2 cents and Game Consistency
Coyolxauhqui V
Hi there people!
I doubt that this article will last long, and maybe I will be taken into the silent room, who knows. I could not care less to be honest.
I just saw that the current Albanian CP,Endritt Zekka has been PermaBanned. Yeah! Permanently Banned from the game. This is really odd, you see, there have been such few Permabans since the game started its trajectory into boredom and stagnation. In fact, I know many multi-players who are doing just fine for ages and have even lost the "fear" of loosing their entire network of active multis. Speaking with them, they just say: The Admins are not banning us as he used to, he lets us continue because the game has lost so much population and activity. The multis are just as relevant in keeping the game on as the visa players and the Weekly Challenges.
I wondered why this cp would be banned. His account is indeed very young, probably a rebirth of another player, as so many people have done, given that for many players, the account they built over time became less useful than starting a new one from scratch in the current system.
But then, this came out:
To make it clear, the president of Albania Sent This Law and afterwards, got a Perma Ban.
We all know, or have a bit of an idea at least, about the Kosovo War and the Conflict over its Political Status. We also see how in this game, the main point of motivation is a nationalistic one, particularly related to nation's RL conflicts. We see the ongoing mud-trowing between players from Greece and from the nation of Macedonia, obviously for RL reasons. It seems the admins are ok with that, sure, it gives them tons of $$$, so they allow the in-game conflict and potentiate the anger in its players.
I just want to drop my two cents, not on the Kosovo conflict, or about the Macedonian nation's name, but on the admins unclear and inconsistent way of dealing with these issues: if you allow and have allowed for such a long time the Macedonian-Greek anger to come into the game, such that it is almost a staple of it for the ones who are not even from that side of the world,
and, you no longer ban cheating by massive multis in the game, why would you then ban a nationalistic statement of an issue that, until now, is still in the conflict-negotiation-lobbing stage? The Kosovo issue is much more in current debate about its status, than the issue of the Macedonian country name. If it is more in conflict, I think, it would be more legitimate to allow the expressions of that conflict. I see no swearing, and no hate message in an albanian stating "Plato Add Kosovo". Indeed, this bothers serbian players that do not wish in RL that Kosovo stops being a part of Serbia. I understand this, I mean, it is implied in the notion of "issue at current conflict": there are at least two parts in strong disagreement, to put it lightly.
But banning a player for SAYING this in the game, is in my view, utter AUTORITARISM from the admins. You allow clear angry nationalistic hate messages about other topics as they give you money, let alone you allow massive sexism to continuously go on in game, but no Kosovo statements?
You don´t ban the multis, nor the hate messages, nor the sexism, neither pornography (I posted massive amounts of male pornography here and merely got f-points), but you do ban "Plato Add Kosovo"...
Nice admins, very nice... I cant wait to write some reviews about this other places on line. Not that you'd care, I very well know that.
What are you going to do about Crimea by the way? Not allow Russians and Ucranians to talk about it, or rather allow what you want, as it can bring money in?
Now that you added Georgia and Armenia, are you planning to lead on a Nagorno-Karabakh hate virtual situation?
I am a Mexican RL, more than anything; I could just say "those are not my conflicts, I should keep my spoon out". But I am a player of this world-game, and I really don´t think you play fair on issues that actually really motivate people, and really hurt them. Its your game, we accept to play it as is, we know that. However, some ethics about it, some consistency in the rules, should be expected...
I do not ask for the unbanning of the Albanian CP, (and even if I did, I know it makes no difference, specially when you do unban players with multies giving them a negative number in cc) or to have a position about these real life current conflicts. BUT I DO ASK FOR CONSISTENCY IN THE RULES FOR A GOOD GAME! You accept hate in some topics, and don´t accept expression in other topics. it is the societies, the networks of people playing this (in conflict or not, with visa, with multis, or not) that keep on making us come and make click... don´t encourage extra hate by being so partial.
I do not write this to offend Serbians or Albanians, or Greeks or Macedonians. I respect the people of these nations, and understand that nation's conflicts are always nasty and complicated. There is injustice and hate being ping-ponged amongst both sides... I have no agenda of propaganda about these conflicts. Rather...
I write it as a player that plays among the ambiance your conflicts bring to this world-game. And moreover, to complain about the inconsistent rules about how such issues can and are treated in the game.
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Cheerio!
Comments
Voted hard!
poole
The thing is, these RL clashes make Plato money, so why would he want to fix it?
I know that, but he allows some and others not. That is twisted!
