to do this, but also think that little will get done in a single cult man party. I am sorry Scott.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Shouldn't have said this was stupid, I love game reform and your policies are great ideas. I #1 dislike you leaving Labor to do this, but also think that little will get done in a single cult man party. I am sorry Scott.

No offense was taken, NA.  As I've said, I'll still be voting Labor this weekend and I'll wait and see if this party can grow in the coming weeks.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Are the last few election cycles even documented on the Wiki?

Clyde and I have been working on October 2016. There's a stub for June that could use some more work. The only two election cycles that don't have a page are June 2015 (bore vs. dkrol) and February 2016 (Griffin vs. Leinad vs. Winfield)

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Some good news: Dave finally gave me Wiki-editing privileges, so I'm going to start adding stuff.  First page will cover the Northern Region.  I encourage people (and especially officeholders) to help build on this new project by focusing on info for their respective regions.  If you don't have Wiki-editing privileges yet, email Dave and ask him for them.