Join the new world

ESO is an unaffiliated, centre-left party which at its root, wants the UK to progress and never stand still. A basic summary of our party would be that we as a community, believe that the main task of Government should be to assist new players in their early stages, through both guidance and financial support.

We will never join a political coalition, nor will we ever back another party's Presidential candidate in exchange for position or favours. We back Presidential candidates based on their individual merits: their plans, their history, their proven approach and their relative 'competence' compared with their competition. The party a candidate comes from has no weight in our decision.

In relation to how the party operates, power lies with those who are elected to run it, and the individuals who the Party President appoints to the in game roles that month. However, our Constitution binds the Party President to act in a timely, suitable and accountable manner at all times, or face a vote of no confidence from members. If you are interested in joining us, we also offer a completely open membership policy: any member is welcome to join and engage with the party.



Whilst ESO has been seen by some as the dream everything, propose nothing party, the truth is that until now, there has been no room for ESO policy. Because the parties who traditionally won the elections either had policy that was all but identical to ours, or would have no intention of ever supporting our policy. Thus, until this month we either didn't need to propose policy because it was on the whole already being implemented, or didn't feel comfortable doing so because of the political climate.

That has changed. The fact is, every party is scrambling to show that they are all about new players: but there is not nearly enough action in this regard from the parties involved. Thus, we have changed - this month not only are we expecting that 80% of our elected congressmen will have never served a month in congress, but 68% will be players who joined eRepublik very recently. Because of our size, that 80% translates into 4 congressman, and that 68% translates into 3. The fact is, we're the smallest of the top 5, and to expect more than 5 candidates would be quite a big ask. However, despite our size, our belief in new players cannot be called into question.

However this belief is not just about throwing in new players and leaving them to fend for themselves. Emergy Maxfell, a universally respected and absolute legend of the UK has agreed to run not only to represent ESO and its traditional dislike of overtly political trends in government and congress, but also to operate in an advisory role. As well as this, there are already 4 or 5 ESO members who have volunteered, and will be keeping in touch, with not only our own candidates who are new, but any UK congress member who seeks their guidance.

So to finish talking about candidates, and how we're not only putting in new faces, but also doing the ground work to ensure they are in the loop and can be effective whilst in office, allow me to introduce the most likely to be elected under ESO, and a few extra candidates just in case something happens on election day and we get lucky.

1. Emergy Maxfell
(old player, advisory role, help all new congress in discussions and offering friendly advice as always)

2. Bonkers19123
(New player, hugely energetic and already having an impact on ESO - hopefully he can bring this enthusiasm to benefit the UK too)

3. Mark Augersburgh
(Another new player who seems brimming with enthusiasm and confidence, Mark actually wowed me with his self-penned introduction on our feed when he joined - another source of enthusiasm I'm sure the UK can benefit from)

4. General Slim
(This is a new player who is more likely known outside of ESO than the other two: you can read his already quite in depth and useful articles and I'm sure most of you already have!)

5. Mr Extra
(A player who is new to congress, but not new to the game, I think Mr E [no. 2, the original Mr E being Emergy!] encapsulates a group of players that is often forgotten about: those who when they first join up to eRepublik have no interest in getting involved, but later become interested. I'll hopefully be working with him to ensure that his 'generation' are equally well represented in the future)

6. Dillon hall
(Yet another new player, although somewhat quieter than the rest. However, this is easily chalked upto being new to the game, and I will be absolutely ecstatic to see him involved in congress and hopefully retain interest in the game - Congress isn't just about allowing those who want to run the chance: its also about trying to use it to show players that there are tangible things they can do that are useful to the UK, and also give them the responsibility that may encourage them to stick around)

7. Elle Roslin
(A legend, if you don't know her: you should get to know her. Worked tirelessly for ESO and The Legion in the past, and after a hiatus, has returned to us. I've asked Elle to run to 'back up' Emergy in the advisory capacity to both the UK congress and ESO new players - however at 7th on the list it should be noted that the chances of election are 'iffy' - priority has been given to those who are new to congress and the game)

8. Victoria Vanderwolf
(Another new player who is largely quiet, I agreed to run Victoria a few days ago, however her initial interest in running seems to have died down. She is running in 8th spot which should be seen as a spot most likely not to be elected, but I understand that the process of trying to get elected will be one that is hopefully useful to her in future months, when if her activity improves she will be given a much more likely to be elected spot)



