the threat of SCRABMAN?

Day 569, 12:26 • Published in USA USA • by fingerguns

Read Scrabman's article here.

"It is very unfortunate that so many players have left the USA to become anarchists abroad (or have stayed here and continued to tear at the government from within). GLaDOS is a brilliant tactician and he is an American in RL. In fact, I admire him for how well he does what he does even though it is so very destructive and divisive. Just remember that PEACE and many other such players play the game for different reasons than many Americans do (again it's the role play vs. game play aspect). While most of us play this game to build something better than what we have in RL there are many others who just want to destroy, mock, and disrupt. Don't let them win their game at the expense of ours."

Destroy:
Any country with high iron.

Scrabman has made it clear that he isn't messing around. eRep is srs bsns and he is King of eAmerica. The virtual power he wields is not only erection engorging, but a very serious responsibility. He speaks about a game within a game that only the most powerful and important people in the eWorld can participate in. This secret, smoky, back room world of political and military takeovers where a handful of the most elite thinkers of our age strategize world domination is beyond your comprehension and certainly your grasp. You cannot know about it...for your own good. The end will justify whatever means they deem necessary.

You know, that sounds an awful lot like a role playing game. I guess you could call it 'a role playing game within a role playing game' but considering it is all eRepublik, it really is the same game. Many claim to have divined the great purpose of eRep and what it means to 'win' through analyzing game mechanics. I think these people need to take a closer look. The game is designed to never end and cost you a lot of money. You know why? Because it's a fucking website. It's a business. In the world of the internet, there are 2 kinds of currency- money and attention. Attention is actually more valuable, but money keeps the lights on.

We participate in eRepublik with the knowledge that it won't end unless we want it to. We can leave the game at any time and as far as we are concerned, it doesn't exist anymore. But until we choose to leave, this world is here and it is active and changing. It is influenced by your participation and the participation of others. In this game, the only power is in numbers. You don't just want friends, you want supporters. You want to find people who agree with you and will organize with you. Any power Scrabman thinks he has is not because he's some kind of political super genius. He's powerful because he is a member of the USWP and has been in this game long enough to know a lot of people in a lot of places.

I look at the map of the eWorld and I can see, just as everyone else does, that basically every high iron region is owned by a PEACE nation. I understand how this is threatening because those occupying nations could perhaps wish to expand further and monopolize other resources. I understand that PEACE may want all of the high iron regions so they can invade, not so they can defend. I understand how a high iron region would be beneficial to the defense of the United States. We have to decide if we think it is worth it. Is the only way to successfully defend ourselves through obtaining a high iron region? Are we willing to invade another country and take the region from them? What of the people who lived there? Personally, I find it shameful that Scrabman chooses to play this game without regard for morals and ethics. He believes them to be a hinderance to smart game playing and good politics. But all of these questions about how the game should be played involve moral and ethical elements, to some degree. Completely ignoring those questions doesn't work toward the end of 'making things better than they are in real life.' It reflects one of the biggest problems our real life country has been dealing with. Just because you CAN do something, does it mean you should?

Mock:
All political opponents.

"The most likely target of the PEACE Party PTO is The Federalist Party, the number 6 ranked Political Party in the USA (and clearly one of the most partisan). This comes to me from my top advisers who have seen their numbers start to climb in the last several days due to PEACE members joining. This move makes sense on several levels because The Federalists, much like PEACE, have trolled me and my Administration since day one and are, realistically, anarchists masquerading as conservatives. While the idea of one group of butthole hater trolls taking over another group of butthole hater trolls is amusing to me ... we have to respond to this threat when it comes time for Party President Elections on Monday."

Scrabman and his political buddies are normally pretty passive-aggressive, but every now and then Scrab gets pretty full of himself and lashes out. They've been implying that The Federalists are working for PEACE or are at the very least PEACE sympathizers because we disagree with Scrabman's authoritarian agenda. He's blatantly said that his goal was to marginalize and mock us into irrelevance, but the opposite happened. His attacks on the Federalists were so transparent, Scrabman was actually a contender for Fed Recruiter of the Month. This boost in membership served us well in time for Congressional elections and has really revitalized our party. These aren't people who support PEACE. These are people who oppose Scrabman. I know his ego won't allow him to see a difference, but surely you can.

This incredibly suspicious climb in membership over the last few days is a whopping 10 people. The AAP has grown by nearly 100 members in the last couple of days, but I'm sure that's perfectly legit. The Federalists picking up 10 members needs a full scale investigation. By the way, we are down 6 butthole hater trolls right now as some of our members travel overseas on behalf of the eUS military. How unamerican of us.

Disrupt:
Democracy.

"The simplest thing to do would be to ask all of the USA Federalists to leave the party. However, I can assure you that they won't as they will either think it's a leftist trick or they would simply want to see the nation hurt so they can point fingers and say "see ... we told you scrabman is evil"."

Considering there is exactly ZERO evidence to support the claim that PEACE has infiltrated the Federalist Party, this request is completely ridiculous. Even if his claims were true, having the eAmericans abandon the Federalists to allow a PEACE takeover is a pretty shitty strategy, in my opinion.

If you want to talk about most likely party to be infiltrated by PEACE (an extremely divisive conversation the President really shouldn't have started), why not look to the biggest party in the eWorld? If the goal is to get Congressional seats, the USWP is hands down the best choice. They run people in every state and most Top 5 party members vote along party lines. If someone is moving over here to get a Congressional seat, they don't need to bring many people with them to win. The USWP provides most of the support without even trying.

If the goal is to overtake a political party, why go with #6? Why not something smaller? And why would the Federalists be selected for takeover when we have one of the most active populations? We have fewer 'zombie' members and two-clickers than most other parties, relative to size. Considering Gaius already announced BillBrasky as his successor and the majority of our active party is on board with that decision, PEACE would have to move A LOT of people to take over the Federalists. It wouldn't be worth it.

But this isn't a conversation we should really be having. We're arguing about symptoms and ignoring the larger problem. Scrabman's campaign for ethics-free game playing only supports the practice of takeovers. He's worked hard to make it socially acceptable and somewhat commonplace to move to another country and participate in their elections. In an attempt to rally support for his personal agenda, he's validated every shady PEACE tactic that has made this game unpleasant for many people. There is no such thing as true democracy in this game if we move to other countries to vote and they vote here. This practice should not have the eUS seal of approval.

And yet, it does. Not only are we supportive of moving to other countries to influence their elections (while obviously leaving ourselves vulnerable to the same thing), the USWP and others are trying to disenfranchise opposing parties to consolidate power. I'm all for advancing the eUS in this game. This is my country and I actually do want it to be better than it is in real life. From where I'm sitting, however, that means actually being better and doing better. The real world has no shortage of unethical narcissists that wish to take over the world, and an authoritarian, imperialistic government is NOT better than what we have in real life.

Don't let Scrabman win his game at the expense of ours.