In this intricate web of communication, influence and control, what part does propaganda play in your game?
Is it just me or are these Blog Banters coming right out of my own brain?!!?
Four years ago I became the self-appointed "Minister of Propaganda" for a null-space Alliance down in Providence. This was the gestation, the birthplace of my personal over-arching META. I didn't know that at the time. All I knew then was that I loved Eve and creating artworks based on Eve was something I enjoyed doing. The idea of mixing Alliance politics with a strong PROPAGANDA based message was new to me. But Eve, as it turned out, had a long and storied history of doing so - even before I showed up on the scene. I began learning about that history alongside Goons, -A-, CVA and all of those that called the south home. It was a great time and place to be born into the Eve Community.
Out of the experience arose an even greater expression of propaganda, an experiment if you will. As an advertising, creative, strategy, copywriter type person - plunged feet first into the world of Eve - it seemed like a natural. What if I took my game to the next level? What if I developed the machine of propaganda beyond what anyone else had ever attempted?
What if?
What if indeed. So was born the pure step-child of devious thought and engineering that is the combination of EVE and PROPAGANDA that is, duh, EVEOGANDA.
Welcome to my personal META game. Thank you for playing. It isn't a devious meta game mind you, it is actually an entirely positive, pro-Eve meta that exists to promote my own personal agenda. A pro-Eve agenda yes, but also a pro-Rixx agenda primarily.
I freely admit, and have always admitted, that this blog exists purely to promote that agenda. I use the pulpit of Propaganda to expressly promote an aggressive pro-Eve stance that has resulted in a very successful run over the past four years. From Twitter Hats to DeathRaces to Tusker FFA to bringing back the Frill on the Vagabond and dozens of other small and large events, this vehicle has been used to successfully herald that agenda. For the benefit of everyone I like to think.
On the other side I've also used the pulpit to benefit Rixx's agenda in-game. To highlight and enforce his own agenda, to mock his enemies openly, to promote the formation of Alliances and Corporations and to ensure that he never has to rat again. (Most importantly tbh)
And how does he do that? By bringing the power of propaganda to the unwashed masses in Eve!! How about that? Yes, no longer content to purely express his own agenda Rixx also helps others express theirs! And he gets paid for doing it in Eve currency, so the whole thing stays right in the Eve universe. How cool is that?
You can see a few examples of this in my Eve Flickr set.
Propaganda isn't just something I do here and there, it is something I do every single day. Every post I write is based on the principles of marketing, advertising, promotion and propaganda. Each to a lesser or greater degree depending on the topic at hand. And all intended to entertain, illuminate, and further the pro-Eve agenda.
The concept of expressing yourself in this manner, of wearing it out on your sleeve, is something that all bloggers do. Even if they don't want to admit it, it cannot be avoided. The mere act of standing up on a soapbox and expressing an opinion automatically makes you part and parcel of the process of self-expressed propaganda. It cannot be avoided.
All I've done is combine it in a manner that no one else has ever attempted in the Eve Community. I dare say I doubt anyone else could attempt it, at least to this level. But that is the niche that I fill, it doesn't make me better or worse, just different.
And ultimately that is what the heart of propaganda is all about, the expression of individuality to a mass audience. It can be used for good or ill, it isn't inherently one or the other. I choose to use it primarily for good. Or, at the very least, good as I see it I suppose.
It is all about manipulation. But I think no one minds being manipulated when it means we all achieve a common purpose. Plus, it is just a heck of a lot of fun.
For more thoughts on this subject, check out the prime post over on Freebooted.