The Economist ~ Open Government
Spite313
Dear friends,
One of the principles I’ve always held to is that government should be open and accessible. I don’t really believe in hiding information or keeping closed council, unless of course it is military plans or something similar and there is an important advantage to doing so.
This month the government has mostly been James soldiering on alone with very little help. I am not James, and that is not my idea of fun. To manage the eUK we need input and support from the whole eUK community.
The government should not just be the same players recycled through every month. That just causes people to burn out, when a game becomes a job and people stop logging in or enjoying themselves. So we need new blood.
With that in mind the focus this month will be on bringing new players into government in junior roles, training them and giving them experience. The aim of this is that future Presidents will have a wider pool of people to pick from when they form their cabinets, to avoid burning out our best. Hopefully some of those new players will one day be President themselves.
James introduced “New Player Fridays” (NPF) during his CP run and it has been a proven hit when it comes to retention. More players log in on Friday than any other day. Week-on-week more players have taken part and claimed rewards. The most significant fact is that we have had more discord-active new players in the last 3 months than we managed from the whole of 2017. In fact, the number of new players born in 2017 and alive today can be counted on your fingers.
Of course we will be doing our best to keep NPF running if I am elected. However the tasks in NPF were mainly about explaining the most basic aspects of the game- posting in feeds, writing an article, fighting, working, training. The next step of this is to open new players up to the community, and to the more complex work that comes with it. In other words, the government itself.
With this in mind we will be reopening three ministries, and staffing them primarily with new players. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA). The Ministers (experienced players) will lead a small team of new players in a series of tasks, and the new players will be financed and supported (by me) to complete these tasks. In other words, instead of being paid 250 currency for making X kills, they will be paid for completing ministerial tasks of use to the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be reopening the Ambassador Program this month. Ambassadorial tasks are mainly focused on promoting our relations with other countries around the world. To be clear, you will not be negotiating treaties or anything like that. You will be publishing articles (about the UK, and about your assigned country), hanging out in their chat channels, and generally giving them a good impression of how wonderful we are.
The Ministry of Defence will be hiring apprentices, who can hopefully learn from the Minister the mechanics of warfare tactics and strategy in eRepublik. They will be given certain tasks to do that will help them grow and develop, and also help the Minister with any tasks that they give them.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will be primarily tasked with the task of educating, entertaining and informing our player base. This means publishing and republishing guides, running government-approved games and lotteries, and updating the population with the latest news and events. This is also where the New Player Friday program naturally lies. During my term the MoHA will hopefully provide the main conduit through which news reaches the country.
I am fully aware that MoFA is the most glamorous of the three, but generally if you want to be President one day (and you should want to be) then you need an understanding of all three. The MoHA is particularly useful for gaining name recognition and support, vital for a CP run. MoD work is also important if you’re going to be CP. To reflect this importance, the MoHA will offer the biggest financial incentives, the MoD the second biggest, and MoFA the smallest. This also reflects the work involved. To be clear, this will be paid for by me for this month.
If you’re interested in any government role, as a Minister or as a new player helping in one of the above programs, please sent me a PM or find me on the eUK discord and message me there.
Iain
Thank you’s
Thank you to everyone who endorsed the last article, and for all the messages of support. I appreciate not everyone agrees with me, or supports my plans, but try and keep the comments fair and clean please.
Comments
n0s3 💕
oh for the love of god
I was having breakfast
;~;
excuses
All this will be great if it were true,... but as in real life, 'TRANSPARENCY' is another word for "WE are still in charge of everything with our own beloved hierarchies, BUT,... we will let you PEEK at IRRELEVANT stuff, ... so we SEEM to be VERY democratic"
v+s
We have a decently sized group of newer players who would benefit from this, I hope they'll apply and take advantage of a great opportunity.
Wow, this came to the point that I would actually rather have jamesw as CP, than this guy...
Kravenn for CP then?
That would definitely save the eUK!
New players yeah!
u got a problem with us boiii?
No! I think new players are important and should get some of us oldies out of the way.
"I don’t really believe in hiding information or keeping closed council, unless of course ... there is an important advantage to doing so."
Judging from your past history, there is always an important advantage.
My guess is that you'll work behind closed doors, as always.
Hi Sexegenarian. I have always been open when I was President. I have always shared information through regular articles, messages and shouts. Please don't slander me without any sort of evidence to back your position up. It is childish.
Sorry but that's not the way I remember things were. Before I'm accused of failing memory due to advanced age, I've had a recent test to prove my memory is OK, can you say the same?
I appreciate your recollection of events is different to mine. Unless you can present some evidence to suggest that there was some information I should have communicated, but didn't, then your comment is just name calling.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
I can't remember the last time I had my memory tested...
My services are yours for the month. Just tell me what you want me to do 😉
[Insert improbable sexual activity here]
Voted
Thank you for letting us know o7
If anyone needs help then I am always available, provided I understand what it is I am supposed to do then I have always been ready to help.
v + c
Sounds great. A really valuable opportunity for new players to sink their teeth into government.
Sinking their teeth in? Won't that get them arrested?
Some people like the bite!
Awesome ideas.
V+S'd
oh god not a MoHA comeback
V+agregado+suscrito
v+s o7
I would love to help in anyway that I can.
Would have been great to see a link to the NHS here too...
>"One of the principles I’ve always held to is that government should be open and accessible. I don’t really believe in hiding information or keeping closed council"
Reported for obvious trolling.
>Closed group forums
>Closed IRC
>Many more etcs....
voted, great article, well done
Are pensions paid to "old players" in eUk?
Yes, after 35 years of eNICs
Looks like a good plan - supported.
O7
tbh this program makes me think you are still stucked in 2008
o7
I you need help with mofa, ambassies and that stuff perhaps I can help