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An Interview With Mac Panthers Candidate, Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar.

Digby, a lot of the voting population seem to be under the impression that you are what they would call a 'joke candidate' - what are your opinions to this viewpoint? Are you are joke candidate?

Well, first of all I think we need to establish what people think a joke candidate is. My campaign and involvement in this election is serious - otherwise I wouldn't be running. That said, I'm perhaps not as "serious" a candidate as Mr. Woldy or Dishmcds, because I'm running for a different reason.
I don't like the way that politics works right now. I think it's become increasingly obvious now that there's little fun to be had in Congress or simply the government itself. We've piled up duties and red tape upon ourselves and forgotten what we're there for.
To serve the people, yes, but in that I believe that the most important thing is to provide fun - this is a game, afterall. That's why I want to encourage politics to be more open to newbies and something to be enjoyed. That's why I want to try to break the mould of things and provide a government that caters for peoples enjoyment. That's perhaps why I've given the impression that I'm not "serious."





If elected, what sort of Foreign Policy would you seek? A conservative one that is saving money for V2 as Mr Woldy seems to be planning on, such as Karacticus adopted before him, or a more aggressive one, seeing as Poland is on our doorstep?

Well, I agree that we should look at making some cutbacks to prepare for V2, I think we'd be a bit foolish if we didn't. I would, of course, ensure that the eUK is as safe as possible from any real threat, but I also think that funding for the armed forces is vital for our country. Afterall, war is an important aspect of the game.
I think the most important thing is getting newbies into the armed forces to give them that little "push" and encouraging them to fight, not just for the damage they could eventually do, but also for the experience. The armed forces are an invaluable part of our society, and they're hugely beneficial. I, like a few people, remember the days when we were a "neutral" country, and had no wars for weeks and weeks.
People enjoy fighting, and if you can't get fights then you're encouraged to move elsewhere, which doesn't help us at all.
Regarding alliances, I like our standing in the world right now. Personally I don't think it would matter were we in Phoenix, EDEN or anything else - I think the most important thing is to keep in mind what is best for the player, in terms of enjoyment and simply having battles to fight in.
Maintaining good relations and having MPPs is vital for that, so I think that rather than focusing entirely on saving for V2 (which, let's face it, will be quite a while away), we shouldn't forget to always look at what's best for the players.





If elected, what sort of Domestic Policy would you seek? How important would Domestic Affairs in comparison to, say, Foreign or Military Affairs be in a Digby government?

Well, I think the most important thing is to strive to get more and more people involved in our community. Politically, militarily and just simply socially, we're just simply better off with encouraging newbies to become involved. Afterall, if we can't present ourselves to new players in the eUK, how are we to present ourselves as a nation internationally?
We're nothing without our community, so I think that recruitment is clearly the key priority for us - both in the game and out on the web. I think if we prioritised things and set out how best to get more people involved with the genius minds among us we could achieve great things.
As far as our community goes, I think we need a cleanup of it. As I've said, I'm promoting accessibility to politics. I want to show people that, like what you're told in the game, you can become involved and rise up through the ranks. I think it's fairly obvious on our forums that our community is stale, and we have an "old guard." Well, I want to bridge the community so that we can smash down all the barriers putting people off becoming involved.
Fundamentally, if you've got no incentive to or it doesn't look like you can become involved then we need to change things. Right now, I think it looks like that to some people (I know it certainly looked like it to me).





If you were not in this election, would you vote for Mr Woldy or Dishmcds? Why?

Well, that's tough. They're both very experienced candidates, but I think I would probably vote for Mr. Woldy, because to me it'd boil down to the fact he's easy to talk to and a funny guy. In my opinion, he's the more approachable - and I think that especially in a game, that's important.

I think we all agree with you when you said we've piled up duties for people do without compensating in the 'fun factor'. But what exactly would you do to make sure that the eUK is more 'fun' for everyone involved?

Well, as I've said, I think the most important things to do are to get more people involved on the forums and in our community and make politics accessible to newer players. As far as getting people on the forums goes, advertising is the clear answer to how.
In terms of making politics accessible, I think that the duty lies not only with the government but with the parties. It's difficult to try to incentivise it, but I think that the rewards speak for themselves when you get a greater community and new points of view.
It's quite simple: the more people we have involved, the better we can do at making the game fun for everyone. So in terms of how, it's really not only a matter of listening to what people have to say, but being accessible in the first place.
And I think that if we even the playing field of the community and politics especially, that's the best way to achieve that. Then I think we really can make it so that people have incentive to become involved, because they see they CAN become involved and CAN change things.





What makes Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar stand out from the other candidates?

Well, I think firstly my cool name and great sense of humour, but also the fact that I don't just want to run in this election, I want to change politics so that people can follow me in doing so - because, after all, we're all entitled to. The game's about fun, and that's often ignored. I think I'm the best candidate to reach out to players and encourage it. Just as the home page says: "Change the world and rewrite history!" - it shouldn't be exclusive to certain people, everyone should be able to if they want.
Just as the home page says: "Change the world and rewrite history!" - it shouldn't be exclusive to certain people, everyone should be able to if they want.


Why should the people of the eUK vote for Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar to become our new Prime Minister on the 5th June, 2010?

Politics in the eUK is stale and I want to fix it. I want to make sure that any player, if they want to, can have the opportunity to become a part of the community. Whether that's as a soldier in the armed forces, a politician, or just someone who gives their point of view in discussions on the forums, I think that we seriously need to encourage them for the good of everyone.
Not only for the sake of having a larger community, either, but to enable the government (especially) to be able to see what people really want and enjoy. This is a game, and I think that the most important thing is to recognise that and make the game fun for as many people as possible rather than "what we think is best."
And that's what I'm all about, making the community, the country and the game itself more fun for everyone.


What's the best joke you know?

Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.


I'd like to thank Digby for a competent and thoroughly enjoyable interview. It's certainly put my mind into wonder as to who I'm going to vote for - I'm sure it has for many others, too.

Maddog Jones
Editor of The Great British Truth.