Join the new world

**EDIT**

I originally wrote this last night after a full day wrangling wayward students and a few too many drinks with my coworkers. I'll leave the original below, but I just wanted to add some sober, well-rested thoughts as to what I would do with a week in charge of the eUSA.

I'd spend my week focused on three areas: Retention, Promotion, and Fun

Retention

Correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have heard and seen, retention doesn't seem to be the crisis that it has been in the past. That being said, we still do see comments and posts from newbs and vets alike expressing frustration with the game and calling it quits.

I don't think I can turn the tide in a week, but I would put considerable effort into stemming it by putting together a panel of voices from across the eUS spectrum to troubleshoot the problem and develop viable solutions. We would discuss the issue frankly and openly, examining what causes people to leave and what we can realistically do to change that. Examining the successful practices of other nations would also be a part of this, co-opting their ideas for our own purposes.

Promotion

While we all seem to have our complaints, the fact that we are here shows that on some level we find eRepublik enjoyable. We should put more of an effort into sharing this with others.

By promoting the game on social media (FB, Twitter, forums, other games, etc) and talking it up to friends (if you can suppress the shame/embarrassment) we could bring a new crop of players to the game. Each of them would potentially bring new ideas and mindsets with them, creating a more vibrant community. Instead of subsidizing our party rosters with foreign imports, we could build a strong home-grown community to sustain the game. Economically this could be a windfall as well if players make use of their personalized link to bring in new players, thus reaping a reward from the game.

Fun

Games, almost by definition, need to be fun to keep people engaged. Fighting meaningless wars is not fun. Falling in to line for Unity is not fun. Even after just two weeks, making fun of RGR is not (as) entertaining. I understand the desire to maintain the status quo for fear of losing it to either a PTO or a foreign invasion, but we desperately need a shake up.

We should find a war to engage the eUS in, I stand by that. Whether it is real or training is irrelevant, I firmly believe we will get more activity if people feel they are fighting for their country instead of an alliance-obligated ally. During my week as POTUS I would work with our leaders and my advisors to find a suitable military operation for our nation, preferably one that would not peeve our allies.

Stuff like what US-AIM is attempting to do seems fun. Yes, there are concerns, but their intention is the right one, we need more fun. Instead of flat-out scolding and deriding them, our leadership should be celebrating their effort and if needed, trying to subtly redirect their energies.

So that's what I've got, retention, promotion, and fun. Thanks for reading.

-Ludo
Thursday, May 9th 10:45am

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Why hello there eAmerica,

Recently, the powers that be in the USWP decided to host a little contest giving folks a chance to explain what they would do with a week at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (or wherever POTUS resides in this digital world...the map says Tallahassee, do I have to live in Tallahassee?). I present to you below my submission for your consideration.


Enjoy

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My fellow eAmericans,

Greetings and welcome, welcome to a new day in the new world. Welcome to an end to the status quo and a beginning to a radical departure from the norm...At least, that is what I would have you believe. The reality is probably far less spectacular.

New Job, New Face

I come before you a changed man. The Ludo of old has graduated to maturity and I have thus chosen a new, swaggering persona to accompany my big boy job.


Honey, i'm home

It isn't just my image getting an upgrade by the way. My first action as POTUS is to change the official seal of the Presidency.

THE PAST:

The old, the traditional, the conservative

THE PRESENT & FUTURE SEAL:

It was supposed to be an actual seal wearing the presidential seal on a chain. Lame joke is lame, but eff it, i'm POTUS.

Let's Get Down to Business...

To defeat the *insert enemy here*.

Seriously, we need some fighting. Our warriors grow restless, our citizens grow soft. We have battles the world over that we can engage in, but nothing gets the blood flowing like the ol' stars and stripes standing tall on the battlefield.


RGR can lead the first wave on a raptor if he would like.

During my week as POTUS I will urge our military leaders and Congress to find us a war, real or training, and get our citizens engaged in defending the homeland.

Personally, I would prefer to honor some historical ties and maybe bring back the Brolliance, free the Canadians from Spanish rule and what not. A united North America is a happy North America.

Let's Give Real Unity a Shot

We have many different people playing this game. Some young, some old, some here for fun, some here to role play. Different people have different opinions and yet over the past months many have had to grin and bear it, swallowing candidates and procedures they may not like for the sake of the "greater good".

That ends now. The AFA is a fade of what it used to be and the likelihood of them seizing power is slim to none. We are eAmericans damn it, and what good is that if we can't have some good ol' fashioned rough and tumble elections.

Let's roll the dice. Humanity has done great things with no guarantee of success. We crawled from the caves, we sailed the seas, we saw the moon and strapped ourselves to a damn rocket to go touch it. While I am President we will embrace the inherent fun of taking a risk and creating some friction.

Embracing chaos some more, I would offer RGR a job. Rah rah Ajay Bruno rah rah national menace rah rah blah blah. blah. I don't care. He claims to support America, give him a chance to prove it. I guarantee with his history, he would be the most closely watched virtual bureaucrat ever.
He tries to pull something, we crush him. He does his duty, good for him, everyone loves a comeback story.


Hello again

tl;dr

Given a week I will swing for the fences. I will do my best to plunge us into war to give our citizens some seasoning. I will extend an olive branch to RGR and make it known that we need to move away from the "Unity" system. I will surround myself with experts to keep the trains running on time. I will embrace fun and chaos and do my best to try new things and take suggestions from the people, via the forums, IRC, in game stuff, etc.

Remember, chaos isn't a pit, chaos is a ladder.

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There you have it. Most of that is probably not possible due to game mechanics, or unity, or because I am a damn newb, but that is what I would strive for.

Til next time,

-Ludo