19-11-2025, 08:36 PM
Quote:How and when did you discover Particracy? How old were you and where were you in life around that time (to the extent you are comfortable sharing)?
A friend found it and showed it to me around 2014, but I didn't become Pragma until 2016. We were both big politics nerds in college and I found it a lot more engaging that NationStates and a lot more open-ended than Democracy 3. I was only just starting to transition so this was the first online community were I was introducing myself as a "she" and it was a little bit scary at first, hence why I didn't engage with the forums for a few years. Losing my forum account, find the discord and recreating myself as Pragma was when I really think I "discovered" the game as a I play it now.
Quote:What country did you first play in? What was your earliest experience with the forum? What were your first impressions, generally?
My first ever nation was actually Selucia, where me and my friends in college did some godawful RP. We weren't using the forums so it was just total slop using the broken mechanics of the game. We renamed a load of cities after ourselves and niche references.
I disavow that period and will instead insist the first country I *PLAYED* in was Dorvik. I remember that it was very full at the time and everyone else was doing forum posting so I might as well have joined in. My work was at first very low effort and I didn't put much effort into how it looked.
My first impressions of the community was that everyone was a dick except the people who were nice.
Quote:What was your most memorable RP experience or arc? Did you help shape any regions, lore, or political systems that you’re proud of?
There are two crowning RP experiences in my mind since I started: Vascania and Cildania.
Cildania is my most memorable and fun RP experience. The gang of players we had there was exceptional and it's no wonder everyone else who played there has said it's one of their favourites too. It had everything from the mafia to corruption to scandal to the one and only Fish Hook. I loved building up the national culture and drawing silly little maps to post in the discord. Cildania was the game work exactly as it should and my only regret is we didn't try to stay there a little longer.
Vascania is obviously the region I shaped the most. I built that empire with my own two hands. What started as just a little Kissingeresque anti-Commie coup and civil war in whatever the northern country was called back then snowballed until some idiot let me take over Kalkalistan in an improbably invasion. I annoyed a few people by basically recreating the entire demography, geography, political, linguistics and literally everything else. I spat out maps like it was going out of fashion with an endless stream of oil, autocracy and Ahmadiphobia. Now I realise I probably obsessed over Vascania so much many people struggle to get through my dense, scattered lore. Only a few brave souls have dared to take over where I left off and I salute their efforts... but we all know Vascania is my baby.
Quote:What do you think your biggest impact/legacy has been on the game and the community (if any)?
My biggest legacy is creating and populating Vascania with the scattered vapourings of my diseased mind. Pretty much everything about the country was made by me including its very existance. Not to toot my own horn, but having a "homeland" in this game is a hard thing to achieve especially when you've been around the block, but Vascania is my in-game homeland. I probably wouldn't want to live there though...
Quote:Who were some of the players or moderators who had the biggest impact on you? What were your most memorable interactions, collaborations, or rivalries?
Jamescfm: Crafty little bastard. Like he says, we can't remember how we got onto collaboration terms but it all took off from there. We've worked on so much at this point and I think most of my favourite memories in the game have this little Englishman in the picture.
WiseWu: It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Unmatched for graphics and drafting long legalesque documents. A crucial player in some of the best collaborations I've had in the game and a swell guy even if he is Canadian.
Zanz: Unc. That feeling after you accept your dad isn't superman when you see him fail to build a shed in the back garden for 6 hours when you're 9. Glad to have been the lynchpin in his much-vaunted renaissance era and forever grateful for giving us Fish Hook.
Kubrick: Unc 2, but the kind who doesn't get invited to Christmas parties but still shows up and gets far too drunk. If there's any remotely interesting tomfoolery afoot then this Frisian duck is probably playing a part.
Luis: Fun little fella and fellow Dovani dominator. Always entertained by his RP and genuinely impressed by how much he's grown as a player. Makes me feel old though so that's points subtracted.
GreekIdiot: Solid dude. Ol' reliable and the reviver of the game.
Polties: Fellow cultural nerd and dreamer. I've probably retconned plenty of his work without realising.
Farsun/Auditorii: Early rival but a committed player who kept the game going when it was screaming out "let me die"
Mr God: Another sometimes rival, especially when he was playing that in that Deltarian shithole. Jaya Vasc forever.
Mbites: I did troll him back in the day. Was that like 2016? 2017? The olden days.
And a load of others besides.
Quote:How did the community culture evolve during your time within it?
It's a lot less toxic and competitive than it was. I probably played into that in the first place but I'm all medicated now. I like it this way and so does my nurse.
Quote:How did Particracy influence your interests, writing, or worldview?
Honestly I don't know if it hasn't, or if it has and I've just not noticed it. I think it has been the whetstone to my sharpening creative writing skills.
Quote:How do you feel about the end of Particracy Classic — and what do you hope remains remembered?
The actual browser game was crying out to die but the forum is what I miss. Hopefully we recover some data some day. I'm incredibly excited for the next chapter.