I Don't Get Mad, Part 2
PigInZen
I remove the source of irritation.
Didn't I write this article recently? Seems that eRep has degenerated over the past year and in the wake of so many departures we've been left with a dearth of players who just cannot seem to stop jacking with each other for petty and stupid reasons. A little background for those that haven't followed my fun-filled and illustrious eRep career:
I was President of the US for one term. It sucked, hard. My optimism and strong sense of ethical play ran right into the realpolitick of EDEN and the realpower of the JCS. We were a full-fledged member of EDEN at the start of my term, albeit with some tension. The JCS was still in charge of military strategy and were separate from the diplomatic wing of the presidency. I am completely willing to state at this point, over two years later, that the JCS really ran foreign policy. Whoever was sitting in the Presidency was simply a "button-pusher," someone to click web links to start battles. I had a difficult time coming to this realization; my altruistic personality led me to believe that we'd be one big happy family. News flash: the JCS and EDEN really did not like one another. The reasons behind this are long and buried in much insider history. But the fact was that the table was set for what transpired during my term long before I was elected. I was merely an observer to history.
My term was fraught with tension between the JCS and me. We didn't get along - AT ALL. GoalieBCSC was there, he heard my complaints and gratefully listened and offered helpful advice. I dreaded the (necessary) interactions with them and really grated under the sudden knowledge that the Presidency was simply an errand boy for a closed group of players that decided everything - alliances, MPPs, funding, you name it. They had the security in knowing that they would outlast whatever player would land in the President's chair and in that their beliefs and positions would eventually win out.
I took the presidency with the following advice from Josh Frost, who would later turn out to be one my better friends in the game: "Trust the JCS." Despite the anxiety and frustration of my interactions with the JCS there was one thing on which we agree😛
we hated EDEN more than we hated each other. For that, I was grateful.
This Isn't About the JCS, However
The pivotal moment in my presidency came during a battle to free South Africa. This was right up my alley - helping a small, downtrodden country free itself of its occupier with the massive help of allies. It was not so altruistic, but that's the part that appealed to me. South Africa held most of the high diamond regions in v1 and thus held significant strategic importance. It was occupied by Brazil, then a member of PEACE. The key to the operation was to free just ONE region to avoid having South Africa being PTO'ed by PEACE. EDEN's secret plan unbeknownst to me was to RW TWO regions and PTO South Africa itself to get control of the high diamond regions.
I normally don't get mad, but this pissed me off. And I did something about it. We finally left EDEN, using this, along with several other events and perceived slights as justification. I was proud of that decision and remain so to this day. It is something that I would probably do again if presented with a similar situation.
Very Much TL😉
R Here
The point is that I still have a strong sense of personal ethics when it comes to playing eRep. I haven't changed much over the past three-plus years except that maybe, just maybe I don't take this so seriously anymore. But ethical play? HELL YES I do.
I Left the Special Forces
I cannot in good conscience remain in the Special Forces. Not because the organization itself sucks balls or the people in it are terrible, rather because of one important person, a really, really well-known player who is held in high regard by a majority of eUS citizens. I am talking about Oblige. This guy:
I think you know him, four-time eUSA CP, multiple-term Congressman, and Commanding Officer of the Special Forces. You see, Oblige set a supply block on LordRahl2. That's all fine and well except that the reason was rather stupid and petty. LordRahl2 happens to be an administrator at the eUSA forums. Oblige was harassing him via PMs about getting access to secure sections of the forums where the President controls access. Rahl ignored Oblige's PMs and refused him access. For that he was supply blocked.
I'm not going to mess around with people who make petty decisions like this with the power they've been granted by the eUSA government. Yes, Oblige put a ton of his personal money into building the Special Forces communes. But the Special Forces receive funding from the government for supply purposes and he has an ethical duty to conduct himself in a fair and judicious manner. He has a habit of abusing privilege through methods like this and I want no part of it. I may not have any significant amount of power in this game anymore but I do have a big mouth. His "Noblesse Oblige" act has worn thin with me. He has demonstrated time and time again that he MUST get access to areas and is relentless in achieving that.
I refuse to give people like this power over me. The best way to do that is to leave them alone to have their petty games without me. I wish there was more I could do about this but I think, for now, this might be enough.
E Pluribus Unum. From Many, One.
Seriously, folks, we can only be effective when we work TOGETHER. E Pluribus Unum.
Comments
E Pluribus Unum
tl;dr
bitch please
In Publius we Trust
voted
Voted harddddddddddd
I voted this article so hard I can't even vote for the next 20 articles I would like to.
Not worth getting bunched panties over, IMO.
Dell: tl;dr, Oblige is a punk
o/
PiZ, I know you to an honest an trustworthy frienemy, but you run those eUS Forums and the trolling, belittlement and outright verbal abuse that goes on there makes this look like an act of Mother Teresa; having said that -if LordRahl2 communed he is owed those supplies.
BTW...it's good to see you writing again....
Good to know
very interesting
Voted. I always thought Oblige was rather annoying as well.
Oh, what's that? Oblige continuing to attempt to manipulate to get things he wants?
