Join the new world

Yo7, ladies and gentlemen of our fair isles, welcome to brand new publication of (The recently renamed due to a very recent level up after the recent joint strike) 28 and counting. Apologies that this comes in lieu of the second part of my tax tracking endeavours, as many of you already know I came down with sudden pain and illness a couple days before New Years and was taken into hospital on New Years eve. My appendix burst about 2 hours into the New Year and apart from a big scar and 50 smaller ones I’m on the road to recovery and resting up at home!

Theme to the article!



Today I am inspired by Tony Hadley and the rest of Spandau Ballet to write about a burning topic in the UK at the moment, the issue of communication, most specifically that of our congress and between our people and government. As I’m now in my second consecutive term in congress and cabinet I’ve been a firsthand witness to this shift in policy and the efficiency of these systems.

Historically, the eUK has had a forum led Government, with fast paced discussion and organisation done in IRC channels. A growing resentment towards the forums, spearheaded by people who felt that moderation and organisation was substandard and that there were avenues open that had yet to be fully explored. With the most vociferous of proponents and opponents seemingly landing one side or the other of the ‘divide’ with impressive regularity the inevitable shift came to pass.The Government of BigAnt abstained from usage of the forum, electing for government maintained PMs, googledocs and articles to conduct business.

Since joining I’ve been an avid user of the forums and IRC and can often be found online plenty more hours than I should be. I like communicating and chatting with my fellow players in anyway possible because I genuinely enjoy the company of people on here, no matter their party or their Country. The increased communication in game, therefore, has pleased me immensely, more chances to speak and chat with the people I love. Despite some ideological differences and a rather sordid past, Sage Goku has impressed me with his commitment to this shift and the contributions he has made cannot go ignored, no matter what your personal opinion.

There have been errors along the way, there is just not enough of an infrastructure in game to facilitate sensitive congress discussion, at least not without splitting into groups and accepting the problems which come with that. Googledocs are open to abuse when made public and there is a sense of fragmentation and difficulty with regards to following arguments and discussions. Hard work by the MoLA department, however, saw many of these problems tackled in an efficient way with article votes and a commitment to organisation. As such it’s my personal opinion that the in game focus is enhancing gameplay and communication.

This has come at a cost,in the form of shunning of the forums. When I joined they were recommended to every new player and one of the things which kept me around. Now threats are made to abandon them,claims of a hostile environment and bias modding abound.

I don’t subscribe to this though, I think there’s a deeper problem which is far more worrying.

The general population of the forums is no longer indicative of the general population of the UK. Whilst the power and the electorate has shifted to the newer parties, the majority of the forum users belong to the older parties who make a much more visible effect to promote their usage. As such, the government encounters a more negative response there than could be expected from the election results.



So how can we counter this? We can’t, in my opinion, lose the forums. They are a crucial tool to the running of the country, a breeding ground for discussion and provide wonderful social opportunities.

The only solution is all of us coming together and making a concerted effort to watch our words, our actions and our manner to make them a friendlier place, a place that all parties can feel like recommending to their new players. Maybe I’m an optimist, maybe my head is in the clouds thinking that people can get together long enough to think about more than petty insults and party politics long enough to make our forums what they once were, but I’d rather believe in the good inside all of us than accept one of our greatest tools must be sacrificed on the altar of petty arguments.


Here we see Pettiness, Party lines, Bickering and Hostility sacrificing the forums in unity, a rare sight nowadays