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Introduction

Ladies and Gentlemen, you might already think tl;dr in that case just vote and subscribe.
Anyway I am bringing today to you an interesting little interview with the 3 main candidates of the upcoming presidential elections. I have done no editing whatsoever, so that you can judge their style as well as their answers.
In any case I would like to strongly urge everyone of you to read all the manifestos from every candidate before voting. Its important not just to vote because of party alliance but because you think its the right person for the job.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you came to play eRepublik?

John Bartlett: Well I'm a gamer at heart and one of my favourite types are strategy games. I randomly used google one day looking for a new one to try and eRep came up. I thought I'd give it a go and almost exactly one year later here I am still, mostly because of the awesome community we have.

Pensive: Actually believe it or not: from one of the sinister chans; lol. eMerica was advertising there and I decided to sign up and see what happens. I'd previously played some RPGs, OGame and a few MMORPGs in the past and they never had the level of attainment that I had seeked in a game. To sign up for the eUK was never in doubt really; but when I joined the navy after that I was pretty much hooked.

Glados: I came to play erepublik through a little website called 4chan. I was browsing the /v/ forum and suddenly saw a recruitment add for erepublik and a little nation called /v/akistan. everything else is history.

Why should someone read your manifesto?

JB: To Learn about my Plans, Policies and ideas to better our country.

P: Well I believe it's important for all the voting public to read every manifesto. Any voter should read the manifestos and then determine who is the correct candidate to take the country forward before deciding. This is the time of month that allows the voting public to have their say about how the country is run and shouldn't necessarily from whatever political party line you joined when you started the game.

G: People should read my manifestos because they explain why I am the best person to lead our country in the coming month.

In your cabinet on which of these will your emphasis lie: Knowledge, Experience, Capability or Friends and Favours?

JB: Well as I said in our earlier IRC conversation, Knowledge, Experience and Capability were the exact words I used to describe my choice. Obviously with the version 2 update coming, we will all have a massive learning curve. This is why my focus will be on proven past capability.

P: Well I read this as a priority question, since it will contain mostly 4 out of 5. Like all good governments it contains a bit of everything really:

Capability - First of all the member of cabinet has to be able to do the job requested of them and do it well. This trumps all other items.

Knowledge - Being able to adapt to a situation without being requested to; or changing something that you see doesn't quite work is a skill that makes the country run so much better. Cuts down on the paper trail which is always a good thing.

Friends - Obviously in a government; it's important to have friends. Can't all be business every hour of every day; else you could just hire in a robot to do Prime Minister. It's important to chill out now and again.

Experience - Why below friends? It was tough to choose between them but I did ultimately because experience can be gathered together on a month by month basis. Although some people may be very experienced; there may be a case of "I could never work with person X" (not because of alignments; just their personality) or "person Y has done it all wrong this month". Or it could be the case of someone could hold a post forever and never do much of anything.

Favours - I don't really like them whatsoever. Although I do believe that if someone works for you they earn your respect and as such you feel obliged to make sure they are happy playing the game obviously.

G: My cabinet will have an emphasis on knowledge and capability.

What is the first thing you will do/change when you are in office?

JB: Well I will be removing the post of Minister of Defence. As I said in my military manifesto, after talking to key military leaders, one of the main things I got back from them is that the post of MoD is no longer required. As the Chief of Defence Staff runs the military, the MoD is just an extra layer.

P: Firstly; get our House of Commons doing more work for all. There has been complaints regarding a certain chatroom change that was held ingame and the amount of votes it received just didn't add up for me - today it may be a chatroom but tomorrow in an absolute worst case scenario it could be Minimum Wage or a donate to an illegal organisation. I would try to aim for as many votes for every proposal as possible as well as a system to ensure all proposals get used up for the general good; rather than just for the purpose of some extra XP.

G: The first thing I plan on doing as prime minister is implementing the no.10 downing newspaper, as outlined in my domestic affairs manifesto.

Although a good PM Karaticus has been criticized for low activity/presence, how will you avoid that (this happens esp. with first time presidents)?

JB: I will have a strong team which will allow me to keep up my high activity that can be seen both on the national forums and on IRC.

P: Well (for the most part) I'm going to try and stay in channels I am in now. Some have raised my activity in regards to talking about stuff; but one can always improve (nobody is perfect) so it's good to have a level of good and bad critique. Life would be boring if everyone agreed with you all the time.

G: I will avoid this by maintaining my online status, and not allowing myself to fall behind in the game.

How can the UK benefit from V2 under your leadership?

JB: I will make use of API tools which will allow greater efficiency and productivity and I plan on laying the ground works for V2 immediately. I also plan on funding the military as much as possible so we can make sure we can get the most out of the version change over.

P: I think the country will definitely come out for the better; and that is ultimately the objective of any Prime Minister who ever steps up to the plate. I've done some good work in conjunction with the military command team this month so I believe my leadership is pretty good; but ultimately I've had few complains during my time so that is a positive. I've also earned a lot of respect amongst my own party in regards to leadership with many members asking me questions about things they want to know. I also believe I can adapt to Version 2 pretty quickly due to being currently managing changes within the military and leaving any potential changes for the nation as open ended as possible to ensure compatibility with the new version.

G: I have more than a year of experience under my belt, and I believe that with the help of the brain trust, I can be more than ready for the V2 transition.

What do you see as the main challenge next term (dont just say V2)?

JB: Well obviously version 2 is going to be the main challenge for next term, it will require us to all learn how it works together. However I also foresee some of the current alliance issues may require some attention. Utilising the new API capabilities that will come in with V2 will also be a challenge.

P: V2 - derp.
But in all seriousness IMO; World Alliances. EDEN may fracture completely and I personally believe the new Brolliance will make a more pushing stage to the front lines; so no doubt requires a steady awesome diplomatic team to ensure it all goes smoothly.

G: I see the main challenge next term as getting people to enjoy the game and be more active. as you know, this month we had a ridiculous population decline. I want to make this game fun again, and reverse that trend.

Points that set you campaign apart (ie why are you the better candidate)?

JB: While the other candidates talk about their ideas, they don't layout how they will bring them about, where as I believe in my manifesto I lay out clearly how to accomplish what I promised.

P: I believe I have the most overall experience within the current government and thus know the best methods of getting stuff done. I also have a chocload of good ideas that I'm dying to get implemented; personally I believe they are more interesting than the others but I'm perhaps biased.

Do you have some key values that you always hold true? (such as dignity, efficiency, honesty etc?)

JB: I have a strong sense of motivation, honesty and loyalty and I believe these are some key qualities in a leader.

P: Above all I've always held a high pride for my work. I also knuckle down and get stuff done at all costs; even when I've had a bad day. I'm also never been scared of challenging the system even when it made some people dislike me. I also take setbacks in my stride use them to grow personally and swallow my pride to admit when I am wrong (if most people did this the eUK would be a better place).

G: My key values are hard work, integrity and truthfulness!


Famous last words?

JB: We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender you ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to serve as us. Resistance is futile.
P: Just want to quote my forum signature here (it is important to me): "The socialism I believe in is everybody working for the same goal and everybody having a share in the rewards"; choose to vote for me on the 5th and start sharing the rewards.

G: Shadow is a butt pass it on!