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Warning! There is a lot of text ahead!

This article is intended to examine the state of our community in the month following the publication of this article.

Wanting to get a different perspective than in the first part (although that wasn’t always possible) I contacted the same parties via the players who the PP had assigned the Spokesperson role, or any other member with a title should they not respond.

To them I posed 8 questions on their party’s attitude and what steps aimed at improving inter-party interactions had been taken/would continue. Responses came from:
lancer450 – Party President.
McAfee01 – Vice President (Awaiting poll results)
Goku Jones – Spokesperson.
T White II – Spokesperson. (Awaiting poll results)
Elle Roslin – Secretary General.
Minecrafting Instead – Party President.
Zaphod Beeblebrox IV – Party President (Awaiting poll results)

Answers are in order of arrival (I will edit in any more answers I get).



1 - Does your party members feel that the “air has begun to clear”?


“I decided to message the members of my party and asked them this very question. About 53.3% of those who responded to the question do feel that the “air has begun to clear.” One member said it quite well, in my opinion, in saying, “I see the UKPP as much friendlier and more social than it used to be (much of it owed to Lancer). I think that the division of the parties has not begun to clear, but instead has begun to become clear.” He went on to talk about how we have recently seen a change in which we now have 2 to 3 groups that will possibly compete rather than the usual war between the so-called elitists and the opposing new player parties.”


“I think the division was really only something that was hyped up based on disagreements with particular active players. The tone of the message eventually became a perceived reality that everyone believed in, but it was never as bad as it was portrayed. A few people need to learn to accept differences and get along, but the broader community never really stopped having fun and interacting”


“I think the recent CP election was a good demonstration of civilly contesting candidates and policies in the interests of the eUK. It demonstrated that we are capable of working maturely together and prepared to accept an outcome other than our own (though this is nothing new, I suppose 😛). I think other parties have noticeably tried to improve their tact too – this has been recognised by our membership and I think they are quite satisfied in the progress made this month.”


Not quite yet, there has just been less contact between really hostile parties. However some of the existing party alliances have started to become looser now that the big battle to dethrone the corrupt old leaders has mostly been won, so there is progress.



2 - How has your party as a whole found trying to bridge the gap between parties that you historically haven’t got along with?


“As party president, I have noticed that there appears to be a split in the UKPP when it comes to bridging the gap between parties. There are some who would certainly like to see more cooperation amongst parties, including our own. Then, there are some who are more wary/hesitant of the prospect or are simply against it. For example, when the UKRP approached us about the possibility of running with us during the congressional election, the vote to decide on that issue was nearly 50/50. It was extremely close and in the end the majority of party decided to turn the proposal down. I’m sure all of the other parties have this split as well, though I don’t know if they will openly admit it.”


“There aren't really any that we don't get along with very well. The exception might be New Era, but that stems from hostility from Goku and Don Dapper, which reflects what I said in the previous question. I am sure most New Era members are lovely people, but the recent departure of Hugh suggests that there is a certain intolerance for differences of opinion”


“We have toned down our objections to some practises such as poaching/media spamming and are beginning to see a gradual shift in some other parties on moving towards more stable party policy and a lesser focus on subsidy. I think the more they develop their politics the more we will have something to compare and potentially have in common. As political realists we will see the times and work with those who clearly share our interests (not necessarily those of whom we have had the longest relationships).”



3 - How has your party tried to improve relations between parties?


“To be honest, in my opinion, not much was done to try to improve relations between parties. The UKPP is a democratic party. As party president of the UKPP, I am more of an “administrator”. The majority of the party membership has to be willing to improve relations.

There were a couple of things that were done but they were considerably small steps to improving relations. I pledged not to buy votes for articles and did not allow those in my party cabinet to do so either. I communicated with party presidents and members of other party cabinets as long as they were willing to communicate with me. That’s about it.”


“We try and lead by example, and our working relationship with other political parties tries to be professional and polite. I would say whilst the average opinion of some practices and people may be quite low, we still have the good grace to put these differences aside and consider the best options for the national community as a whole. One of the key points in doing so is recognising we are all trying to do our own individual best for the country, even if we don’t see eye to eye about it.”



