The End of RoD 15

The 15th Republic of Discord ended on the 16th of January, 2024.
The message that announced the end read:
||@everyone @here ||
# The End of the Road
> Well, folks, it's been a good six year run - but all things must come to an end. We had some good times, and we had quite a few bad times - times where the best in many of us didn't exactly shine. But at the end of the day, most of us came here for a fun time, and for at least a little bit, that's what they got.
> 
> Over the last two years, the server has been in a slow and steady decline, with a few prominent attempts to get it back up and running never lasting more than a few months, at most. I commend everyone who tried for trying, but clearly neither myself nor any of the older folks here have the time, interest, or energy in maintaining the server - and there doesn't appear to be the interest for a new ROD among the wider community, anyways. Of course, ROD 15 was the great exception, and it was quite a interesting experience, but I don't think the conditions exist for it to happen again. 
> I (and the staff) won't pretend that we've run the server *outstandingly* - especially in recent months, and even back when we brought it back from the brink in ROD 15. I guess we just got lucky, and we were fortunate to have a good time with what fell into our hands. I'm definitely grateful for that, as ROD 15 was one of my least cancerous experiences in a mock government. 
> 
> I don't own the idea of a ROD (nor do I claim to), so if anyone else wants to make a copycat or "successor" server, they're free to. But I think it's time to put this whole thing to bed - six years of chicanery in a single server is more than long enough. Of course, if you want to use *this* server for something, you're free to DM me, but I'm probably not going to listen. As such, elections, government operations, and anything "ROD" about ROD are indefinitely suspended - and I won't sanction any attempt to boot them back up.
> 
> Otherwise, I'm going to be reversing the previous decision to keep the server *completely* locked down, and open at least the general chats for anyone to chat about the not-so-ideal times they had in ROD, if they want. I may make some self-roles for people to identify what RODs they came from, and other things that a "former ROD people" server would have, I might not. I may also open the four years of archives we have on *this* server, just for fun, in case anyone does want to search through them. We'll see.
> To anyone who chances upon this who wants a *functional* mock government not four years past it's prime, I can personally attest that there are mock governments out there like **Calluris, Krameria, GOVRN, and others** that might just scratch that itch. All of them are unique and bring something to the table, and most of them are run by a younger group of people not bored and burnt-out of the genre, or by Poli-Sci majors (or something). Some other mock governments I've heard of but cannot attest to the actual quality of are **r/SimDem, Adoria (if they're still up), and of course, the USSR and Doulant** (although they won't necessarily fullfill the typical mock government experience). 
> 
> I'm vaguely aware of some drama that might have been happening with Calluris/Krameria and ROD (and of course, I'm familiar with the ever present Doulant shenanigans), but I don't have any bad blood with them personally and I encourage you to look into them. Drama aside, they all seem like interesting government simulations with something to offer. If drama isn't your cup of tea, though, maybe just leave online mock governments - join a model congress, or a model UN, or something.
> And of course, a big thank you to Ultra, Fabian, Blake, Fu and everyone else in the staff who tried to keep in running even when I did not. Special thanks to Karl, Vito, and Beanman for being real ones back in ROD 15 (and to this day). And thank you to anyone who participated in our moderately successful at times, atrocious at others, attempt at a mock government. I'm grateful for the good times and the bad.