My Christmas Wish for eUK

Day 1,495, 09:57 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by James Keiller

eUK has been wiped for the first time. It will have no Congress or resource bonuses for a while. Other than that, eUKers will find that life goes on pretty much as normal. As an eIrishman, I speak from experience of several eIreland wipes.

Wipes are not permanent. The game makers recognise that few people are likely to log in every day for a life of unending bondage (Old Etonians, and the like, being the exception) and have set the New World up accordingly. Inevitably, the eUK will be back.

For me, the interesting question is whether recent events will affect the way eUK citizens perceive themselves and behave into the future. The eUK has lost two shibboleths in quick succession - the capture of Fortress London by eCanada and now the distinction of being one of only two countries never to have been wiped. In my opinion, such things are more likely to have a lasting effect on the eUK psyche than the temporary loss of regions.

I have been keeping an eye on the eUK media and forums for any sign that the eUK has begun to reflect on how they ended up where they are today. The main eUK opinion formers have been staying quiet, at least in the public eye. I wonder about that. The media vacuum is largely being filled with articles by newer players, and while this is always welcome, they tend to lack the perspective a more experienced writer can bring.

The senior players who have written articles, Dishmcds and Kravenn, have both put forward the view that the game is cyclical. The eUK is a victim of tectonic shifts in the struggle between EDEN and ONE. The eUK is a victim of its location at the nexus between these two alliances. And, to paraphrase Billy Bragg, if we wrap ourselves up in the Union Jack and just carry on the same, we will prevail in the end.

I believe this analysis fails to acknowledge the fundamental role the eUK played in its own downfall.

There is a reason why the eUK has never been wiped before - it’s bloody difficult. It takes a coalition of people who really want to shaft you.

There are reasons (which are not unrelated to each other) why the opponents of eUK were so incandescent, while the friends of eUK were so comparatively lukewarm in this campaign that have nothing to do with the EDEN/ONE conflict and everything to do with how a long succession of eUK governments has behaved towards its neighbours, friend and foe alike.

To take one example, eIreland has spare Fruit, eUK has spare Fish. You don’t need to be Henry Kissinger to see the potential for a mutually profitable arrangement between the two countries. But every eIrish CP who tried to broker peace faced only the scorn of their eUK counterpart.

The analysis of Dish and Kravenn also fails to offer any vision for the future other than that of bobbing in and out on the tides of fortune. This game is cyclical only if everybody continues to do the same thing.

The current situation provides the eUK with an opportunity to rethink itself as a country and as a neighbour. And come out the better for it in 2012.

I wish all my fellow players (for this is a game) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.