Defeat the Godmodder 2: Alchemiquest

[Torix]

Okay, I think this is finally ready to be released. The other Arbiter and I have been working on revitalizing The Truth, a series of documents on the nature of many things in this specific series of Godmodding Wars. What we've essentially done is scrubbed it of the nihilistic views of the Author, as well as updated the documents to contain more relevant information. For who's who: I type in orange text, the magenta belongs to the other Arbiter, and white writing is what was originally written by the author.

A copy of the original Truth can be found in the pages of the previous Godmodding War's archives. If anyone would like to read the original version, there is a link to it here.

Chapter 1: The Truth About Players

Players can easily be just as bad as Godmodders.

Players were originally created by the recently deceased God as a counterpart and counter to Godmodders (more on them in Chapter 2). However, it may be inaccurate to say that Players were created, so much as that Player Powers were created. God, although he has created Player Powers didn't create Players. Player Powers are instead bestowed upon anyone who fights in a Godmodding War as soon as they decide to fight, hence making the creation of a Player a Player's choice. The Players' powers are a direct reflection of God's power and so are supposed to be "good", but often fall in various places on the entire scale of alignments. For example, Pro-Godmodder Players have been proven capable to exist, even if by a different name thanks to the Neutraladder, and are currently fighting in the war at the Final Wall under that name - and Neutral Players aren't even necessarily there to fight, but rather utilizing Player Powers to their advantage and create entirely different things unrelated to the battle.

The Players also supposedly have an opposite powerset to Godmodders. However, in practice, their powers are remarkably similar - each of them can do as they please, and command incredible might. Few goals are out of reach to Players, as all they have to do is will what they desire to occur. A Player could easily destroy a Plane by themselves, so long as they did not run out of creative solutions to the problems they faced.

The Players do have one major restriction that could prevent the above scenario from occurring: they lose their powers if they spend too long away from the Godmodder. This restriction was likely (The Author, along with us, didn't and still don't know for certain) added by God to prevent precisely what I describe from playing out. But even within their key confines of "needing to be near the Godmodder", there is still plenty of potential for mayhem.

Players fight their battle by using various attacks. And these attacks need to be consistently novel, otherwise the Curse of Repetitiveness (try as I we might, I have yet to discern all of the mysteries relating to that curse) will inhibit their potential for success. Let's look at an example of one possible attack:

"I call upon the aid of the entire universe of Energons. These Energons are being of pure energy. I then throw every Energon into a laser pulse cannon to charge it up, and fire the beam at the godmodder."

Attacks like these are used all the time. Now... let me ask you the critical question:

Did the Energons here always exist? Or did the attack create the Energons in a state of having always existed?

I "The Author" [has] long searched for the answer, and found none. Players will describe entire backstories, outline entire worlds, make new people and characters, and they will all be totally real and have always existed, but also will... not be real, in a sense. This has Reality in a sort of state where there are numerous unresolved plotlines, unresolved universes, unresolved characters, began by Players (whether due to the deaths of the Players in question - or the Players simply forgot), that have their own histories and should still exist, but just... don't... move. [He has] observed many of these Player-created things, and after a while, they get... stuck. Frozen. Many are hidden in the dark forgotten corners of Reality, like memories of an imaginary friend you forgot about long ago.

And, of course. There are at least 12 universes of eternal suffering, which use the pure pain of billions of being to power some weapon or another, kicking around. Most likely more.

Player powers are bestowed by God himself. Because of that, Players have the power to create. But they lack God's omnipotence and (alleged) benevolence, and so often lack the ability to (or decide not to) resolve. This is unfortunately true. Since we learned of this in the previous Godmodding War, veteran Players had and have often stopped using these strategies. Entities of the war that survived had their loose ends tied up by the current Arbiter of the time, Moniker. This… seems to have been a rarity, unfortunately.