And for the ones that do not have anything in these conflicts, it is blatantly so... I just ask for consistency in the rules, Plato can make his money with a consistent set of rules just as much.
[removed]
Indeed.
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i'm in the article, nowai
😛
Yeah you are...
Voted Hard...
Servians can PTO country with provocative nicks, this is "LEGAL"
but if you are not serbian, you'll get banned when u say "add kosova"...
If you are Serbian, you get banned for that just as well.
Also, please be so kind as to return the territory you are currently occupying to it's rightful owners.
Very thought provoking article. Well for some of us anyway. Seems like some people don't think at all.
I was hesitant to write it, to be honest. I did not want serbians, albanians, macedonians or greeks to come and take yet another space for their anger about their conflicts. But... for the players not within these conflicts, it seems we just don´t say anything and, even use these motivators sometimes, for game purposes.
It just really bugs me how inconsistent the rules are... and don´t get me started about sex-gender hate in this game. That one is even worse.
I can see why you were hesitant. The rules should be consistent. You never know what will set off one of the admins.
I wrote a long time ago about RL conflict in the game. Ireland/UK, North/South Korea, Tukey/Greece, plus many others. That is how the company makes their money. Getting RL people to spend cash to try to change rl reality.
My thought is that as long as people accept it is a game and don't get carried away it is ok but there are always some who take it too far.
FYROM is the official UN name.
Republic of Macedonia is the name they prefer to use.
I believe it is quite balanced to have "Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)" as their name in the game.
As for Kosovo, Kosovo is a core region of RL Serbia. Terrorists, drug dealers, organ traffickers and NATO fascists have overrun it for the moment in RL, but that changes absolutely nothing. We waited for 350 years to liberate ourselves from Ottoman scum, we can wait some more time to liberate Kosovo (and Albania).
Technically, for example... the official name of Mexico is United Mexican States, nobody calls mexicans UMS; people from the USA are not called USAians, but called themselves as a whole Continent... and we call them that usually because that is what they call themselves.
The official name in the UN is the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, following what we do with the names of countries like Mexico and USA, it makes sense that they want to call themselves Macedonians... even if, of course, there is ALSO a part of Greece that is called Macedonia. I mean, the USA has a part that used to be of Mexico and they took by force, that is called New Mexico... and no one is making hate comments about this.
Yes. I am a US citizen. Everyone in the hemisphere are Americans. lol
I have a friend who refuses to call any nation by any name other than what he learned in school. Basically the western/white version. He doesn't seem to care that citizens of other countries have the right to call themselves whatever they want. Unfortunately that is a far to common thought in the US.
I hope you'll liberate New Mexico and other occupied territories soon.
I didn't know Mexico's formal name is UMS. I always thought it was something like Republic of Mexico or something. Most countries are not named after their full formal name. Serbia is Republic of Serbia, for example.
But, FYROM vs Greece is an issue. So, they made a choice that is balanced, I think.
On the other hand, I wouldn't care if they renamed Serbia into Republic of Serbia, just as I'm sure you wouldn't mind if Mexico was renamed into UMS in the game. Actually, I think it would be better if all the countries would get their full formal names. That way I might learn something new. I know Brazil, for example, only as Brazil. But it most certainly is not called only Brazil.
I have a radical idea. Why not let the citizens of each eRep nation chose the name they want to be called or give them a list of choices that players decide upon. The eWorld is not the real world anyway so what would be the difference?
@Anthony, I had the same idea aeons ago. It wouldn't go well with admin's idea to base profits on RL conflicts. You'd soon see Atlantis, Sirius B, Asgard, Utopia, ... and that would mess up the RL conflict part of the game.
But that surely is a good idea.
Indeed Hostilian, but the thing is... Mexicans don't want to call themselves UMS, that is the Oficial name of the country, yes, but the call them selves mexicans. People from FYROM can call themselves macedonians and ask others to do so. As Colby puts it, people from the USA call themselves Americans, even though it is a Continent (or 2 or 3, according to where you went to primary school) and they are set to that. Many people from other American countries don´t find this fair or adecuate, since we are all americans, just as english, french, italians, etc are Europeans... But they call themselves like that and they are entitled, we may like it or not, to call themselves whatever the hell they like. And you don´t see huge issues ingame about this...
The independence of countries is expressed in their choice of how they call themselves, their flag, etc...
And Mexico will never take back the Northern territories, at least not militarilly... only in population it may seem. But it is not something the nation moves towards. We have enough dealing with the issues of Mexico as is, and its relationship with the USA.
