Questions and Answers with scrabman - pt. 3

Day 543, 22:11 Published in USA USA by scrabman

Wow ... lots more questions. So here are the original two links:

Questions:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/questions-and-answers-with-scrabman-pt-1-800948/1/all

Answers 1-20:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/questions-and-answers-with-scrabman-pt-2-802058/1/all

Here are answers to the next 35 questions from the original questions article (those are the questions that I'm answering). I case you haven't noticed ... I'm not replying in the answer articles.

Q. Wages have fallen dramatically lately--what is going on and what can be done about it? Is this runaway deflation or a recession that is causing this?
Wages have fallen as have product prices while the dollar has stabilized. I'm not sure that this is a problem. I'm not an economist but I can tell you that RL economics have nothing to do with eRep economics.

Q. i was wondering where do we stand if we are to gain more land for our ecountry
For what purpose would we gain more land? I have said since I first ran for President that I would not fight a war for no purpose. We fought FER for resources and to get into Asia where we can be more in the middle of things. It is the only way that we can be able to get more of our citizens fighting without making them move (and so many flat out refuse to do so).

Q. so....if Uncle Sam was "impeached" for screwing up a war really bad...what is the difference with this situation?...
You misunderstand why Uncle Sam was impeached. It wasn't because of losing Mexico as much as it was his lack of communication with Congress. Sam is a very smart player and he knows the mechanics of the game far better than I do. With that knowledge comes a high sense of self confidence which resulted in him acting without explaining himself and that caused frustration. I've tried to balance the two sides of the coin where it comes to sharing information and protecting the plans from exploitation. Like most things, you can't make everyone happy.

Q. For a new citizen of eUSA, what are your effects on and goals for people like me?
War games give you high wellness and help you to reach your XP levels faster than if you just worked and trained each day (which results in gold bonuses too). Further, we have Meals on Wheels to help new players and the Dept. of Education who tries to help new players learn how to play the game better so that they don't lose interest and quit.

Q. Why is the US sitting on a pile of arms when they could have been dispensed to sway the war effort in our favor?
I don't control those weapons, the military does. To my knowledge the military did all that they could do to manage the conflict and I'm not pointing any fingers or trying to micromanage the military leaders. If there are weapons remaining then I think that's a good thing because they are a strategic reserve. Iron is about to get a lot more expensive now that WSR and Podolia are lost to Indo. The purpose of those weapons companies has always been to have a strategic reserve... not to give people free guns. If a citizen can't be bothered to spend their own money on weapons then that isn't really my fault. That is a critical difference between the USA and Indonesia where those players spend their own money freely including buying gold packs with RL money. That is something that USA players don't do in any comparative way to the levels that Indo does.

Q. Why were no Q1 or Q2 weapons giving out that the Congress have been stockpiling for War times?
Congress wasn't stockpiling those ... the military was and they were a strategic reserve as I stated above. The goal is to have a lot of weapons for when the market peters out in a prolonged war. I was in Congress when we passed that and that was the original intention. So it made no sense to tap into those while we had prices of $8 and $16 on the market. Of course, if the traitor Navy II hadn't stolen so many of those weapons from us we would have even more. Again, I don't know why any American still associates with that dirtbag.

Q. In your opinion, is the current relatively high income tax rate something we should keep? Did you consider the option of using the nuclear kitties in FER? If not, why not?
Yes we should keep the 20% tax rate as it has given us many options for so many things. You can't fund a military on nothing and anyone who points to Indo or Romania as examples of nations who manage with low tax they are apples and oranges due to the above point about how those players in Romania and Indo spend RL money where we don't in the eUSA. And for all of those who keep asking ... it is Congress who controls the taxes ... not me.

We would have used the nuclear kitties if they hadn't gotten distracted by a twist tie and scurried off.

