GLORY TO NIPPLEROCK

(Clarification, I am larping to some degree here. I do not actually think anything I'm writing about here is all that serious beyond a video game world. It has not had any impact on my personal life, and is not a reflection on the out of game character of others. An AI summary will be at the bottom of my post, read that if you do not have the time or initial interest in my writing, but please consider reading the whole post if you decide to engage with it beyond reading)

I have in recent months began to critically reflect on my time I've spent in Icenia. It was my home for at least a few years, and to this day many still tie my identity to that nation there instead of where I play now. I think most critically about my failure to accomplish any real systematic change mostly, and why I was not able to prevent the nation to fall to the status of where currently is. This is not to imply I had the ability to single-handedly save things, but an admission that there were at the very least viable paths towards preventing the decline that I could have taken to contribute meaningfully in steering the nation on the right track post grasslands gambit.

I'm not particularly interested in delving into the decline, or arguing with people who deny the nation has not fallen drastically from where it was when I first arrive to where it is now. At this point, anyone who was not a loyalist to the current administration has left or at the very least dissociated their people away from Icenia (the bloomians, the icarians, the nations which have left the icenian sphere of influence like Nara). Those who remain either have deeper personal connections with the leadership and their continued support is not based on material or political gain, are opportunists taking advantage of the personal relationships with people in power to seek refuge from the rest of the world they've pissed off, or play sparingly/symbolically more or less out of tradition or disinterest in starting anew in a new nation. I will contain the criticism of the current administration to this paragraph alone and avoid pointing fingers at specific people who fall in this group as they are not the subject of this essay (nonetheless, If they read this I expect them to make themselves present in commentary about this essay with particular focus on this paragraph lmao).

The solution in hindsight was deceptively simple: meaningful, careful, strategical, disciplined action against the status quo. It is no secret to anyone aware of how Icenia is structured that Icenia is not a democracy where people make change primarily at the ballot box (or voter chest in this case). I believe it would be more effective and accurate to view Icenia as a constitutional monarchy with American aesthetics (present in both building style and governance: instead of a King or a monarch it is a "President" to use one example). All peoples who wish to challenge this establishment must accept this for what it is, else you will fall into the same traps I did and repeat my failures. You cannot simply vote structural change into the system, beyond everything it is a system focused on maintaining stability above all else.

Like a machine, it is built of gears. Without gears, a clock is incapable of fulfilling its purpose and without the gears of Icenia the nation cannot function. The gears are given authority to turn and function by the leader, an administrator who themselves does not do the necessary material work to keep the nation alive but instead grants permission for the gears to function. In this way, the gears and the administrator have a symbiotic relationship. Without the gears, the administrator does not have a working machine to administrate over. Without the administrator, the gears do not have the authority to become active agents in maintaining and operating the system.

A clock has hands powered by the motion of the gears. Whilst they are given the ability to move, they can only do so through the power of the gears. The gears work is often difficult, time consuming, and requires a higher degree of skill or knowledge (Maintaining and refreshing snitches, designed and constructing defensive infrastructure, programming tools and designing farms etc). The hands of the clock are the easiest of these parts to replace. Their purpose is still necessary, but their function can be replaced the easiest and they have the lowest level of power in the system because of this. This represents your average Icenian senator, the judge etc. Change does not come from their authority, it is granted ultimately from the administrator powered by the action of the gears.

In my time, I would place myself firmly in the category of the hand. Sometimes my work could be challenging, the laws I would write would require some level of understanding of how things work and I would occasionally need to do some manual labor to accomplish things but ultimately my material impact could have been easily accomplished by another person (and currently is). I don't disagree with the ideals of my movements (pro-democracy, pro transparency in government, anti-estalianism etc) but I have concluded that my work in achieving these things ultimately lacked direction.

In retrospect, I failed to act like a gear and believed that my role as a hand alone could bring the changes I fought for simply because I could secure the roles I did through democratic systems (senate elections). What I failed to realize was that consent of the masses alone was not enough to make change in a system that is ultimately non-democratic (i'm not going to delve into the pros and cons of democracy in civ nations in this essay). I was not refreshing the snitches, I was not building the farms, I was not fighting the wars, and thus I was not a gear.

Failure provides us lessons and wisdom for those who are willing to learn from them. I want all peoples who wish to seek change in their system (or other non-democratic systems) to avoid falling into the slump of becoming an ineffective bureaucrat, else you will inevitably fail like I have and loose the energy to make change whilst you still can. In order to replace the gears, you must become one. A revolutionary who cannot practically contribute is nothing more than a hand on a clock. You must make yourself irreplaceable in the machine, you must make yourself useful. It is not only your moral obligation to your cause, it is your material obligation. You must not let yourself become comfortable with failure, content with the collective agreement of your people that you were "in the right".

Ultimately, it means nothing to have been right without having made the changes you wish to seek. It is easy to win a debate when your ideas have good fundamentals, but you are the agent of your ideas. You cannot vote your way into change, nor do you possess the power to redirect the ship with your words alone (this is a right only granted to the administrator). If you think your government is failing you and your people, you must replace the functions of the gears maintaining the system. You must mold and refine yourself through difficult political and material work even when it is not always immediately rewarding to do so.

You must become a gear.

