Edition 35: End of the Fortress Era

Day 962, 00:07 • Published in USA USA • by Devan Kronos


(WARNING: This article is considered EPIC. It is massively long and I could not prevent it.)

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Some of the Images have Easter Eggs instead of an enlarged image when you click on them….there are 6 see if you can find them, enjoy 😃



Welcome to a new Edition of Hephaestus' Anvil! I’m sure you have noticed that I have done away with the table of contents part of my paper over the last few Editions. I really didn’t have a choice after Admin removed the hyperlinks from the Articles. I hope they work on the media module and political module soon….but lord knows the V2 MILITARY MODULE NEEDS NOT TO SUCK FIRST(Hint Hint Admin). This Edition I will be talking about a number of important issues facing us at the cross roads of our time, the transition to V2. Many have fallen but many yet still remain; only time will tell who among us will stand the test of time. But the title of this edition is most telling, and is talked about prominently in this article. But first I want to cover a few things.

I have been asked a lot lately if I plan to run for President. I have heard a lot of support from friends and people commenting on my last run wishing I had stayed in the race. So in the end, Will I run for President? The answer to that question is, Yes I will. I however will not be running next month of that I am certain, I have already seen a few people wanting to next month and I want to see how that race goes. I have decided that most likely I will be running in September. Why not 100% sure cause we have to see what happens in the mean time, so please if you have thoughts on me running for President, message me I always want to hear from people. It’s not like I’m asking you to hold my beer or something.





I also would like to congratulate our new President, Bradley Reala on his election victory. In his article you see a picture of me and him at the top and a caption saying I stole his woman. To clarify she is not his….she’s mine, you drunk. This all began in the comments of Jude Connors’ Article “One thing to like about V2…” Where Bradley tried to claim the Library chick. My response was quite simple and I shall post it here again to further embarrass him!

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*DK secretly beats up Bradley Reala and steals the library chick*


Secret Service ain't got nothing on Donkey Kong 😛
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Muhahahaha. She is mine….and I claim the Neighbor lady as well. Now you all can fight over the Company chick….or Lana if you swing that way… I don’t want her…. The Library Chick and Neighbor Lady you all use are clones! Ha! Here is a picture of me and the real lovely ladies at an undisclosed location!


The ladies love Donkey Kong :3


Sorry Bradley, they belong to me. Here is a consolation prize I made for you my friend :3



(God being mean can be soo fun 😃)
By the way if you haven’t guessed by now I’m messing with Bradley cause he’s a friend… and its fun watching him cry 😛

Now onto a familiar segment!





Yes it is that time again people! These people that I name have earned the respect and admiration of almost everyone they have met. They represent the best the eWorld has to offer. Here I don’t take a poll but suggestions are always welcome. So don’t be shy if you have one! Now it’s time to hand out DK’s Award for Awesomeness!





Only one Awardee this time and it is…




I first met Gaius Julius about 9 months ago. He has been a constant friend and a mentor to me ever since. He is an awesome guy to know and he lives rather close to me we are thinking about hanging out one day 😛 Gaius Julius ascended to the Presidency when Emerick was forced to resign due to RL concerns in September. GJ was re-elected next month in October and served until November when Frost was elected President. Shortly following the resignation of Eugene Harlot from his post as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, GJ was chosen to be the next CJCS. A post he served until his resignation due to RL a few months later. Gaius Julius is a constant facet in eRepublik and is still around, active, and advising until this day.


I shall award more people next time! Now onto some things I want to talk about and my view on the facts, and a few other things equally as interesting!









That is exactly what V2 has brought about. We have seen a HUGE economic shift for better or for worse but it is here and it is visible to everyone, but let’s take a closer look at it shall we? What are the two most important resources in the new world of V2 facing us? If you answered Iron and Titanium you are correct. Before Iron was the all or nothing of weapons production. Now we have four separate classes half of the weapon types are made by iron the other half is made by titanium. Titanium will be very important because they produce Artillery and Helicopters, but Iron also retains its importance by being used to make Tanks and Rifles. Artillery and Rifles will have their uses if Admin actually included the rock paper scissors aspect of the game.


Enlarge Image
Map edited to show correct allegiances and reflects the fact that Sol is pretty much dead. Also the fact that Australia has been PTOed I have colored it in with Orange Stripes.

What does this mean? It means that if we can manage to ATO Australia one day soon that EDEN/Brolliance will for the first time in our history have a raw material advantage over Phoenix and before that PEACE. So why is Titanium and Iron so important to the world? Why are these regions now going to be even higher value targets than in the past? The world as always runs on war. War requires weapons for each class. This means that some people will need Artillery; some will need Rifles, Some Tanks, and some Helicopters. They will become even more important if Admin actually add in the rock-paper-scissors thing when the war module is released in less than a week. I hope they do cause right now tanks pawn all.