Q. Why do you suck?
I learned it from your mom Wade. 😉

Q. How are we going to get back on our feet in this war? Do we have enough gold to attack any PEACE forces any more?
We are going to continue to build the military up, work on our communications and distribution system, and make sure that more Americans "get it" with what we're trying to become. No ... attacks are things that must be carefully considered because they are too expensive otherwise.

Q. War games, while a good option, will not gain us as much exp. as long-lasting wars like some countries have. What do we do?
I don't even know how to answer that. I think you are very wrong. War games are much more cost-effective ways of training. Long lasting wars decimate the economy. I've been through two prolonged wars and each one destroyed our economy within a week. Everyone who thinks that warring will fix the economy must not remember the last two wars.

Q. What can we (as citizens) do to help our country rebuild and grow stronger for next time?
Train in the war games, keep wellness high, work every day while at high wellness to make more products, spend your level and hard worker gold wisely or save it.

Q. Are you going to answer any questions? Why didn't you tell people not to fight in the wargames the day of the Russia attack? What is your opinion on the ATLANTIS/PEACE controversy?
Yes. Because that sneaky GladDOS didn't tell me his plans the day before when we started the war game ... by the time that PEACE got around to attacking WSR and we saw our opportunity to launch HelloKitty it was in the last hour or so of the war games and we didn't want to tip Russia off ... they were very surprised by our attack from what my intelligence sources tell me. I'm not sure what controversy that you speak of.

Q. I'm new to eRepublik. What is your ultimate goal for the US? What do you want to US to be in the world?
My goal is to have the USA be a world leader that has both the ability to negotiate and enforce peace and diplomacy. War will never be eliminated but it would be nice to be able to be a heavyweight when we step up to the table. Right now we are not.

Q. Do you believe political theory gamers are compatible in working relationships with mechanical strategy gamers when it comes to making Congress more efficient with victory as an ultimate goal for eUSA in the game?
No. The eUSA Congress usually works pretty well together but when it doesn't it is usually because there are players who adhere to RL political or economic doctrines that have no place in eRep and no or little relevance here. It is sad how much we set our nation back squabbling over ideological trivialities. If that energy was put into figuring out how to beat PEACE we would be a world power now. Then again, there will always be the trade-off between those who use eRep to role-play and those who use it to develop a winning strategy based upon game mechanics. The two play styles are usually mutually exclusive.

Q. Is this combination of war games and crushing defeat in Russia going to lead to a weakened national defense if an attack were to occur?
No. Every time that we train our citizens we increase our national defense. The lower skilled players have the most to gain by bulking up their combat ranks allowing them to do more damage. There are plenty of level 6-15 players who have been working on developing strength but have no combat experience to maximize that. Every fight will help that. But we need people using Q4 or higher hospitals so that they get more fights! Every fight helps ... but people need to learn how to end with high wellness. These guys who stay at 40-50 wellness weaken us all. There is no excuse for that with the advent of war games. People need to train smart.

Q. Did you saw Star Trek The Future Begins? Which Mr. Spock do you prefer, Nimoy's or Sylar's? Which character did you like the most in the last movie? Did you like the movie? Do you think they will restore the timeline in a future? What do you think about the Nyota/Spock relation?
What did you felt when you saw Vulcan fall? Do you thing that this Kirk is more Kirkie than the original Kirk?

No. Nimoy is my favorite. I've actually met him and he's ... fascinating. I liked Bones the most from the last movie and I saw it twice so far. I don't think they will restore the timeline and after enjoying the latest Battlestar Galactica I don't think that they have to for it to be enjoyable. I didn't like the Nyota/Spock relation ... too contrived. I felt a sad. I think that nobody can be more Kirk-like than Kirk ... though I often call Riker "re-Kirk" (btw, I've met William Shatner too ... he's really that cocky).

Q. Do you plan to raise minimum wage in your last days of presidency?
I have no control over that ... but I don't think that it should ever be raised for arguments and reasons that are far too lengthy for this article. I thought it should be raised until I went to Congress for 4 terms. I don't think that anymore and the reasons are in the eUSA Forums (eusforum.com) if you want to go read them.

