Maltese Falcon

Hello there, and welcome to the 159th issue of "The Maltese Falcon News", which Ichanged from the usual "The Maltese Falcon" simply because I needed my new header to look more balanced. Graphical issues aside, I'm happy to announce that in a recent article issued by the National Newspaper Association (NNA), this paper achieved the status of a Gold Medal newspaper. I am greatly honoured with this achievement, and I would like to thank the Media team at MoHA for their award, which will be displayed on this paper with pride following each article.



Now, onto the real purpose of this article. Just before election day, most Congressional candidates either tend to publish their manifesto or even re-publish it, while the voters are either reading these with interest, or have already made their minds up on who to vote for already, or are completely oblivious. I'm not publishing this article to sway voters in any way, but rather directly addressing the prospective candidates on getting acquainted with the ins and outs of holding a seat in the Congress of eUK, better known as the House of Commons. I've compiled a short list of basic tips:

1. Be Active in Erepublik
If you only log in every other day, miss many days of working and training and are completely unaware of what is going on in the country, then you shouldn't have bothered and you are probably just in it for the shiny 5 Gold medal. If not, you're probably struggling to get to grips with the game, so I suggest you take a look at the New Player's Guide penned by our Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Woldy.

2. Be Active on the eUK Forum
If you feel that Erepublik is a game of clicking the screen into oblivion, then you are pretty much correct. Most nations in the New World are largely based on a forum community. Without them, you are pretty much out of touch. In the eUK, this forum community is found at http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/index.php. You can do pretty much everything here. You can discuss the main issues and events in the New World, talk to your e-pals about this and that, discuss the political and economic spheres of the game, join your political party forum, have some fun in the Entertainment activities or simply get to know your fellow forum folk.

3. Keep an eye on the HoC Forum
Being in Congress is not just a matter of changing your 15 minute routine into a 20 minute routine to make room for voting Yes or No to in-game proposal. Most of the discussions of Congress take place in the HoC Forum section, found at http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=35. If you want to be a proper Congressman, this is the place to be. You'll be able to debate with fellow congressmen, while gaining first-hand experience from older players and people who have done the job before.

4. Know your Region
Its all well and good to know what's going on in the country, but when it boils down to it, you get elected by the people in your region. You need to know them, and they need to know you. You must be active on the regional forum, even if its just checking it once a day. The Regional Forum can be found at http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=10. Most regions have some form of Council, so either getting involved in it or knowing its roles is a good idea. Keeping in touch with your constituents is also important. You can do this either through PM's or through newspaper articles.

5. Read the Statute Book
The Statute Book is where all our out of game legislation is written. There's no need to learn these off word for word, but you should have a little knowledge on the Parliament Act, the War Protocol and the Process of Debating Proposals. The Statute Book can be found at http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=41.

6. Stick to the Congressional Code of Conduct
These are five simple rules that all congressmen must follow. Stick to them, and your stay in Congress will be a good experience. You may think some forum rules are no big deal, but breaking rule 2 will get you an in-game ban, so it is handy to know. The Code of Conduct can be found at http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13714.

7. Real Life comes FIRST
If you know that the next month will be tough to cope with, then DO NOT run for Congress! Take a step back from the game, and go back to two clicking. The last thing you want is to look back in ten years time and think "I could have had a better exam mark if I hadn't been foolish with that game" or "Damn! I missed my promotion for abusing my internet privileges at work".

And that's it. Good Luck to all candidates running for Congress!



This article has been awarded a Gold Standard by the National Newspaper Association: