Top eUKers of all time - The final part!

Day 1,827, 13:18 Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom by Jimbojoy

This series of articles will focus on 50 players who have in some way, at some time affected the eUK, and explain who they are, what they did, and (in some cases) where they went wrong!



Modern Times basically is defined as the time AFTER the great PEACE invasion of America in 2009. This probably is best described as starting at around October of that year, and Mr Woldy's First Term as President as this was probably one of the most exciting times in terms of leadership. So we'll mark that as the start of this timeline (#nothingTOdoWITHtheFACTthisISaroundWHENiWASborn.)

Being President doesn't qualify you for this, as many failed to make their mark. Likewise, neither is never having been elected to congress, or having to hold a Battle Hero Medal – the actions and players listed will all have had repercussions unanticipated by the admins, and their accreditation system.

And so, with great anti-climax.....We reach the end of the Top 50 eUKers series. We've had surprises, shocks and silliness....but the top 3 positions are filled with the highest calibre players I've ever met.

#3 - Emergy Maxfell

I first encountered Emergy on the forums, after browsing the economic discussions area. Where else would I find the greatest (read greatest ethical) businessman I'm friends (read only man I want to be on) with? Max used to fun two companies named Harmony + Equity in v1, where workers in these comps could earn themselves back a share of the profits. It was a foreshadow of the great help Emergy would give to the eUK through his donations, companies loaned and giveaways organised.

In addition to his market power, Emergy was a member of my favourite arm of the eUK military – the Navy of 2009. After being promoted to Captain of HMS thehorseltd and championing the Indian Fleet's meteoric domination of all inter-fleet competitions (basically friendlies between MU regiments for damage and activity) along with this humble biographer's own ship, the HMS Funky. Certainly I know he can attest to the level of brotherhood and camaraderie without needless roleplay, of the Navy days.



Around this time Emergy entered what can only be described as Phoenix Alliances' answer to the Order of the Knights of the Garter. The oldfag “Ealendil” selected outstanding members of the community, many of whom were his friends, and created a series of care bear themed avatars which underlined their serving nature, while sporting a flag in the colours of each “bear's” own country of origin.

It surely then became clear that a player of so good intent, likeable personality and obvious trust should succeed to the office of the Minister of Finance. And so it came to pass. Emergy was one of the “big three” MoFs in modern eUK history (matching the up-and-coming Carlini who can cash offers out in the 1000s of GBP, and coming close on occasion, and even exceeding when required the standard set down by the six-month Thatcher) bringing a businessman approach to merchant banking within the monetary market, while facing global economic meltdown and a set of ever changing rules. However his biggest contribution stems from auditing that once made McAfee01 sweat. His reporting made the country accounts – and particularly expenditure reports – accessible to ordinary citizens, and perhaps more importantly understandable to congressmen who otherwise would have been left quibbling over pennies. This style is being currently emulated in Talon Karrde's government (Oct-Nov '12) and its clear that Max showed us the way, by taking existing standards and setting the benchmark for the communication of monetary accounting of the Bank of England.

I am loathe to place myself in this report again and again, but I suppose as this is in general from my own opinion rather than directly distilled from common consent. However the deal which I will reveal will be one that I made when Emergy first became Vice-President (vCP) and I served as a junior minister in cabinet. After seeing the pure awesome Mr Maxfell brings to the table I decided he would be my ultimate running mate for a presidential bid. After gaining a gentlemans promise that if I gain high office (PTO AUSTRALIA PEOPLE!), he will majestically run the government, while I steal all the glory (haw haw) – and believe me, there are presidents he has at times carried. I highly recommend any aspiring British politician to seek him out, and make his acquaintance. He'll help you get to the top.

We spoke briefly earlier of avatars and awesome. Max has combined the two on many occasions for eUK players, making GIFs, Bordered MU pictures and graphically creating the two cutest cartoon characters on a newspaper ever. Beg, Borrow or Steal an avatar – this artist will give you a good 'un.


