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The Willemstan Discord Server

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This article was last updated on: January 1st 2023

Image at the top of the screen.

The current server icon for the Willemstan Discord Server.

Lore

The Willemstan Discord Server was created on September 19th of 2018 by Eli Payton. However, the official move to Discord did not take place until October 18th of 2018, when the few Willemstan members at the time voted to move Willemstan to Discord through a 4-2 majority vote. Ever since this move, the Willemstan Discord Server has been the core of Willemstan, leaving the Silly School for Cosmic Children in the dust. When it was originally founded, it was under the joint control of Eli, Charlie, and Joey due to the elected Dictator's absence.

The server has changed a lot in the years since its establishment. Text channels have come and gone, and the legacy of Dictators past has changed the server dramatically. Radical reforms have drastically altered the direction of the server several times. #notifications is the only original channel left at this point. SuS, a Discord bot made by Charlie Nolan, has been an invaluable asset in Willemstan Discord operations for many years. Willemstan has had a pretty lenient immigration policy, as long as new server members have connections to those already in the server. However, since Eli Payton's return to power in 2020, some new members have been oppressed by the state. From 2021 - 2022, the citizens of Willemstan attempted to increase the number of server members under the Recruitment of Underclassmen Initiative, which failed to bring in active citizens. Since the Class of 2022 Graduation, server activity has been declining. Yet, the Willemstan Discord Server continues to be the heart of Willemstan, serving as a hub of propaganda production, citizen activity, and government planning. The server is currently simply and appropriately named "Willemstan" and has 65 members.

Membership

Unfortunately, the number of members in the Willemstan Discord Server has not been well documented. While there was a record of all citizen information, this was lost during the failure of the Willemstan hard drive in June 2019. That was the only attempt at record-keeping. Also, there used to be a distinction between a server member and a citizen. During 2018 and some of 2019, new members were required to fill out a citizenship form in order to obtain full rights. However, this practice gradually fell out of use until it became forgotten about entirely. Most notably, Ian Hampton never became an official citizen of Willemstan, despite becoming Dictator in the future. Speaking of, it is still a requirement to be a "citizen" of Willemstan in order to run for Dictator, even though the term means little now as a result of the disbandment of the citizenship form.

During 2018, there were probably only a dozen or so members of the Willemstan Discord Server, and less than 10 active members. The Willemstan - Wolfenstan War resulted in some membership growth due to the mass recruiting initiative associated with it. Soon after the war concluded, immigration laws were relaxed to allow anyone to join the server, even if they were outside Williamston. Also, SuS and many Discord bots were created during this year. By the end of 2019, there were probably about 30 people in the server. During 2020, server activity surged due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which resulted in both an increase in active members and total members. By the end of the summer, the server had reached about 45 members. However, in November of 2020, Eli and his administration kicked inactive server members, removing about a dozen people. In December of 2020, there was a surge in new server members (17 join messages), caused in-part by the Winter 2020 Election. By August of 2021, the server had reached 50 members. In September and October of 2021, many underclassmen joined Willemstan as a result of the recruiting initiative triggered by the Future of Willemstan Vote. Most of the recruiting has been done by Andrew, Thomas, and Kendal. In November of 2021, the server reached 60 members. In January of 2022, the server peaked at 70 members. Since then, it has fluctuated between 65 - 70 members.

Willemstan Discord Server Countup

Willemstan has been centralized on Discord for about:

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Foundation Period (September 2018 - February 2019)

The Foundation Period was the first period of the Willemstan Discord Server. The Move to Discord and the Willemstan - Wolfenstan War were the highlights of this time period. As the name suggests, these months were spent getting the Discord server going. Many changes to the Willemstan Commandments were made, especially under the early months of Eli Payton's First Dictatorship. It was also rather unstable, as there were three different Dictators in a rather short period of time, including the first Acting Dictator. The server wasn't even under the control of an elected Dictator until December of 2018, due to Josue's absence.

Willemstan - Wolfenstan War

Main article: Willemstan - Wolfenstan War

The Willemstan - Wolfenstan War was an early conflict from December of 2018 to January of 2019. The war started when Josue Mejia and Nick, who were the two highest ranking government officials in Willemstan, left Willemstan and formed "Wolfenstan", a rival nation. The war ended quickly due to a lack of interest, but resulted in some growth for the server and established Tax Collection as a reputable practice.

February 2019 Vote

On February 4th of 2019, the decision was made that people outside of Williamston, Michigan were allowed to join Willemstan. This was a highly controversial vote because the measure passed with a slim 8 - 7 majority. This established the "open invite" policy that is still largely in effect today.

Political Drought Period (March 2019 - December 2019)

The Political Drought lasted through much of 2019. After Eli's initial months as Dictator, very little government action actually occurred, little legislation was passed, and eventually election enthusiasm was down. This period cemented itself when Joey Badra became Acting Dictator and was instructed to do nothing by Eli. This period continued when Annie Payton was elected and also accomplished nothing. The primary cause of this period was that Eli was burnt out and had little interest in leading Willemstan. It would be the Winter 2019 Election that brought Willemstan out of this dark age, reviving Willemstan politics with new candidates and a fresh Dictator.

