Finger Licking with King Harambe

Day 4,566, 20:51 • Published in USA USA • by VoxHumana





In a comment made on my Grab a Slice of White Clam Pie article, my first EREPUBLIK pal Animis wrote, “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

She’s right.

Forrest Gump used a box of chocolates as a metaphor. The movie told each episode of Forrest’s life, as he made his way through a box of chocolates, wondering what secret flavor would be revealed with each bite. The “box” was Forrest’s way of appreciating all of the crazy things he’d been through as they worked together for a common purpose: the story of his life.














And so here we are, each of us in this game, each a differently-flavored delicacy.

And if I know anything about cuisine, it’s that good-tasting food is most often made with interesting ingredients.

I’m not here to argue the deep inner satisfaction that comes from a double-quarter-with-cheese-a-coke-and-fries. I see you (shout out to Ronald.R). I understand.

However I would beg you to agree that instead of splattering the top of your meatloaves with ketchup, for instance, you could at least saute some garlic, mix it with some balsamic vinegar, and combine that with your ketchup. I am willing to guarantee that you’d like it better. God I love ketchup. But can we not be civilized?

And since life is like a box of chocolates, I would prefer to bite into an Earl Grey Ganache Wrapped in Tempered Chocolate.


Feed your Russel Stover to the racoons.



I also prefer my meatloaf baked with a garlic and balsamic ketchup glaze, just allowed to caramelize. But I’m here to talk about EREPUBLIK, not food. (OK, both. But let’s move on.)

Specifically, I’m here to interview the former CP candidate (April 2009) King Harambe.

Because I noticed something about King Harambe that instantly told me he was no Russel Stover.






In researching the congressional records on the country-administration page, I observed a phenomenon. King Harambe, a Congressman from the Black Sheep Party, votes in the minority for almost every bill that passes through congress.

If life is like a box of chocolates and earl gray ganache is more interesting than “corn syrup caramel”, (and it is, my friends, it is), then what are the ingredients which make life more interesting?

Dissent.
Minority.
Protest.

These are not the only things that make life interesting. Nor is there anything wrong with caramel. I’d as quickly gobble down a passion fruit caramel bonbon as I would a decent ganache.

So yes, Fidelity, for instance, is something that makes life delicious. Love does it too. There are lots of decadent flavors.

But as soon as I saw King Harambe’s voting record, I took a bite.

I asked him if he’d speak with me…

and he did.

King Harambe is no Russel Stover.





King Harambe has been around for almost 12 years, so you can bet he’s seen a few things. I asked him to share the most memorable episode from his time in EREPUBLIK.

I would have to say that would be the inci invasion. The inci were a large group of Turkish players that turned into a pto group because of mismanagement by the eUS government. I don't think any other event in the history of this country united us more. We won and it was glorious.


I also asked him about his two CP medals.

The experience of being a CP was wildly different than most. I served eSingapore for two terms as CP. Unlike the eUS there is quite a language barrier there, and the infighting was acute. At least here, participants are mostly pro-US and want success here. eSingapore was a mishmash of foreign players, nearly a quarter being a Serbian PTO unit the country was fighting. When I arrived there they had little to no infrastructure. It was a building process from day one but it went a lot better than I thought it would all things considered. I met a lot of great people though, some I still speak to today.


Looking at his True Patriot history, I noticed that his record starts in eCuba. I mistook that to mean that he had been eBorn there. As it turns out, the True Patriot history is only tracked back to Day 1619. King Harambe talked to me about his actual beginnings.

I began e-life signing up in Britain, in mid-to-late 2008. It was an error in the sign-up process. Cuba came into the game later on, always had a IRL crush on Cuba so I made it an in-game thing. The eUS has always been the primary country I've operated in, spending most of my e-time here.


I did some research and found this forum post which describes how several nations, including Cuba, were added to the game. That’s one of the things I have enjoyed about interviewing experienced players, it forces me to find things.




I changed the topic to current eUS politics, King Harambe’s membership in the Black Sheep Party, and the question that had been pressing me right from the start, his voting record. He gave great answers.

It takes a certain kind of player to be a Black Sheep. You have to be loyal to not only the country but the party also. We tend to be a closely knit party, however as players we all have an independent streak. To succeed in the BSP is to play the game at its mechanical basics. And for that we have to thank the stalwarts of our party, people like Henry William French, jadiv, and aarden. Those are the guys that make it happen.


I asked him for three main things about the Black Sheep that makes it such an excellent party.

First would be the people. We have some of the best members in the country in my opinion. Real “I'd have a beer with this person” people. Genuine. Secondly would have to be the will of the party to be independent while also serving the country. Parties tend to lean towards other parties for support, etc. We stand alone, charting our own path; while at the same time understanding that fighting collectively for the country is in all of our interests. Lastly, we're black. Always bet on black.


And what about all those “no” votes?

Personally, I vote down a lot of times because I don't believe the forum should be part of this game and I think nobody should be governed by what someone decrees off-site. Everything outside the confines of this site is rubbish imo. Unenforceable laws don't do anything for me. Banning someone from a meaningless forum does not do anything in-game, and won't ever be able to. A forum for people to have something to do in between clicks is fine, and I would be all for that scenario. However, it isn't used for that. I think this game would be a lot better if these discussions were brought back into the public as they were in the early days. I will continue to vote in the negative until someone has a half a brain to start engaging the public as a whole in-game. The media module is dead for a reason...and that reason is we stopped using it as it was intended.




This was the first time I had heard that the media module was dead. It hasn’t seemed so to me, but I am new enough to have nothing to compare it against. But I wanted to know why King Harambe didn’t publish more himself.

I gave up publishing because nobody was actually listening, the game had moved on journalistically. People like Ajay Bruno pretty much destroyed the concept. It stopped being about actual issues in-game and started being about gotcha. It's amazing how the in-game journalism mirrored IRL journalism. It became something that I didn't want to be involved with. But if government is brought back to the people, that may change.

I for one would LOVE to see what King Harambe would publish in his paper. Hopefully this interview will inspire him to write.



I have found great joy in communicating with all kinds of people in the three weeks I’ve been here. I don’t know how I’ll feel after 12 years, though, so I asked King Harambe about his eSocial life.

Currently, I do not communicate with many outside my party. The situation when I returned was totally different than when I left. I don't really agree with some of the idiotic made up rules regarding fighting and medals, for example I think it's completely backwards to claim that if you hit first in a hour and a half long battle that somehow only YOU are entitled to a BH. It was stupidity like this that drove me away from interactions.

I got tired of classless drooling morons telling me I'm going to 'pay for what I stole' amongst other ridiculous threats. So I just joined the only party that wouldn't require me to be an outgoing participant. However, when I do communicate it is mostly through in-game messaging and shouts. I do supply for the Black Sheep Party as well as the MU. I just started discord, but I am kind of green to it, so it'll take some time to adjust. That said, I don't deny conversation from anyone that hasn't proven themselves unworthy of my time.



I’ll take that as a compliment. Now let’s see how King Harambe did on our:




Ronald Gipper Reagan
Rgr - American traitor

Black Sheep Party
Simply the best

EREPUBLIK day 5,000
Same as 4000

Billie Eilish
Worst bond song

Krapis
Interesting newbie reporter.




What are the strengths and weaknesses of the eusaforums as it pertains to playing EREPUBLIK?

Join the conversation in the comments section below.




I want to extend a huge thank you to King Harambe. He is obviously an awesome player and he states an excellent case for the greatness of the Black Sheep Party and his Congressional record. Since everyone should always enjoy being interviewed by Krapis:






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