role play vs. game play (the game within a game)
This is an article that I've been having a hard time writing. Not that I'm not full of opinions but this is just a difficult one to put all together. I've been talking about these things for weeks and months though and that is that I feel that eAmericans are playing a different game than the rest of the world. When I say that the eUSA is a game within a game what I mean is that so many eAmericans are not interested in the rules of game play and are more interested in role playing.
I was a victim of this too when I first started eRep. I joined up and started writing my paper about a month before V1 (when you didn't have to pay for a paper). I was cautious not to call eRep a game in my articles in case someone would be offended that I broke the illusion that we were building a better government. I can also distinctly remember getting into political discussions with people and spouting RL political ideas. Then I got elected to Congress in the first state elections and I swear one of the first things I did was to inquire about raising the minimum wage which is such a cliche of noob Congress members. I'm glad that those old Forums don't still show what a noob I was back then.
In those next months I learned a lot about how the game works and I heard the Beta Giants talking about RL politics and how they have no bearing here and it took me a while to start to get that. They told me that personally as well as in the old Forums when advising Congress yet it was still difficult to separate the role playing for so many, myself included. While I wasn't one of the Congressmen asking for a Q5 hospital for my state because "my constituents deserved it" I did become the Party President of the USWP and played that role for the betterment of my party during my service. That service eventually led me to become the eUSA President and then the game changed. Serving as the POTUS has caused me to become a pragmatist ... and to give up role playing.
The fundamental problem with the eUSA is that at least half of eAmericans play this game solely on the level of the eUSA and never pay any attention to the larger picture. These are the ones who delve into party politics, who pretend they are famous leaders like John F. Kennedy, or who pretend they are a girl or something else. I've met plenty of players who tell me that they are a Real Life (RL) liberal playing as a hardcore conservative, or a dove playing as a warhawk, or a nationalist playing as an imperialist. Many eAmericans like to play a role and that is their primary enjoyment of the game. These are the people who put us at risk of losing the game for the sake of our game-within-a-game.
The eUSA really is a game-within-a-game. There are so many things to pursue in our large and rich e-culture. Party politics draw some, military matters draw others, while the pursuit of fun or even trolling make others happy. These players often fail to note the larger aspects of the game and how our style of play places us at risk from the rest of the world, particularly the larger and more organized nations, who are playing the game on the basis of game mechanics.
The game mechanics are all of those things that the role players hate to hear about. They are the reasons we will never raise the minimum wage, will never put a pair of Q5 DS and Hospitals in every state, and will never manage to have our own high iron resource. The game mechanics are what govern what Indo and Romania do on a daily basis and why their actions seem so mysterious to us. I learned these things first hand when I became eUSA President and have been learning them on a near daily basis over the last 70+ days.
The game mechanics style of playing is very distasteful to the role players. The role players like to pride themselves on moral stances, on points of pride, and on what they perceive as fairness. However, the big players in this game are looking at the "cold equations" of the game mechanics. You can do this, this, and this and they are all fair game because the game allows them (even some things that seem shady like PTOs). The eUSA refusal to engage in such things places us at more and more of a disadvantage every day. We barely held off the PTO attempt of Spain last election and were unable to help South Africa from falling (and they fell hard and are now off the map). PTOs are nasty things, take over a congress and you can impeach the President repeatedly till you get your man in there who can surrender one territory after another till the nation is gone ... or just bleed the nation dry if you can't get the President.
It would have taken only 227 votes to PTO the eUSA Congress last election. Looking at the bottom 25 states it would have taken between 3 and 13 votes to win each one while the top 5 states commanded 149 of the 549 votes in the top half of the states. So that is 776 of the 3185 votes cast for 184 candidates. How much better use could those extra 2409 votes have been put? If we were attacked with a PTO would those 2409 votes for some marginal or unqualified candidates have been our downfall? Could some of those votes have helped to prevent South Africa from falling or have given Romania a few more seats in their PTO of Indonesia giving them a majority? I say yes, but the eUSA's unwillingness to embrace non-traditional concepts of game play will result in our being disadvantaged as the other nations who see them as simple "game mechanics" learn how to organize and use them against us. Sometimes it isn't even unwillingness as much as it is a lack of understanding of how the larger game is played.
