Thema Devia

The Thema Devia is Total War Center's off-topic forum. It is part of the Games, Activities and Chat section. The Thema Devia is meant for discussion about topics which are not already covered by the other forums on the site. While one may talk about most topics there, violating the ToS is not allowed.

Analysis

Despite its "purposeless" status, Thema Devia has been an object of great interest for many - in fact probably because of its aimlessness rather than despite it. In particular, a survey and subsequent article has been compiled about it (here, link also below). What lies within can be summarized to the following points:

• Namely, most regulars of Thema Devia didn't consider the area for a long time after joining the site. Of the few who actually find the "Welcome to TWC" thread, a very small minority actually continues to post in Thema Devia. The most frequent time span between registration and starting to post frequently in TD is between 1 and 2 years. The aimlessness and general low quality of content there keeps most newer members stuck to what they consider the "core" of the site in the modding fora and perhaps Discussion and Debate. Curiosity and desire to discover the rest of the site is what attracts users to start perusing Thema Devia.

• The main reasons Thema Devia is so appealing as to keep such a large base of regulars, are that it is TWC's "lulz capital" where the most easy laughs and socializing can be found. As such it provides a good, light-hearted pastime to many, and a distraction or place to cool off after a bout of heated DD posting/reading. Additionally some of the threads and discussions there actually interest people, whether it's news deemed out of place in the Political Mudpit or some of the larger threads like You Laugh You Lose, the Beer Thread, the rating thread and so on. There is division, however, between regulars who see Thema Devia only as a way to escape boredom, and overall don't find much worth in it, or those who value the discussions and sociable aspect of the area. The Chat Thread would be an obvious example of this, despite the fact that conversation there tends to be of low quality often bordering on insanity. There is also the "Foreign Languages" area, which is useful for obvious reasons.

• As for the denizens of Thema Devia themselves (known colloquially as "Devians") many revel in the ability to post or post in troll threads, to make sarcastic jokes and generally post in a less formal manner than in other discussion-based areas of the site. Some members pejoratively liken the population of Thema Devia to that of 4chan, citing low intelligence, poor attention to grammar and lack of sensitiveness, although many find such a comparison unfair and emphasize on the good spirits and inclusiveness of the TD community. There are very few citizen regulars of Thema Devia, although recently many have joined the Content Staff.

Roleplay in the Thema Devia

The Thema Devia has a long history as a receptacle for threads deemed irrelevant or insufficient elsewhere. However, the colourful members who post in it regularly have often attempted to create a political roleplay within it in order to bring an additional dimension to activities there. The majority of roleplaying was shut down in February 2012.

Origin - Presidential Republic

Guy, the visionary founding father of TWC's political roleplay.

In 2007, Guy posted a thread in the Political Mudpit which allowed users to create their own political party and to vote. It acquired a considerable following and was moved to Thema Devia, thus making the forum a home for all subsequent political roleplay activities. Guy's own party, the Revolutionary Freedom Party, emerged triumphant.

In 2009, Guy revived his effort to bring political roleplay to TWC, by starting another election thread. Presumably due to the thread's origin this time being the Thema Devia, it was more light-hearted and less serious than its predecessor. The ruling RFP was ousted by Babur's Mongol Party.

Finally, in 2010, a third round of elections was started, this time by Antwerpen. This election was distinct in that it followed a more overtly TWC-centric focus, with some party policies directly (if usually jokingly) relating to the affairs of the site. This election can be said to have set a precedent for future roleplay attempts, which were focused around the forum itself.

Evolution - Absolute Monarchy

Arch-Mistress Xand the Defiler in all her glory.

With the Silly Old Duffer party having won the election, its activities were thereafter conducted mainly in their social group. Thema Devia once more became relatively apolitical; yet there were some who resisted...

The pages of history are obscure up until late 2011, and although it is unclear whether or not he/she had a predecessor, TheXand became a "queen" of Thema Devia. There were no formal rules around this kingship, but Xand drew her legitimacy from widespread recognition among the interested regulars of the Thema Devia. She was, however, a notoriously absent figure due to frequent forum bans, which eventually culminated in her permanent removal from the site due to repeated Terms of Service breaches. In any case although she didn't have any "powers", there were no conditions to her rule, and Devian regulars accepted its autocratic nature, thus making it "absolute".

Heyday - Constitutional Monarchy

King Meloncat I wearing royal garb.

The demise of the Arch-Mistress in January 2012 did not put an end to Thema Devia's role-playing impulses. Only a few days afterward, Pasan the fox opened up a royal election thread, at the end of which the winner would become Thema Devia's next king for life. There were three claimants, Cahoma, saxdude and InfiDoyle - all prominent Devians. Cahoma won the election with a landslide victory, and therefore became Thema Devia's second king, dubbing himself Dictator Cahoma, although his formal title was "King Meloncat I of Thema Devia".

Soon after, however, Inkie Pie (at the time known as Archon Musa) took things a step further, creating a Council of Five which would act as a legislative counterpart to the royal executive, as well as the House of Denizens, where Thema Devia regulars could pursue democratic activity and participate in the running of the forum's affairs.

The first council had as its members Ascarona, lolIsuck, Inkie Pie, Lyra and Pasan. The second council saw Ascarona stepping down and being succeeded by Kameraden.

Inkie Pie also drew up the foundations for a constitution, which can be found in Pasan's second election thread, link below.

The original constitution was poorly constructed and required work to improve it. Additionally, there was an active opposition to the constitutional monarchy. It came partially from within, with a new Thema Devian named Diamat starting a revolt in the mainstream of the Devia. He was joined primarily by the monarchy's external enemies, with Coliseum proto-anarchists such as The New Username intent on disrupting the flow of things. Moreover, Twilight Sparkle, the King of the neighbouring Coliseum (who ruled in a lawless autocratic style much akin to that of Xand) was opposed to the kingdom from the onset, particularly to the Council of Five, which he criticized as being oligarchic. In any case, the revolt was ended by moderator action, which bore with it a general warning against roleplay outside of the Community RPG's section, a foreshadowing of events to come.

The constitution had its flaws, and the first setback came during the Council's use of the "Ostrakon", which would exclude the designated user from denizenship, and encourage users to not +rep him. The recipient was The New Username, who was perceived by most denizens to be harassing their activities. However, the very nature of the ostrakon, as well as its unprofessional employment, resulted in borderline harassment of the recipient, and a second intervention by moderators warned the councillors and denizens against further use of such a tool.

Therefore, the Council subsequently took another direction and attempted to improve its actions and become less exclusive, with numerous revisions being made to the constitution. During this time, in late February, Twilight Sparkle created a thread in the vein of the old party elections of 2007, 2009 and 2010, starting his own "Brony Party". It is speculated that he started it in the hopes of increasing his influence in the Thema Devia by interposing himself as Prime Minister in-between the council and the king. However, the monarchy created its own "Loyalist" party, with Kameraden at its head, which quickly became the foremost group of those entering the election, thus putting an end to the "Bronyist Conspiracy".

However, the monarchy was entering its final hour. No longer able to fulfil his duties due to inactivity, King Meloncat I abdicated, thus sparking a second royal election, with Pasan at its head once more. Before the voting could begin, however, the Moderator Staff took final action and closed down the groups and threads formed around the constitutional monarchy, and stickying this thread as a warning against all related activities in future. Thus ended the roleplay and its kingdom.

Aftermath

The Thema Devia party thread survived, but interest quickly waned and it drifted into obscurity. A few attempts have been made to recreate something similar, such as the "religions" of Thema Devia, listed below, although without the rules and structures which made the constitutional monarchy successful (and which eventually caused its downfall) they amounted to little.

Currently roleplay is at a very low level in Thema Devia, and many of the records of the constitutional phase were lost due to the deletion of monarchist social groups and of the previous Chat Thread, although remnants of it can still be seen in the new version.

See Also

• The Brony Party
• The Church of Meloncat.
• The Church of Lemoncat.
• The Church of Rabbit.
• Second Royal Election, including the last draft of the constitution.

External Links

• The Thema Devia on TWC
• Article about the Thema Devia, by Inkie Pie.