Live Camera Feed Period (January 2020 - May 2020)

The Live Camera Feed Period was of course characterized by the Live Camera Feed, which ran throughout the vast majority of the period. Furthermore, fresh policies such as the Water Mandate under Sean Kavanagh's Dictatorship were widely accepted. Things were going very well for Willemstan, and the Willemstan Wiki was founded near the end of this period. However, the Live Camera Feed was knocked offline thanks to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Willemstan Discord server was beginning to show its age. The channels were bloated, the ranking system was bloated, and Willemstan's core traditions codified in the Willemstan Commandments were under question. In desperation, Dictator Sean Kavanagh steered Willemstan in a new direction.

Controversial Period (May 2020 - December 2020)

The Controversial Period is perhaps the most well known time in Willemstan's history and perhaps the peak of Willemstan political drama. For many citizens, it was a time of great change to the Willemstan they had known, and for other citizens, these months were their introduction to the server. The Controversial Period began with Sean's reputation taking a turn for the worst as he and his administration passed a complete server overhaul, known as the Willemstan 1.1 Reforms. These reforms started off strong, but were soon met with widespread disaproval and unrest as they delayed the Summer 2020 Election. The government's lack of transparency and failure to take the concerns of the citizens seriously lead to a rebellion, a Civil War, and another wave of reforms. Aside from the initial instability, the events of May and June continued to pave the way for further reforms. The Willemstan Wiki recived extensive development during this period, as it documented the events of the time in great detail and provided a last link to Willemstan's past. On the bright side, despite the polarizing reforms, server activity had increased and stabilized. This was due to many factors, including online school, the new reforms and the subsequent drama, and consistent events. The later half of the period was the most active time in the server's history.

Willemstan 1.1 Reforms

Main article: Willemstan 1.1

The Willemstan 1.1 reforms are well known for several reasons. For one, this was the first change in the Willemstan government system since the Willemstan Commandments were introduced back in 2018 during the Silly School era. The government was changed so that Willemstan was more of a Flawed Democracy, rather than a Dictatorship. However, the most important change that came out of this was that all but one of the text channels in the Willemstan Discord Server were deleted. #notifications was spared from this fate only because the server members rallied together in the new #chat during the reforms. This purged removed the vast majority of first hand information regarding Willemstan's past, as the chat logs were no more.

Willemstan 1.2 Reforms

Main article: Willemstan 1.2

The Willemstan 1.1 reforms caused a lot of controversy, which lead to the reactionary Willemstan 1.2 reforms. These reforms undid the changes caused by the previous reforms, but unfortunately there was no way to recover the deleted channels. These reforms steered Willemstan back onto its original path and were supported by a large majority of the citizens.

Resurgence Period (January 2021 - March 2021)

The Resurgence Period was brought on by Sean Kavanagh's reelection as Dictator of Willemstan, so soon after his involuntary departure. Under his rule, there was a resurgence of government oppression, the Discord bots returned, and Sean's reputation as a credible Dictator was restored. The government implemented a state-managed punishment system for the first time, the Willemstan Salt Mine, which was used to suppress all forms of discontent and cringe. The Live Camera Feed, perhaps Willemstan's most notorious made a return as Live Camera Feed: Season Two as well. Willemstan elections were changed at a legislative level into a fair system, bringing an end to drama and controversies over the blatant corruption. The period was a greatly active one as well, benefiting from the continuation of online school and the activity boost that arose during the Controversial Period. However, in March of 2021, the Resurgence Period was brought to an abrupt end due to the March Incident.

Purge Period (March 2021 - June 2022)

The exposure of Willemstan to the WHS administration was a hard pill to swallow. The wrath of Assistant Principal Chris Armour was unparalleled to any previous action by school staff against Willemstan. Mr. Armour discovered the Live Camera Feed and brought hellfire down on Willemstan as a result. Extensive content purges to the Silly Goose YouTube Channel and Willemstan Wiki were mandated, with all content related to the school forced out of public view. While System IV and Ian's computer archived much of the purged content, this was still a very demoralizing event for Willemstan. Access to the Willemstan Wiki was heavily restricted to developers only for several months. The motivation to do stupid computer shit at the school was killed off and would never return for the System Trio. Whether or not all of the purged content would come ever come back out into the public light again was uncertain for a long time. Furthermore, all new content on Silly Goose and Willemstan.com had to be evaluated with the consideration in mind that the administration could take further action against Willemstan.

As a result, while some high quality Silly Goose content was produced later into the period, it was all released unlisted. In October 2021, a remix of Mr. Herek's Normal Probability Plot script and Vapebusters: Remastered was released. Many memorable election videos were made in the Winter 2021 election, some of which had to be unlisted as well. Many important votes happened as well, including a vote on the future of Willemstan which ultimately resulted in the Recruitment of Underclassmen initiative. As the months went on, Willemstan Discord Server activity declined due to the end of online learning, but was still very respectable. Early 2022 was characterized by political drama and the planning of a documentary on Willemstan. In May 2022, the Class of 2022 Graduation occurred, concluding high school for most active members of Willemstan. On June 5th 2022, the Class of 2022 Graduation Ceremony took place. Free from the jurisdiction of Williamston High School at last, this brought an end to the Purge Period.