There were 2843 votes cast in the last eUSA Presidential elections for 5 candidates - 3 of which had no business being on that ballot for having no realistic chance of winning the election. In the eUSA we like to root for the underdog. We like our egalitarian ideas of fair play and that any person can run for office and win the political lottery. So many of the Congressional elections are decided by moving a few votes but the Presidential elections tend to be a sheer waste in votes. I won the last election with 1695 of those 2843 votes - 1150 more than I needed to win and that was even after asking people to go vote in other elections to stave off PTO attempts.
We are a reluctant society when it comes to change. Yet, if we don't start to embrace new ways of playing eRepublik then our time of downfall is coming. The Admins have talked about implementing a citizenship module that they say will prevent these PTO attempts, yet I have my doubts. The other players in this game have shown a propensity for unwavering dedication to a singular task. Not valuing individuality as much as we do they don't mind making sacrifices for the greater good ... something that we tend not to do. That's not an admonition ... just an observation.
If we were as organized as these other nations we would organize an informal Primary system (as many of the top 5 parties do for the current races) and we would consolidate all of those winners into candidacy under the largest party in the eUSA to maximize the value of our votes. We could then take those other votes and dedicate them elsewhere. The military routinely does this to fend off PTO attempts in parts of the world that matter to us. If only we could do it on a wider scale.
There are many other aspects of this game that we could dominate if we just knew how to use our huge population advantage. Alas, so many people are so focused on the micro-world of eRep (eUSA politics and interests) that they miss the macro-world of eRep (the stuff that will eventually result in our loss of the game). If we lose all the high-iron regions (as we almost did last election) then the game is done. If we lose our top allies to PTOs then the game is done. If we can't find some way to organize our citizens militarily we will be left suck within our borders that are fortified on all sides by multiple MPPs and we will eventually be choked off.
This is the problem ... the solution is a much more difficult matter. The solution will require us to re-evaluate how we apply real world principles to this game. If we are to truly "win" eRepublik we can't do it on our terms. Our terms of fairness, morality, individuality, etc. are fine principles to live by in the Real World. However, in terms of the game they are major hindrances and will keep us down and will result in our downfall.
Many people have disagreed with me in how the Sweden - Germany War has been handled. To me, this is an example of putting our hearts into an effort that will only lead to weakening our ability to defend ourselves. It wasn't an easy choice to go against Germany but after talking to my closest advisers and those who understand these game mechanics even better than I do I made the decision that I had to do what I could to pull us out of Germany. This has been an unpopular decision as many want to help the underdog or are tied up in RL ideas of Germany as an ally. In game terms Germany gives us little compared to other alliances or places where we could invest our resources. Yet our nation remains torn over an emotional outpouring for Germany that ignores the game mechanics that make supporting them a bad idea. That decision falls on my shoulders and I've done my best to work with it and mitigate it and I have to take responsibility for it. This is part of being the President that is very unpleasant. I could have gone with popular sentiment, and it was very tempting, but that would have left us a weaker nation. I have no regrets.
So here we are ... at an impasse. The role players and the game players are at odds. Their goals are mutually exclusive in many ways. One path follows the "American Way" and that's a hard path to resist. The other path puts us in a position to be a major player in the game of eRep. We really can't have both because diving deep into our game-within-a-game will result in the eUSA not seeing the end until it is too late. We will either fall to a massive invasion or we will fall to a political takeover ... or even something that we haven't realized yet. These last 3 months have seen us grow tremendously as a nation through many measures that have been instituted under my watch: our budget, the boom to our economy and military training through war games, our status on the international stage because of those war games and other programs, and our relations with other nations as my cabinet has been focused on building bridges with the various nations of eRep and keeping our options open for a future alliance in a post-ATLANTIS world.
On that last point. ATLANTIS failed for many reasons. One of those reasons was a bit of rampant idealism. The nations of ATLANTIS were formed around the idea of opposing PEACE but on an ideological ground that proved to be fairly ineffective without Romania's muscle to back it up. ATLANTIS was an unwieldy Leviathan that was slow to act and often ineffective when it did so. It was no surprise when it fell ... now we need to learn from those mistakes going forward and we have several good options on the table that we are discussing and trying to plan for feasibility. This next month will determine where we stand as a nation and whether we will fall due to our obsession with role play or whether we will surge ahead by learning how to game play. We are rapidly approaching a crisis point.
scrabman - POTUS
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GREAT ARTICLE! 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
agreed
Couldn't agree more.
Good article - and thank you for choosing to renew your MPP with Czech Republic in these uncertain times!
