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Earlier this week I had the pleasure to sit down with a player who has been in the game for quite some time, and who currently runs America’s largest political party. Henry Arundel (who is also known as Pfeiffer) was the most-voted candidate in last week’s Congress elections. Our conversation is below. Some images have been added to break up the wall of text. They have little or no connection to the interview, but hopefully will bring you a smile.


Point Taken - You go by two names, as several older players do. I assume one was an old account. How long have you been playing, and why the name switch?
Pfeiffer - That's a complicated answer. This name, Pfeiffer, is my RL last name, and the last name of the account I first rose to any form of notoriety in eRep. I had an account before that one, but left the game for a bit and when I came back I started over. I use it now on IRC and the national forums because most of the old players, the group my friends are made of, know me by that name. It was just easier when I came back, though it has made talking to new players interesting at first. I have the HenryArundel nick on IRC, just don't use it much.

Point Taken - So how long ago did you join the game?
Pfeiffer - My first account joined back in beta, but all I ever did was click in the game. I never grew out of the bubble of the in-game world. I did some party work for the Libery Party, but was a passive observer for the most part.

Point Taken - What changed to get you more involved?
Pfeiffer - Nothing really. I got invited by a friend who didn't know I'd already played, but decided not to join. Then one of the few people I talked to from eRep outside of eRep facebook messaged me; that's when I came back and decided to play for real. I had a lot of free time right then. I used eRep to pass the time, it was fun. The spring and summer of 2009 was a great little stretch.

Point Taken - What sort of things did you do then?
Pfeiffer - Well I ran for Congress right off. Three terms of that, got elected Speaker right before the invasion. I got banned a month in to my term as Speaker, so I started up this account in South Africa to kill Ajay's PTO attempt there. After that, came back to the US where I let Arundel die for about 10 months. But during the summer of 09 I was in the Feds, it was great. We were the anti-USWP, ironically. We called Scrabman and his party out on everything. It was a good way to get PR. Just in general, we had high activity and the invasion, despite causing some very long nights, was fun.



Point Taken - So now, you're in charge of the USWP and in fact got more votes than anyone else in the last congress race. Where do you plan to go from here?
Pfeiffer - I don't plan beyond the next election. Right now I'm focused on helping Oblige get elected President. After that, we will see.

Point Taken - Tell me about Oblige, what's his story?
Pfeiffer - He's just Oblige. I met him a few months ago when he started doing DoD and Foreign Affairs stuff. He’s active and knowledgeable. I find him to be a bit annoying at times, but he's very competent, that's the most important thing.

Point Taken - Your party was one of two to gain 18 seats in congress this past race. That’s quite impressive
Pfeiffer - We gained 18, AMP didn't. 18 AMP candidates won, but not all 18 are AMP members. All 18 of our winners were USWP members. There is a distinction.

Point Taken - USWP was also the most effective with voting. 90% of your votes went to winners based on my analysis in my article. How do you manage to do such a better job than your competitors?
Pfeiffer - It's not a matter of that. I looked at past voting, saw where we were weakest, and devoted ZERO party resources there. Waste not, want not. Sorry for not telling you more, but election stuff is simple: it's about legwork, turning people out, and motivating them. It's not hard; you just have to do it.

Point Taken - But it seems like the Workers Party does it, and others don’t.
Pfeiffer - Our candidates are motivated. I make it clear that the party helps those who help themselves. So they go out and find votes. Eli Crownover in Texas found most of his own voters, spent a decent chunk of the day doing so. They message me to ask where to vote because they know me. I've been around and stable for so long.



Point Taken - Do you have any plans of moving up yourself?
Pfeiffer - if I feel the time is right, and I can't find a candidate I feel comfortable with, I would consider another run for President, but the most important thing is keeping bad candidates out. The USWP has run a USWP candidate for months, every month this year, actually. This month, barring something CRAZY, we'll be endorsing a FED. Because he's best, and we need to keep out Haliman. Because Haliman is terrible. I like to look at it this way: My interests align with the country 9 times of 10. I want a strong military and competent leaders. That's in the best interest of the country. Some people disagree on how to go about those things, so I'm made to be the bad guy. Sure, I'm a prick. I am an a--hole. I know this, and I don’t care. I give zero f--ks about if people like me as long as the job gets done.

Point Taken - It also seems like, in your role as PP and in general, you do a good deal of mentoring to younger players. What sort of advice could you give to folks who want to get more involved in the game, or move themselves up?
Pfeiffer - Don't be retarded. Listen more than talk, at least at first. Get into a MU you like, supplies are whatever. You can find ways to get food and weapons, like the people. Like the leadership. Military units are far more important than parties for what most people care about. Read the forum, check it regularly, join in the general discussion, join in the off-topic discussion. If you're ambitious politically, minor media presence is nice. It's all very simple, to be honest.

Point Taken - Any closing comments or thoughts?
Pfeiffer - I'm not the boogeyman some make me out to be. I'm an a--hole who will call you names and probably talk IN ALL CAPS to show how dumb people are at times...but if you come with good ideas you can support with something tangible, I'll back you 100%. Even my friends get called names and yelled at, and they do it to me too, it's part of how we communicate. If anyone wants to actually get to know me and talk or whatever, come to #Pfeiffer on Rizon, or drop me an in game PM.


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Have a great day,
Tosh O'Point