Why I embrace Alliance (not NERO)

Recently, I have noticed that a number of the old timer tend to continue to refer to the game as NERO, rather than Alliance. As an old timer myself, I understand the sentiment involved in this. I even share a good deal of that sentiment. Still, for myself, I have come to embrace the name Alliance. There are a few reasons and I think they are worth mentioning.

First, NERO stands for New England Roleplaying Organization. I think we have gone to a lot of work, as an organization, to make this game national. In the past, I have heard west coast chapters feel somewhat slighted by east coast centric concerns. The New England part of the name is an artifact that holds us back, rather than helps us move ahead.

Second, I have paid close attention to which old timers have embraced the name Alliance. And, from what I have seen, the ones that have come to embrace the name are people that, over the years, I have come to have great respect for. This doesn't mean I don't have respect for the people who don't embrace the new name. In fact, I respect many of them, too. It is just that a certain special few, who have earned my greatest respect over the years, happen to be the people who are embracing the new name. That means a lot, and I think it is worth honoring that respect with my own actions.

Third, and most important, is the fact that I played NERO back in the old days. Back then, NERO was a giant among larps and an amazing game. I look at NERO now, and I see what Joe Valenti has done to the game I once loved, and I feel sick. I do not want to be associated with the bastard child of the game I loved that is masquerading as the real thing. I want to be associated with Alliance. It is the game that makes NERO once was and it is the game that make me feel the wonder of the old days.


There isn't a particularly good reason I posted this. I just sorta felt it needed to be said. This message is in no way meant to be an indictment of those who still embrace the name NERO. As I said early in my post, I understand the sentiment, and I even feel it myself. I just wanted to express a new sentiment for the new name. I have felt that many seem to view the new name with mixed feelings, and I felt that an expression of good feelings towards the name might be worthwhile.

My rambling for today is complete.

-MS
 
I would have to say that although I am still pretty new to the game I've done allot of reading about everything that has happened and the way things are now. I to really support the name change for allot of the reasons that I decided to join Alliance not Nero.

Alliance is the game in which the head very top people are committed to having a fun game for everyone and not their personal gains. Thanks so much to all the folks in charge who have worked so hard at this! =) I love this game and I hope everyone gradually also gives it the respect of having a separate name.
 
It's great that we have our own distinct name now, but I wouldn't get too hung up on people still calling it NERO. Old habits die hard. If you're recommending the game to new people, yeah you want to stick with the real name. But when you're talking to your buddies on the way home from a weekend, saying NERO is no big deal. It's like calling a Puffs tissue a Kleenex. We all know which is superior (OMG PUFFS!), but we're so used to saying Kleenex.
 
It's not really an embrace thing for me.... it's just that I get anachronated at times. I still go to "record stores" and by "albums"... shiny little 6" wide ones, but they're albums all the same.

Tom H/That Guy
 
FOIGofWar said:
It's not really an embrace thing for me.... it's just that I get anachronated at times. I still go to "record stores" and by "albums"... shiny little 6" wide ones, but they're albums all the same.

Tom H/That Guy

/rant

I buy albums all the time. In this case an album is a collection of songs. There are simply new formats for publishing them. The Beatles have "The White Album" NOT "The White CD".

I rank this issue on the same level as when a store has a sale on videos and I try to buy a DVD and am told "That's not a video, it's a DVD." I watch it on my TV, therefore it's a friggin' video!

/end rant
 
It's just a time of transition. I don't embrace the name, I'e just been calling it NERO Alliance for so long, it's taking me some time to drop the NERO part. Has nothing to do with liking one game more than the other.
 
I still call the baseball team the Brooklyn Dodgers! I'm old!
 
markusdark said:
It's just a time of transition. I don't embrace the name, I'e just been calling it NERO Alliance for so long, it's taking me some time to drop the NERO part. Has nothing to do with liking one game more than the other.

On the same point, when I tell my wife what I am doing, I say "I'm off to play Nero" not "I'm off to play Alliance," it makes more sense to her and other mundanes...
 
Eventually we should be willing however to accept the new name...
 
Dr_Chill said:
markusdark said:
It's just a time of transition. I don't embrace the name, I'e just been calling it NERO Alliance for so long, it's taking me some time to drop the NERO part. Has nothing to do with liking one game more than the other.

On the same point, when I tell my wife what I am doing, I say "I'm off to play Nero" not "I'm off to play Alliance," it makes more sense to her and other mundanes...

Likewise. When I started, I called it NERO. When I had to explain to people what I did some weekends, they retain that information as NERO. When I tell them NERO changed the name to Alliance they don't retain that information. Therefore, it's easier to just say "I played NERO this past weekend" when talking to mundane family/friends that have no interest in playing.

That, and I am so absent-minded I keep forgetting to tell people that NERO was changed to Alliance. :)
 
agreed, when I talk to most of my friends about it I tell them that I'm larp'ing thats usually good enough.
 
jpariury said:
When talking to most people at work, I just say I'm larping. The details of which larp I'm playing don't really interest them.
Heh, I tell my co-workers that I'm going camping. Guess I"m not as brave as most. Then again, not sure how the Dept. of Energy would feel about a gypsy in their midsts. ;D
 
Co-workers at my job like to hear what I do and always asks questions or for pictures. Then they go on and ask what I did at the event, being the great storyteller that I am :D I have them speechless and sayings "that's crazy" all for a retelling of a module!
 
markusdark said:
jpariury said:
When talking to most people at work, I just say I'm larping. The details of which larp I'm playing don't really interest them.
Heh, I tell my co-workers that I'm going camping. Guess I"m not as brave as most. Then again, not sure how the Dept. of Energy would feel about a gypsy in their midsts. ;D

Mine: "I'm running around in the woods bashing people with padded sticks."
 
At my old job I had the same situation as Justin... people wanted pictures and stories. My new job doesn't quite know this side of me yet--they just know I like to go camping with friends. I tell them we have large groups of friends that gather at campsites and it can be as large as 50 of us. That seems to suit them just fine. Not sure how they would react to more details than that.

J
 
I start out talking about acting then progress to Ren Faire to Medieval re-renacting then add in the fantasy elements later.
 
I wind up still calling it NERO all the time out of habit. I reckon that if I was around pre-split it'd be easier for me to switch as I'd have another impression of what "NERO" is/was.

Plus it has less syllables. Yes, sometimes I'm that lazy.
 
I often like to tell people who I'm unsure of how they would take my geekyness at work, that I'm out "extreme camping". Nobody ever seem to press the issue so I just stick with that. I get stuck in the whole Nero/Alliance name mix because I used to refer to it as Nero initially, but now that its changed my friends still ask if I was at Nero, or if I'm going to Nero. So since its stuck for them, even when I try to remind them it changed, they still remember the name NERO over Alliance.

~Tim
 
Back
Top