Join the new world

White House Press Release - Erepublik Day 3,887
Thursday Weekly Edition

Today's WHPR News:
• A Brief Explanation of the WHPR Schedule
• This Week's Administration Interview
• Mass Attacks Continue
• Epic Battles... Wha?
• eUSA Pets feature



Housekeeping - All About This Term's WHPR

Ya'll may have noticed something peculiar about the WHPR as of late. Namely, we're making an effort to commit to regular issues. Originally The Mike asked for one issue a week and I thought that perhaps two a week would be better. Why twice a week? Because super long articles reduce readership, for starters. But mostly because I wanted to see if I could do it. So... I committed to the Prez that I would coordinate publication of two issues a week, one on Sundays and the other on Thursdays. Sunday issues would include mostly information about the Mass Strikes/Attacks, along with some military educational content. I added some simple features to lighten the content as well. Thursday issues would include an interview with a member of the administration along with an article about other government programs.

This initial Thursday article will just barely make the deadline and won't include anything on other admin programs but it will have an interview plus some kewl kontent. Thanks for listening, I hope you all come to expect regular publication and begin to look forward to each issue.



Interview with an Administration Prisoner Member

This week's victim: BigCDaddy!



This week's Thursday edition of the WHPR is pleased to bring to you a special interview with BigCDaddy, the current Chief of Staff and member of the sexy bald man avatar club. Other current members include Feynmann. Welcome, BigCDaddy, and thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the WHPR. So you registered to play eRep many years ago in 2012 but only recently rejoined the game. What on earth made you decide to come back and play again?

When I walked away from the game I was a newly-wed with a new career and was working 60 hours a week to make ends meet. Leaving eRep became more of a necessity than anything because of the drain it put on my time. So when things calmed down a little bit, I tended to float in and out to see old friends. The tipping point was when I stopped in 4-ish months ago after getting an email from EZC and was told that I was needed. The country was in bad shape, and my party and MU both needed my help, so I stuck around for a little bit. That somehow has lead to me playing religiously again.

Tell me about your relationship with the current Prez, The Mike. What's it like to work with him and what brought him to you? Do you have a history with him?

Mike and I have surprisingly little history together. We've obviously interacted in congress, NSC, during mass strikes, and on other national issues, but the only real work that we had done together prior to this month was in Rainy's cabinet. I came to him about what help I could offer this month, and we hit an easy stride together pretty much immediately, which lead to me being his Chief of Staff.

What's been the biggest challenge of the new term so far?

There are two big challenges this month. The first is figuring out what to do about the wipe. It's been our number one focus this month, and it's the topic of conversation literally every day. We're testing all options in order to make progress on that front. The other challenge is dealing with the "new normal" when it comes to eRep activity. There are fewer players, people spend less time daily on the game, and in turn it makes things like communication and military campaigns harder. Luckily we've been blessed with some great players coming back, and individuals stepping up to fill the gaps left by our losses, but it's a hurdle that we have to deal with nonetheless.

Can you share with our readers your personal goals for this term and how they might be able to best gauge your success as Chief of Staff?

While it may sound like a cop out, my goal for the month is to accomplish Mike's goals. Things like, making sure that our mass strike's go off without a hitch, making sure that WHPR goes out on time, and generally keeping the wheels turning in the executive. All of this is of course building to the end goal that we all share, ending the wipe.

Crap, I'd better get busy with this WHPR thing... -PiZ

Just what the hell does a Chief of Staff do, anyway? This isn't an in-game position, so why does it exist? Is this yet another one of those crazy meta-politic positions that people complain about?

In some ways it is just a crazy made-up meta position. There's no mechanical reason for the CoS to exist, but the role has definitely become necessary. My role is basically to communicate with, organize, and help in any way I can with the different departments of the executive. The Mike is a single person, and as much as he tries, he can't be everywhere at once, or be online 24/7. So the CoS works to keep the day to day operations going, so that the POTUS can focus on the big things that need him.

The way it was described to me back when I started playing is that the executive operates as a body. The President is obviously the brain, and WHPR is the mouth, while the other departments are the arms and legs. The Chief of Staff works like the central nervous system, making sure that all of the limbs are working according to what the brain dictates. It's not a glamorous position, but it's an important one.

Why would you want to do this job? It sounds dreadful. (Full disclosure, the author was a CoS for Harrison Richardson WAY back when.)

Haha it can be, but it's something that I'm good at. I got my first taste of this role in the Feds about 5 years ago, and learned that I excel at it. It's a natural fit for me, and working under a President that I actually believe in makes it that much more bearable. This is the best way for me to contribute to the country.

Let's shift gears for a bit. What's been the best thing about eRep since you've returned?

The people have always been what makes eRep worth playing. None of us would be here without each other.

I cannot disagree with you on this. I wish all the unique, interesting people would stick around both in game and on the forums. When was the last time you played?

Before my comeback I had been gone for almost 3 years.

Were you prepared for the changes to the game? How about the changes to the eUSA since you last kicked around here, anything that surprised you? Is there anything you noticed that HASN'T changed but perhaps should?

The changes to the game were more jarring than the changes to the country. The lack of activity took a lot of getting used to, and air battles were their own animal to learn about. Other than that, the game is just a slowed down version of what it was years ago.

Any last [strikethrough] final words you would like to share with our readers? Advice? Smack? Props?

Hold Fast. These are tough times for the country, but as long as we can start to put aside our differences and work together as a country, we'll be through it soon enough.

Also thank you Pig for the interview, bald avatars unite!

Thanks for agreeing to the interview, BigC. It's always good to get a shaver instead of some youthful thick-headed type. