Join the new world

The congress elections yesterday proved to be interesting, and many active and qualified players were elected to serve our nation. With the war being at a critical moment, it is important that we have active and dedicated congress members who can bring new ideas to our nation. Today I had the privilege of interviewing one such player: Gnilraps.

Gnilraps, the press director of the interesting 16 Shells newspaper, is dedicated to serving the eUSA and is probably one of the best citizens in the eUSA to serve us in the government at a moment when the future is unclear. So without further ado, here is the interview, unedited and presented in its original form:


____________________________________________________________________________
Have you had any experience in congress before?

I was sniped in by the Federalist Party sometime around March/April of 2010. I had no business being in there, especially considering the fact that I had to beat OneEye to get in. OneEye was epic. I wasn’t.

Actually, it was exactly a few days after being elected to Congress that my wife learned of a job opportunity that meant we were moving and had less than a month to pack up and get to New Jersey. In one month we found a place to live, found a renter for our home in Ohio, packed up a family of 5, and moved. I probably missed a few votes on the floor of Congress.

That’s the funny thing about committing to stuff in this game. We all know that RL comes first. The eRep community that I’ve known has always been absolutely generous to anyone who has ever needed to step back due to RL concerns.

Oh wait you asked about congress 🙂


What are your primary concerns on the state of the USA at the moment?

Apathy. Take a look at our declining vote-tallies. It is an unavoidable reality that fewer people are playing.

Now much of this is surely because the game is so unstable. It truly could just completely change overnight. The outrage over the loss of worker skill, for instance, is still, months later, generating wicked commentary and angry citizens. It is unbelievable to imagine a company ever treating its customers the way Admin treats us. So Admin shoulders a major part of the blame for lousy retention rates.

But people like me also make it worse. When we go on and on about how lousy everything is, it just cannot possibly be good for retention. I have made a conscious effort to keep my dismay to myself lately, since I represent the eUS Government in some way (as Secretary of Media and now as Congressman from what was California). At least let the newbs hear about how lousy things are from someone NOT in public service. Wait. I’m doing it again.

There is a ton of noise about how lousy everything is. True. But I think maybe we can all just shut up about it for a while. Plato isn’t suddenly going to turn into a metrosexual overnight and get all “sensitive listener” on us no matter how loudly we yell. If you’re going to keep playing and want this not to suck, find something great about it and talk about that. Let’s encourage a few new people to stick around.


What would you consider to be the greatest threat to the unity of the American people at the moment?

Definitely, and headscratchingly, it is the lingering stench from the JCS/Congress hullabaloo from what seems like 4 months ago already. It is quite obvious by now that serious animosity exists between major players in this fandango. New players are not just being trained in game mechanics, fighting, and so on... New players are being indoctrinated to feel a certain way about other players whom they don’t even know yet. Why else does a two-week old Citizen have so much animosity to voice against Pfeiffer? Because he’s been told to think that way.

We are literally breeding hatred of fellow Americans with this nonsense. It’s one thing to teach the young’ns to NEVER EVER EVER listen to Pizza or vote for him or join his party or heed anything that flows from his mouth. That kind of indoctrination is helpful. But to foment rage about an otherwise very valuable group of eAmericans simply because they disagree with you is killing us.

I have never seen more ad hominem arguments over any issue as this one. Would reasoned debate help? It sure would. Perhaps the Citizens of eUSA can encourage their Public Leaders to wrap up this debate and move on.


Do you have any idea of what you plan to accomplish in congress this month?

I need to learn first. I spent all day today reading the Congressional areas of the Forum. There are a lot of words spilled in those threads and I want to become well schooled in what has come before me.

In terms of proactive work, I want to do some hard thinking about how Congress can facilitate player retention. Congresspeople are typically well connected somehow in this game, so a Congressman ought to be a beacon for new players to follow.

So I will be approaching my term in Congress from the perspective of, “What can I do to encourage new player involvement”. Perhaps I should take an interest in Model Congress...

How do you plan to represent the people of the state that elected you?

Not damn much. In my opinion, the mechanics of this game make the Federalist Party my primary constituency, not the people of California. Of course my primary responsibility is to the eAmerican people as a body, not JUST to Federalists or Californians. That is a basic tenet of Federalism, that duty to the Nation is a higher calling than duty to the Party... But in reality there is no “California” representation because the game does not see a Californian any differently than a Michigander.

No, the Party system is the closest thing in this game to a proper constituency. So I will be seeking ways to make the Federalist Party Proud/Horny to have a Congressman. I will not, for instance, be submitting a proposal to raise the Minimum Wage.

Do you believe that the current administration has done a good job in leading the eUSA during the month of July?

Yes. Blank Keating has been a little too good, if anything. What’s a Secretary of Media supposed to do when the PoTUS publishes such fine articles? Activity has been better than average, which is one gauge. No crises have arisen which either means they were handled before the public found out about them or they’ve been avoided entirely. I happen to know that it is a little bit of both in this case.

There was a concerted effort to get some new people involved in this Administration. Sadly a few of the newest flaked out. Whaddayagonnado?

Please be as elaborate as you can and thanks once again.

And one question I wish you had aske😛
What advice would you give to new players?

Hit up Meals on Wheels, Arm America, Bewbs4Newbs, daily. The key here is to get yourself up and running quickly. That takes food. Be a pig. Fight as often as your Real Life will allow. The game has devolved into mostly just get strong and rank up. So get strong and rank up. As soon as you think the game is going to be worth playing for a while, pony up and buy the biggest Gold pack you can afford. Then spend it MOSTLY on training boosters. Company ownership takes many months to pay for itself. Skip it. Join the USAF and get more free stuff. Get into a Party and start doing any little job they ask you to do. Meet some folks on IRC. And never, ever, ever believe a damn thing Pizza the Hut says. Trust me. He’s a carbuncle.

Added at 11:33
Where do you see the eUSA a month from now?

AMP will surpass USWP causing sparks to fly. They will take control of Congress next month and propose legislation that will make their Militia the official Military of the eUSA once more.

Serbia will control Texas, but no other original eUSA Territories.

Spain will be fully expunged. Ditto Poland.

Hungary will continue to cause problems.

Cerb will be PoTUS defeating Haliman narrowly due to the INCI vote. Pizza the Hut will finish 4th with 104 votes. He will also take credit for getting Cerb elected, and for putting Neil Armstrong on the Moon.

Plato will have introduced 3 massive new game changes and 5 new missions.

People will still not be able to read a damn newspaper article without beating off a half-dozen headless chickens. There still won't be an eRepublik Forum despite Admin inviting us to check it out every time they do maintenance, and...

I will finally have my Media Mogul medal leading me to the precipice of retirement.
____________________________________________________________________________
Gnilraps is a model citizen, a great politician and excellent writer. This interview proves that the eUSA still has some great players in it. Thank you Gnilraps for responding to my questions and for sending in depth and elaborate answers. You truly do deserve to be a part of our congress. Hopefully you will prove to be a great congressman.

If you have any suggestions as to what questions I should have asked , please leave them in the comments section below. More interviews will be published soon.



[EDIT]If you enjoyed this interview, read and vote my interviews with Jamarcus and Leroy Comb.