Lords & Life: Change

Opinion piece aka T waxes philosophically.

Change
Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, has been quoted as saying “change is the only constant in life.” It's true.

In Lords as in Life, things will change. IGG will release new updates. Guilds will merge and dissolve. People will switch guilds. R5s & R4s will be promoted and demoted. You will migrate to a new Kingdom. Guilds will migrate to your Kingdom. People will drift in and out of your gaming world. It's going to happen. It just is. Period. So don't get all dramatic when stuff changes. It was inevitable.

No one in their right mind loves big changes. If they say they do, they're lying either to themselves or to you. If they're not lying, please contact me with the name of the pharmaceutical company they're doing testing for so I can buy stock early. Change is hard. Change can be scary. Change can just plain suck. Even when it's a good change, the newness of it all and the excitement can be emotionally draining. Plus the whole "this is too good to be true" and apprehension for the future thing.

Change elicits feelings of losing control. Fear of the unknown. If you're not the one making the change, it can be even more difficult to deal with it. But something to think about is the thing you CAN control. The thing you can always control no matter what is going on. Your reaction.

You are in control of what you do next. Will you jump in with both feet and embrace it? Your choice. Will you smile and make the most of it? Your choice. Will you advocate for or against the change in hopes of making a difference? Your choice. Will you be miserable and blame those you feel are responsible for making the changes? Your choice.

I'm not going to tell you that one of these choices is better than the others. Depends on you. Depends on the circumstances. Trust your intuition. But know that if you're miserable about a change that you have no control over, there is always the option of changing your reaction.


Lords
Let's look at some things in Lords and see if we can change anything or if we can steer our reaction. Plus maybe we can make it a tiny bit more comforting knowing other people are feeling it too.

• IGG Updates
We've all had that moment. Whether it was the newest 11k hero or a new research tree or a new event or a new grade of an item, they've done something that delighted or irked you.

If you liked it? Awesome. If you said, "but the game was fine the way it was!" Well, yes. It was. But IGG is a business. You want a game that won't change? Go to a yard sale and pick up a copy of Monopoly.

Lords Mobile is going to change. Yes, they are going to add features that will make them more money. No, they don't care if you quit no matter how much you've spent. I get it. I feel you. But there is absolutely nothing you can do to change IGG's business model. So you can only change how you react. In this case, your most likely choices are to suck it up or stop playing. But maybe you're more creative than me and can come up with more choices.

• Guild Dynamics
Guilds do not stay the same. Think about it. We're talking about dozens of people living in close quarters from all walks of life who play the game for different personal reasons and have different playing styles. Would you expect it to stay the same over time?

When's the last time you and 4 other people were able to agree on the same movie, the same restaurant, the same attire, and the same music to put on in the car for the same outing? That. Times 20. Not saying it can't happen. It might. But let's be realistic. Is it going to happen every night for years? No. Can several people all adapt and make it work anyway in the long run? Yes. Can all 100? Doubtful.

A guild is a kaleidoscopic mosaic masterpiece. A constantly changing mini work of art that needs to be taken care of or it will fall apart. All the pieces are individual, but if it's going to be something special, you need them all together. Some pieces are big. Some are small. Some are brighter than others. Some are sharp. Some have a weird shape that doesn't seem like it'll fit, but in the end it does. Some get lost. Some get aquired. Sometimes one just doesn't work and you need to put it aside.

Your guild will change. And it should! Because people change. Too many new members you don't connect with? Do they farm and you want to war or vice versa? Did the guild used to be one way, say, a monster hunting guild, but now it's focused on holding Wonders and that's not your deal? Cool. That you have control over. Find a new guild.

• Migration
At some point, your guild will migrate. Just as the dynamics of a guild change, so too do the dynamics of a Kingdom. You might have some control over this if you're in Leadership, but as a member you need to just buckle up and go with the flow. It's either going to be awesome or awful. Try it and see. If you're miserable, move on. With or without your guild.

• Friendship
Someone you really enjoy playing with wants to go to a new Guild. You don't. Now what? Someone loses interest in the game and doesn't play anymore, what can you do?

Some people move on. If this person was important to you, friend them on Facebook or a messaging app. Keep in touch. Just because you met in Lords doesn't mean it has to be restricted to it.

You will meet awesome people and you might lose contact with most them. It happens. That's just one of those things.


Life
Change as a Choice: Analogy time!

You have decided to repaint a wall covered in graffiti. Why on Earth are you going repaint it if you can't repaint all the graffitied walls in the whole town? And what if next week someone comes along and paints it again?

Because you chose to make a change. No matter the size of the change or people's reactions to it, you want this change. Now do it. If just one person walks past and thinks, "why is someone repainting that wall?" - it was worth it. Even if they decide you're a lunatic, at least they thought about it. And if someone stands next to you and repaints a small section, well that's just icing on the cake.

Now, what to the moral question of covering up something someone else took the time to do? Valid question. Before you start, seriously think about that. Is it a mural painted to benefit the community? Is it a piece of artwork someone choose to display publicly to express themselves? Is it random names and squiggles individuals created for reasons only known to them? Has it been there a long time and the only reason anyone can come up with for why it's still there is because it's always been there? Any way you cut it, someone at some point took the time, energy, and resources to put it there. Even if you don't agree with or like the reason.

If you have an internal conversation and genuinely feel the wall should be repainted, go for it. But understand that what's ugly to you may be art to someone else. Not everyone will agree with repainting the wall. And even those who do think the wall should be repainted, might have chosen a different color. And that's okay. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's a human right. People don't have to agree with you. And those who don't agree will likely make you aware that they disagree. So you need to make sure that you're 100% behind painting the wall and painting it that color before you even pick up your keys to go to the hardware store.

What if you start painting the wall and someone approaches you and explains why the graffiti was there in the first place and you feel like you've made a horrible mistake? Welp. What's done is done. There's only so much you can do to restore the graffiti and "I'm sorry" is never going to cut it. Another reason you'd better make absolutely certain you are making the decision you genuinely feel it's right.

Answer these questions: Do you know why it's there and why you're changing it? Are you repainting it because it offends you personally or goes against a belief that you and a select others hold? Are you repainting it hopes of bring attention to yourself and make yourself famous? Are you repainting it only to cause controversy? Are you repainting it because you think someone originally painted it for the wrong reason? Does the benefit outweigh any potential consequences? Are you willing to pay the consequences (financial, moral, or governmental) should that situation present itself? If your hypothetical great great grandchildren read an article about the wall's history, would you be proud your paint job is part of that history? Think about it. I'll wait. Got your answers? Cool. Are you okay with the answers? Cool. Carry on. If not... Welp. I have no idea why you're still reading this.

At the end of the day, the wall will eventually crumble anyway and a new wall will be rebuilt in its place and others will paint it and repaint it. Or the area will be abandoned and everyone will have moved on to new walls. Because everything in this world changes.

Whether it's in game or in life, try to always remember that some changes you can control. Most changes, you cannot. But there are always two things you can count on: you can control your own reaction to a change and "change is the only constant in life."

© Tormund ᵃᵏᵃ Ꭲ