4 - How well has your party’s member base taken to implementing these suggestions/initiatives?


“A majority of the players I talk to in my party were in agreement with me when it came to not buying votes for articles and it is expected as party president that I maintain contact with other parties and their leaders.”


“Members of our party seem to be quite open-minded about other parties in general, so long as there is no perceived antagonism”


“They are very positive about trying to work with anyone with a brain (which is most), and have not wavered when the need to do so has arisen 😛. I doubt I need to lecture my own members on the virtues of other parties as it is nice to see them consistently make an effort to forge friendships across the community and actively participate themselves in closing the so called ‘divide’ (which I still maintain doesn’t exist)”



5 - Have your party’s attitudes changed, either positively or negatively, towards any of the other parties polled in pt 1?


“In the message I sent out to the members of my party in which I asked them is the “air has begun to clear,” I also asked them to tell me how they viewed each of the following parties: TUP, New Era, One Vision, ESO, UKRP, and PCP. They were given the options of Positive, Negative, and Neutral (More or less no positive or negative feelings towards the particular party).

TUP – 52% view them negatively whilst 48% hold a neutral view towards TUP. 0% hold a positive view of TUP.
New Era – 28% view them positively, 24% view them negatively, and the rest hold a neutral view.
One Vision – A vast majority of those who responded, specifically 80% of them, more or less have no positive or negative feelings towards 1V. Our relationship is essentially a clean slate.
ESO – 92% of the respondents held a positive or a neutral view towards ESO.
UKRP – 20% responded positively, 24% responded negatively, and 56% responded with a neutral view.
PCP – 16% positive, 8% negative, and 76% neutral.

Some members of my party mentioned that they have been a bit disappointed with some members of New Era recently which is a definite change from last month. Overall, they have problems with just a couple of New Era’s members, not necessarily the entire party itself. Attitudes towards 1V remain amicable and attitudes towards ESO appear to have improved a lot since last month. Relations with UKRP have improved as well (a slight improvement though more members still view them negatively rather than positively) despite the situation during the congressional election that I talked about before. After getting the overall results, it looks to me like many in the UKPP have no grudges or problems with the parties listed. This shows me that relations may have, in fact, improved over the past month and that there is room for even more improvement.”


“As a party of individuals, I will not speak on behalf of anyone else, but I presume that our collective attitude toward UKPP is becoming more positive based on the CP support poll. From a personal perspective, TUP, One Vision and New Era are non-entities when it comes to interaction with us. UKRP and UKPP are more collaborative and fun to hang around with”

- Editorial
I would add that at the request of 1V, ESO did try and have a joint think-tank on “building better relations”, around (but not because of) CP elections, but certain elements involved derailed these efforts and the talks fizzled out.


“I would say they have generally grown rather well as newer establishments realise we still have a valuable voice to bring to eUK politics (rather than the ‘I’m not dead yet’ scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It has been pretty consistent that if you make the effort to treat us civilly then we will make an effort in return. After all, we just want to get on with things that are more worthwhile :3”


UKRP have gotten some support for developing some quite nice members who are a little more open to working with us - we almost supported Butjam for CP but he didn't quite cut it yet. ESO seem to be trying too. TUP were our main rival and have completely dropped off the radar into inactivity. There are still old members in all parties who are totally against New Era though.



6 - To what do you attribute any improvement in relations?


“A little less trolling publically from all sides, some more communication (except for New Era), less public attacks and flaming, and, to be honest, I would bet most are simply tired of the bullsh*t… I know I am.”


“Less focus on the loudest voices that have axes to grind and more of a focus on getting the job done for new players and the broader eUK community”


“Mind altering drugs/a depressing sense of realisation that it may be more the games fault, rather than the communities itself, on why some things here are shit. A mildly elevated sense of productivity when people realise this doesn’t necessarily need to hold back the community transcending such a shit load of modules and becoming such shit itself 😛”



7 - What actions could have been taken to have stopped any relations degrading/negatively relations remaining so?