To nations with more than one of this precious resource rental is the optimal option since more than one high region of the same type doesn't really help. Canada could and probably might rent to the eUS and it would be rather safe from foreign influence seeing as trying to reach such an area would be a rather difficult task in and of itself. This is made even more daunting for enemies because of the close proximity of the eUS and Canada, re-trading would take a matter of minutes. South Africa could rent its internal high titanium region if a nation could get there and not to mention Russia. Russia could if it wanted to rent a high titanium region now since one of its two borders no one…or a Phoenix style “renting” could be forced by Serbia, aka stealing it and giving Russia its rent with the middle finger. All of these things are possible but we will just have to see what happens when the new war module is brought online, and hopefully admin don’t change some vitally important rules on us again.





Here is where the title of this article comes into play. The death of the Fortress States is here. I know some of you are immediately going to jump up and down screaming No like a little kid throwing a tantrum, but let me explain how I see the world now.

With the older change of the hospital rules, aka when hospitals were changed to prevent you from gaining wellness beyond what you used to fight, we lost a huge advantage in convincing noobs to move to a Fortress State. So we reverted to convincing people to move there by explaining it would build a massive defensive wall and raise the cost of attacking. Now with the soon to arrive V2 war module, defensive walls are a thing of the past. The only argument left we have to convince new people to move is the cost it would take to attack that state, it is still a huge influence for people who are active but for the average two clicker this no longer has any tangible meaning to them. So where is the incentive for them to move? Move and we will gift you? Oh wait….those are gone too aren’t they.

These new hospitals no longer provide instant healing when you fight like before. Now you have to stay near the hospital for a few turns to heal and hope you are not attacked. Oh wait again! What if there isn’t a hospital in the region in which we fight? It means you’re screwed and can’t heal in that battle at all. Hospitals and Defense systems are now durably what does that mean? It means that when a hospital has given the maximum amount of health to soldiers it will disappear from the battlefield map. If the walls have 100 CP, hospital can give 10,000 points of health TOTAL. The same goes for defensive systems when they are used a certain number for times they are gone. It no longer matters if the state you live in has a hospital or not! But I do not bear all bad news, I have a suggestion!





A New Way Forward

So how can we heal then you ask? This is where an idea comes into play and it is one that is currently being considered by the JCS and the Government. We are going to need one low population region not a home region always under our control. Why? We can then start a resistance war in that occupied region and use it as a healing hub pretty much 24/7 for all of our citizens, this plan does have its draw backs. An enemy could choose to fight over the region just to disrupt our healing, but that would require moving to our nation and fighting, not to mention we could easily do this back to them if they were using this technique. One major point though is we as in the eUS government will always need have to have hospitals ready to replace a burnt out one. The days where Defense Systems and Hospital Companies were always government owned is now over the private sector will need to help pick up the slack. What about the infrastructure plan you ask? Well, I expect this to draw some fire on me but it needs to be said. I think it’s time that the eUS government seriously looks into the possibility of installing defense systems and hospitals at various choke points across the nation. Our old perception of the infrastructure no longer applies so why limit ourselves so one or two states with hospitals and defense systems? I had a long talk with Jewitt about this; we agree that choke points are the way to go forward with infrastructure planning. The states we came up with were Washington, Alaska, New York, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, California, Hawaii, and Connecticut. These can shift depending on the strategy we decide upon but it is the basis for a plan. Fortresses are dead but choke points are still vital to this game.





So how exactly does this all mean the death of the fortress strategy? It doesn’t. Confused? That was my point 😉 let me clarify what I mean. The governments of the world won’t be allowing their citizens to live wherever they want anytime soon simply because it costs an enemy more to attack that region. But to the average player what does all this mean? Some people will simply up and leave the fortress states because they want to or some will never move there. There is no motivation or reason that will resonate with two clickers to actually move to a new state! Really, why should they? Will they gain extra wellness after fighting? No. Will they be able to regain wellness after fighting because of the state they are living in? No. Will we be able to gift them wellness as a bribe to actually move? No. Seeing a pattern here?


Then there is the most damming of all. Will you gain experience from fighting? Not anymore. National and world ranking is now totally irrelevant. Why care? You will never be on top because you can’t tank and gain experience fast, in fact why fight at all? Admin have destroyed a major motivation in the game. Fighting was fun before even if it was clicking one button, it isn’t anymore. The V2 war module greatly concerns me. Unless they have either secretly revamped it or are pulling some obscenely screwed up and way late April fool’s joke then the V2 War Module will look just like it did in beta…and that was not a pretty scene.





