Join the new world

The original interview can be found at http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-uswp-writers-guild-5-9-11-1769578/1/20, but since it is buried somewhat down the page, I thought I would go ahead and mirror the original draft here.

How long have you been a member of the eUS Army?

While I’ve only been in the eUS Army for 44 days, prior to that I was in the USNG. During the short lifespan of the Libertarian Party’s militia, I was a member of A.L.A.R.M. Finally, as a member of the Socialist Freedom Party, I had decided to contribute the resources I have to be one of the Quartermasters for the SFP Bear Cavalry.



What is your Military rank in the Army?

Fighter First Class



You just became a Campaign Hero for the first time, and yet again five days later, how did you feel?



In Pennsylvania, I didn’t feel so much a Campaign Hero as a Campaign Manager. As you may know the resistance war in Pennsylvania was a Region Swap with Canada. Due to this there was no official support from the Military. This lack of official support also increased my probability of winning the Campaign Hero medal. As I had won the auction to start this resistance war, it was my responsibility to preserve my chance to win the Resistance Hero medal that would be awarded once this resistance war was won. I was basically tracking the battle for 12 hours, sitting in front of the computer, keeping the wall pushed past 50%. I was sending a lot of PMs to opposing parties in eCanada explaining that this was a region swap and that there was no need to push the wall past 50%. These recipients would usually be players enthusiastically attempting to get a Battle Hero medal. Every time I would see an icon on the top of the screen pushing the wall past 50%, another PM would get sent. And every time the wall got pushed past 50%, more Wellness Packs would get purchased so I could add my influence to the miinibattle and get the wall pushed in our favor. Due to this, in addition to winning Battle Hero for Battle #1 and Battle #7, I can take credit for helping to ensure that the eUS won all eight minibattles with eCanada winning none.



With the Gulf of Mexico, Cantabria in Spain was in Battle #7 or #8 and we were assured a victory by the percentages and we were shutting them out. So, I looked for a battle where I could make a difference and saw that we were just under 50% in Gulf of Mexico and did what I could to push the wall in our favor.

Battle #4 was difficult. Battle #5 was less so. During Battle 6, I don't know if we received extra support from our side, as it took even less influence to keep the wall in our favor -- I even saw a Battle Hero Medal Hunter applying influence when it wasn't needed -- or if Mexico just gave up as they knew that we weren't rolling over.

I took a much needed nap for the rest of Battle #6, all of Battle #7 and the beginning of Battle #8. My alarm clock woke me up and I checked Battle #8 to see if we were still on track. Battle #8 was firmly in our favor, so I didn't see a need to get involved. During Battle #8, I even saw a Battle Hero Medal Hunter, with Supreme Marshal* Military Skill and 5,500+ Strength, from Romania applying influence when it wasn't needed instead of joining his Romanian brethren -- fighting against Hungary in Oltenia -- where his influence could have made a difference.



While I was able to contribute 300+K influence towards both battles[/url], it doesn’t compare to the millions of influence that our “Tanks” tend to deliver in heavily contested battles.





I know that a party leader is a busy person but you managed to become a Campaign Hero even if you have a party to take care of, how did you achieve this performance?

Ordinarily, I have a routine. During Mass Attacks on IRC, there is a lot of dead time I can use to deal with Socialist Freedom Party and Model Congress business and keep myself current on what is going on in the forums and other IRC channels. I work and train right after server reset and after that I check the “Citizen Help” spreadsheet for new entries of players requesting Mentors.

Truthfully, all RL activities went by the wayside during this particular campaign. As I knew my day would be free, that prompted me to bid on one of the Resistance Wars that Secretary of Defense Avruch was auctioning off in #us. During the first seven minibattles, I was multitasking between the battlefield, IRC and the forums. During the eighth battle, I went “AFK”. Ironically, probably due to that minibattle happening in the early AM hours -- which is prime time for me due to my messed up circadian rhythm -- that battle was uneventful. I was expecting Campaign Hero to be sniped away from me by some Campaign Hero medal hunter. Fortunately, that never occurred.



What do you think about the eUS Army? Do you have any suggestions for it?

The people in the eUS Army, and the other branches I’ve been in, are terrific. I would say that the two areas it can see improvement are in keeping the Branch Orders up to date by assigning the task to multiple people who are available at varying times and more “top down” communication -- communication down the chain of command -- as well as positive reinforcement in response to jobs that are “well done” by us “grunts”.



What are your plans for the future?

My long term plans are to become a “Tank”. I hope to accomplish this by “Napoleoning” my strength training, instead of using “Boot Camp” as I’ve previously done -- as I profit sufficiently from my companies to do this -- and continuing to use all 300 of my wellness each day to build up my Military Skill.

I would also like to continue being part of the Department of the Interior and, in addition, find some way of accomplishing my dream of an Arm America that distributes 300 wellness per day to “newbs” to rapidly build up their Military Skill. “Make them strong, like bull.”



Would you like to say thank you to someone for helping you achieve this performance?

I would like to thank all of the members of the Socialist Freedom Party who have created a place which I feel I can call home. I would especially like to thank Uhriventis who is always there to offer support and cheer me on. He also put his all into Battle #7.



Do you have any advice for the young soldiers which would like to become great army fighters one day?

* Work, train and collect your reward every day.
* Save your Gold to purchase companies to become self-sufficient, so you can use all 300 of your wellness each day.
* Use the profits you earn from your companies to purchase Gold from the money market -- despite how long that may take with the devalued USD -- to boost your strength training.
* “Boot Camp” provides the best bang for your buck.
* If you’re independently wealthy, then you can buy Gold from the Admins and “Napoleon”.
* Don’t use Wellness Packs unless you are already using Tanks, as Q5 Weapons provide the best bang for your buck in delivering influence -- and even then only when you are able to deliver a set amount of influence.
* Treat others as you would like to be treated.



Some CH ignored my request or just said no, why did you choose to answer my questions?

I believe you have two types of people in life, those who decide to be helpful and build peoples’ aspirations up and those who decide to be harmful and tear peoples’ aspirations down. During the auction for the two Resistance Wars that were occurring that day, I saw an example of the latter. One thing that convinced me to be a Mentor and then Director of the eUS Mentors Program, was my desire to help people. By participating in this interview, I believe I am helping you with your article and helping those who read it, by providing an example to be followed.



Do you regret the time spent in eRep? Why?

As a former Software Quality Assurance Test Engineer, I regret the bugs that exist in eRepublik and wish I could participate in a separate beta testing program to help resolve those bugs, but I don’t regret playing eRepublik itself.

Being an introvert, I’m not the most social of people, and in RL it has been hard for me to get out of the house as much as I used to, so I value eReuplik as a means for me to socialize with others online -- to develop online relationships that are difficult for me to develop in person. I value every positive conversation I have on IRC and in the forums as a result of playing eRepublik.