“Better communication amongst party leaders (especially with New Era) would have certainly helped to improve relations more/prevented relations from souring. There was a noticeable split between New Era and the UKPP before the CP election due to very poor communication and after notable New Era members like Dr Hugh Jardon, whom I believed to be the next PP of NE, took a step back from party politics. I won’t say more than that. I would like to see better communication between our two parties because we share similar goals and beliefs and we could achieve a lot together. I would like to see even more communication with the PCP and 1V as well.

Relations with TUP remain negative. I don’t see relations with TUP improving between our respective membership bases unless mutual respect is found between one another and that is definitely no easy task. After months of hostilities, things won’t suddenly become rainbows and unicorns just because of a little less trolling. Not much can be done to stop our relations from degrading. There are fundamental differences between our members and their beliefs. I guess things haven’t been too chaotic or mean-spirited lately but that’s the only improvement I have seen.”


“Paying less attention to people who just want to vent their frustrations and hate toward others. This becomes problematic because some people seem to like vote-buying articles (AHEM), but we need to just ignore this kind of behaviour rather than reinforce it”


“People associate common purpose with the welfare of their party now, rather than the overall health and strength of the national community. I think if people changed their values to how we as a United Kingdom can live with each other, we may find more meaningful adjustments that can be discussed and deliberated. I would much rather be part of a Stronger UK than a Stronger UK Reform, and I make no fuss about it. Because it is in a strong, healthy community than real parties can be made (with plenty of mind altering drugs just in case).”


“Mutual respect needs to grow by people earning it rather than expecting it. Players in authority need to actually DO things and make an effort to do nothing which could be seen as corrupt. Players aspiring to lead need to lead by example sometimes rather than be moaning backseat drivers all the time!”



8 - What plans or initiatives aimed at improving party relations, does your party intend to implement or continue?


“Again, the UKPP is a heavily democratic party. Any plans or initiatives that the party intends to implement or support will have to be taken to the party by the next party president and supported by a majority of the members of the party.”


“We are working on implementing a new player development scheme that is ultimately designed to be a collaboration between parties. Any interested players in any party should contact Jamesw or Elle Roslin for information once we have gotten this through the trial stage. It is our hope that this program will aid new players and increase retention and enjoyment of the game, while simultaneously preventing the admins from extracting cash from players 😃

We will also of course continue to be receptive to proposals from other like-minded parties to collaborate when and where we see value.”


“I think a lot of work and effort can be saved by at least trying to get on, to listen with due patience and to try and remember that we share the same objective in trying to find some point to this game. The most we can do on our part is register a mild smile and willingness to co-exist. If you’re prepared to live with the madhouse that makes up our membership then that’s good enough for me.”


“If I [Goku Jones] win PP I will be exploring all possible coalition governments for next term, implementing several parties policies through a single CP candidate. This will mean seeing if we can work with parties like UKRP and ESO who we have historically had poor relations with.”



Is there anything else you wish to say on the subject?


“I look forward to seeing the perspective of the other parties and their leaders. I also wanted to thank you for doing this follow-up. I enjoyed reading the article last month and only hope this month's will be just as good! 🙂”


“Question your beliefs and broaden your horizons. If you find yourself in a situation where you are told to believe something about another group or another person, question the motivations of the sentiment behind that. Better yet, approach others that you have traditionally disagreed with or have fought with and get to know them as individuals. I have always played this game with the belief that we are strongest when we engender an environment that welcomes dissent and constructive criticism. ESO has never requested its members to think a certain way, or to vote a certain way. Parties are a great tool for encouraging activity, but they should ultimately be dedicated to improving the UK for all. Let us remember that we all have our talents and our weaknesses, and look out for one another so that we can all have a better game experience!”