Q. Will there be continued war games to further strengthen our military ranks, wellness and productivity in the near future?
Yes, there are some happening right now. We have successfully restarted the USA-Ireland War Games and the Canada-Ireland War Games today with Britain on the right side of the equation now. We will be running them 3 times a week in some combination or another.

Q. Mr. President, now that the Romanian army has decided not to fight and has left the other ATLANTIS countries to fend for themselves do you think Romania has any legitimacy left as an ally - and one for whom you have sacrificed much gold and effort?
Romania will remain our ally.

Q. do you think that star trek stinks? Star Wars is better, no?
I like them both for very different reasons.

Q. The decicion taken by Romania means that USA would take de leading role in ATLANTIS?
Not necessarily.

Q. Political disdain has been a problem with any politician. When someone complains about a specific problem (regarding you), do you blow it off and blacklist said person, or do you allow them their freedom of speech and counter-argue?
I don't have to put up with crap from a shit stirrer if that's what you're asking. Just because someone wants to say something stupid doesn't mean that I have any obligation to take them seriously or treat their argument. That is another difference between RL and here. We serve for one month terms and aren't paid for all the crap we have to put up with as Presidents. Yes, I like the job but that doesn't mean I have to be someone's punching bag. I'm not sure how I've stifled anyone's freedom of speech as President. Just because I might shut someone down by stepping on them that doesn't mean that I've infringed on their speech. These articles are a great example of that. If I wasn't interested in free speech I would never write a single article where I can't control the content of the comments. Think about it. Machiavelli said "The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous."

Q. Do you believe that cake or pie is better? If you answered cake, how do you like your cake to be? If pie, what flavor do you prefer your pie to be? Also, why do you believe a Q&A is truly necessary if you could just do an article on the military?
Pie ... strawberry pie. A Q&A is something that people seemed to want ... and it has received an overwhelming response. I have little to lose at this point so why not?

Q. When going on any offensive hasn't it always been when on the offense at least a 2-1 margin is needed? Did you actually think peace was gonna sit & watch?
I've addressed this already. We are hemmed in on every side by nations with multiple MPPs. We have no option for breaking out without having a multi-national effort. Judging by your birthday you are clearly not involved in any of the multi-national war planning efforts either in the Military Forums or on the ATLANTIS Forums. So I have to assume that you proceed with either incomplete information or you are basing your assumptions on RL strategies ... which don't always work here.

Q. Yeah we had a "warchest" but it was by no means a winning warchest. Do we even have anyone comparing nations gold counts/population/strength per population etc. If you guys did your homework we wouldn't be "broke".
We had the biggest warchest that any other President has ever had because no other President has budgeted and saved like I did. Again, you must not be fully aware of the international situation and just the amount of fighting that was going on. No, I would never do a single battle against 10 foes ... but 10 foes who were fighting in about 6-10 other fights ... 3 of which were major ... I'll take those odds and that was the advice of my military. I would do it again given those odds. You must not have a good idea of just how much gold was spent to repel our attack on FER. I guarantee you that tey spent a lot more gold than we did to repulse that attack. Based upon my experience I would say that they outspent us 2-4 to 1 or greater.

Q. Do you feel that the people of eUSA have supported you in your term as president?
Yes. For every hater who very publicly trolls my articles or tries to bring me down I get 2-3 other messages from random supporters. I draw my support from the fact that my other supporters are usually truly random (though I have a core of return commenters and PMers) where my haters are usually the same people ... usually involved in a certain political party or from PEACE. Then there was the 60% vote that I received in the last election. I think that those things have given me the support that I need. War is very expensive.