Any Americans that want to see the 'big picture' close at hand are welcome to come holiday or secondment in Czech Republic!
Franz Kafka
President, Czech Republic
I read it. I liked it. It seemed like one of those articles I loved to read when I was a baby BETA player that said agoo. Then you got to the end, talked about "winning" Erepublik, and that Role Playing is wrong. Well, until the Admins say "This is how you play Erepublik", I will continue to treat it as an online social strategy game. There is definitely more tan one way to play this game, and I just hope that you try to appeal to both sides.
Recommended Reading!
Voted!
By the way
"or who pretend they are a girl"
Lolwut
Very well written... Wow that took long to read!
Thank you Rhane. BTW, you're not the only person who is "pretending they are a girl" who is playing the game ... just one of the more visible ones. Just like there are a lot of people who use JFK in various ways in their e-persona.
Good stuff Scrab.
Great analysis. Voted as usual
That made for a good read.
I think there is nothing wrong with roleplaying the eRep world...As long as you remember this it the eRep world, and not the Real World. Roleplay to your heart's content, but remember: Your "character" here in eRep regards the game mechanics as laws as hard as gravity. To ignore them is not only foolish, it would be out of character.
great article! my sentiments exactly. voted.
OUTSTANDING!! I was considering starting a party called the "WIN THE DAMN GAME" party, but you've very clearly pointed out where we are coming up short as an eNation.
BRAVO!!
Very good article. I recognized this pretty early on in my time here. There's the spirit of the game and the mechanics. It's unfortunately that the mechanics don't adhere to the spirit.
Very informative! One question....if you are a lawyer in RL when/how do you have time to be role-playing here? Voted!
Hey in Sweden we got a commie who first, when I came here pretended to be Dr. Phil, after that he pretended to look like a Swedish actor (not a good looking one either), only God knows what will come next!
tl;dr - Role playing is fun, but don't expect to advance anywhere with the eU.S. ruling clique unless you adopt their method of play.
Now bust out your calculators and spreadsheets and enjoy eRep.
Well said.
A great article. Voted. :)
quite an eye-opener!
There's definitely a middle ground. I wouldn't bother playing here if it was just numbers crunching, and I wouldn't bother if it was just role-playing.
But this 'winning' you speak off?
I couldn't have said it better myself. Not that I EVER can seem to say anything better than you.
An MMOG doesn't have the same flexibility as a smaller traditional tabletop RPG where the world could be made exclusively for a group of 5 adventurers. eSweden is quite good at mixing both in the context of the game. If the game inevitably turns pragmatist... Why not play a hierarchal, pragmatist government with an imperial bent and no IC reason not to further their position in any way possible? I wouldn't want to live with the Genii for example, but they are still far more fascinating than the AE.
Not that the PTO system makes more sense in either context... I'd be happy if my congress had the opportunity to for example close borders or issue nothing but work visas. Where lies the sense in capturing a land through tourism?
Just before I read this artical I read a translated version of an artical from a ePoland embasidor to eRomainia. In this artical it talked about how ePoland shall proceed in the area of alinces. He feels that the western half of ex-ATLANTIS has been very inaffective. One thing he said about the eUS I have to agree with. He said that we are very unorganized when it comes to interacting with forigen countries. I think the main cause of this is ignorace to what the other nations are doing. I believe that if we were to make the information easier to access this information then people will be more inclined to read about it. I believe this could be achieved with a newspaper strictly for activites of forigen nations. Another option I think is to use the bordroom paper more.
Well done scrabman, you've proven yourself an erudite. The bottom line is: If you're not going to take this game seriously LEAVE.
Absolutely Excellent Article! 10 out of 10.
Very well written Scrabman, as always. Great Article.
Voted.
I think role-playing is fine, as long as it does not jeopardize the integrity of game play. Wonderful article, Don Presidente.
Agreed. I was actually planning on writing something about this myself.
Great article Scrab!
I would liken the erepublik situation to a poker game with friends. You can really get into the social aspect, but if you lose sight of the flow of the game, you go home a loser.
Great article. Sadly, this is something that happens in all mmorpgs, eventually. There will always be people out there willing to abuse the system to "win", at the expense of everybody else. For many people, including me, role-playing is the most enjoyable aspect of games like eRepublik. I mean, I'm still buying food, even though it would probably be possible to keep my wellness high just fighting and healing in the hospital. Why do I do this? Because it helps the food manufacturers, and I feel it makes for a slightly more realistic and immersive game. I could play otherwise, and be e-wealthier for it, but then, I'd be playing on somebody else's terms, wouldn't I? I think I'd rather stop playing.