HOW UNSURPRISING.
this is indeed a cool story, bro
Interesting stuff
Sorry to see you go 😑
Hey Pig, If you are looking for an MU, I think the Marines are recruiting.
When I was SoH last month Oblige kept whining the whole month for access to private congress while he had no right to it. Very annoying and it shows
He joined ST6 Largo, I think.
Welcome to the Seals!!! Happy to have you here.
Seals are a good choice too.
I'm glad you had the problem with one person and not SF as a whole. Sad to see you leave, Pig of War.
Welcome! Glad to have you in the Seals! o7
Voted for honesty and candor.
Welcome to ST6!
FIST
" alliances, MPPs, funding, you name it."
As a retired member of the JCS I was NEVER once asked to consult on any of the above, Josh Frost, and then Colin Lantrip were the only presidents during my 6 months who bothered to even associate with me when they didn't need votes. I don't know what goes on behind closed doors without full group knowledge, i tend to stay away from shady crap. If ANY of these decisions were ever made by the JCS it was b4 my time and during WWIII.
As far as the split and what happened then, I do not know, I had retired as an Advisor before Jankems retired as CJCS, however I will say that my last few months were spent hearing from political friends how backroom shit was in the works to "take over the JCS".
Not sure why this is the second articl I read after logging on throwing mud on JCS history, but it seems like something political is going on and certain people want to ensure certain sides are cast in a dark light. Have fun, boys.
Great choice on ST6, they are cool. Oh and Oblige's situation is a perfect example of why politicians should not run the military, too many conflicts of interest.
"Oh and Oblige's situation is a perfect example of why politicians should not run the military, too many conflicts of interest."
oh wow ~ you guys still have a "soldier-civilian-politician" dynamic in your eSociety? I thought we left that sense of separation of game roles once manager-workers and MUs came into effect full force.
interesting
PiZ: 07
LordRahl2 is a fine person, player, and soldier. That's a pretty shitty way to treat him.
Nah Plug, we don't anymore, now it's seems to be just a you against them mentality. The game was better when we all had roles.
"EDEN's secret plan unbeknownst to me was to RW TWO regions and PTO South Africa itself to get control of the high diamond regions."
There is no "eden", there is no "one", there are no alliances....
There is only friends, and fighting, and fun. And most important of these, is fun.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-cp-two-small-updates--2117920/1/20
Come Join Us.
Helping the downtrodden would be a great thing to be brought back to this game.
The game was better when we all had roles.
x2
I agree with you on this one PIZ, It really is a shitty reason for supply blocking him for that.
There should be an investigation to check why he had his supply blocked. If nothing is found, then maybe oblige should receive disciplinary action on the matter or at the very least a severe warning for abuse.
For all the name of Dio.
I thought I had resolved this with you via text Pig, and in a forum thread, and via forum PM.
Rahl was never supply banned. I left him a message via our supply bot. It's not uncommon for officers in the SF (myself included) to leave messages via the bot. I have done it before, many times.
In this particular case I left Rahl a message via the bot because he didn't reply to my in game PMs or forum PMs.
investigation already well under way.
Afterwards, when he did finally reply to me, I apologized to him for any inconvenience it caused.
I heard about his decision to depart for ST6 and I asked if I was the catalyst, these were his words:
"I am [dissatisfied]. I have a tendency to look for new things in the game to keep it from getting stale.
Usually there is a trigger. Yes, you annoyed me and provided my trigger this time. But really it is not a big deal. I was upset when I fled to ZDRUG many many moons ago. This time I was just looking for an excuse to seek new adventure."
I had considered the matter settled some time ago.
This is the third or fourth random attack article on me in a few months, several of which have been over totally settled issues (org-gate, and now this).
As I mentioned to Rahl, and I will mention now again to you (except this time in a comment!) I wish you had felt comfortable approaching me about your discontent; however, I'm sure you'll make a valuable addition to the SEALs.
Best of luck.
An apology is like an arsehole: everybody has one.
Well thanks for the apology i guess. I was avoiding you because you pestered me in the past, I had already asked glove, and the answer the time before had been very clear.
When a Soldier logs in and sees "You have been supply banned by (Oblige: Find Me)" or whatever that does not feel like how you describe it.
I honestly did not think it was a big deal and figured me moving would be the end of the saga; but it now sounds like your behavior is a pattern.
Just mention who were the "leaders " of eSA and their "affiliation" at the time it was decided to free it .
vladb, damn, I'm an old man and cannot remember such things. I will see if I can figure it out.
And Bia, I think I implied that due to the JCS choosing military priorities that they were the tail wagging the dog. As in all policy stemmed from that, not the other way around. And that is certainly how it was presented to me. The main failure of the JCS system was that over time the political leaders were bifucated from the military ones - they both ran in their own circles and really didn't associate much with each other. This began after Gaius, imo.
LordRahl2 - the message also sai😛 "any officer can lift this ban" - so you didn't even need to talk to me if you didn't want to to get your supplies.
When you saw the ban, you parted the channel and I lifted the ban, since you received the message and obviously were still ignoring me.
"Just mention who were the "leaders " of eSA and their "affiliation" at the time it was decided to free it . "
I was one of them. Most of the leadership at the time were members of various US military units. Mostly Airborne
Your point?