The Economist ~ A New Year, a new start

Day 2,234, 10:23 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by Spite313




Dear friends,


It’s a new year, and we all have a chance to make new beginnings. Not just to our real lives, but our gameplay as well. Each year in eRepublik has brought new things for the eUK, and this year is going to be the year of the pioneer spirit. Like our ancestors IRL we are setting sail for new shores, and like those forebears of ours we will need to work together to get there in one piece.


The pioneer spirit is two things which are seemingly contradictory but in reality are the basis of all great expansions. Firstly you have the rugged individualism of the pioneer- someone who can and will do for themselves. Make their own way, achieve great things, develop themselves. Secondly you have that rugged communalism, whereby people will come together to do joint projects. To extend the historical metaphor- raising the town walls, town hall and so on. In erep we should create a culture whereby people work hard developing themselves, but come together to build greater things like MUs and the NHS.


I know I keep banging on about this, but I do think it is slowly sinking in. People are coming to realise the enormous potential they each have as players to improve themselves. We’ve seen a lot of players restarting their accounts- requesting deletion on an old account to have a second run at it. These days the meta-nature of your account- things like newspapers and so on- don’t really matter. It’s easy to rebuild those kind of followings for most people. More and more players are starting again, building their training grounds quickly, and becoming D2-3 tanks. This is the kind of individualism that we need. People making themselves something valuable, and others building up companies on their accounts to become the great producers of society. Brings a tear to my eye, boys, it really does.





Those people can then band together to provide the leadership we need. Since Christmas the UK has had no MoD. Strategic guidance (such as it is) has came from various members of the government, but much of the organisation has been handled by the players themselves. These people have no title, need to title, to do what they do. If you want to be more involved, or take leadership, all you have to do is step up and state your ideas. It’s the most basic kind of democracy- perhaps only possible in a country like the eUK which is small, old and political.


This war with France has been one of the most enjoyable for us in a long time. From the initial victories to the long retreat into the UK and the battles that followed, it was an opportunity for us all to really experience that spirit first hand. Players dug deep to throw themselves into the war and the UK really shined- almost matching the USA in damage terms. It goes to show that this tiny nation can pack a punch when required, but more importantly it shows that we can work together for the common good without the need for massive oversight by government.


So this is going to be the year of the two clicker CP- MPP button and attack button. The year of small government and big community. The year where those of you who have been playing a while but never really stepped up - the mwcerberus’ of the future - can step up and take control, with my blessing. I’m not going to comment on this CP election, because frankly I have decided I really can’t be bothered to get involved with the eUK’s internal politics anymore. May the best man or anthropomorphic alien win. But in the future I will be swinging my support behind whoever has the guts to ditch the easy route of puppetmaster and take up the much more difficult route of enabler. Someone who can provide people with the environment to grow in without the false politics of “government” holding them back.


Here’s to 2014, year of the player.


Iain