PEACE GC, liberator or oppressor?

Day 639, 11:37 • Published in Indonesia Brazil • by Dio Jazar
Dear readers,



in this article I want to give my view on the propaganda that these days fills the media of every EDEN and Fortis country. Prepare yourself for a wall of text (which is actually just 0.0001% of what could be written on the subject).



eRepublik, a war game

Yes, it is. Players, countries but most importantly this game thrives by war. It is easy to support this statement, because the game has been designed to provoke and stimulate war. The easiest example I can give is the economy of eRepublik. To break it down, there are 3 types of products.

Wellness products
These are food, houses and gifts. Why do you want a high wellness? That has two reasons:
1. You can produce more (making a 'virtuous circle').
2. You can fight more.

War products
These include Weapons, Defense Systems and Hospitals.
These products are only useful in war.

Other Products
Moving Tickets and Raw Materials.
Raw Materials are the basis of the other two types of products, only Moving Tickets are arguably useful for other things than war though are often used to transport armies and (in the past) voters.

Though there are more factors involved, this is the easiest way to show that eRepublik needs war.



eRepublik BETA - forming alliances

The basis of the alliance wars in V1 has been set in the Beta. The Beta knew several months without war. During this time the only thing that happened was people setting up companies and arguing over party politics. The Holy Empire of /V/akistan had a large group of players leaving due to the war module being postponed. Alliances didn't really mean anything.

However, with the introduction of the War Module we could all finally go to war. The Beta had a much better war system (not in performance, but in fun) than V1 because you fought Player versus Player. So of course, countries soon started wars against their neighbors, often just because they were large and war was fun. Alliances started to gain meaning and several were founded, with PANAM, FIST, MA and NA being the main Alliances.

But an alliance always seeks to be the strongest, as that is needed for its survival. At the time the Northern Alliance was the most active one seeking new members and slowly merged with PANAM. They started a new project, which they called the Atlantis Project or the Open Alliance. They separately contacted several MA nations in an attempt to recruit them, saying they would offer protection to all the MA nations.
"The basic idea is a vast international Mutual Protection Pact system between the M.A. PANAM, and N.A. in this system, no one member has a veto, and each member has an equal voice."

It was a trick. Only some of the MA countries were contacted, ending up with Spain earning themselves the name of "DoubeSpaniards". They hopped on the bandwagon and now the NA had 5 of the 6 largest members on board. The NA was preparing for war agains its mortal enemy, FIST, and more in particular Indonesia and /V/akistan. /V/akistan had seen it as its mission from the start to oppose the 'Pig Disgusting' Swedes, as they were the strongest other nation in eRepublik.Their rivalry was actually one of the best things in eRepublik history, as while they were enemies they kept it fun. Only several countries dared to refuse membership, including Brazil and France.

However, don't think that at the time there was no propaganda. Already back then everyone called eachother imperialistic. The NA had conquered several countries in Northern Europe and Russia, FIST had conquered Australia and several countries in Asia and the MA had conquered Switzerland for allying with the NA (though that's subjective, as the Swiss argued they didn't). But the point is, propaganda was already a hot topic. Someone made a simple picture at the time to represent the Atlantis propaganda:



Anyway, moving on, the MA had no other choice than to cooperate with FIST in order to try and keep the balance. PEACE GC was formed to merge these two alliances, which right away started with a heavy focus on defending each other due to the mere fact that that was the only thing they could do at the time.




PEACE GC - Liberators?

The end of the Beta and first half of V1 was the Golden Age for Atlantis. They managed to achieve a good number of victories and PEACE GC couldn't always succeed in defending. However, it was also a Golden Age for PEACE. Being on the defense gave us stronger ties, friendship and, not to forget, MPPs. It made us a stronger alliance than being on the offensive would've ever made us.

Propaganda during this period was quite simple. PEACE GC used its defensive status to call Atlantis imperialistic. Atlantis said that imperialism doesn't exist in a game and that we should just fight.





PEACEkeepers in the defense of France?




PEACE GC - Oppressors?
In retrospective, it's funny how the tables have turned. PEACE GC ended up as the strongest alliance and managed to get in the offensive against Atlantis. Nowadays they call themselves either EDEN or Fortis, but the core is exactly the same.

When it comes to propaganda it's a bit different. Atlantis has grabbed the opportunity to use the propaganda that PEACE GC used when they were on the defensive. However, for PEACE GC nations it's still very easy to justify their attacks for their population. The difference with the past is that about every PEACE GC nation has been under attack of Atlantis at least once, whether politically or militarily, while Atlantis nations did not have this incentive.

Some propaganda writers are better than others. A few are creative with numbers, by example claiming that the USA and Canada aren't imperialistic because they hold no foreign territories. They claim that PEACE GC can't invade them because then they are bad, forgetting that they cheered for each territory they conquered in the past.

While you could break down their arguments one by one, often being quite easy, I like to use this sentence to get rid of their arguments all in once:

"Failing is not an excuse for trying."





A PEACEkeeper gone rogue?




The truth is that everyone has invaded other countries, one country for an other reason than the other. But fact is that it's also what this game needs. There is no impartial good or bad and there will always need to be enemies, just because it's all a game.




So, what is it?

If you hadn't guessed yet, my answer. As how it is now, the game needs war to survive. Atlantis took the initiative in the past, now PEACE GC has taken over the rudder. Over time, things will change again. But is PEACE GC a liberator or an oppressor?


PEACE GC is neither:


PEACE GC is an alliance. PEACE GC is playing this game as it's supposed to be played.



Edit: because of the many reactions, I'd like to add something. With saying that PEACE GC is playing the game, I also want to stress the fact that it's a game. I can't find morality in this game because the game leaves no room for real life ideals.



Jazar





Disclaimer: while you should keep in mind that I'm a long time PEACE player, this is my honest view on the situation and the game.

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