There are so very many traces and things left behind. The war between Players and Godmodder has gone on for thousands of years, and to clean up everything left in its wake would be a truly impossible undertaking. That being said, there is at least one entity, whose creator allowed her to be free of that 'resolution' problem, who is equipped and dedicated to resolving this problem. Being an android, D.I.G.I. will likely last well beyond the end of her purpose, but even she has sought out help from various groups, including the entities who have been unfrozen by her efforts, various organizations devoted to cleanup already, and even former Players, such as Alastair. Her feelings or opinions on the matter of the Godmodding Wars starting up again are unknown, due to a lack of communication.

For more talk on the implications of autonomous things created by Players, please see "The Truth about Entities". But, back to the greater argument - to really see the issue here, we must also consider the demographics of Players. ANYBODY can be a Player. However, becoming a Player almost invariably means losing your life, (I mean, the last group of Players survived…)(But normally, Players don't end Godmodding Cycles so decisively either.) and you probably won't see your loved ones again. Such a high-risk profession generally drives away most upstanding people. (I have not once understood this idea - if anything, upstanding people would likely be drawn to these fights or high-risk professions and historically have been, all in the name of saving others or bearing the sacrifice so those less capable or willing don't have to. Sadly, The Author has not been seen for comment on how he came to his conclusions.)

You're also likely to be broadcasted to the world on TV, and there have been plenty of nervous breakdowns for a very large audience to enjoy. This leaves the remaining willing Players as a mix of adrenaline junkies, power trippers, and whoever else is desperate enough to sacrifice their lives for a chance at glory. Most Players are not what you'd call "good people". A debatable and narrow minded view, but not necessarily inaccurate. People being 'good' or even 'good people' is an extremely subjective view, and how people react to being given power or in high pressure scenarios is a guessing game at best. And even 'good people' can have traits or scenarios that make them act unsavory… and the reverse, scenarios where 'bad people' act in commendable, maybe even heroic manners. Not necessarily out of any change in viewpoint - just circumstance.

As Players fight the Godmodder, appearing to be "normal people" "just like you and me", most people from outside the fight are inclined to root for Players, and see this fight as the "heroic" Players versus the "villainous" Godmodder. The end result, though, is a mess of interpersonal stories all butting up against one another and coming to a head. If you take away nothing else, then remember that your fellow Players are fallible and prone to the same errors that most sapient beings are beholden to. And also remember that, save for those who side with the Godmodder, you are on the same side in the end.

There will always be more Players. It is unlikely that Godmodders will ever fully and truly suppress Reality without destroying it entirely. However, the chain of succession of Godmodders is not guaranteed - again, more on this in the next chapter.

But if Players ever do prevail, and find a way to keep their powers without need for a Godmodder - we will surely find ourselves just as, if not more, oppressed by them than we ever were by the Godmodders. This is precisely why the previous group of Players didn't do such a thing. A choice was presented to make a Player Power Lock, which would precisely allow the scenario the Author envisioned. As of right now, the general consensus seems to be aligned with the Author's, in that infinite power corrupts infinitely - and therefore, a means for infinite Player Power must be avoided.

But all of this is but a philosophical view, and it does not cover one last, more vital concern.

Like the Godmodder's powers, Player Powers seem to have evolved and are continuing to evolve even now. For example, this particular fight, you'll find, has some significantly different rules from the Godmodding Fight going on in the Alps (Nope, Himalayas, wrong mountain range.) (My Apologies) at this moment. Their fight seems to be centered around Grist and the Alchemiter, with CP being rare, if not nonexistent. Additionally, proper factionalization seems to be possible there, while over here we still use CP and have an Alignment system solely centered on the Godmodder or Anti-Godmodder opposition. And both fights differ in ways both major and subtle to the one against John Smith, where Player Powers were still in line with the standards everyone had come to know.

I would not be surprised if, should another Godmodder or significantly Godmodder empowered being were to rise up, more Players would rise up with more alien or specialized rulesets. But while the format for the Godmodder's powers are fixed by now after such a long period of change (See chapter 2 for more details, again) it seems that Player Powers are only just beginning to go through their own phase of growth.

As of now, however, there is an air of mystery punctuating this development: Namely, how did this evolution occur, and how did the powers survive the demise of God?