Great Quality and Workmanship!

In our last edition, we discussed the eUK's first CH winner. It must certainly be Emergy who gained the next, because boy does this guy do directed and selected tanking to protect British interests, and those of our allies. He's dug us out of a few tight spots, and we hope he may be around to do so again in the future. With his high level of xp, he'll continue to top the rankings. This is in part due to his use of many WAM companies which he has ploughed profit from v1 into. However here he differs from the oligarch of the liquid cash world (Mr Keers!) and from the off-of the private MU has used his companies on the whole for the benefit of The ESO Legion (I hear they've dropped the ESO – whatever Rodney 😛 ) and also is now single handed running the CTA scheme of free tanks. He's always championed this Call To Arms, and it's great to see it still going, just like its great to see this old hero of the eUK still going. o7 Max!

#2 - Dishmcds

I like a good barney. Dish could make me put on the boxing gloves like no one ever could before or since. We practically disagree on 90% of the game. But then I'm so irrelevant it hardly matters whether he argued with me, compared to the great work he did for the country, our allies (both over time, and now) and for his friends. I heard a rumour that he is planning (or at least being bullied by Thomas and Lionbeard) a return to the game and our world, and I look forward to crossing swords with this great eUKer.



Of course, being Mexican does on the whole hold you back from being a regal and dashing British gent, but then Dish rarely did anything by the book. He was a contemporary of GLaDOS [whose elife I picked apart recently(!)] and similar in the regard of his dual anglo-american citizenship. Interestingly enough he never outrageously advocated a union of the two nations, and indeed was passive to the extreme in the eUK entry to TERRA, rightly urging players to pay heed to the advice (now proven wise) of our resident BritoSerb representative.


No offence intended to any Mexicans - this guy looks awesome!

In the context of modern times, he gained a second CP term in the eUK in early 2010 and was in the premiership during the massive US invasion of that month. It shows and pays dividend to the statesmanship of Dishmcds that he was never accused of traitorship and splitting, but instead was recognised as a great guy, just getting on with the job.



I wouldn't want you to run away with the idea that Dish's excellent management was kind and gentle and full of lambs. Obtuse and dispatching remarks could put off new players, and give older ones casus belli, as came to a head with the epic saga of the House of Lords, and it's ultimate consignment to the eUK scrapheap, along with so many of Goku's multies. What? You thought I could make it through modern times without mentioning perhaps the greatest sheetstorm of our time?



The Commons (Congress) once had an overseeing body of oldfags who were self selecting/electing. They had the power to stop legislation being passed if deemed to be harmful to the eUK. I wouldn't
be able to comment of the success of merits of the HoL, but I do know that THAT is true elitism. Setting up a system to deny people a chance to make change based on their lack of hoop jumping is never right. New Era and populist parties of a anti-establishment nature should take note of the differences between the parties it is so quick to denounce as elitist (UKRP of the modern day, TUP & ESO), with their DEMOCRATIC commitment to provide an environment where any citizen who signs up to the forum, can start to make real change happen, and happen fast. They should know the battles fought by the left (specifically TUP) to guarantee that this fundamental right that all players willing to co-operate can be the sum of their collective success. Perhaps then, it is a sad fact that Dish (although to a lesser extent than Jhorlbutt) supported this overseeing body of “big daddy.” Hell, we all have our demons. In any case, Dish's defeat on this matter was the eUKs gain twofold, as he would focus on being a grouchy poop, but one who would focus on only moving forward – and the eUK's political scene cooled off – something we could do with a little in 2012.