Unfortunately, America's rugged individualism, as President Herbert Hoover put it, will be eAmerica's downfall in this game. I got many PMs asking me why we were dedicating voters to Spain this election rather than beating the USWP. Many were enraged the USWP took 23 seats in Congress. But, you make a good point about having primaries and then just putting the primary winners under one ticket (I assume USWP). That way, we get the best candidates running, we avoid the problem of people voting on party lines (as they do now cause the party is shown first on the ballot), and we only get the voters out there who truly care about elections. I'd be happy to head this primary commission, if you are serious about running it. That way, we give the air force proper time to organize voter forces and defend our allies from PTO. I love this idea, as you of all people know I'm probably the most serious person in this nation about ensuring fairness in elections. Let me know..
-T
I completey agree...but I also think the reality is that a large percentage of eUS citizens will want to role-play and won't like the "ends justify the means" approach necessary to win the game (or at least keep from losing it). I think the big challenge for the government is how to minimize the in-game damage these people inadvertantly cause. I don't think the answer is the "my way or the highway" approach, though (voiced by John Havesham who said "if you're not going to take this game seriously, LEAVE"). This kind of attitude is divisive and ultimately counterproductive. I think the better approach is to emphasize citizen education, and articles like these are an important componenet of that.
I am curious if you can really awaken eUSA. Actually, I hope you can, because that would make the game much more interesting.
Well written and great points.
Agreed and voted.
I think RPing is fine within the confines of eRep economic/military structure. But yes, it is as you say Scrabby, bringing in RL values and methodologies doesn't work in the slightest.
Agreed and Voted.
I used to be a Scrab hater, but you make sense. Lol. Party politics for RP purposes is downright BAD.
Good stuff, Scrab-dude. I agree and am going to join the USAF today.
Excellent thoughts Scrab.
I totally agree. Great article. Everyone who agrees and is able should check out the new eUSAF. I think it is a huge step in the right direction.
One of the absolute best articles I've read in eRep. I hope that everyone takes the time to read it and digest the comments made herein.
Another thing to consider:
By being a country largely focused on RL ideals, we open ourselves up to foreign propaganda. When we, as a country, start to realize this is a game, we really do strengthen ourselves.
excellent article - somebody needs to address these game issues, and I'm glad you put a spotlight on it for everyone to see.
Very well written.
Game mechanics...good. But what about when it comes to domestic policy. The eUSA has some of the lowest wages in eRepublik. We need to restructure our tax system. ALL of the top countries, except for us have a protectionist scheme. We have this ridiculous fealty to free trade. The truth is, the game mechanics seem to like protectionism. Also, our minimum wage is much lower than most enations. In eSpain for example, the minimum wage can buy Q2 food. If we raised our minimum wage, we could get rid of Meals on Wheels and save a lot of money, while people would be able to eat. Oh, you say that would ruin our economy, poppycock! We are basically in a depression. We have massive deflation, and that is never good. I guess what I'm saying is, if we're going to reexamine our foreign policy we should also reexamine our domestic policy on the same terms. It seems to me that those policies are based on a lot of assumptions. Let's REALLY take a look at the rest of the eWorld and take what is best for us, before we become a 3rd world eNation.
Well said and i wholeheartedly agree with what has been pointed out in this rather long wall of text ;)
"Could some of those votes have helped to prevent South Africa from falling or have given Romania a few more seats in their PTO of Indonesia giving them a majority? I say yes, but the eUSA's unwillingness to embrace non-traditional concepts of game play will result in our being disadvantaged as the other nations who see them as simple "game mechanics" learn how to organize and use them against us."
I like how you spin that this is the eUSA's fault. The fact is, you're right, many eAmericans are uninformed when it comes to game mechanics. However, many of those same eAmericans would no doubt be happy to engage in some of the activities you have eluded to if you and the other leaders of this eNation would point them in the right direction. Afterall, that is what leaders are supposed to do...lead. Keeping the nation shrouded under a cloud of secret moves and taking actions with no real explanations doesn't help this eNation's effectiveness either.
Are you making a case for PTOs or just criticizing most of the eAmerican population for holding you to a moral standard?
Scrabman, you are truly a wizard of words...
