One Year

Day 753, 23:49 • Published in USA USA • by Gaius Julius
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt~

In this current day and age of Modern Warfare 2 and Mass Effect it is tough to imagine playing a game day in and day out for a whole year. To dedicate possibly hours every day to a browser, some IRC client and a crap load of google docs seems boring. Heck I love playing games on my huge ass wide screen hi def tv. Yet eRep doesnt "look" good. There are flaws and I have daily frustration with this game. So after one year I had to sit down and say why do I still play this game and how can I sum up one year? While unlike the epic auto-biographies people normally write I am going a different route. Instead my 1 year article will be about the 8 people (people is a lose term because some our groups) that keep me playing this game.

btw, though my profile says I was born on the 8th I am 100% sure it is wrong , and today really is 1 year for me.


1.) Lucius Varenus and Eugene Harlot:
What can I say about Lucky. When I first met him and had a lengthy convo with him, I was scared out of my mind. Lucky was like this sick crazy dude who ran the Marines. He was like the supreme bad ass. However over time I discovered he is possibly the coolest guy in this game. On top of his sheer coolness Lucky helped me keep my sanity in the early days of my presidency. I had his pm in game on speed dial and every time he was on IRC I was pming him. He deals with my extreme OCD (yes I am like that with some stuff) better than anyone. I knew no matter what I could trust Lucky. Without him I would have probably quit after a week of being President. I can fondly recall our escapades in the allied command channel. Now that he is retired from the US military leadership our convos have gone from seriousness to pure fun. Its fun to recall stories of who got more dunk over the weekend. We've had our rough spots but honestly if I had to pick someone to have my back when I get into a fight, Lucky is the man and I hope he knows I have his back as well even if he doesn't believe me.Thanks Lucky for getting me through the toughest days and always sticking up for me.
I have to say Harlot and I probably got off to a rough start. He came back as CJCS right when I became President. I am pretty sure he thought I was some punk politico who thought I knew more. It took a while and a lot of sleepless nights to win him over but I am pretty sure after two months of being President I won him over.
What can I say, Harlot is one of those people you are absolutely stunned to meet on the Internet of all places. He is not only an awesome guy in game but a kick ass dude IRL. I can not explain how much I owe Harlot for most of my successes and achievements. Harlot turned me from some cocky dim-witted button presser to the person I am today. I hold his advice and opinion above all others in this game. Having to fill Harlot's shoes is the toughest job I have faced yet, and I work hard everyday to prove he placed his trust in the right guy.
Recently I have gotten to know him a lot better, and probably my proudest moment was when Harlot handed the US military (his prize masterpiece) over to me. Now Harlot and I sit around talking about crazy stuff, sometimes its super awesome military plans (heres looking at you Hungary) and sometimes its awesome cocktails and scientology. I think you can rarely say "oh I'm glad I got to know this person I met on the internet", but with Harlot you definitely can.


Harlot is easily spotted in this pic, as is Lucky (hint Lucky is the guy in the only other epic pose) also Sukoidha and Paradiziac are the guys with the crappy job pushing ice away wkwkwk

2.)Croatia:
Yes not a person, but frankly I love these guys. While Canada will always be my first and only bro love. Croatia could give it a run for its money. When I was President, Croatian players commented my articles more frequently than US players. This has continued with Croatians constantly commenting on my article. Even when there was a slight disagreement in The Allied Forces and Croatia was a little grumpy with the US, they still loved me! Thanks for making me feel appreciated Croatia, I'll stand with you no matter what. Frankly Croatia is one of the countries that keeps me coming back to this game, if I ever left the US it would be to move to Croatia.



3.)Jewitt:
What can I say, I love this guy. Bear with the long slightly brotacular tale. Jewitt and I met when I still idol worshiped him. The worship continued for a long time. You could tell Jewitt was possibly the epitome of awesome. He was smart, wrote jawesome articles and just plain rocked. So I watched and listened and learned from this guy. Our mentor-mentee relationship turned into a friendship. Like every friendship we've had our low points but no matter my belief that Jewitt and I are the best friends in this game has never wavered. I am honored to know this guy because frankly no matter what I could ever do (President, CJCS etc etc) I'll always feel like he outshines me. People often have to deal with jealousy in friendships thats not a problem with me. If I was the poorest least successful person in this game I wouldnt care as long as Jewitt was doing well. Hell I'd take an ebullet for this guy and if somehow the Admins in their benevolent glory told me I had to choose between continuing playing or Jewitt I'd pick the latter every single time. He's my best friend in eRep and a great friend IRL. One day we'll have that party and you can buy the beers for all those achievements I got before you.




4.)Dish and Collins:
The two people I dislike the most in this game, for reasons of course I cannot disclose on eRepulik (accusations and insults and what not). You know those people you just want to beat and make them regret ever messing with you? Yah these two guys are them. I like Zoli, Arthk is at least reasonable and Gladdos is cool sometimes. Dish and Collins have just made me angry at just about every turn of my e-life. So here is to the two guys who keep me in this game so I can wipe the smug grins off their faces.


5.)Allies:
The image of a bunch of important people sitting in some command bunker making uber important decisions, is not what comes to mind when I think of these guys. Instead really the allies are some of the most fun I've had during this game. Don't get me wrong we do work, see: Manitoba, Nunavut, NWC, Slavonia etc etc. However inbetween the important stuff they make sitting on IRC fun. From making derogatory comments at each other to mocking our enemies, we have a lot of fun. People like Domiboss, Shoot, St00r, Durruti, Lavanche, Che Greco and others make being part of EDEN/The allies fun. Those who think they can break up EDEN with propaganda don't truly understand the ties we share. By the way, Shoot and St00r the Pic below is for you!



5.)The US military:
The finest group of individuals I have ever met. The eUS military if like a family to me. I am proud to serve with every soldier Trainee on through Marine. You guys are the finest military force in the world. This is not because of who leads you (I heard the guy who is CJCS is a loser) but because everyone of you are dedicated and committed. The US military is a family that can never be separated and you guys are my brothers and sisters. Special shout out to Sukoidha, NXNW, Joe DaSmoe and all my other mil friends.



6.)Will Duncan:
The coolest Canadian I know, this guy is the definition of Bro. I got to spend a whole month broing it out with him when we were Presidents. Frankly I can't think of anyone I would want to share the brodom with more than Will. I mean we were like the greatest cooperative pair ever, we read each others minds and we're great at playing bait and switch with Russia. I'd happily have a cold one with this dude anytime.



7.)China:
Im gonna free you or die trying, btw the cool new thing to comment in articles is "FREE CHINA".

8.) The New Player:
I cant help it I love newbs so much its not even explainable. There is nothing more wonderful then watching some player who pm'd you when they started, achieving something awesome. Looking back I've known a lot of people who I knew from day 1 and I'm amazed to see what they have become. I got here because of awesome people like Kyle321n, Tiacha and yes even Alby. I can think of no greater duty then to pass that kindness onto the new guys who will one day be the leaders of eRepublik.

So yeah, 1 year its mad me angry, sad and joyous. I seriously considered quitting when I got to this point. However as you see above my work is not yet done and there are lots of people I would miss. Sorry if you were not included in this article. Its just that I didnt want this to become an epic wall of text. Maybe a year from now I'll publish a two year article, who knows?

-Gaius Julius
Way too young, yet feeling old