Great fun was had by both sides in the “Battle of the Giants” where Dish took on Mr Woldy in a return-to-CP race that gripped the nation. Although I was glad Mr Woldy got to run the country again, I had high hopes for Mexinchompa, offering to serve in his cabinet (the only TUP member in a sea of old school UKRP 😃 )

Dischmcds is envied for his newspaper, which under the famous guise of “Just Another Guy” charted many of the issues of the day in the eUK and on foreign affairs as well as canvassing for the UKRP on a national level, with a high level of success. Littered with pictures of attractive girls (most notably Keira Knightly and Keeley Hazell), he linked his avatar to these often, usually publishing a photo-shoot of soft porn in the process! :3



Overall, just another guy who contributed to the eUK, did his bit and far more. Come back soon brother, I need sparring practice 🙂

And so we must turn to the best of us all for the top rank. How could I pick from these, the three greatest sons of the eUK? Woldy – a man so jovial and fun to play with that at times the game would barely be worth taking part in but for him. Jamesw – arguably the greatest military strategist in eRepublik history, but lowered by his light fingered contempt of taxpayers money. And Keers, the constant in an ever declining world. A consummate politician and leader of men. (and Diakuns :3 ) Therefore my friends – I give you the greatest three players of modern times (and perhaps forever) – that the eUK has ever seen.

=1 Mr Woldy

Woldy joined the game in 2009 and began his meteoric rise to fame and fortune by joining TUP {I highly recommend this strategy (!)} and by authoring an excellent series of guides for new players. I was one of those lucky enough to read this in my youth, and stay alive because of it. I'm glad I could, as it meant I could follow the career of the eUKs favourite president.

Winning three consecutive terms, including a notable 3 vote victory over Craig Rossiter, Mr W showed a keen set of skills that would assist him in his alliance HQ staff roles. Known for his 8am-2am IRC haunt (famously the man you could always get hold of), Woldy cut his teeth as C-in-C of the country with wars in regions lovingly referred to Midgetland & Jellyland, and regular combat was fought with the pig disgusting swedes.

In eRepublik, most players are inclined to pick a favourite RL personality, or videogame character for their profile picture. Peter Sellers' face has been hitting my shout feed ever since Woldy and I became ingame friends, and we're seen the eUKs top graphic designers each take a turn to give our man the flashiest of fashions to use as his sigil. Long may it continue!


Woldy out and about.

Following on from the success of his premiership Woldy was accepted into alliance HQ for Phoenix (we're talking really earlier modern history here!) as Director for Foreign & Internal Affairs, a kind of MoFA role with added sexual benefits. (He can still walk into any bar in Belgrade and have 50 offers.) He progressed this by reaching the top level of SG later that year. Despite his obvious polarisation towards our friends in the balkans, Woldy found himself well received in the eUS, once even touring the country on a road trip! He has many American chums including Henry Arundel (Michelle Pfeiffer to you!) who is also a member of our royal family. However even with these links to the yanks, Wolds was a vocal opponent of staying clear of TERRA/PANAM, similar to other visionaries who we ignored at the time. With a return to power came his shifting of us towards the ONE side of the street – even if we did get denied by Belgium! 😃

With the Parliament of the eUnited Kingdom passing the Monarchy act to encourage activity, Woldy replaced the dethroned Stephen Fry, becoming the first player-King. This ascension was as glorious as it was far reaching, and this newspaper will one day publish an account of the golden day. As part of his duties, King Woldy (as we shall hereon refer to him as) publishes an annual King's Speech to the nation, which is always very well received. His grace provides (and has done so for 2 years now) schemes for new players under the working title of “Woldean Royal Welcomes.” Any player who signs up for the forums can claim a small present from the crown, and over the past 20 months, Woldy estimates he has given away 90% of his wealth and income (which for a monarch is tiny – and none of it comes from the state.) to these good causes.

