Join the new world

It’s a hot, hot day in Southern Ontario. There have been hotter here and there are always hotter elesewhere, but I’m in the middle of eating a watermelon so I will gladly point out that I am warm. Sitting here with a knife and an overgrown grape has become a bit of a ritual this term, as I use it for comfort food when Eric doesn’t laugh at my jokes. I can’t really fault him, they’re not that funny, but I will still stab my watermelon with a butter knife anyway. Gets the stress out.



The Economy Takes Its Toll

It’s no secret that the economy is in the shitter. In less than 6 months, the value of Canadian WRM has dropped from ~34 cents to ~7 cents. That puts raws at 21% of their former value - a huge cut to a previously profitable realm. Only the largest companies and most determined players can scrape any meaningful profit out of it - an overall shitty situation that none of us can do very much about.

This wasn’t too huge a deal for most of that period - while it sucked on an individual basis, Canada got over it. Most of the players who do care can survive anyway, and those that don’t will just return to their I’ll-never-catch-up profit points. The rest make up the usual attrition of everything post-V2.

But lately, we’ve been seeing this problem hit higher up than just individual players. Money is worth less and there is less of it going around, a double insult to national incomes and the Canadian treasury. Budgets have undergone massive cuts compared to past values, and income levels are still falling short of where they should be. That cuts into the MU pocket line and slows down funding.

The other piece of the puzzle is our Comptroller, Simon. I think he’s a good guy, but in part due to his sporadic activity and in part due to the economic situation, he’s been taking some heat lately. Most of it without watermelony relief.

I can’t magically fix the economy or reverse the fall of the CAD. I don’t know anyone who can (and anyone who claims otherwise is probably lying). But I can, and as I told some MU and audtior folks last night, will, be taking a more involved role with the Ministry of Finance and the Comptroller “schtuff.” Partially this is to take some flak off of Simon, and it’s also to get a closer eye on what is going on in there, so that if changes need to be made, you know they’re gonna happen. More on that tomorrow.


Watching Other Elections

As Canada moves toward a Presidential campaign, so do other countries. Lots of these are going to affect how we move forward in the future. Who leads ONE will affect how aggressive their tactics are. The leaders of TEDEN will determine which countries are most sane and sensible, and which ones are most likely to arbitrarily invade allies just ‘cuz (yeah, that happens...).

I’d like to focus your specific attention on two election races: the British and the American.

Obviously as our neighbours to the south, the Yankees are critical to our gameplay. A positive relationship with America makes our life much easier, and keeps us much closer to the core of the TEDEN conversation network. It’s not about being America’s bitch, it’s about having a sympathetic President who isn’t going to want to make us their bitch. Better to have a PoTUS who likes us than a PoTUS who wants to teach us the difference between “abuse and discipline.”

Artela is not running again, unless she’s changed her mind and forgotten to tell me (eh hun? 😛). One of their frontrunners is Gloveislove. If you’re new, Glove might seem an odd choice - he “only” joined in January of this year. But in reality Glove has played before, under another account (surprise: Glove), and is a 2-time PoTUS who has strong potential for good relationships with Canada. There are lots of people to choose from on election day in the states, and their primaries are always much more complicated than ours. But regardless of who the ultimate PoTUS is, seeing Glove’s “movement” message take hold in the States is good for us. Certainly better than a few alternatives, who have more than jokingly hinted at wiping us in the past. Let’s not vote for them, M’kay US readers?

Next we hop over to Britain. Appleby, again, isn’t going to run for re-election (unless, again, he’s changed his mind). This month has been very hard on him and he’s taken a lot of flak, and the prospect of another month of criticism doesn’t attract much enthusiasm for him. And so we look to some “new” face for Britain. One of their big faces is Greatmoff. He’s not nearly as new as you might think - the guy’s been involved in the British government (or its direct opposition) for a very long time.

Greatmoff is campaigning in pretty open terms. He’s published an open foreign policy article, which includes a lengthy and unsurprising bit on Canada. If Greatmoff wins, he wants peace with Canada. He doesn’t want to keep up the perpetual boredom war any more than he wants to see London wiped again, and it’s why he’s approached me several times over the past month.

So what’s the deal with Britain? Will we go to war with them, will we sign a treaty, or what? Personally, I’m not sold on the idea of “treaties”. They’ve been unenforceable for years and mostly just serve to piss off the players who want to kill whoever it is you sign it with. Every country I’ve ever seen sign a treaty has gotten flak for it - including the Irish with their current UK deal.

You also know very well that the idea of a UK war bores the shit out of me. And you. And pretty much everyone in the history of the world. War with Britain is like watching paint dry on a boiling kettle in a field where grass is growing. It’s all sorts of boringly stupid. It also drains collosal damage away from real, relevant battles - particularly when the UK (like most countries) will drop millions of influence to hold onto regions that don’t really do us much good.

Keep an eye on those two elections - watch their media, watch the ballot next week. It’s no guarantee of what will happen in the world, but it certainly provides a direction.


Securing a Border

Hungary is running out of options. Today they’re attacking one of the 5 remaining French regions. With the USA chasing them around the countryside, they’re also swiftly running out of regions that they can reach. America could easily snip the Hungarian border to France’s Provence if they keep holding South, which would reduce the Hungary-France border to 3 regions.

Why does that matter to us? 2 of those 3 regions share a border with Nova Scotia. 2 of those 3 regions are going to have to come up in the Hungarian battle list in a few days, which will mean a shared border with Canada that they’ve been avoiding for the bulk of this term. It means that we’ll be much closer to war and much happier with our TP gold and a meaningful role in the wider global conflict.

These aren’t top secret details or some grandiose plan for blood. It’s a reality of the map: Hungary is running out of room. While they can avoid us for a few days more, they can’t continue to succeed and continue to stay off of a third front. That’s the risk they took when they gave up their homeland for a new bastion in France. It’s not the sexy war I yearned for on May 5th, but it’s just as meaningful and just as satisfying.

Whaddya say, Hungary? Wanna tango?