Fresh Blood, Heartbreak of Ecuador, PTO Alert: New Countries

Day 2,339, 14:43 • Published in Canada Canada • by Shoi12

I got bored with life, so I'll just pop in here for a little bit, if that's alright with you 😁

I haven't been dead (insert CLEAR! ZZZ here), I've just been bored with eRep. I mean, what's the point anymore when we can't have party with our drinking buddy Ireland anymore? 🙁

So I've been watching from the sidelines, musing as Brazil pretends to still be a country, Ireland goes crusading in Austria, and Cyprus conquers Israel (I feel bad for their allies...oh wait). Sorta fun watching chaos when you're not a part of it. But for the first time in my eLife (class of 2012 represent!), this concept of new countries has surfaced. Now I know from reading (new concept, some of y'all should try it) that back when eRep enjoyed its golden age, new countries were slowly added every few months to a year, but it's been all quiet on the Platonic front. Maybe he was busy fixing the economy? Improving the game? More than likely, he was busy swimming in his profits (you bastards buying gold, how dare you).

Without any more obvious nations to add, the game's been stagnant, and to an extent, I agree with this approach. While adding new nations can be a great way to expand eRep's marketability (all those whiny pricks boohoo there's not my nation here q.q), and can be great for throwing a new element into the political landscape, mostly it has been failure. For every great development and large community (emergence of Serbia and Chile), there has been a handful of nations that are more resource pools and PTO lounges than anything (Singapore, North Korea). Even for nations with a somewhat functioning government, it has not been the tale of a new nation rising to become a respected power, but instead the story of nations fighting off PTOs and their failure to develop diplomatically and internally (Serbian divisions in Thailand and New Zealand, everyone in Austria, Belgium, any nation smaller than 400 people).

So adding a new nation is not something to be taken lightly. It has to be given the opportunity to develop and become more than a ripe target for the big nations nearby. If I was Plato, I wouldn't want four new nations to just be another set of puppets for the big nations, creating further imbalance between small and large nations. Besides, if the point of adding new nations is to entice more players to play (re: pay money), then what's the point if they all get PTO'd day 1? No, from both an admin's and from a player's perspective, I'd hope for the new nations to become viable, thriving new countries. So let's look at our new players!

In case y'all didn't pay attention to the button that flashed for about a week, the forums offered a chance for players to speak their min😛 what countries should Plato add? The forum came up with many suggestions. After weeding out the weak (poor Sealand, maybe next time) and obligatory Kosovo is Kosovo posts and counterposts of Kosovo is Serbia, the shortlist had such gems ranging from Cameroon to Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.

Ultimately, it was a four-way race between Cuba, Ecuador, Georgia, and dark horse Iceland, with none of the others receiving more than around 2000 votes (c'mon people, vote for Morocco! Viva Southern Spain!). Though Iceland faded from the competition, Cuba locked onto a large lead and held on for dear life as Ecuador and Georgia threatened to knock them off. At the end of the day, though, Georgia earned a few more votes, and Cuba survived with a buffer of less than a hundred votes (had the poll gone on for a few more days, who knows?). Being the lovely troll that Plato is, he added his own two choices, putting in isolated Nigeria and Armenia, the latter of which failed to garner 1000 votes in the poll. We will be having Armenia, Cuba, Georgia, and Nigeria join us. So, let's see how these nations will play out.

Cuba's proximity and logical sea border with America cast suspicion on Serbia. Hmm, if only there was a nation Serbia could PTO that bordered America, so that they could quickly rise to power and become a permanent threat! Depending on the resources Cuba provides (is terrorism a resource? +20% airstrike strength?), this could turn out well or badly. Cuba's RL situation (restrictive government, isolation) doesn't suggest that many RL Cubans will be joining the fight, so it is likely that a foreign government will seize control. This will likely be a political battle between America and Serbia as America tries to control whatever resources Cuba has without resistance, and Serbia tries to establish a base for attacks.

Armenia and Georgia are welcome additions with modest but proud populations. It is viable to see them become relatively well-sized nations run by nationals, though if their resources are tasty enough, Turkey and Russia could certainly have a go. With likely borders with Russia, Turkey, and Iran, all three will have influence and incentive to control the new nations. Armenians! Georgians! It is your time to gather a following! Don't let your enation become another puppet 😨

Finally, there's Nigeria. Considering that it is a Plato's choice, it is interesting to see how they will link up with the world. Now that airstrikes are a thing, it is not as crucial to have as many borders to other nations as it was previously, but still. It's smack in the middle of the gray desert of Africa. Likely, it will border Brazil and perhaps Brazil's neighbors, but I'd really hope that Plato doesn't stretch them to border South Africa or Spain. Nigeria is by no means a super wealthy RL nation, but it's much better off than some other states in the area. With a developing economy and social reforms, it's plausible that this large nation could somehow acquire a lot of players. It's unlikely, certainly, considering the failures of South Africa and Egypt to develop into powers, but it's much more likely than if, say, eSomalia was coming (+40% attack from sea borders? idk).

So yes, new nations are coming. I'm sorry, Ecuador. My heart goes out to you, a nation that actually has a fanbase, but if these new nations develop properly, who knows? Maybe we will have 100 nations sooner than we expected! Just,...why do I get the feeling we just got four more puppet states?

Until next time, take care!

Archives here