So I must take a little time to talk again about myself, because Woldy happens to indulge my idiocy and we join together to make the greatest eRepublik podcast since “Can you hear what I'm saying.” If you haven't heard of Bob Save the King! I'll link you to it in a minutes, but first tell you how it came about. After leaving office after my first term of MoHA- (rual) activity, and the UKSF going south (thanks Thomas!) I needed something to occupy my time in the community. Woldy had been looking to get a podcast going for a while, and after a bit of awkward love-making via Skype, our podcast emerged. Woldy could bring the class, audience and recording software, while I worked on the context, format and editing, and we posted first to our youtube channel, after some dropbox hosting (we couldn't see listener numbers) on this page. There was quite a break throughout Summer 2012, but the show is ready for the re-launch in the pre-christmas season – where it was originally launched back in 2011. You can find us at our new hosting site – Podbean.

We charted the waters of Bob Boblo's House in the previous ranking article, but we did not mention 2009's unsung hero of spam. A quick trip to the forums will allow you to see Woldy's post count, which is even bigger than my epeen. This is in part due to his attacks on innocent bystanders threads, which would be daubed and adorned with the slogan “CONFORM OR LEAVE” giving great mirth to players who could elicit thread blocking of a rivals thread to count further towards their own spammy glory.



And if we are speaking of that time in the early modern era, we should mention that King Woldy once was a member of the Royal Navy & SBS with which he gained high ranks and decoration leading men who give love to men, and who love men for men. A great time was had by those who where able to join the Royal Artillery Regiment alongside their Lord and King in v2, and enjoy his company, witty replies and friendly nature that so endears him to all of us.

Woldy for all the fun and silliness you've given us, cheers from the eWorld.

=1 Jamesw

I have named him above as a purely military player, and done him a great dis-service. Jamesw is one of the eUKs most revered domestic politics guru's. He has served as PP for the major parties for the majority of the modern era, and CP from two of those three. He started off in UKRP and after striking success changed to TUP in a shock January exit. After performing magnificently for the left leaning wing, he connected with high profile player Artela who led the centre right remnants of several parties (BDP, SDP, BEP) to fill the vacuum left by the destruction of RFA as a truly centralist party (fluff and nonsense, you bally fence sitters!) and in doing so formed Every Single One (ESO) who would come to play such a great part in sitting on the fence, mainly about issues such as 1. Getting off the fence and 2. Getting back on the fence procedure, should the fence be fallen on.

We look then, first of all, to his term as Prime Minister under the colours of TUP. I take a passage from his wiki to sum it up "As Prime Minister of the UK, Jamesw hand selected a cabinet to attempt to revolutionize the way the UK was governed, and ensure a lasting system which was effective, popular, but most importantly: was fair. Due to dedicating much of his time to Phoenix, the military, and ensuring good day-to-day governance, he did not succeed; but maintained that only through reform could the UK progress. His presidency was not one of thrift; indeed it turned out to be one of the most expensive in history: with huge operations to protect the jewel in the crown of Serbia, Liaoning, as well as huge spending to try to free the French regions of Acquitaine and Rhone Alps. As well as this, he shared some of the financial clout the UK mustered by assisting both France, Serbia, and Phoenix HQ with hefty loans. His presidency was one of economic solidarity, military growth and was the beginning of the domestic reform.....in the UK. "

After success at leading the country Jamesw joined the seemingly eUK run Phoenix HQ alongside Keers and Woldy, and would come to meet many of the friends would he would later join in TERRA, such as the Brozilians (Hai Polio), Frenchies, Germans and of course SOME CRAZY TURKS. Domestically, the political scene was changing with the rise of the new party seeking to up-end the order of PCPTUPUKRP. When ESO had finally come into it's kingdom Jamesw reached the Zenith of his all time power with positions in PANAM as MC and holding high office as ESO's first ever Presidential election victory. In general he ruled well, with micromanagement equivalent to Mr Brittais, and even made great choices for MoR in his second term of that summer!

However in the July of 2011, when Emergy Maxfell was MoF, Thatcher MoFA, Kevy Kev Kev Junior Shabado as MoHA, Artela the undefeated commanded the troops (MoD), with Hofkens as MoWork and Jimbojoy as Minister of Recruitment, there was the incident that should have changed everything, and stopped a thief’s return to power. But didn't.