I am the Supreme Empress of the Chocoflanoland and Take the Island of Aruba to be Chocoflanoland!
Oh wait, that does not make money because it does not manipulate people's nationalistic feelings in a profitable way!
It's 2 continental plates. You can go to the primary school (or secondary, we have geography all the way) where ever you want, the tectonic plates don't lie.
It clearly is not fair for US people to call themselves as people of the continents, since all of you are Americans. And, even the name of the two continents is stupid. As if Mayans, Astecas, Comanche, ... didn't live there for millennia before Amerigo Vespucci named the continents. But, Macedonian-Greek quarrel over the name is a currently active issue, while your claim for the name is inactive at the moment.
Also, I wouldn't dismiss taking Northern territories so easily. Mexicans (and other people from Latin America) are nearing a majority in the area, while USA is not bankrupt only because the world economy is based on the dollar. On top of that BRICK is trying to rebase the economy, and so is EU. In 20 or so years it is not impossible to see USA being disintegrated, parts of it going to Mexico, parts to Eastcoast Empire (or what ever) and who knows what else.
Well how about a list of approved names that citizens could vote on?
Anyway. To me it seems the relationship between the US and Mexico is difficult because it gets caught up in the small minded actions of many US citizens. The crap that one hears from the Republican party on the issue on our Southern border right now is insane. As if children running for their lives are monsters that will destroy the US. Insane.
If cooler heads could get a grasp on the situation many of our issues between us could be solved.
Most US citizens have no idea of the cultural impact in the Southwest of it's Mexican heritage. The area was under Spanish/Mexican control for a lot longer than US control. That heritage runs deep.
It is indeed two Tectonic Plates (India has its own, but it is not a Continent), but um, well, the tectonic plate theory in geology came way after the naming of continents and their "divisions", I mean, it was not even considered anything more than a theoretic model until the second half of the 20th century, so that is not the reason we call continents continents.
I went to my basic school both in Canada and in Mexico, in one they thought me there are 3 American Continents, in the other they thought me that America is one continet. I went to graduate and post graduate schools in both countries as well, and then they said different things once again. And I was even told in Canada how Mexico is central America (yeah NAFTA means nothing). I understand it is merely a human convention, as all naming is... yet we don´t actually all convene in what is to be named what. Countries even change the scientific names of species to make some nationalistic statement.
We should be aware of this and not fight over what our teacher in school taught us, because really, it is way more complex than such partial simplifications.
Colby: Yeah, Mexico-USA is a way more difficult relationship than what is usually portrayed, it is a bit of a symbiotic relation, but very downplayed in the media. For example, nowhere in mass media have I seen how it was the signature of NAFTA (TLC in spanish) that made the illegal immigration a full blown phenomenon, and that the decade of accepting illegal immigrants for cheap and illegal labor (as in, its not like mexicans/latinamericans make the minim wage for their work or anything) kept it growing. Nor do I see about how many criminals from the USA just go and live in Mexico and the USA does no effort to even say so to Mexican authorities. I mean, the Juarez female mass murders are not a drug-narco thing, they are a mixed criminal endeavor.
And mexicans also downplay people from the USA.we are stuck together, we like it or not. For better is bettte
The US and Mexico are neighbors. We should be able to get along. But all I see ( in this country ) are comments that divide the issue into us v them. How about how can WE solve the issues together.
My friend I mentioned won't admit that rich business owners are the ones who fixed the laws so that cheap labor crosses the border. Everything in this country is based on how cheaply it can be done. That is wrong. It can't last.
To watch the news today and listening to the voices that are yelling the loudest I only hear that we should keep all immigrants out because they take our jobs. Well first off most US citizens won't do many of those jobs because they feel it is beneath them. They have a bloated value of their worth. And second they are all the descendents of immigrants. They would not have the lives they did if someone else had not let them come here.
I have many friends, really nice and aware people, who are from the USA: irish decent, norwegian, african, russian, jewish, english,mexican, chilean, armenian, turkish, native american decents and mixtures... and they have their opinions and views. And the media gets to them, as much as our über crap mexican media gets to us even if we try to get away from it. It is a constant strive, to have an an informed opinión of one`s own... and each day it is harder.
However, there is an extra side to this media issue about mexicans and other migrants (specially latins): the media of the USA influences terribly the media of the whole world. And that media has constantly put mexicans as lazy and dangerous people. Also here, newspapers sell better when mexicans talk about how some mexican "outsmarts" some USA thing.