March Incident

Main article: March Incident

On March 9th 2021, Mr. Armour began the prosecution of Charlie, Ian, and Sean over several Willemstan operations they had discovered. While it is not known exactly what WHS staff were involved in the investigation, the discovered Willemstan operations were the Live Camera Feed: Season Two, Silly Goose, Willemstan.com, the 2020 Rescue Operation, and the Willemstan Currency initiative. Video evidence from Silly Goose and written evidence from the Willemstan Wiki was collected, with Mr. Armour having literally printed out wiki pages and displaying them on his desk. This was a massive exposure of Willemstan secrets that had significant repercussions.

Future of Willemstan Vote

On August 16th of 2021, Dictator Ian Hampton asked the citizens of Willemstan to vote on the future of Willemstan. On August 22nd of 2021, the poll closed, and the winning option was to "mass recruit young people to the server". The hope is to get a decent amount of underclassmen to join Willemstan, in order to continue it after the Class of 2022's graduation. However, it is worth noting that the poll option "let Willemstan die after we graduate" came in second place.

November 2021 Vote

On 8th of 2021, Dictator Ian Hampton asked the citizens of Willemstan to vote on a possible election reform. The subject at hand was the restriction of voting rights for new citizens of Willemstan, and whether or not the "not eligible to vote period" should be expanded or shrunk. Twenty-four citizens voted in this poll, a record for non-election polls. Twenty of which voted to extend the no voting rights period to the entire month before elections. This policy was adopted officially on November 30th of 2021.

Post-Graduation Period (June 2022 - Present)

Here there be dragons. While Willemstan was free at last, the severing of ties from Williamston High School may have been a double-edged sword. Some citizens had long predicted that graduation would begin the end of Willemstan. While there was some hope for the Recruitment of Underclassmen Initiative, it turned out to be a failure, and Willemstan's senior members could only watch as Willemstan's influence in Williamston High School began to fade. Activity declined during the summer as expected, but did not recover much when the summer ended. During her second term as Dictator, Izzy Beckhorn allowed the citizens to vote on policies posted by other citizens. This included joke policies, but also votes on Willemstan's political system. Later, Ian proposed to officially retire Willemstan, but this was rejected by other government officials. The Winter 2022 Election ended up occurring, but with record low turnout.

Citizen Policy Votes

After collecting responses, voting began on September 26th 2022. Notable proposals included Thomas suggesting a channel for feet picture discussion, which got him salt mined. Ian suggested dissolving the multi-party system in favor of a one-party state lead by the CUM Party, which was accepted. Andrew Meyer proposed additional salt mine sentences and oppression of younger members of the server, which got a split vote that was never resolved. Joey suggested dissolving the political aspects of Willemstan entirely, which was rejected. Aidan suggested more salt mining and oppression of server minorities, which was rejected.

A Guide to All Current Willemstan Text Channels

--All Things Willemstan--

--The Glorious Willemstan--

--Cabal Activities--

--Willemstan Wiki--

--Oppression Center--

--Archive--

An Archive of Old Willemstan Channels

#notifications - Policy changes and announcements from the Dictator, as well as notifications about new videos from the Silly Goose channel, server events, and Williamston High School updates were sent here.

#welcome-to-willemstan - All join messages were sent here, tucked away quietly.

#poll-updates - This channel was only active during elections. It consisted of updates showing the election poll, so you can see who is winning the election.

#enemies-of-the-state - This is where announcements were made by the Dictator that described who the current enemies of the states were. The guidelines for becoming an enemy of the state would change at any time and were entirely circumstantial. There were four enemies of the state.

#chat - General chat, images and videos were (usually) permitted.

#memes - Meme channel, it was locked down during Memeless March.

#animals - It was for pictures of animals, cursed animals, and real animals.

#ytp-in-the-plural - It was for youtube poops, although it seemed almost all youtube videos are allowed, as non-ytps are not removed.

#tech-support - It was a channel for bot commands, most notably SUS commands.

#propaganda - A channel that was supposed to be for only posting propaganda.

#gone-wrong-in-the-hood - "NSFW" channel, but the vast majority of the stuff in there wasn't NSFW. Nobody in the server was over the age of 18, so there's that.

#cursed-images - It was a channel for cursed images. Most of the images in here wasn't actually a truly "cursed" image.

#gere-shihs - Random files from the Mediapool were sent here by the Jonathan Gere Discord bot.

#wet - It was a channel for posting images of water or milk you intend to drink, as per the Dictator's orders.

#gaming - It was a channel for video games. It replaced the #games channel after the rebellion.

#music - It was the music bot commands channel.

#market - The channel that was used for announcing new shipments of Comrades' Choice for sale. It was a very dead channel.

#comrades-choice-suggestions - Exactly what it sounded like. Another channel that was dead due to the collapse of the Comrades' Choice franchise.