That was a great speech
you forgot that this is a social game. more than mechanics apply. No, we will not be your puppets. No, we will not make the US a one party state.
Your very best article Scrabman, chock full of WIN!! Lets fix things and get serious about winning.
loft
here here - voted!
It is time to institute a primary system. Then we can have our local politics and still be effective at preventing PTO here and abroad. This takes nothing from the RPers and helps us at the same time. A carefully planned PTO style attack could significantly harm us. Our numbers do not protect us since there are several states with very low population.
too true
From the article above.
"If we were as organized as these other nations we would organize an informal Primary system (as many of the top 5 parties do for the current races) and we would consolidate all of those winners into candidacy under the largest party in the eUSA to maximize the value of our votes. We could then take those other votes and dedicate them elsewhere. The military routinely does this to fend off PTO attempts in parts of the world that matter to us. If only we could do it on a wider scale."
If we form a massive party. We will lose our minds... and a lot of people could quit the game simply because we can't vote for who we want, especially if the huge party leader shows favoritism to 40 players he knows and considers as a friend... This Idea would make the party president stronger then the WHOLE eUSA GOVERNMENT!.. and one poorly elected party president or one bad president nomination or/and a few bad congress nominations from a good party president would crush us before our enemies could.
The ONLY way the countries that engage in PTOs are able to do so is simply because they come from a unitary government in real life. (unitary government = people vote for the House of Representatives and the HoR vote for who gets to go to the Senate, Then the Senate/HoR get to vote who is the president.
They can keep there real life government and have no problem... they can decide to POT a country because they live so close to each other in real life that they are all exposed to the same stuff... so they most likely to agree with each other and therefor have a leg up in eRep.
eUSA MUST NOT CREATE A SUPER PARTY! because our population is sooo spread out that if you where to do something in New York and move to Alabama and do the same thing with out thinking about it the odds are the Alabamians think your either rude, grow, weird, or a barbarian.
We must keep our diverse party structure... to ensure that we don't get even more insanity. So we don't make it harder for ourselves....
Remember America is a one of a kind nation on the face of the plant.
We must do everything the hard way. simply because there is no possible way we can do it any other way.
We must make this country a very commutative country... I'm talk-in each person talks every day or every other day with people in every state and in multiple parties.
That is the only way to do anything on a national scale in America and eAmerica.
PS: I Wish we were Imperialists in this game.
You must remember America hasn't been through the Whole WWI and II experiences... This is a community war game.
Who play war games? People who like to win and strategize. Add in the whole reply above and you get Hard to beat. unless you America + 10,000 points organization and communication.
Excellent article.
Good article :)
Admins new approach :
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-let[..]1/20
Sorry for the inconvenience .
I'm absolutely disgusted by the people who buy into this one-party bullshit. I understand that this is a game, but it is a political game and you're basically jumping up and down in delight by the prospect of being ruled by a dictator.
He's not even trying to trick you into it! He's telling you he wants this to be an autocratic state and you're doing cartwheels about it.
great very presidential.
This article sums up exactly what the eUSA needs to do to win the game. All the people out there who like to believe that nobody can truly win are dead wrong because we can sure as hell lose. Look at eSouth Africa's complete lack of real estate or the fact that many eRomanians are trying to take down eIndonesian from the inside because they finally rolled over to die as a country. I would think eAmericans of all people should be able to band together and start making ourselves stronger instead of squabbling over morals and other such frivolous things.
re fighting some horrible and dangerous enemy that is going to corrupt the world. We are simply getting outplayed by the eIndonesians and company and we will continue to get outplayed until all of the eUSA starts treating this like a game and not some simulated world to push your real life beliefs and morals.
I am by no means calling someones morals and beliefs dumb because in real life they are what we live our lives around, but they need to be set aside here. To use an analogy, would you not hit in football because your mom said its not nice to hit people? Of course not, it's a game and hitting is what you do. So lets treat eRep the same way and start playing the game to win.
I enjoyed every word. Let the games begin!
I don't care if half USA shuns your opinions now, they're gonna remember this article for years bro.
All freedomloveing people of eWorld, please read this appeal letter. I was banned because of my fight against nazzism in eRepublik.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/forum/topic/[..]lik/1
If helped, South Africa can and will be put back on the map. We are not gone - just take a look at the Brazilian media.
excellent article, as always scrabman
This is the best article you've written in your seemingly eternal stint as President. Really, really good stuff.
Brilliant Article!!!
