Join the new world

Welcome, one and all, to my very first article, created mainly in response to a recent comment asking my opinion of my current political affiliation. As a former member of three other top 5 political parties in my short time playing I feel I can offer a pretty fair point of view and a decent summation of why I'm happy to be where I am.

I’m going to give you a brief overview of my current experience of political life, why I joined the parties I did and why I left and then try and answer the question, “Why UKRP?”. So, without further adieu, let me begin...

Youth

When I first joined the game, in the wake of increased english advertising by the admins, Jamesw was the current Country President and he was part of ESO. As far as I’m concerned, a top notch job was done of running the country during his term. CheetahCurtis, my original mentor, who I have the utmost respect for both as a player and a journalist was also part of ESO. I liked the ethos of the party, I liked the people I could see running the party and I liked the media presence of the time. Being very eYoung I was excited to see such an impressively active party. I signed myself up fairly quickly and was pretty happy with my first party. In my eager state within my second month I had signed up to help none other than the King himself, Mr. Woldy in the MoHA, got myself active on the forums and IRC and settled in comfortably. Being that I’ve never had any desire for political grandeur however I (perhaps quite foolishly in retrospect) neglected to sign up for the ESO forums or join the ESO channel. As such I never really felt like a component of the party (Again, not really any fault of the leadership) which all led towards the next step in my political life.

Unity

In the second month of my eRep experience, Iain Keers was the CP for the most turbulent month that I’ve borne witness to. Throughout the month, we transitioned from losing a couple of regions to being wiped to being reinstated through the hard work of our populace and that of our allies. I saw an impressive management of the situation, intelligent members of TUP contributing to the eUK and of course the efforts of Iain, arguably and deservedly one of the most respected players of the New World (though he is not without his critics of course). A culmination of apathy towards my party at the time and a new found respect for TUP and its members encouraged me to sign up. Nothing spectacular happened really after I joined, I was a member for a while, I once again felt uninspired and failed to join the forums area or the IRC chat. I eventually tired of the party and began to feel as if most policy and governance was directed at maintaining the status quo. As such, I resigned from the party and for a while floated round as a free agent.

Progression

During my political exodus, The Royal Dragoons (My military unit of the time), unfortunately had to close. As such, we merged with the Royal Army Dental Corps, a fun community MU that is also unfortunately facing closure. Whilst part of this MU I became friends with Waynekerr and developed respect for his outspoken, yet polite, political approach. After a little background reading on the current party president at the time I eventually joined the party. Initially I enjoyed having a party to belong to once again, the benefits it provided to me socially by having something to discuss and the excellent organisation behind it, most notably from that of Alfagrem. As time wore on however I witnessed more and more interparty divide and found myself disagreeing in several areas. As such, I elected to leave the party, amicably and quietly. My first consideration being that of the new Democratic Socialist Party but, after a brief chat with Thedark ace I decided to move to where I am now, the UKRP.

Reform

So what was the point of that biography? Well,truthfully, so that I could be honest and open and say ‘Maybe it was my fault’. I didn’t gel in any of the previous parties, true, but it could come down to a lack of effort of my part and I will freely admit that. But at the same time, it raises the question of ‘why?’. Why in just a couple of days has the UK Reform Party managed to capture my attention in such a fashion? All I can offer as an answer is that firstly, the community spirit is warm and welcoming, a must for any organisation to succeed in eRepublik. Secondly, I hope that what I’ve written will strike a chord with those who were in the same situation as me, whether you’re now in a party you no longer agree with or just in none at all.

I don’t expect to be the harbinger of a wave of new membership, all I want to achieve with this article is an extended hand of friendship to those out there who want rational and moderate reform of the eUK. So if the journey of my political life connects with any of you then maybe you should take a risk and do what I did. Not for the benefit of the UK Reform Party, not even for the benefit of the country but for yourself, because every player deserves a party they feel at home in and I hope that this could be the one for you.