The Musicman

Over the course of history, there have been dominant powers in the world. Our world is no different. Power has shifted tremendously over the course of my life. Power can be defined as the ability to affect the world, whether economically, culturally, or militarily. In this series of articles, I will rank and address the comparative power of ten countries in reverse countdown at three points in time: 1 Aug 2008, 1 Nov 2008, and 1 April 2009. The three points in time correspond with the late beta period, early V1, and contemporary V1 period. The rankings are meant to show the fluidity of power in the eWorld. I must stress that the rankings are only for comparative measures. I will release the corresponding articles in the specific country that is addressed.

The first country in this series of articles, Pakistan—a former Asian empire no longer exists. Thus, I will start the publishing of this list in the United States. This list is completely subjective and composed of my opinion, my experience, and my research. Comments, critiques, votes, and subscriptions are welcome.



Pakistan
1 Aug 2008 (Late Beta) - #1
1 Nov 2008 (Early V1) - #7
1 Apr 2009 (Contemporary V1) - #10

As you can see in the rather bad chart above, Pakistan (in light blue) started off as among the most powerful nations but featured a precipitous fall to now being powerless.

The god-king, Dio Brando, built a wide empire for Pakistan that spanned Asia and reinforced his legendary status. However, by August 1st, 2008, Pakistan had already peaked by and was beginning to regress. Once Dio Brando had left the game originally, his legion of followers and worshippers followed suit. Thus, Asia was denied a continuing Pakistani dynasty. Nevertheless, the Pakistanis (/v/) were a military, cultural, and economic superpower in the Beta period.

Their receding power set up a power void in Asia that has been filled in parts by China, Iran, Indonesia, and Romania. Thus, in ranking comparative power, they slid to #7 by the time of the second ranking. They maintained large tracts of land through the start of V1 but their military and culture were significantly weaker than during the heydays of Beta. The cultural dynamic that the Pakistanis brought to the game was legendary. Chief among them was the religion of Dioism. Dioism is among the most widespread belief systems in eRepublik with the words preserved in the Books of Dio. However, their cultural export has failed to help maintain hegemony in Asian and the Middle East.

Today, Pakistan is ranked last of the ten countries I have considered. This is because there are no Pakistani territories left in what used to be an empire. It seems the bigger they are the harder they fall.

I will continue to work on the Historical Arcs of Power series, among other articles, and release them in the future.