Great article, everyone should read this
Great article, Scrabman. You are a wise man and I am proud to have had the honor of working with you when I was eSA president. I hope eUSA realizes what an excellent prez you are. If eSA had followed your advice, we may have not been so internally divided and may still be around today.
The eSA govt. in exile stands by eUSA and President Scrabman. We need to play this game smarter and only eUSA has the strength and leadership to do it right if we are to defeat PEACE and liberate nations like eSA.
Since this is a player run society, I would say that the player is the one that chooses how to play. Based off of the last revision (http://www.erepublik.com/en/USA/law/6794) I would say that is a missed opportunity. There is so much more important information that could be given. Day1 is a good article, But it doesn't even touch on game mechanics like combat or the importance of hospital quality. That is where I would start if I were trying to solve the noob problem.
Joe
Great article, totally agreed. I've been wavering on you lately, Scrabby... but you've allayed my jitters. Good work!
The game can not be won it can only be lost.
BOOOO
the only way I would even consider backing up this super party idea... if we had 5 huge parties.
one in the north, east, south, west, and center. they could form the jedi councel and make it work. it would make the rural states stronger. It would completly iliminate the party president form being stronger then the president and congress.
and it would hevily promote 2 Q5 Hospitials and Q5 walls in each 5th of the country.... (I Really like that!)
That idea has no flaws.... and doesn't change the natural balance of power.
Truth!
Great Article! Totally agree with you!
thank you scrabman. i have gotten so tired of hearing people whining about the freedom of others, and how wrong it is to conquer another land.
like this is real.
THATS HOW THE GAME WORKS!
i play my character at times, but mostly, im about getting ahead, because thats how to play games. use the rules as well as you can, and get ahead.
our real world is getting terribly soft and sheeplike, for people to bring it even into a game. sheep.
fools even. shouldnt even play games more competitive than solitaire, so they dont hurt anyones feelings.
waa.
i know what it means to sacrifice for gains. i stay mostly broke, so my business partner can grow our enterprises more effectively. i put most of my gold into that.
i buy weapons when its time to fight, and then i fight. what do i get? a little more damage on the enemy. thats all. morality doesnt apply to a simulation at all!
you want to roleplay so hardcore, then go larp in the park, or go pretend youre free in the real world, pretend your morality matters to a real government.
it doesnt work anywhere, and surely wont work in here, fewer options.
you wanna be nice, go volunteer. voted
Really a great article. Thank you Scrab
Hell of an article, and you're 1000% correct.
DOESN'T IT SUCK THAT THIS MESSAGE HAS TO BE REPEATED OVER AND OVER?
AND OVER
AND OVER
A week from now, this will be forgotten and unheard.
New players will just continue to file in, run for congress, talk RL shit, and think only of themselves and America.
Its a shame and frankly it gets old that this kind of message has to constantly repeated. Sad thing is, no matter how much us "old school" people preach it, more often than not its ignored.
This is a GLOBAL game, WE ARE NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT MATTERS, Everyone needs to realize this....only a few will.
One a side note Scrab, peace with Brazil? nice! Iron should be flowing again.
Er, you can`t force people to stop roleplaying. They will continue or just quit. Yes, this is a game but they have the right not to view it as such.
I was gonna talk a bunch about how I agree and stuff and give some of my ideas, but apparently I'm not the only one with said ideas. I'll let what most everyone else who agrees with you be what I have to say about it.
Good job.
very well written article. its something ive thought about but could never quite put into words, but you did an excellent job of it.
Well written and we can only hope newcomers pay attention and heed the information in this article.
@Bob Wolf,
We don't necessarily want them to stop role playing. It would become a cold environment if they did. They just need to be aware that RL america and eUSA are not remotely the same politically. Role players here should be no different from WOW role players, we have the same quests and same rules they just talk nicer.
ARJAY: Nov that the USVVP sycophants, spindoctors, and zombies have had their say in praying to their demigod, allov me to express my fear and loathing of potential one-party rule in the eUSA.
SCRABMAN: It wasn't an easy choice to go against Germany but after talking to my closest advisers and those who understand these game mechanics even better than I do I made the decision that I had to do what I could to pull us out of Germany.
ARJAY: But Scrabman personally fought on the side of Germnay, and the eUS signed a treaty vith eSveden. Sounds like he played both sides on this one. Vhat the President calls "these game mechanics", I call shamelessness.
