Golden Age

A Golden Age is a defined specific time or era in WIDEVERSE history characterized by increase activity, notable actions and battles, as well as social, and sometimes monetary, prosperity. As with all things, the good is balanced out by the bad, and Golden Ages are balanced out by Dark Ages

A DREADFORT during the absolute peak of BMWs power during the 4th Golden Age.

Defining a Golden Age

A golden age is relatively easy to define. Its marked as a period of time when members of the group, no matter the relative group size, are increasingly involved in the day to day operation of the group and are dedicated to its growth. Its also marked by an uptick in activity, both irl, in the social media and chat platforms, and in game.

A golden age historically has been marked in retrospect by members of the COMMUNISM Historical Society, but occasionally a golden age is declared in the midst of said event.

History

The first use of the term "golden age" began when Shelarahn started to collect the histories of COMMUNISM into a comprehensive tome in 2014.

1st Golden Age

• Beginning: Formation of COMMUNISM
• End: 1st COMMUNISM CIVIL WAR
• April 16th - December 4th 2007 (7 months, 2 weeks and 4 days)

The 1st Golden Age of COMMUNISM began with the birth of COMMUNISM itself, with a period of high notoriety and activity within the group. The era is remember as the time many of the traditions of the group began and when members of myth were in the group, such as Spaceballs, Icarus, DonBrasher, and others. It was during this age that COMMUNISM built its reputation. Also, the group was most active in WoW, with several raid groups going, progressing through content.

The Golden Age ended in December when Shelarahn and his raid group split off because of Spaceballs refusal to allow a multiboxer to raid with the guild.

2nd Golden Age

• Beginning: Formation of Friend Zone
• End: The Banishment of Shelarahn
• April 3 2012 - June 6th 2013 (1 year, 2 months and 3 days)

The 2nd Golden Age began with members of the 2nd COMMUNISM coming back together on the Darkspear US server and founding the guild, Friend Zone. On paper, this was the groups peak in WoW, with the guild eventually becoming the best guild on the entire server, beating out several other much older and established guilds. The concept of branching out into other games was also established during this age, with FriendCraft.

The age ended when Shelarahn was removed from the guild, however, the age would continue for a year or so after for Friend Zone, however they were now outside of the WIDEVERSE.

3rd Golden Age

• Beginning: Prudes Return
• End: 2nd COMMUNISM Dark Age
• July 18th 2013 - Summer 2014 (1 year)

When Prude returned just a month or so after Friend Zone was lost, a new Golden Age began to emerge as Pigeon was soon brought into the fold, and the group transferred from Darkspear US to Lightninghoof US and established a COMMUNISM guild there.

The age ended after the Emerald Dream Invasion, when burnout began to set in and the group began to drift apart. It was during this Dark Age that the plan was set in motion for the group to begin searching for larger groups to play with, a plan that would eventually lead to BMW.

4th Golden Age

• Beginning: Formation of BMW
• End: 2nd Rusticity War
• May 25 2015 - October 6th 2016 (1 year, 4 months, 1 week and 4 days)

The longest, and arguably greatest Golden Age of the WIDEVERSE began when multiple clans from Goon Playground, including GAY, merged to create a mega-clan on non-Goon servers. Historians debate the exact beginning of the Golden Age, as BMW was only tangibly related to the WIDEVERSE in the early months. Also debated is the length, due to the 2015 Hiatus from September to November of 2015. However, as has been pointed out, a Golden Age is about the activity level and general enthusiasm of the group, and not necessarily the group itself, as during the Hiatus, COMMIE CREW saw a brief resurgence due to new blood trickling in from BMW.

The age continued after the hiatus, with Taylor assuming direct control of the group and the Rust clan continuing its streak of dominance. However, after 10 months, the age would end after the failure of the Rusticity Clone server due to massive DDoS attacks as well as increasing infighting, later resulting in the BEEFY Troubles.

Some WIDEVERSE historical scholars argue that the Golden Age actually extended into March of 2017, with the launch and subsequent downfall of Conan Exiles. Regardless, the 4th Golden Age remains the longest of all the Golden Ages.

5th Golden Age

• Beginning: WTT Rebrand
• End: Wonka Uprising
• March 3rd - June 28th 2018 (3 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)

After The Great Slump of 2017, many ideas were put forward on how to revitalize the group. The first was dropping the Wrongthink branding and shortening to exclusively WTT, and to also add nights where the group would schedule games or movies. Thus, the 5th Golden Age began. Every Saturday night was movie night, followed by some sort of scheduled game like ArmA or Stellaris.

The end of the age came after 3 admins quit and tried to splinter the group during The Wonka Uprising. The effort was nearly entirely fruitless, but was enough to bring the activity and mood of the group out of the golden age.

6th Golden Age

• Beginning: Jacks Return
• End: Alexs Employment
• May 3rd 2019 - August 5th 2019 (3 months and 2 days)

After the end of Clown World War I and Jacks return, right on the heels of The Sauce Affair, the 6th Golden Age began. With AlexanderDeLarge now the sole leader, he brought back the BMW Calendar and the weekly schedule of activities. Movie night began again, and WEIRD WEDNESDAYS were brought back as well. Voice chat was active like it hadn't been since 2016 and a small group even began venturing back into Rust.

With Alexs fall from NEETdom into Corporate Hell, the Golden Age came to a close officially.

7th Golden Age

• Beginning: The Troon Uprisings
• End: Night of the Long Steak Knives
• December 19th 2019 - June 13th 2020 (6 months and 4 days)

The 7th Golden Age began to form with Alex moving to a working from home position and the appointment of Orkle to mod. A month later, The Troon Uprisings only added to the fire, with the Second Bimmer Purge, the floodgates of recruitment opened, replacing those that had left 3 fold. This new found membership was parlayed into increase in voice chat, game nights, and the return of many old activities, such as the formation of BEEFYTV and the return of WEIRD WEDNESDAYS, Anime Streams, and Movie Night

Further success was found with the outbreak of COVID-19 and increased activity from homebound members. A lockdown related XP buff in World of Warcraft led the Biggers to align themselves with Capri Sun Tzus raiding guild, ATB.

Pyrite Ages

A Pyrite Age (or False Golden Age) is a period that in the midst of it seemed like a Golden Age, but upon historical recollection, was not in fact a Golden Age.

Notable Examples:

• 2nd COMMUNISM (2008): When Spaceballs returned and tried to restart COMMUNISM a year after the Civil War. The group saw a brief resurgence but momentum was quickly lost when most everyone left for actual raiding guilds, and the group returned to nothingness.
• The Conan Era (Early 2017): Despite inflating the member count of BMW 3 fold, Conan was only the briefest of Golden Ages, and many scholars debate that it did more harm to BMW than good.
• BMW 3.0 (Late 2018): While meeting most the criteria of a Golden Age, The BMW 3.0 Era isnt considered one because it is viewed more as a rebuilding phase of the group than an actual time of great progress. However, of the listed Pyrite Ages, this is the most close to being an actual Golden Age.
• WIDE Media Group (Early 2022): Originally hailed as The 8th Golden Age, historians have recently agreed that the era failed to live up to it's early promises, quickly losing steam as The WIDEVERSE fell into The Long Slump.