Q. Do you think that we should even war after our loss in FER? What is the hardest thing about being the president (besides the media)
Yes, we should war again ... but not for a long time when the time is right. I think that this proves that we need to have some other way of getting outside our borders. The hardest thing is keeping up with the flow of information. There are 4 different forums that I'm expected to check as well as IRC and PMs from those forums and in-game. I have time to check 1 of those forums daily while checking in on the others on an occasional basis and I rarely have time to do IRC as that just sucks all my time and tends to be unproductive unless we are meeting for a specific reason. So time ... time is the issue and management of the ton of data that flows in this game at all of its respective levels. Machiavelli said "There are three kinds of intelligence: one kind understands things for itself, the other appreciates what others can understand, the third understands neither for itself nor through others. This first kind is excellent, the second good, and the third kind useless."

Q. As a tax paying citizen I would like to know why our countries money was used to invade FER?
Because a joint committee of Congress, the Military Chiefs, and the Executive Branch had decided that it was a sound plan and agreed to fund and orchestrate the operation. That would make it a joint operation between the Executive and Legislative branches with the advice and direction of the Military. This is why these things exist. While I realize you are trying to call me out it was a plan that was in the works long before I became President ... I played a role in further implementing it but Kyle321n was the original architect of the plan (though others, such as Huskerguy77, also came up with similar plans). I bear my responsibility for executing the plan of course.

Q. Do u believe that we will be attacked by another country during your presidency??
Yes. Recent intelligence does suggest that may be coming. I don't think it will be successful past one state and that we will quickly beat the attack back.

Q. Do you Believe in War? Do you think the Goverment is Corrupt at all? What do you think of eUSA's military? How will you help the new members coming from the recent boom in eUSA's Population? What would you rate yourself as a President on a Scale 1 to 100?
Yes ... I do I do. Government always carries with it a level of corruption but I'm not sure what this question is really asking. I believe that the eUSA military has come a long way and still has a lot of room for improvement ... and that it will improve ... they are a very dedicated force of men and women and I greatly admire them. We have programs for those new folk. I'm not qualified to rate myself.

Q. What is your plan of action concerning the recent attacks by Ireland on Rhode Island and Newfoundland?
I plan to give Ireland more gold to do it again, and again, and again. Those are our war games friend. 😉

Q. What are your opinions regarding US PTO's? Do you feel that they should be used purely defensively, to protect fledgling states in danger of PEACE takeover, or do you think there's ever a role for offensive PTO's of PEACE nations?
PTOs are a new factor in the game ... sort of like when tanking first developed. While the idea of orchestrating a Political Takeover is a repugnant act it is far cheaper than fighting wars like the very expensive war that was fought in eRep last week. I would love to know the total amount of gold spent in all those battles. While I would prefer a world without PTOs they are a reality of the game and we can't ignore them or refrain from using them where appropriate if we are going to remain competitive. As Machiavelli said "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage."

Q. I just recently joined the National Guard less than a week ago, and already I've had two changes to the superiors directly above me. It gives a feeling of a really disorganized military and I just wondered if there was anything in the works to actually get that worked out so that it works the best for not only the soldiers but also the country at large?
People play this game for fun ... not as a RL career. Keeping officers engaged and active is difficult so they often have to be removed which means others are promoted. Before becoming the POTUS and Commander-in-Chief I had made it up to Major within the ranks of the Army and I commanded a Platoon as a Lieutenant for a long time where I got a lot of valuable experience. Please have patience as the National Guard is a very well run organization.

Q. Do you feel like you spent too long picking out a virtual dog?
Yes. So I pick bayne420.

Q. Would it have been a better strategy (in hind sight of course) to send out our forces to help a romanian battle?
Probably. Of course, the same forces that beat us back in FER would still have been present in those other battles and the outcome may have been the same but worse because our citizens do not spend as freely or move around as much as the citizens of PEACE do.

That completes the questions for now. I'll check back later to see if more were submitted. But when the weekend ends my time becomes at a premium again. Sorry folks. Thank you for some great questions.