There is conclusive proof that Jamesw STOLE the Bank of England. We have it from game mods, who have logs of the affair, and can still prove to this day that cash in forig currencies resides in his account in duplicate copies of the stolen amounts (from the old MM exchange). It was claimed his laptop was stolen while on holiday, and these people were able to log in and move about money. Clearly this is bull, as the chances of eRepulik players with the knowledge of what to do and how being out and about and just “happening” to get hold of the only laptop in the whole that could give them access to all the relevant accounts is 1 to infinity. There is an excellent reference article to confirm this, which we will mention later. Needless to Jamesw was impeached, and that should have been the end of his political career. Exile and party ostracism usually would beckon to a player fallen from grace, but Jamesw simply lay low for a time.



Despite this incident being so high profile, it was a needless as it was stupid. Jamesw was and is a highly successful businessman in all iterations of the economic game, working with Iain Keers in v1 to dominate through joint ventures and building up a huge company base for commune supply thereafter. Thus the ESO Legion flourished under the excellent and helpful level of supplies that James and Emergy (among others) could provide to benefit all citizens of the eUK who wanted in.

And so after roughly a year of this low level of frontline “loud noise” interaction with the eUK it became clear ESO had not provided a President, nor would it be able to elect it's protégée BigAnt until it reaffirmed its viability to the country through a month of solid governance. And so the campaign started to gain traction. “Bring Jamesw back they said. It'll be great they said.” And so began the return to glory, and the road to redemption. A campaign was fought against him, showing the proof of his previous actions, and why it would be terrible for the country for him to return. Thatcher (universally respected for his honesty by all sides) wrote an open letter urging the eUK not to open itself up to the possibility of the unthinkable happening and letting a second term happen, and a possible second theft from the BoE.

However, the eUK would not listen to reason it seemed, and James was spectacularly elected. And yet, he gave the country what it needed, and what was quite unexpected of him. I rate this term as (although in general far more boring than previous ones) his best. He concentrated on uniting the UK providing schemes to help players, alliance work and making the eUK grab its mojo back, after the terribad inactivity of the Appleby regime. The little chav restored our confidence in him, and did it in style. This commentator must admit you have reformed more in modern era than UKRP have managed to in 4 years (haw haw haw – that's a funny.)



We've been talking of podcasts, did Jamesw ever do one you may ask? Well the answer to that my friends is of course! You can find just one example here: (Where Hassan – an ex eUK CP created an editorial piece on eRepublik) http://www.erepublik.com/es/article/perpetual-gaming-why-do-we-play-erepublik--1470315/1/20

The only criticism of Jamesw in the modern modern era (we must be entering a new one soon!) is that his forum posts are bordering on the moralfag. Please inform him that he doesn't need to be above everyone in the comments – I miss Jamesw's crushing replies and witty asides, so bring them back for 2013 please!

Overall, James gave the eUK a stable foot in Phoenix with other ex-CPs, great terms of government, drama from his theft, lulz from his announcements, help from his generosity and fun from all the antics he got us to take part in. All is forgiven fallen angel, but not forgotten. Keep clicking away you chavvy chimney sweep.



=1 Iain Keers

Keers rules the roost, not necessarily by choice. It's pretty much obvious you need the best people in the right places at the right time, and Iain can usually fulfil these criteria with both hands tied behind his back.

In modern times, Keers battled his way through the forums when it was harder to break into eUK politics, but his perseverance would drive eventual success, most notably when TUP overtook UKRP as the biggest domestic party in his term as PP. This would launch him to the fore of the public consciousness.



Alongside this backdrop of internal country politics, Iain was a rising star in Alliance relations, and key in the eUKs continuing and enduring friendships with countries such as Serbia and Hungary. This would lead to his involvement as a PEACEKeeper (the elite alliance fighting unit) and assisting in exciting and dynamic battles the world over. I'm sure we could rake over incidents presided over and old friends now gone, but certainly we can remember the epic battles for Hellokitty, London and Lionking with a fondness for the epic.