Finally, I'm pleased to announce the actual ESO policies this month. Firstly, all our members have agreed that they will (short of a personal or natural disaster) stick around for the duration of the month. They have also agreed to engage with and abide by any and all Government requirements of congress, in relation to how laws are proposed or debated, and of course how Citizenship is granted. Finally, we asked all candidates to agree a simple 'do no harm' policy: that is, if the guidelines are unclear and it is impossible to contact anyone for help before making a decision, the option which does no harm to the UK (in their opinion) or the option which gives the best advantage to the UK (in their opinion) should be taken.

Now, as for actual policies, I'm pleased to announce the result of our first Policy Review. Over 100 members were involved in the process, with pages of proposals, more pages of discussion, and quite a lot of votes.

1 - Use of the Offsite UK Forums

ESO believes and will lobby for changes to the way Government operates to ensure that important government content, and any open discussions are replicated both in game and on the offsite forums. Government should use both theatres to gain more viewpoints and feedback on discussions, and after discussions have ended, should amalgamate the feedback into a single place (either in game or on the forums), with a clearly advertised link to this posted both in game and on the forums.


2 - Congressional Discussions

ESO believes any and all Congressional Discussions which are not deemed 'highly sensitive' by both the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs or as having a possibly negative affect on either the UKs relationship with our allies, or the UK or her allies' chance of victory in any wars ,should be published for the public to view. This would include any guidance from Government ministers.


3 - Official Government Military / Official Military Units

Government should firstly finalise and release the criteria to grant official status to other Military Units. This criteria should at its minimum, ensure that no 'official' Military Unit is giving, or part of a process which gives, preferential supplies or treatment to those based on their membership of a political party.


4 - The Future of Wars

A President will be required to ensure that Congress has all of the expected and possible outcomes of a given war during the discussion stage (IE BEFORE any vote is posted.) For instance if the discussion was about invading Ireland, congress would have to be reminded they are good friends with Bulgaria, who are good allies of ours, and the increased likelihood for other countries such as Norway, Canada, France, the Netherlands, etc, to either invade us in retaliation, or mobilise against us in the future.

** please note, this is purely an example, I do not think it is likely that any UK Government would at present even entertain the notion of invading Ireland, or wanting anything other than good relations


5 - Taxes and the Economy

Before any cuts are made to any programs that benefit new players, Government should exhaust all other possible solutions, asking for donations from citizens, cutting other expenditure such as reducing MPPs to the bare minimum, or raising taxes should they be below 10% (or a rate advised by the MoF, whichever is lowest)


6 - Governance of the UK Forums and IRC

The President should hold some power in relation to the running of the Forums and IRC, but changes would still require the agreement of the individuals chosen to run the forums by whoever pays for them.




So to summarise, this month ESO is not only running new players, but also running candidate such as Emergy Maxfell and Elle Roslin in either likely or guaranteed spots to ensure newer players (both ESO and non-ESO) have an 'in house' source of guidance - so as not to risk asking for guidance without inadvertedly breaking rules relating to 'leaking' Congressional discussions.

As well as that we are offering a simple platform filled with policies that ESO members have written, discussed and voted on as a party. These are not policies decided or written for ESO - our process was all done in game and allowed every member to get involved. These are policies written by our members, FOR what we feel is the greater benefit of the UK.

Please do consider voting for ESO tomorrow, we have never, nor will we ever, think about our own success before success of the UK as a country. We support that which we think is best for the UK, even if it may negatively affect us as a party in any way, as has been seen with ESOs decline in membership once we relaxed rules on membership to our once affiliated Military Unit, The Legion. Indeed our further decline that came when we severed all operational links with The Legion only reinforces this: we really do put the UK as a country first in all the things we do.

We have gone about this election to offer you a chance to vote for something - a set of policies and good candidates. We are not interested in courting votes as a means of voting against any other party or candidate: we feel we offer a fantastic option for these elections and encourage you to support a positive account, written by UK players just like you, and to be enacted by a new generation of UK congress members, supported by older generations.

Lots of love, and on behalf of Every Single One of ESOs members,
jamesw.