With that it is time to move on to a section you all know and love…





Today we have a very special guest, a man I have not seen interviewed in quite some time, but I think it is about that time again. Born almost two years ago, this man has been an integral part of eAmerica longer than most of us have even been a part of this game. He has served eight terms in Congress and is one of this nation’s most well known and respected scholars. He has served dozens of times as Adviser to a President and even if not on the current list his input is ALWAYS welcome and has any President’s ear. A former Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, former two term Party President of the Libertarian Party, and still serves on the Economic Council. He is the guru of eRepublik economics and giant in his own right. Ladies and Gentleman, my guest is the one and only…


Publius


1. How and when did you first join eRepublik?
I started playing NationStates because I thought it was an interesting idea and way to spend a couple minutes each day. It turned out to be pretty boring, so I looked for alternatives and came across eRepublik while it was still in Beta in June or July of 2008. There was a form to request an invitation on the front page, so I filled it out, waited patiently, and received an invitation on August 7th, 2008.

2. Who would you say is your best friend on eRepublik?
If I had to choose one, probably Woxan. Having spent so much time in this game and in the eUS, it’s quite difficult to narrow it down to just one--I consider many of the greats like Emerick, Eugene Harlot, George Barker, Josh Frost, One Eye, PrincessMedyPi, the SEES elites, and Tyrsis to be good friends.

3. Who was your favorite eUS President?
Emerick. He always had the ability to write articles that were amusing or insightful, but the fortune of inheriting the eUS while it was focused on a campaign (and on a rebound) meant that the country was united and engaged, and he was good at directing that enthusiasm. It was a fun presidency.

4. What would you say was your proudest moment on eRepublik?
Economically: The creation and adoption of the tax plan that I worked to create (and is still the basis for our current tax system).
Militarily: The creation of the Indonesian Peace Proposal gambit, the retaking of eNorth America, and tanking major battles (Heilongjiang RW being a favorite).

5. What most concerns you about the transition to V2?
I’m concerned that the minimum wage will force us to devalue the USD. I’m also worried the Admins will do something brilliant like nerfing tanks after I’ve already chosen to be one and can’t switch. That would be really cool of them.

6. How did the whole Publius Fist thing start anyways?
The Dioists have long used the bro fist as a sign of respect for their God Emperor, but I can’t remember if the Publius fist came from PM banter with Emerick (fisting is better when two are involved anyway), a post on the eUS Forum, or in-game article comments. Regardless it’s p sweet.

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PUBLIUS FIST
COPY AND PASTE THIS PUBLIUS FIST AND SEND IT TO 5 OF YOUR FRIENDS OR YOU'RE NOT A REAL PUBLIUS


7. To a lot of People Dioism has become a form of spam, what do you say to your fellow Dioists about working to ease that feeling in the public?
Spam has long been associated with Dioism, but I just see it as a form of prayer. Every group and following with have what outsiders see as undesirable elements, but I think that both detractors and the faithful will recognize that Dioism is one of the richer elements of the life of an eRepublikan.

8. Do you think you will be able to stay one of the eUS Economic Gurus with the release of V2?
Absolutely. It’ll obviously require some learning of the new mechanics, but at its core the economy module is about tweaking variables and maximizing equations to make our nation as strong and powerful as possible.

9. If there is one person in eRepublik you would like to return to the game who would that be?

God Emperor Dio Brando. His question and answer thread and latest article were both phenomenal.

If I had to choose from the subset of eMericans, I'd choose One Eye. His guidance, logic, and patience in repeatedly explaining/arguing points of contention would be appreciated now that the economy module has been revamped.

10. Why won’t you run for President dammit!?!??!?
The Presidency simply isn’t a fun experience, at least not in the eUS. I’m established enough where I have enough influence, information, and power that I don’t need the position itself to exert my guiding hand on the direction of the eUS. And if I’d rather not login to eRep for a day or two because there’s more interesting things going on, I don’t feel like I’ve let down hundreds of people. I would like to get that medal before I leave--maybe congress and I can work out a deal where I run, get elected, and immediately impeached.


We all thank Publius for taking the time to be with us today and fellow members of Congress I say we work out this CP deal with Publius…. Then renege on the deal after he has been elected 😉 *shrugs* Don’t judge, it may be the only way we get him to be President XD







That’s it for this Edition of the Anvil I hope you all enjoyed it greatly! I work hard to bring quality to you and write with all my heart. I look forward to future Editions…and maybe a second Media Mogul one day 😉 Thanks for taking the time to read! Please sub, vote and shout this out! My first article of V2 and I hope it’s one of my best yet. Now as always I part from you with a quote.

”Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
- Confucius

Your Friend, Devan Kronos
Proud Federalist & a Proud American



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