All the way from the start of his playing days Iain has been an excellent communicator, and supplies articles with his “economist” themed paper. Journalism is yet another of his successful facets of the game with around 4.5k subscribers (even after the admin genocide of dead subs.) - with excellent articles produced to entertain the eUK, with samples of his material such as open letters to the admins and other countries, analysis of the markets and/or wars, commentary of the latest alliance machinations and set forth his ideas with acknowledged bias, something all good writers (and historians) should make clear to their audience. I myself know this document shows the history of the eUK from my own view – but have tried to take on board feedback from every player who would give it.



So we must come to the charge of the light 313 brigade! We have discussed the HoL, but we have not yet quite noted Iain's unique contribution to removing it from the statue book. His constant campaigning and rallying the left to join together (combined with good TUP election success) gave the votes require to abolish the house.

Eventually he could not put off a CP term, browbeaten by members of his own party and citizens from across the political spectrum (that’s an RFA joke kids!) alike. Leading the country across the change into v2, the army was quickly reformed into four blocks, strategies developed for the new battlefield and new mechanics mastered – and passed onto his citizens via articles and forum posts. Never had the eUK had so much access to content designed to push the boundaries of collaboration with regard to balancing work and fighting times (as per the game mechanics of the time.) 2010 was also the time that he rose to Phoenix SG, and confirmed Oldfag/emeritus status. He warned against the dangers of joining PANAM, and was (unfortunately for my love of French cuisine) ultimately proven right.

Iain once was a community mod, when it was the time where the admins could/would on occasion listen to major players, CPs and gold buyers (of which there were far less), and provided some ideas via the media module on where developments should go. However ideas such as limited wellness packs were infamously ignored in the clamour for endless profit.

Keers is famed for his wealth, after building up crazy amounts of cash in v1, using much of it up, fighting a bit on the tankish side, and now refusing to fight over the constant offers that permeate our home screens. He is taking the time to re-assert his oligarchy of Russian black gold, and yet is using it to really benefit the citizens of the eUK, similarly to Emergy and Jamesw, in the regard he offers great supplies through the TUP Family MU. It is the same service that the aforementioned provide – all who want to join in can, you just have to make the decisions to join in, in the right places, and prove you want to help the eUK through fighting hard 🙂



This year he returned to the premiership with emphatic style, showing the country still values what he can bring as a leader. After a fairly quiet month on the whole, TUP Family really got going and Talon Karrde could continue the work Iain began. One point of contention has been Iain's position as Minister of Immigration (MoI) which is a role he took on after the previous citizenship committees had failed. With the best contacts in the business and sound judgement he has done an excellent job, despite constant undeserved and non-constructive criticism. Bowing out of the role in late 2012, he has left a legacy in a new system for deciding entrants to our nation.

So Iain Keers has provide us with Leadership, Finance (Who else loans us 1 million GBP + !) and great journalism. He claimed us a big slice in the eWorld – far bigger than we deserve for our size – and kept us there, and allowed others to do so. Running an MU's supplies boosts our damage, and giving TUP's political opponents someone to hate on is great – I get less abuse 😃 We need to keep hold of this old player. Just as much as we need to develop a need generation of eUKers to lead, inspire and keep this country as fun as it is.

And there ends our story. I thank you all for the patience that you, my readers have shown in this series! When my old laptop wiped itself – I was afraid I'd lost all the files. I'm happy to relate I found my back up memory stick and you have been bored to tears with the results (and a few additions to update the past 6 months) 😃

I'll be looking for new journalistic pursuits and hopefully you'll join me on this journey – I promise to publish more often and more entertainingly! 🙂



Yours Ever

Jimbojoy

p.s. Check that podcast out at http://bobsavetheking.podbean.com/