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~ eUK Pub Quiz tonight (weds) @ 22:30 GMT - #eWoldy ~

Will anybody read this?

Hello again, eRepublikans.

When in a position of considerable authority, I prefer to avoid political commentary or criticisms/analysis of the game, it’s players and modules. However, as a large fan and utiliser of the media, and after being involved in a brief discussion on the issue with fellow listeners of Northern Exposure (Acacia Mason’s eCanadian podcast) I have decided to give some time to publish my current thoughts on the admins changes to the media module.

My immediate impression of it is echoed in the title of this very article, as I consider the key question to be, will this encourage or discourage people from reading the news?

You may have guessed that I feel it will if anything discourage people from checking. The previous layout was simple; one tab displayed the 5 most voted articles, and another the 5 most recent. Players could explore the news in chronological order and popularity in greater depth by clicking the ‘more news’ button.

The glory of this was that as a CP I could ensure that news that needed to be seen (i.e, UK Today or MoD Orders) was in the top 5. People would log in, and click an easy link to see what we were throwing at them. As a journalist, I remember the first time I penetrated the top 5. It was pretty epic, and made me feel all warm inside. Now new players are denied this warm and fuzzy feeling.

For the sake of tl;dr, I shan’t go into the menial details of good news being voted and becoming more visible whilst the naff stays down.



The new layout has split the news into categories, which in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the fact that articles are no longer on the front page is a pain. I myself (and after speaking with a handful of people I know I’m not alone) haven’t checked the news in day now. I literally only see what people link me. That is simply because, although I am an enthusiastic contributor to the media (at times anyway) I am not someone who went out of my way to read the various articles. It escapes my mind to check the categories, and if I do it is only usually to see my subscriptions.

I would, in other words prefer to see a list of the top 20 voted articles than have to trawl through categories to see 3-4 (in the UK at least) articles which are often of varying quality.

In my eyes, the solution is simple. Why can’t we have both? Categorising articles is a novel idea, but so too is displaying the most voted and newest articles on the homepage. Perhaps bring back the top 5, and just sling the categories beneath it for those who want to search for their articles by category rather than votes.
(That or change it back)

Another commonly raised issue, mostly by my horde of CP/ex-CP is the difficulty faced when getting news into the top 5 for all to see - particularly around election times. A possible solution to this (apart from telling armies to vote or just getting your pop to subscribe to the relevant stuff) is to add a ‘News of the Day’. Similiar to the Battle of the Day, CP’s could select 2-3 articles to be displayed on the homepage regardless of votes. It could however, be exploited by those without principle and as I point out - perhaps isn’t necessary if the top 5 returns.



Now, less of that...

Updates & the like

On the domestic front, Horice P Fossil week has been underway and there are still games running which as always means dirty gold is waiting to be won. Getting onto the forums and IRC is always handy, and ideally where we want you.

The MoHA (very) recently published an article that you can read here !!! about IRC clients and how to find us. Just ask any of the newer guys (who I will hunt down and make comment) who use IRC just how eye opening/fun it can be.

Betafoxtwat, the MoHA has submitted the following short passage:

Recently we've gone full out attack on education. Not only have we set up a new forum for new players to ask for help, we've made a new gdoc for help (even mentoring) and as of now we have done 2 guides with another two in the pipeline. We're at about the time of sending out a mass PM, hopefully by the end of the week. For the rest of it, have a look at my proper report :3

‘Proper’ reports, whatever that means, are to be found in the announcements forum!


Ah, Domestics

Militarily the struggle between ONE and Eden/Terra is still ongoing, and is a tad touch and go. ONE is obviously a tricky alliance to stop, but Eden/Terra’s cooperation has created some results. The world map is often revealing, as is the events pages and again to to avoid tl;dr I shan’t list info that is readily available (and in a more aesthetically pleasing format) in game. However, if you are wondering who is on whose side or you’re having trouble figuring out what on earth is going on, just drop me a PM.

Another point of interest is the UKSF is going under some minor changes in order to increase supply, so if you are a tough cookie it is definitely worth signing up to the military, dig out the MoD orders and click the links to find out how. If you aren’t subscribed to MoD news, you are very naughty. So do it now! NOW.


Tank Balancing is a favourite hobby of the SBS

If you’re interested in what the house of commons has been doing (I know you’re out there) then you’ll be interested in this;

‘This month has seen a sustained increase in parliamentary reform and activity, with the number of legislative items passing through the House of Commons superior than what we’ve seen in years. Among the various reforms include a streamlined way of proposing and passing laws directly through Public Discussion, a treasury committee overseen by Parliament to set out a monthly budget and a restructured citizenship committee with much faster and effective methods than were previously used.

Naturally, parliamentary elections are just round the corner and I expect to see a lot of new and familiar faces returning afterwards. I have also written a guide for Parliamentary candidates of things to bear in mind should they be elected to serve in the House of Commons. Best of luck on the 25th!’



I forced the speaker to write it. Pretty good, right?

That’s all for now, remember to watch the announcements forum for more on what we get up to.


Thanks for reading.

OBE, KCVS, MC, HRH.
(Media-Man)

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Have Photoshop skills? Design a new banner for this paper and you have the chance to win 2g That's TWO WHOLE GOLD. Entrants must be 18+, applications end 26th of May. PM for details and guidelines.

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P.S - Perhaps if you comment saying if you found this by searching in the tabs or by checking your subs might help give us a clear picture on how this is helping/hindering the media. Tanx.

Now wtf do I categorise this as...