I am for Kyl321n but I would have to say that Scrabman can be very fluent in his articals..... for that he gets props
It's a good thing I only play myself.
Good article, scrabby.
No morals or principles? No treating a RP game as a RP game? wtf!?
I think a lot of eUSA, and all of eRepublik for that matter, citizens think they cant do anything to change the world. They are all wrong. The eRepublik main page even says you change the world. If your a worker you help make products that get other citizens farther, and thus we support eachother, and support the entire world. I think winning the game isnt based on takeing over the intire world. I think winning the game is based on every nation peacefully helping eachother and the eRepublik admins are helping us realize, we have to work together to win in not only this world but in the Real World also. Thank you for reading my opinions on winning this game and winning at RL peace.
A lot of truth spoken here.
Scrab,
Machiavellianism is fair enough.
But if you fail to take into account that Germany has 55m internet users, while sweden has 7m....its simply a bad, short term decision by a mediocre machiavellist.
I Role Play as a Man 50 feet tall with a mustache that hangs down to my feet and I carry an axe that weighs 7 tons and I smash it upon my foes.
Oh wait, this isn't LOTR.
Nice article. I don't know much about the politics at all in this game yet...but once i get some gold in my pocket i may get to see more of this big picture.
i agree with everything except with the germany war. Even though they can offer us very little, you said yourself that "f we can't find some way to organize our citizens militarily we will be left suck within our borders that are fortified on all sides by multiple MPPs and we will eventually be choked off." so if we help in germany, that's a DAILY battle so everyone can get easy wellness, and improve the military. just think of that,
I agree scrabman, fun vs mechanics is a problem you see in all MMOs. The Guilds, or in this case countries, that focus on mastering game mechanics are the ones who win. There are a lot of roles that are not as fun as others in a traditional MMO, but people do them for the good of the guild. We need more people in the eUS to to the dirty, difficult, and technical jobs for the good of the Country.
I see what you mean by roleplaying and how it interferes with the goal of the game, but I guess what is being suggested is that the "correct" view is that which is game mechanics based and should be focused on WIN! But if everyone conformed into that single view: having our own point of views, being able to have discussions, and just general diversity would cease all together and not only would it weaken us, but it would no longer be fun.
Excellent article.
"The role players like to pride themselves on moral stances, on points of pride, and on what they perceive as fairness. However, the big players in this game are looking at the "cold equations" of the game mechanics."
On this note, I'd like to mention that the roleplayer mentality VS game player mindset is not always at odds. I like to think of myself as a mixture of both... But, maybe that's because I don't attempt to be good and pure, but willing to do what it takes to take down the enemies of this country. A roleplayer needn't always be someone with perfect moral values. I like to think of it as patriotism, whereas others would let the eUSA become weak to continue upholding their lofty principles. In that example, you can be both roleplayer, and a game player who recognizes that certain things could be done to better ensure the successful future of your nation.
Nothing but fear tactics to ensure the continuance of one party rule. If there was a real PTO attempt, the true eUSA political parties would obviously alert their constituants and take necessary action. If there was a massive invasion, it would be the Role Players who would save eUSA. Why? Because it is their beloved country. Who would abandon their countrymen in such a disaster? If this wasn't a Role Playing game, I'd leave instantly. What use is a sterile game mechanic collective if it has a population one tenth the size it could have been with a role play population?
WOW that was some writing. I don't understand why the mechanics of the game and role-playing don't work hand in hand. I mean most of the games if not all that people play are both mechanic and role-playing together.
I mean you creat a character and you do your best to win the game anyway you can, as long as it is within the rules. Or if your with a clan, group or nation then you work together as one to be the best defencively and offencively.
If the creator's of the game don't have something to block PTO then maybe that is supposed to be a part of the game. When I read about the game, I understood that it is like the real world to where your country works towards dominating the rest of the eWorld.
By changing history which means any country or nation can be the super power. You have alliance's and you have enermy's and each country or nation is fighting towards the same goal ( to be #1 ). Your going to have your bad guys and good guys it's just who come's out on top.
Maybe I mistook the idea of the game when I first joined. I am new ( 2 days old )lol and, you guys and gals have been here alot longer and know more about it. But whether I win or lose, dominate or get dominated I'm just going to have fun and do the best I can to help my fellow country men.
