Do casuals have a place in Europeia?



Do casuals have a place in Europeia?
Developing a greater community for all
By Rach
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Europeia is well known for its tough political culture. Recently, our political culture was the focus of a May issue of the Miniluv Messenger called “Op-Ed on Recent Turmoil in Europeia”. As Cormac elegantly put it: “To be sure, Europeia is a hyper-political region and, for the most part, its community takes pride in the region's politics. Europeia isn't for the faint of heart. It is the closest thing to hardcore real world politics you will ever find in NationStates. Some regions exist to defend, some regions exist to raid, some regions exist to role play. Europeia exists to be political. When Europeia engages in other endeavors, it is to give its sprawling government something to govern. The government is not a means to an end; the government is the end unto itself. This is Europeia. This has always been Europeia”. While many prominent Europeians praised the article, it did not reflect the experiences of the casual player here.

There has always been a disconnect in the relationship between those who participate in the management of Europeia and those who just use our region for fun. This relationship has often been accidentally hostile, particularly given how casual players will be far more likely to be turned off from Europeia than complain. Despite the fact that we have far more players uninterested in governance of the region, their views and desires are often ignored compared to our more politically inclined players.

This was exemplified by the disapproval by HEM, the founder of Europeia on the most popular messaging service for Europeians: Discord. In the E-News Network article “Discord is Hell”, HEM described the casual users of Europeia and discord as: “There are people who hang out in #EuroChat but couldn't name a single President from before Writinglegend. Discord is sapping us of our regional identity and lasting power. Discord is creating a separation in Europeian society and culture. Discord is dark and dreary — the absence of light. Discord is hell”. The response to the article was generally popular, although many chose to focus on ‘institutional memory’ rather than the perceived problem of having too many casual users in Europeia.

Often, when we discuss integration in Europeia we focus on how we will improve the way we get casual players to become political ones. The discussions tend to focus on institutions such as the Civil Service, the Citizens Assembly and the Depository of Legal Knowledge and Practice (formerly the Judicial Training Centre). Less focus is on the integration vision Minister of Culture Rand presented in his recent confirmation hearing: “Culture is about celebrating what we do and enjoying each other's company as friends rather than political rivals. We achieve this through festivals, spam games, karaoke, weekend games, and so many other activities. Culture is how we integrate people into our region. It's how we make the game enjoyable, so people keep coming back. Culture is how we introduce people to others, so they form friendships and feel at home in our region”.

This focus is so often neglected compared to the focus on training Europeians and moulding them into professionals who can run the region. Even the recent integration project by Sopo, “Europeian States: A Grand Experiment” is dedicated to turning casuals into professionals rather than simply attracting and retaining casuals. This is not to say that our obsession with how Europeians can become successful in government is a terrible thing. It is a noble and necessary endeavour for our republic. But there should be a greater if not equal focus on how we can better grow and keep the more casual players in Europeia beyond simply 'more politics'.

Deputy Minister of Culture Pyntuma has been exemplary in this effort. In charge of the weekend games, she has provided a greater sense of community and belonging for many Europeians who are just not as interested in the political elements of the region. She has improved their experience and helped facilitate new friendships. As she described it: “Well.. Europeia may be a political superpower in Nationstates, but what truly makes it special is the people within. So many amazingly smart, kind, opinionated people make up Europeia, and each brings something to it. I feel that the weekend games I host are a good way to bring the people of the region together and a good way to strengthen bonds. Because, in the end, we are all human beings, all unique people who are able to share both bad and good times together. Sharing camaraderie and laughter through games is a good way to remind everyone of that. That we are not just political, but friends too. That everything is not just serious, but can be fun too. That behind the brilliant, political minds, there are fun-loving, competitive party animals. That work should be balanced with fun. So, weekend games are here to set the stage for the fun times Europeians share together.”

In an era where there are concerns about activity and our ability to keep players interested in the wake of government members inactivity and resignations, it is to everyone’s benefit to focus more on developing a greater casual community. Even for our most tough political veterans, having a stronger sense of community and more things to do casually can’t hurt us when it comes to trying to keep people active and interested in the region and their positions. It benefits us all. For myself personally, I would not stay in Europeia if it were not for that great and understated casual side of the region. That community experience is vitally important to keep people spending time here. Growing our community with fun activities and trying harder to appeal to all Europeians is a laudable goal that we should not forget in our pursuit of political perfection.
 
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Euro has done a lot better in cultivating a non-political culture in addition to our existing hyperpolitical one in the past term than in recent months, and it's a nice trend to continue.
 
While the states project has the potential to allow citizens to build a portfolio of experiences to run for higher office, one of the original reasons the idea was proposed was to give members with less time and experience the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to Europeia's culture without the high expectations and time commitment of higher office (i.e. casual players).
 
Thank you for the article Rach, it's an interesting read and I am glad I was able to contribute to the article and am able to help. <3
 
That was a great article and I think most would definitely agree with it.
 
I would define "casuals" as folks who are engaged in our community enough to maintain citizenship and vote in elections, but who don't participate in our RP government in any formal way (except perhaps as an ERN reserve/volunteer). We've probably had more of these "casuals" in the past year than at any prior point in our history, and while some of that is old-timers who have retired from active politics, I suspect we also have more people than before who never engaged in politics.

Of course, we should continually strive to make this a more welcoming and engaging place, but I think we're in the enviable position of building upon success in this area.
 
I agree with Pyntuma wholeheartedly on this topic. My experience in this region has been that, even as political banter is moving at 500 km a second (and is often hostile in nature, even if unintentional), most if not all of us can still get along with each other and even have fun. Great article, Rach. I really enjoyed it.
 
Great read! Relative to our "political" members, I think we are seeing our highest influx of "casual" players in the history of the region. Whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate, but I think casual players have a place in Europeia. Casual players have come more into focus recently because we've shifted into a political atmosphere, in my opinion, where people are having a much more difficult time keeping the actual player separate from the political player. It simply makes casual players stand out more; they don't fit into the mold of "political" player that people expect to see.
 
I have no issue with them per se, but I don't really get what would draw a casual player here in the first place.
 
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