“As much as this is a party matter, it can’t be solved by a single one or even a few. If meaningful change is to occur then it needs to be a community-up reform – recognising that parties are usually a great saturation of time and energy, but equally potential in derailing and destroying wider relationships that are essential in this environment. When parties start acting like a gang label and act as an impediment to getting to know others, then they need to become gentler, and more subtle (a condiment to your gameplay rather than an active divider). Any slack can be taken up by the national interest in either decapitating the French or raping the Norwegians. Doesn’t that sound a bit more fun? >_>”


“The last battle is to oust the inactive players who hate eRepublik from our foreign affais and alliances. A lot of the hatred actually stemmed from defence of or attacks on a small group of bad players who hog important jobs while doing very little. Once they are gone there shouldn't be many problems but they are infesting TWO at the moment.”

General comments from other parties


“As a party;
We ignore the party we haven't got along with as they are politically defunct and offer nothing original that could spur debate.

I don't think we have any plans to improve relationships (at least as a primary goal) they'll either improve or degrade based on the merits of each policy or point of view that other parties bring to the table.

We just wish to be left alone by the other lot to develop as we (not they) want.”

(That is all they chose to say)


“As I'm sure you and many people are aware, it seems somewhat hard to get constructive talks from all sides these days. We are all, to certain degrees, to blame for this I suppose. However, from our perspective, I suppose the way we are hoping to improve relations is by actually treating the newer parties as a real and actual competition politically.

UKPP, and recently New Era, have made some strong grounds, and in a way has proved testament towards the commitment and drive UKPP have as a collective in solidifying their place as #1 party. And kudos to them. Alas, we still struggle to deal with certain segments of parties, who seem to make it their sole mission to target TUP. And it's hard for us, I suppose, to work with with people who only want to see us die, and seem to put the best interests of our nation on the backburner because of this cause. But when these people step back and allow the reasonable voices in their party to lead, then we will work with them: no doubt about it. But at the end of the day, our party was created and exists to best serve and represent the interests of our nation: it has always been, and will forever remain so.

But in regards to any improvements, I suppose the best recommendation we as a party and a society can do is to stop trying to undermine each other needlessly and actually set forth to work and treat each other with some general courtesy. The current climate is toxic, and harms us all in the end. We're all guilty, and we all need to throw our arms in the air and accept responsibility for our actions. I just hope we as individuals realise the situation we have presented each other, and can learn to put personal differences aside and actually get back to being constructive for society, and not destructive to each other.

But from a party perspective, I don't think we have ever needed to change. The issue is not institutional, but personal. And that's very hard as a party to change. But when people start treating each other with the respect that each of us deserve and expect, then I could see quite a rapid increase in communication between one another, and maybe to a state of equilibrium that allows us to getting our nation back on track domestically and internationally.”


Party Relations from my opinion seem roughly the same. I don't see the point in actively trying to increase relations. The opinion people gain of parties and people is cemented in the first few weeks of their time in erep, and it seems artificial pretending to get along with people who you actively dislike. Whilst I do want to see an end to the constant partisan bickering - who doesn't? - we should not force ourselves into getting along with people and pretending we're all happy families. There are many different players in eUK with different views, policies, and approaches to the game. We should embrace our differences rather than all being constantly nice to each other and "pretending" to get along. I fear we'd just become another boring eastern europe country.




A short conclusion, as I’m sure you’re all falling asleep by this point.
From the responses I have managed to get this far, there does seem to have been a general shift in perception, communities are at least planning to open up and trying to get to know to one another, making up their own minds rather than simply listening to the hype, however in some cases this isn’t as inclusive as I’d have liked to see, but progress is progress non-the-less. As has been said it won’t happen overnight, but we might have started on the track to cooperation at any rate. That doesn’t mean someone couldn’t hit the switch-track at any moment.



What we need now is to increase honest, RESPECTFUL communication between all parties, differing opinions and approaches are what keeps this game interesting, and if we keep an open mind we might just learn something.



The divide is not as big as people think, and the recent CP election is evidence of this. The two main candidates, Richard Feist and 5Butjam could be seen as on opposite sides, but their campaigns and stances had little difference. Another thing that this highlights is a spirit of mutual respect creeping around the edges with both candidates including the other in their cabinet.

In closing:

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