This might not mean nothing or seem out focused on the main ideal but, it is my opinion and thats one great thing about the game. You can throw in your two cents when you want. Peace and Love and kick the enermy's stinky butt.
beautiful, would like to discuss in game mechanics more lol, id like to get more in depth:) way to go scrabman:)
The Balls of eUS have dropped!! Hoorah!! Now can we kick some ass since the whiners should be standing slack jawed and in shock and awe over that kick-ass article?
Everyone likes the idea that we can win...and we can! But we have to define what "win" means...If win means we disregard all of the nations in the world and attempt to conquer them all, there is no doubt that we'll lose against people motivated by their own sense of win to utilize every one of the game mechanics to beat us to death. If win involves building relations with other countries so that our alliance can win together - then it can be done. This is a team sport - we need to think globally. "Star" players who try to win any sport by themselves without learning how to play as a team end up losing for the team.
BTW - Role playing has it's place too, just make sure you're also a student of the game mechanics. I like pretending I'm a congressman, an author, a lieutenant in the National Guard and the White House Press Secretary :D.
Superb article! One of the best I've read. Kept me hooked until the very end.
I Agree 90% because you should help Germany from a foreign realations point of view.
Very informative, even from an outsiders point of view.
Could not disagree more with your philosophy. For a partial reply, read the second half of this article: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/time[..]/1/20
Nice one Scrabman!
It doesn't take a degree in "rocket science" to know that Sweden as a nation is doing both role playing and game playing. I tried to describe som of it in my articles.
This is Sweden (http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/this-is-sweden-us-edition--753885/1/20)
This is still Sweden (http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/this-is-still-sweden-814116/1/20)
It's also important to know if you opponents are role playing or game playing. We offered Germany a "game play-solution" that was turned down by their role playing. These type of events is what decides the future for all nations and alliances.
Quite frankly Atlantis had different views in many issues and it was always regarding doing the correct or humanitary move, guess which moves we made when we lost battles against Peace GC?
Very good article
Seems like a well formed argument. If we need to drop a little idealism to gain some economic / political power we should do it.
I, as a newb here find it very hard to gain an understanding for accomplishing what is being asked of us in this article due to the lack of on-boarding/tutoring for new players. I've read the forums and faqs and understand the game concepts but not optimal game mechanics. I would love to maximize my usefulness to the eUSA cause, but have no direction as to how to accomplish this. Any ideas on objectives that citizens should strive to and a game plan on how to do this?
Agreed. We need to forget morals, and do things we would never do in RL. Taking over the world isn't such a bad thing when it's a game!
great article.
very good scrabman
I may not have agreed with you in the past, but your actions over the past few months have made you the best president we've had to date.
It's good to have a leader who has a grasp on the situation.
Nice article. As I am a beginner in The New World, this was informative and helpful. Thank you...
"Many people have disagreed with me in how the Sweden - Germany War has been handled."
I think it was more that you told the military to not fight and you did that made people mad.
Makes sense.
Excellent article as always, Scrabman.
please vote in indonesia: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/usa-[..]/1/20
I enjoy how people are STILL upset that scrab fought in the sweden, german wargames.
Just because the military couldn't fight that doesn't mean no one else could.
Scrab wants XP just as bad as everybody else.
Oh, and he's not trying to be a dictator, he's only trying to keep the US from falling on it's face so hard it'll never recover.
Taking this at face value every treasurer in the game should immediately loot their national treasure in an attempt to 'get ahead' in the game. Think of all the XP and damage points lots of gold can buy.
Morality is what holds the game together at the national level. Yet on an international level scrabman suggests to make morality disappear. On a national level everyone is supposed to roleplay. Yet on an international level we're supposed to gameplay. It is impossible to impose such boundaries on human behavior.
Another issue is that this game isn't about winning. Who ever implanted this twisted idea into scrabman's head? It's about having fun and making friends (some enemies, too). That's what it's about.
Go play chess or Risk if you want to win.
This is one of the least intellectually impressive articles I have read in this game, and I am shocked how it could get such near unanimous approval. Sorry, but this casts a very bad light on the eUSA.
Having just joined, I know so little... even the wiki pages all seem blank. But the eWorld's history unfolds through things such as these.
Lets not forget that Sweden destroyed ATLANTIS more than any inherent fault. PEACE works, theres no reason ATLANTIS couldnt have worked, except for that we let the Swedish join in.
What would you do if Poland attacked the Czech Republic.
I never read the whole acticle, but what i read was great,
Tortea
A nice read. I agree.
awesome article..for someone new like me. :)