It is necessary for people to speak up, to put sometimes in the spotlight harsh (non-sexy) things that are there... and we can all do our bit. 🙂
I do think we should be able to get along... and it would be good for both people. There are just too many crazy morons with louder speakers repeating the same thing over and over...
you, dude, much like almost all serbs should understand the following fact:
350 yrs ago nationalism was not about yet, the biggest divisions between people were those religious ones (christian/ muslim etc).
Ottomon empire had risen just like many other empires; like Roman/ Greek/ Bysantinum/ and many others, and had fallen just the same... leaving remnants of their time---
in our days, both you and I have a lot in common (though i hate to say that), but put leash on your mouth and finger on your head and think with a cold head- Ottomans were in Balkans for over 500 yrs/ Bysantinum before that for even longer time (not to mention Roman and Greek because back then you were still in the mountains of Carpats); at the meantime servian tribes had just an adventure of occupations with Car Dusan for far less than a life time (20 yrs the most).
now, i suppose you can get the drift on this- stop being so hateful and try to cherish the lad that you have (and be thankful for no further partitions of lands that historically belonged to Hungarians/ Bulgars/ Dacs etc). Disillusion is what you definitely need as a nation.
things are not as simple as you've put them, and kosovo has nothing to do with dusan. it was central part of serbia centuries before he emerged.
as for carpat migration theory, that theory has more holes than facts. when huns came, they were noticed quite well. but, somehow, slavic people came to balkans, traversed hun lands and did all that in stealth mode, making no trace of their large migration? either south slavs are a lost ninja tribe from japan, or the theory is more of an unfounded hypothesis than an actual theory.
and check one of your fellow citizens what he says:
http://prntscr.com/4a92o1
he's a retard, obviously, disregard him.
so, in your theory, Dacs/ Huns/ Bullgars (not typical slavs) just happen to be between the South Slavs and the Northern ones (the larger population)??
to me this is a rather Bigger hole and more than a 'fact' that should be taken into consideration!!
as per Kosovo being part central Serbia, even geographically speaking that would contradict your words, let alone other relevant facts suck as culture/ language/ costumes/ myth & legends etc etc...
beside, long before Dusan, you may only refer to a time of Byzantium; or Bulgarian Empire (note: Bulgarians were the only tribe to defy Byzantium at the peak of their glory).
central as in cultural center, not geometric center of the country. salt lake city is much more of a center of usa than new york or la, and yet ny and la are centers, while salt lake is a backwater city.
and dusan is just one of the serbian rulers, most certainly not first.
Still, if one or two monasteries of Byzantium Era (not serbian by all means- only assimilated as such) is what the centre of your culture is, then that must really be worrying for you guys!! Apart for that, in Kosovo I have not seen anything else claimed to be serbian!!
Gracanica was build to shelter bones of Lazar, one of many princes that fought against Ottomans in Battle of Kosovo 1389, just like Huns/ Bulgars/ Albanians etc fought in the same Battle (not only serbs); besides, the guys who killed Bajazit (the ottoman Prince) was from Kosovo and he was Albanain- but in the history of Albanians there is no praising for him (simply because the battle was lost)!
now, come on; a more recent parallel is this view:
D-day is the know as the beginning of liberation from Germans in WWII, and it happened in Normandy, France (occupied by Germans). the campaign was lead by Americans; and it was a victory for the allied nations (unlike the Battle of Kosovo, where allied 'tribes' lost).
Americans are not coming now and claim that land as theirs/ nor are the Brits or any other. and we are only talking less than 70 yrs ago- while the Battle of Kosovo happened 700 yrs ago-
so dude, living in myths will only cause you frustration. the sooner your nation leaves that behind and sees ahead the better!! beside, your country is a candidate for EU, and we suppose you know what that means??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracanica_monastery was built 8 years before Lazar was born. I seriously doubt it was built to shelter his bones. Also, he wasn't a prince, he was a duke (knez), but that's irrelevant.
There are thousands of monasteries in Kosovo none of which are Byzantian (even if that term is incorrect, made up term in 19th century by German archeologists and historians. The correct term would be Roman or East Roman).
Apart from that, there are no historical monuments by Albanians, except for the statue of Bill Clinton and the "newborn" crap in Pristina.
Btw, battle of Kosovo was defensive battle. Ottomans were trying to conquer Kosovo. And they lost. They did win the war 100 years later, though, mostly because they had much higher number of soldiers.
