Updated on April 10, 1999
Author’s Note: As usual, this is a rambling, incomplete essay with no real purpose except to show my total lack of higher communication skills and therefore my suitability for an executive management position. I hope you enjoy it.
The Spirit of Community
Once again, I’d like to take you on a trek through the minds of our little community. One (or at least I) occasionally lets the mind wander to those strange characters that share a sometimes amazing amount of time and hard drive space. They create things that make us think, fight, and bitch. The various personalities that visit and contribute to these hallowed halls create such a powerful dynamic force that lesser mortals might go nuts… of course, some would say we’re already nuts, but that’s begging the question. How can this community survive such a powerfully diverse community?
It seems to me, throughout history that communities that were either amazingly diverse or almost completely monolithic were the ones that died off. The Roman and British empires spanned large portions of Europe and the world, yet they are now, hollow shells of their once great might. Other groups, like the Nazis, died off because they refused to accept diversity, even when they had to lie to themselves to do so. Some would say that many great empires were destroyed by change, not diversity, but what causes change? What causes the internal stress that forces communities to change or be destroyed? The answer is diversity. However, I’m also of the opinion that the smaller communities survive such stresses better than larger communities.
Evolutionary scientists (such as myself) are enamored of the following phrase: "Move, evolve, or die." This phrase sums up the principal behind evolution in four words. While this is only applicable to the animal kingdom, similar language can be applied to human communities. Communities either change or die. Our own community has undergone many changes even in the year that I’ve been around. We’ve changed servers, seen new members come in (and a few go missing), altered the base rules of the game (which is the foundation for our community), and worked together for a common goal. We have grown, shrunk, changed, and moved. The community changes in response to the demands of diversity… to each of our influences, praises, and gripes. The foundation remains the same. TPG2.
Diversity, thy name is TPG2
The community of The Perfect General II is populated by an amazingly diverse group of people. Yet these people share a common thread. Our community is made up of historians, philosophers, scientists, techs, military personnel, writers, and students. There are people from at least four countries and at least five states within the US. There are players with grandchildren and players that are little more than children themselves. This gives the community a dynamic stress that generates more creativity. Occasionally it presents problems. However, the fact that this is a small community offsets much of the potential conflict.
If Adolph Hitler ever mentioned that someone was being a bastard, that person would have woken up to a knock at his door and never been seen again. On the other hand, if I mention that Pense is a real bastard, then one of several things may happen. I may send him e-mail later explaining myself. He might send me e-mail asking for an explanation. Alternatively, and most probably, he will know that I’m teasing him and not worry about it, until the time comes for revenge.
The most accurate statement that I can come up with to describe the community attitude here is: "Leave others to their otherness." I do not apologize for my incessant rambling or questioning, it is a part of me. Rommel need not apologize for being gruff, he does however, and that is a part of him as well. Endgame does not need to apologize for wordiness, nor Bobb for misspellings. These are not faults, but personality traits. One cannot be faulted for his personality. Now if that personality refuses to accept others as themselves, then it may be at fault, but no one here is like that. Each person here has one special trait that truly makes this a powerful community… tolerance.
I’m not sure if each of us is just naturally tolerant (HA!), if we have just discovered a tolerant attitude within ourselves (Yea Right!), or we know that these people or good people and make an effort to be understanding (I don’t think so.) On the other hand, it could be that we just don’t see these as faults within the community. Why do we tolerate Rommel’s gruffness? Because he wouldn’t be Rommel without it. But that gruffness can have positive results as well. We know that we share something special. People will go a long way to accept non-perfect things from special people. This isn’t coming out right. I guess what I’m trying to say is, "I don’t care if you are gruff, Rommel, you’re still my friend." (Sorry to pick on you, buddy. The same applies to all.) There are few things I enjoy more than spending one Saturday a month talking with the community. (And boy will we have things to talk about next time!)
The Third Something
What of our friend, nemesis, and fellow general Earl? How does he fit into the equation? Any community must have a foundation. Some would say that the game itself is our foundation, or perhaps Rommel’s web pages. However, the game is one of those things that we change both within ourselves and within the community. We write new scenarios and even alter the way the game reads scenario files. We use the Long Description to alter the player’s view of a scenario. Rommel’s web site is a virtual tavern that alters itself to our requirements (or at least Rommel’s). We send new scenarios in to be published, we make entries in the guest book, we (some of us) write new essays for general dissemination. Even the location of the web page has changed. In fact, according to Rommel, ownership of the site has changed at least once. Rommel will claim that the page is really ours and he just maintains it. I say that he who spends that much time editing it deserves the recognition of ownership. (And if you take this sentence out, Rommel, I’m going to kick you!)
Earl is the only unchanging aspect of our community. No matter who writes the scenario, Earl is waiting for us. No matter where the page itself travels, Earl is there. The designer may give Earl more troops, or a better starting position, but it’s still Earl. We have not been able to change Earl (so far.) The one static thing (and also the thing of greatest annoyance, possibly because we can’t change it) is Earl. What if Earl really is the corner stone of our community? So, what do you think of him now?
Brevet Lt. Colonel and Captain Kevin McCarthy