But why try to bring down the game with you, putting in so much time and effort? Isn't actively working to destroy the game exactly what the "no lives" crew would do?
Narcissism? Hubris? Echo Chamber Consensus? Balkanized discords? Misinformation feedback loops? Downright Hatred for the Other side?
Standard Tropes
1. Boredom begets destructive tendencies in some
- Action at any price
2. Intensification of animus towards "people in the way of the club"
- Adam. Windjammer, Myself, Scott, Lumine typically end up on this list eventually. The first two care about the Labor Party and the game as an elections sim, I care about a certain set of principles that restrain power (bc concentrated power is dangerous, who would have guessed. This sentiment is a threat), Lumine is well known for having high standards for ethical behavior and interest in the story line aspects, Scott cares about policy too much for the liking of the "unserious crowd"
3. Missinformation feeds the loop.
- The AtlasforumIRC waged an extensive misinformation campaign regarding my ties to the Senate Rules and my leadership in that body, the longer I refused to give TNF every single slot.
- The are multiple instances of misinformation that led to and then were manifested during this event
4. The exclusive chat room creates a feedback loop
- #AtlasforumIRC started as a community channel for the whole forum that over time became dominated by a selective group and that group was the core of the radical movement
- Balkanized Discords with echo chamber consensus
- In both cases anyone that goes against the hive mind is pressured to conform and certain people are go with the flow types, while are are the bad influences.
- In both cases theirs a patronizing tone of "look at these pathetic idiots playing this stupid game like children".
5. Eventually someone does "some wild talk" and at first it gets tamped down, but at a certain break point, the wild talk becomes strategy, strategy becomes tactics, and then the tactics start to get executed.
To answer your question the answer to both "Why destroy the game" and "why devote so much time and energy to such while railing against 'seriousness" is a combination of elitism derived from both the exclusivity of the chat room involved, a superiority complex and a narrative to enforce conformity.
"KaiserDave is a Chicken", "KaiserDave just wants to pass budgets three times a week", "You don't want to be one of the boring club do you?"
The people who know better are dismissed and put down.
"Yankee bitching about discord again"
"Yankee quoting Burke about balancing of power again"
"Yankee talking about the past again"
I won't even post the despicable things they said about Scott.
The various things they said about you.
"WB can inherit the ashes" - Dengcord 2022 "The Federalists can lord over the ashes" - Oakvale summer 2015
This is a cult like situation built on negative integration. Its not about internal coherence or making sense, the main thing is preservation of unity behind the schemes, and keeping out reality.
WD
asked Truman how how Oakvale tried to overthrow the Gov't, after Truman cited him, it was not answered that I can see.
Crane pointed out that "Yankee would just delete anything that doesn't conform to his narrative", it was never addressed that I can see.
Nobody thought very long about how well their generalized view aligned with their inflated view of what the GM could do when here it was as impactful as the Supreme Court was to them with the injunctions.