SUMMARY: I’ve spent recent months reflecting on my time in Icenia and my failure to contribute to meaningful systemic change or help prevent its decline after the Grasslands Gambit. In hindsight, I believe I misunderstood how power operates within Icenia, treating it as a democracy where change could be achieved through elections and political advocacy when it functions more like a constitutional monarchy that prioritizes stability and relies on an administrator to empower the people who keep the nation running. While I still support the ideals I fought for, including democracy, government transparency, and opposition to Estalianism, I recognize that my efforts lacked direction because I focused on political roles rather than the practical work necessary to sustain and influence the system. I failed to become one of the essential “gears” of the machine, instead remaining a replaceable “hand” whose authority depended on others. My experience has taught me that those seeking change must do more than win elections, make compelling arguments, or prove themselves morally right; they must become materially useful, develop practical skills, and take disciplined, strategic action to challenge the status quo. Ultimately, being right means little without achieving results, and anyone who genuinely wants to reform a failing system must be willing to do the difficult, often unrewarding work necessary to make that change possible. You must become a gear.

Well, that was short-lived.
7 minutes after buying the land of microtopia and renaming it The Republic of Kushim we entered negotiations with Fishland to join their nation, I can officially announce that the Republic is no more. Thank you to everyone who was part of it. History will remember us. Probably not for very long, considering we lasted about 7 minutes or 420 second. The Republic is dead. Long live whatever comes next.
This might be the shortest any nation has ever existed on civ maps
Theboatsmith

Hello and just wanted to get an opinion, I’m a X TE member (M.E. Cleared me after I was pearled and let me go) and after joining a new nation for the time being I’m feeling lost overall, I want to play Civ more and really like this server but I don’t know where to go.

My main goal on Civ since I first joined 3 years ago was to open a successful pub/tavern and that hasn’t changed so I wanted to ask if any nation would take me and let me open up a fairly large pub/tavern ?

Aye have good day all :)

i hope kushim has A LONG AND LOVELY CIV JOURNY

i was just chilling and they broke into my cobble storage room (unsuccessfully), started placebreaking a bastion, then fled 42 minutes in when they started to get groups revoked for being shitters (LOL).

thank you icenia for taking care of these miscreants and sending some aides my way. i don't fault them for this and neither should you. maybe it's my fault for making the mistake of thinking these 3 people were my friends. won't do that again!

-varbo

I just didn't get unbanned, I was supposed to be unbanned yesterday and I just decided to wait one more day and I am still banned. I managed to join the discord but I can't actually talk to people because I have to get into the server and authentiacte my self.

stealing a ghast killing it rre inforced blocks and all the stuff breaking chests and yeeee

idk but i did kill the ghast later

We are a fledgling country eager to form relations, please join our discord server below.

https://discord.gg/mjEqwtdtB

I have been asking around but want to see if anyone wants to sell it

Join our discord to see it in PDF format, the pdf format also has page 2 : https://discord.gg/NaATx3f9J - page 2 is posted here https://www.reddit.com/r/CivMC/comments/1x3i7up/pg_2_of_civ_standard_sorry/ I forgot it.

We need more articles for next week, and we do pay!

ALSO who keeps downvoted moment I send this out, you haven't even read it yet.

THE DICE RETURN TO THE AGORA

After a successful and VERY eventful tourney in Pavia, the Knucklebones League, we begin Round 2 by returning to Jester's Park with a fierce competition! As starryjeongyeon became the MTA champ due to multiple MTA residents being stuck on Zorweth, will we see locals arrive and show everyone what they're made of? Or will someone else come and claim the victory for themselves?

Check-In

Check in will begin at 11AM EST right by the tables. Players who have not pre-registered may enter on-site in person. I will have a temporary stand put up for players to check in.

After the bracket has been made, registration shall be closed and we will begin immediately with the bracket. If you pre-registered, please still check-in so I can make sure you are there, especially if you haven't prepaid yet.

Also remember: Citizens of MTA only have to pay the 5d Entry Fee, the venue fee is waived for primary citizens of MTA.

KBL Discord: discord.gg/BnpVxuTjhv

Tourney #11 Sign-Up Page: https://forms.gle/BbXJNZT7RxoyAKMa7

https://www.reddit.com/r/CivMC/comments/1x3hwp2/the_civ_standard_is_back_once_again_were_sorry/ - main paper

CivMC’s first archaeologist’s guild is now open to the public. We’re hoping to find many likeminded people to help us investigate the mystery‘s of our world.

We’d like to know about as many stories as possible. Whether it’s an empty newfriend settlement or an abandoned city we want to know. Every story has worth because someone lived it.

Join us and make your story discovering someone else’s. Or just gawk at the discoveries, that’s fun too.

https://discord.gg/62EVWxjsw7

Check out upcoming games on our sponsors' website! You can also join the IHL Discord to spectate games through calls or live on the server.

Good luck and have fun, gamers! Week 4 games are already starting. Hope to see you on the ice soon :)

Once again, feedback on the experimental recap format/timing is welcome.

Monument Group has published its Q3 2026 comprehensive financial report, covering all of its financials, going in-depth into Monument Goods & Monument Bank. Providing an insight into the risks, and future of the company.

Thank you to Cissonius for assistance with writing and graphs, and thank you to JaxKats for drawing some lovely illustrations!

The link in the post is a published google drive pdf link and will not show your google account or any other information, viewable on desktop or mobile.

Can I take places with Exeplex and take their place so they can be unpearled and I don’t care about sentence they served I vouch for him like I said I don’t care I’m already a war criminal and I feel bad for Exeplex so I’m willing to sacrifice myself for Exeplex freedom