Join the new world

Here it is, after a long awaited time for me, no fault by Scrabman, He's a busy guy 🙂 I have finally got my "beacon" interview with scrabman!

1. Did picking Scrabman have anything do with your interest in scrabble? If no then what was the reason?

Yes, that is totally what it came from. I play Club and Tournament SCRABBLE and that is a big interest of mine so I was thinking about that when I picked my username.

2. Why do you choose the spock references for the majority of your avatars I have seen 😛?


I don't know. I've always been a big fan of sci-fi and Star Trek in general (even though it isn't my favorite sci-fi show). My first avatar was Snidely Whiplash and then I changed it to the custom SCRABBLE board in the shape of West Virginia that you see when you go to my newspaper now. Then I picked alternate Spock (with the beard) one day and it just stuck. Many people call him "evil spock" but he's really one of the good guys from the famous episode "Mirror Mirror" and is much more compassionate than evil Kirk. Maybe I like that symbolism. 😉


3. After 3 terms in eUSA as president, why the change the Canada?

Well, it was technically 3.5 terms as eUSA President and I recently traced my carear change to Canada in my paper (http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/my-canadian-odyssey-and-support-of-the-prime-minister--975330/1/all). The main reason was that I was ready to retire from politics. Being President for 3 months had already worn me down and then I was asked by many of my supporters to run for an unprecedented 4th month and I did promising it would be the last term because I had a week of beach vacation and a week of vacation to attend the National Scrabble Championship. I enjoyed stepping out of office and then Canada was needing help to prevent a PTO of their Congress by Hungary and so I accepted the invitation of my friend Citizen B to come to Canada and run to block the Hungarian attempt (which we narrowly did). After that I started to get to know the Canadians and I really enjoyed that. It gave me a fresh perspective on the game and renewed my interest in politics. I've enjoyed it and am now in my 3rd term in the Canadian Parliament and I've also been appointed as the Minister of Justice there and I like that role a lot. I still have strong ties to the eUSA and participate in those Forums daily ... I hope that I can bridge that gap and bring the two historical allies even closer together.

4. Ever plan to run for president in Canada or return to eUSA?

Everyone assumes that I want to run for Prime Minister of Canada but I don't have any plans for that. While being a CP is an exciting and interesting job it is also very intense. I'm too old for that stuff and I don't think that I could do it again. As for when I will leave Canada ... well ... I don't have any plans to leave. So long as Canada continues to welcome me I will stay. If at some point I'm no longer needed or welcomed in their government then I'll return. For now though I'm serving in two governmental positions and couldn't leave if I wanted to. That is not to say that I am NEEDED by Canada like I'm still doing them a favor by being there. I like my new Canadian friends and they get along just fine ... but they have welcomed my perspective and my experience and that makes me happy.

5. I'd heard that you somehow granted yourself citizenship of Canada after Canada was freed, what do you think of that?

Yes, I did. I found it to be hilarious and that's probably one of the only times that has happened in the game. Canada fell and was wiped out. I returned to the eUSA where my friend Tormod gave me citizenship (after Zoli had mocked me saying that I'd never be able to get USA citizenship again when I first went to Canada). Then Canada came back and I found that I still had the power to vote on things in the Canadian Congress and that I still had the ability to make proposals and to approve citizenship requests. So I moved back to Canada in time for the next election, made two tax proposals that my friend Goran Thrax said needed to be made (he was Speaker of Parliament), and then approved some citizenship requests including my own using my approvals. I won the election and I've remained in Canada since.

6. While living in eUSA why was your party pick always USWP?

It wasn't always USWP. There were a few times when I joined a silly party just to be funny. I was in the Pastafarian Party for a while (actually a party that I renamed from something else when I became PP after the old PP resigned). I was in a party once that was making fun of Claire Littleton till the Admins chaged the title and avatar (it was set up by several prominent USWPers). And there were a few other times when I joined a party to prevent the PP from resigning and turning it over to someone else. But yes, I've always been a USWPer except for a period of about 3 weeks when I tried another one out when I was a new player. USWP was my first party and in my 3rd month I was offered a spot on the Executive Board as the Legal Director and from there I worked within the inner circles of the party to help build it up and they did a lot to help me in return as they helped make my Presidency work. I served as PP of the USWP for 1.5 months and then went on to become eUSA President while retaining Executive Board Emeritus status (a status that was created while I was PP of the USWP to honor past party leaders). I remain an Emeritus member of the Executive Board to this day and enjoy working with the new leadership of the USWP. They are great guys who really see the game from a society building standpoint.

7. While President you purchased 2 Q5 hospitals, one in Kansas and One in New Jersey, why those locations and how do you think these Q5's effected the way USA is now?

Well, New Jersey was the first one and it was ready for us to place when I took over the Presidency upon impeachment. All that I did was to finalize the deal. Kansas was placed for several reasons: 1) we wanted to have a "fortress" state that was deep within the country and 2) I wanted to get that hospital off the market where it had sat for a long time. Both placements were experiments. New Jersey was an experiment to see if a second Q5 would spread out the population cluster that had formed in Florida (it did ... but not as much as we had thought). Kansas was an experiment too which didn't really do us a lot of good when Hungary and Russia came marching through our midwestern regions. I think that the idea now is that, if another Q5 is placed, it will go in a strategic state and there probably won't be a third placed until there is a need.

8. If you could change one thing about erepublik what would it be and why?

I think that I would want to do something to beef up the security of the game so that so many exploits and hacks aren't always being discovered and used to negatively impact the rest of the players who are trying to play the game honestly. So far as game features I would give Party Presidents the ability to deny people from running for Congress under their party and possibly give them the power to kick people out of the party entirely.

9. Through your your eCareer how many wars do you think you've fought in? Which one has been your favorite?

Hmmm ... I think that I've fought in at least 10 that I can think of. It depends on what you consider to be a war though. I think that my favorite was the most recent one that is being referred to as The Great War. It certainly had the biggest impact on the game as we know it.

10. If you where admin for a day who would you ban and why 😛?

Zoli. Just because it would be fun.

11. What has been your favorite erepublik experiance and why?

My favorite eRepublik experience has been serving as USWP PP because it was what really turned me onto the larger aspects of the game and helped me to develop larger goals for my party, for myself, and for eRepublik as a whole. Plus, those are just some great guys.

12. Do you think you'll ever stop playing?

No, I think that I'll always at least 2 click. I suppose that if the game became unplayable, unrecognizable, or if I just got too busy to do anything with it then I might stop playing. But I figure I can stick around for a while. It has been more than a year and I'm still going.

13. Whats your take on the current situation in India and the conflicts surrounding Iran/India?

Well, to be honest, I haven't really been following it. My focus has been more domestic lately with Canadian affairs, my new duties as Minister of Justice, and managing the eUSA Forum as an Admin which is always a big job.

14. If you could interview one player, who would it be and why?

GLaDOS. He has to be the most interesting player in the game.