The Great Slump of 2017

The Great Slump of 2017 (Also referred to as The 3rd COMMUNISM Dark Age) was period of conflict and lack of activity within BMW predominantly during 2017. Forming in the wake of the failure of Conan Exiles, the slump strained relations amongst Bimmers and revealed conflicts in philosophies on what BMW should be and how it should be led.

Background

Cracks had begun showing in BMW long before the Slump. Most notably in late 2016 with the failure in the 2nd Rusticity War and the departure of BMW admin, Ashy. Combined with the 3rd COMMUNISM CIVIL WAR, the group was on a knife's edge. All hopes were pinned on the success of Conan Exiles which launched in February of 2017. All resources were dedicated to the venture, and when it failed because of the games poor design and lack of ability to capitalize on it, BMW itself began failing.

Post-Conan

Conans failure shattered BMWs confidence and its planning for the future. During the Conan venture also began Goons attempt to slander Bimmers as racists and Nazis, so recruitment from SA began to slow to a trickle. All hope had been put on Conan breathing new life into the group, and as such nothing else was planned or even on the horizon to be planned for. The group was lost. The losses continued to stack as members and admins alike began to realize the worst case scenario was coming true. On April 8th, long time admin and former right hand man of Taylor, G-mach ragequit citing grievances with Taylor (not so much grievances as having a massive melty and calling Taylor a child because Taylor wouldn't let Gmach ban people without reason.) The wounds of the 3rd COMMUNISM CIVIL WAR were reopened and the admin team was split on opinion.

The Salt Shakers

See also: TSS

A brief reprieve in the slump came on April 13th, when Nonpoint, a Redditor recruited to BMW for Conan, pitched the idea of joining up with his small Rust clan. The Salt Shakers, as it was known as, was a welcoming group who agreed to take in a few Bimmers. Before long, Taylor and the Bimmers began mostly leading the group, including a satisfying revenge arc against longtime rival NAMBLA.

The Pol Stop-Loss

By the middle of 2017 it was increasingly apparent that BMW had no direction and nothing to move the group forward. Taylor made the decision for the group to focus on its politic chats and outreach to forlorn Goons. The move was criticized by many who said that the politicization of BMW brought about its downfall, but the chats brought in more people than any other event during 2017 other than Conan. As such, the SA Rapefugee Program was initiated. Many people were brought in, most notably DrCoathanger and Alt.

PUBG Revival & Destiny

In early July, another brief reprieve came in the form of PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, a Battle Royale game that became extremely popular very quickly. Many Bimmers became interested in the group, specifically Taylor, Jack, and Hindered. Many groups sprung up in the following two months.

The momentum from PUBG gave BMW the encouragement to plan forward, specifically Destiny 2. In early September, Future headed up the effort to expand into the game. AlexanderDeLarge was also recruited to help the charge, specifically after Tempus Thales pulled out his partnership with the group at the last minute. However by December, Future had all but given up, mostly due to his poor raid leading and the group having to tow his wife through raids. He pitched the idea to merge with a pubbie guild, a choice Taylor heavily pushed back against and warned of the ramifications. As usual, Tay was right and the merger failed spectacularly.

Jim Lockwood Assault

Bustr and Duster (no relation) began trolling online political call in shows in early November and began posting clips in Discord. Others began joining in too and more targets were found, most specifically a blind lawyer who ran a nightly Conservative talk show named Jim Lockwood. The Bimmers gave Jim hell for a few nights, including Taylors infamous "State-Mandated Anime" call-in. The fun was eventually squashed by Lancek who was afraid Discord would ban the group for harassment.

5th Golden Age

All the aforementioned momentum eventually gave way to a new GOLDEN AGE in early 2018, putting BMW on a new path to greatness.