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Dum Spiro Spero

It's been one week since the elections. I've had a lot of time this week to ponder different parts of the game - bits of eCanadian life from the perspective of Cabinet, the political class, or an international looking in. The lens that concerns me most - and the lens that this article is aimed at - is the next generation. They're the newest breed of players, the undefined generation. What is it like to be new, to be born on Day 1600? What is it like to know nothing of those 1600 days, a whopping 98% of our history? We'll get to that in a minute. First, some updates.



Europe Needs a Time Out

Our colonial parade in Britain continues in its typically successful fashion. We now hold 5 British regions (compared to their 3), including East Midlands, which has given us a +20% economical bonus to our weapons production. For those of you who don't remember, it's been a while since we had a safe hold on a 60%/60% resource pack - failed military campaigns and disgruntled e😜ats saw to that. Now we've got East Mids, don't have a hostile EPC, and are on mostly good terms with Britain. So we'll have that oil for at least a few days. Hoo-ah and all that good stuff.

Tonight we attacked South-East England. We struck here on request from Terra and Britain herself to close the French-British war. France needs to focus on her other 2 invaders, and as much as Appleby will pretend Canada "randomly chose" South-East, he's been asking for us to hit here for the past 2 days. And so we have, giving our European neighbours a chance to breathe and sort out their problems the mature way. This, of course, is a rarity on eRepublik, so we'll see how long Canada gets to act as an international buffer. Perhaps we should start a betting pool.


Terra and EDEN use Meeting! It's Super Effective!

We had meetings with both Terra and EDEN this afternoon. Terra's, which came first, was a general meeting similar to EDEN's summit from earlier this week. Presidents updated the alliance on what their country was up in their homes, and then discussed a few of the more pressing issues within the alliance.

EDEN's summit was of much more interest to Canada. The meeting was specifically arranged for us, so that we could chat with some friends about how to spruce up Canada's role within the alliance and on the world stage. We also received specific support from individual nations outside of these two meetings, tied largely in part to the letter we sent out earlier this week. There's progress to be had - just stick with it, folks.


Bring on the Budget

This time of month is budgeting time in the MoF. Macubex ran up a draft budget this morning that outlines updated spending levels for our Military Units. The final budget will be presented to Congress in a few days. As always I wish there could be more money for our soldiers. Every few days I get a PM from an optimistic Canadian wondering how I can fix the economy and make life easier for Canadians. As Macubex and I finish up the budget to present it to Congress, I continue to encourage the financially-inclined to get in touch with us. If you have a suggestion that might help Canadians out, go ahead at make it!



The Trouble with Ak3m

Last week, a friend of mine joined this game. Since then I've been pondering how best to explain eCanada to him. There are so many pieces of the puzzle, so many of them that interlink in complex ways, that it's hard for me to give him a tl;dr that's also neutral enough for him to form his own opinions. "What was the EPC", he asks - a simple enough question to answer, but if I don't want to taint his views of the game, it's hard to avoid the extremeties of "they're traitors" or "Rolo's an ass."

At bottom, both of these extremes are harmful and a waste of player resources. I don't want to drag him through the political quagmires of our past if I don't have to. There's a difference between knowing what Rolo and the EPC are, and being taught that all new players must hate and revile them "just because." There must come a point in our history when it's just that - an event of the past, to be regretted but moved beyond for better and more prosperous things. I can't forever bemoan new players about how "evil" the Minsitry of Industries was, or rave about the horrors of COBRA. There's just no point to it.

As my referred friend continues in this game, I want him to know about these events, to know the context he has wandered into. But I also want him to shape that context, and control the future path of eCanada with his own motives and desires, rather than those of players born 2 or 4 years ago. I was born in the midst of the Jacobi-Bruck feud, but the mentors of the day didn't let this consume my perspective of the game. It was just the current moment in our history, as each new day marked a shift toward something else. 30 days is still 2% of eRepublik's run - a large piece of a very old pie. Let's not let a rotten fruit from 18 pies ago ruin every slice that each new player takes in.

Canada's position on the world stage is stable and progressing. Our economy, while limited by game mechanics, is relatively stable. And despite our history, internal politics are also fairly calm. So having looked over some of the ways we induct new players into our community, I'd like to turn some of my attention to that realm. It's not about cute social projects (though those certainly help) - it's about shifting the climate we play in. It's about building a community that caters to younger players, rather than one that simply hopes they will get it and, for some insane reason, like it.

There's lots to do in the world of eCanada, but we've got plenty of time. Hurrrr we go.