You either have no idea about history or are intentionally misinterpreting it. Either way, I see no point in continuint this discussion.
For the sake of truth, "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" is NOT UN official name of the country, it is just a PROVISIONAL REFERENCE...
how much silly may it look, it is a reference which is used to be referred to the country which name is been disputed...
the constitutional/real name is Republic of Macedonia,
During the UN recognition process the name was disputed and the "WISE MAN" decided, when referring to the counrty to use a "reference" instead of the constitutional name until solution is found... 🙁
Yup, thanks for the correction. Provisional reference.
Use wiki references elsewhere, not with me please.
Are you disputing when Gracanica was built? Or by whom? There are plenty of history sources that verify what is written in that wikipedia page on that subject, and none disputing it. Google Gracanica or Decani or Pecka patrijarsija or Bogorodica Ljeviska or what ever you want, there are plenty monasteries and churches in Kosovo and Metohija, feel free to investigate each and every one of them using which ever sources you like.
dude, please stop the nonsense- believe it or not, my dissertation subject was on Byzantium influence on today's cultures around Balkans-
thousand monuments that you mention are nothing more but remnants of Christianity of that Era- and note, i am saying Christian which means the entire Balkans was Christian (orthodox and catholics) and in no way serbian!
Upon their initial arrival, the Slavs formed no uniform political organization, but rather remained divided into many tribes of various sizes, referred to as Sklaviniai by the Byzantines. These groups were led by native chiefs. Perhaps the tribes were organized into župa, a form of territorial organization learned from the native Illyrians, being roughly equivalent to a county. Each župa consisted of several villages, linked by clan (i.e. extended family) relationships.
so the notion Serbian Kingdom or Empire is just a wishful notion for the serbian nationalist historians!!
and, as i told you in an earlier comment, nationalism is a phenomenon that only happened centuries after the era we're talking about!!
so yeah, what you're talking is the language of your ludicrous president- Milosevic; which leads me to a final note:
any nation of Balkans such as Albanians/ Serbians/ Montenigrins/ Bulgars/ Greeks etc. (who all have a legacy on Orthodoxism), if they were to inherit such Military might (of ex-YU) as Serbia did , might have turned the tide on their side (try to make things look the way they envisioned- not as they were)!! There are already inumerous examples of this kind of phenomenon!!
Now, go back and learn to live and believe that you are nothing more special than any others (except the fact that your late nationalism has only brought you disgrace- which is a specialty of its kind)!!!
And, yet, you failed to answer who build Gracanica (which you mentioned) and when. If your dissertation is related to that period of time, then you must surely know when it was built and by whom.
This....Endritt Zekka..while he was in Ireland openly supported wide spread corruption and thefts of irish vault by Orcs...
He openly defended scammers and abusers of ireland.
And he openly defied Clerics when they demanded transparency and integrity of irish governments.
So for once Admins did good and get rid (from this account at least) of moral mud of erepublik.
So as For us who stand for justice and truth, Endritt Zekka can go to hell....
F him.....
I don't believe admin maintains neutrality. There are moments it seems they prefer real world issues to intrude into the game world, as a way to encourage those motivated by such things to spend more money.
I totally agree. RL conflict gives these keyboard warriors a feeling they are making a difference.
I am in the article 🙂
btw check my link in the shout. It explains why is he permabanned. We can write articles, shout, argue about all the things mentioned in the article and Plato will not care. But if you propose such a welcoming message, you'll be banned. That's Plato's policy. Because it affects the fate of the newbies - and thus Plato's future profits.
I first thought albanian CP decided to leave the game in such a way. Politicians should know the history of eRep
I know... and it seems to be a very efficient way to go. I tried to get myself permabanned by pornography, but that did not work. It seems you have to do certain type of statements, because even hate statements don´t do it... even if the rest of the players don`t approve or participate in these contexts.
In fact, I think that allowing so many hate comments on other conflicts, i.e. Greece - Macedonia, it encourages players of other country's to bring up their ingame war comments to that level, even without a conflict in RL of that type. This is not good.
I like very much that chapter of e.History. I wish I played back then instead of now.
he got banned for transgressing the first law of citizens not for terms of service which is usually a terms of service temp ban .
well perhaps plato got fed up and perhaps also this was his second or third ban for the same offence.
admins were fair and just in this case. i thank them for being impartial and making the rules same fro everyone o7
any time you write something like that in the greetings message, you can expect a permaban. this is not something new, we just didnt have proposals like that in a long time so it seems harsh