Interview With Gnilraps

Day 1,440, 09:55 • Published in USA USA • by portcolumbus



Meet the Press Special: Interview With Gnilraps

I am proud to finally get the chance to sit down and send Gnilraps a list of questions to which he promptly answered. After a weekend away from eRep and the world in general, which was actually very refreshing, I return to you all well-rested, and ready to continue this term of Congress with the best of intentions. For those wondering why I left, I visited a relative out of town, but don't worry, I'm back. Hope you all didn't miss me too much, without further delay, here's my interview with Gnilraps.
1. How do you feel the nation is doing overall right now?

I am pretty upbeat about things at the moment. It’s kind of funny, but ever since the Domestic Affairs council started studying the problem of the JCS/non-JCS hullabaloo, it seems to have died down. That was the worst face of America and I am happy to see it dissipate. There are latent issues that certain people have, but I think that bringing the problem to national attention has probably encouraged some civility.

We are not the largest nation in this game. This fact requires a bit of an attitude adjustment when people log in. You know, in Real Life, USA can play the bully if it wants to, and generations of Nationalistic fervor have created the mindset that, you know, we’re US Frikkin’ A. But we cannot play this game that way, and I think that getting wiped was a good lesson in humility for us. We are a whole lot more unified, a whole lot more interested in International Affairs, a whole lot more synchronized in our efforts than we were before.

I am a fan of “Post-Wipe eUSA”.

2. What are some things you think we can improve on?

I am going to probably upset someone here, but what the heck. In my opinion, our Nation does a poor job of mentoring new players. The people we have in place are not to blame. They are working hard at it. But there is no good system in place to facilitate their success. We get a steady inflow of new Citizens daily and the game mechanics see to it that they can level up very quickly. So we have to be ON IT right away with our Mentoring. I would like to see our current Mentors be given a better system to work, one that does not place the initiative so much on the new player to seek help. We need a more pro-active approach. I spend more time each day mentoring than doing any other thing in this game.

3. How long do you see the current ONE invasions lasting?

I see us wiped again. I recommend stockpiling.

4. President A^2 has served almost two full terms now, and has hinted at a 3rd. How do you feel he has done, and would you support him if he runs for a 3rd straight term?

Despite the fact that we are being invaded, I would consider his second term more successful than his first. The team he has in place now is dynamite. Any time you get that many Federalists working together in Government.. well what can you expect but a massive dose of Proud and Horny??? Seriously, have you seen how many Feds have been in government the last few months? Pfeiffer has been great too, actually, despite what people think about him.

Yes I’d support a third term for him. I’d be a little surprised if he ran though. But yeah, I saw him drop that hint...

5. Congress has been talked about lately for it's decision to raise the income taxes and lower the VAT's last term. What are your opinions on the issue, and what are some things you would like to say to people who were against the change?

Wow you are really looking for a long comments thread for this article aren’t you? This has been a hot-button issue. Thanks for asking me to unload my opinion here. I will.

People who have not been in congress ought to exhibit a bit more humility in their approach to criticizing its work. I am fine with debating the substance of what Congress passes, but too much of the debate turned into ad hominem attacks and completely ignorant assertions. It’s classic demagoguery and it’s BS.

The Congress debated this issue for weeks, over countless threads containing multiple pages of text. Many of the people who were hammered publicly for supporting these measures were against them at first, but after taking the time to study the thing were convinced and changed their course. I was impressed at how hard everyone worked through the details.

The reason this plan passed is because it places our Nation in the best possible position to defend itself against a larger, more powerful enemy. And even more importantly, it will function well even when we are wiped. Attracting imports and lowering consumption taxes while raising income taxes was a brilliant move. Those congressmen were not dumb, we all knew people would throw bricks at us once it was passed. It’s SO EASY to criticize a “tax increase”. Of course, this isn’t so much a tax increase as a reassignment of tax burden, with foreign importers shouldering the biggest portion of the difference.

Gosh there have been so many lies told also. “One less tank per day” is total BS.

But if there’s one thing that will never change in eRepublik it is the volume of Yellow Journalism. It makes the game fun.

My sneaking suspicion is that the vast majority of eUSA is fine with it. A few loudmouths aren’t. Oh, and there has also been some decent rebuttal to the plan too, albeit misguided.

6. How do you feel the last session of the Congress (46th), did their jobs? What do you expect from the new term?

I’ve already commented on the tax issue and I think Congress was courageous in passing the new plan. We also got some of the Constitutional Code pared down which is the kind of work that doesn’t make headlines but it has to be done. The 46th Congress was a success.

The 47th Congress may have to work with some unpopular issues as well. Depending on how long this wipe lasts, we may see some budget cuts. I hope they continue to refine the Code. Unfortunately, there were some potentially very good Congressmen that got sniped out or beaten by candidates whos Party was just after as many seats as possible. That’s the unfortunate part of Congressional elections, really, when it becomes an ego event for Party Leaders who snipe a guy in who ends up never contributing, meanwhile the guy he beat was a really good potential Congressman.

7. I know this is a bit off-topic but I'll ask anyway, name me the two WORST eUS trolls?

When you say “WORST”, I wonder what you mean. Because as any INCI will tell you trolling is an art form, and when done right it is a thing of beauty.

Hands down INCI is the Trollest. They are the best Trolls. Remember the INCI Owl Festival? That was a masterpiece of Troll.

Now if by “WORST” troll you mean the Troll who is least effective and most obtuse about it... well I hate to say it but it’s got to be Ajay Bruno aka Pizza the Hut 2. He TRIES to troll, but there’s never a lick of imagination to a single thing he says in his Trollings. A 2nd grader can type “Failmaxxxx”. So he ends up Trolling himself really.

Pumpkinette has also distinguished himself as a lousy Troll. His problem lies in a lack of finesse. He just opens up his cannon and the entire thing explodes all over everything. He ends up more miserable than the person he’s targetting.

John Malcom is a good Troll. Glove could troll. Proteus has it in him to bust one out from time to time. Rick von Ruger has finesse. We’ve got some respectable Trolls... I mean it as a compliment.

8. Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of Meet the Press, the American people, or myself?

Yeah. Bring back Chutley. Find him and tie him down in front of his computer until he starts publishing again.

And also, keep publishing your newspapers everyone. That is by far the enduring excellence of this game. If you are a new player, there is no better way to spend your Gold than on a Newspaper. Just start publishing. You may suck at first, but there’s a delete button for any article you end up embarrassed about. But this is how you can begin contributing to this eSociety right away.

And to you Portcolumbus, you have no idea how inspirational you are to new players. Keep it up bro. And for crying out loud come to your senses and join the Federalist Party. Sheesh, you belong there.
Thanks to Gnilraps for taking the time to do this interview, and of course, thanks for the invite to the Federalist Party, for which I must respectfully decline. I will continue to work with all parties, for the better good of America. This has never been about the parties, this is about America, and what we can do for EVERYONE. I believe in America, and I believe in the American people, and their ability to overcome what others say is impossible.

Portcolumbus,
eUS Congressman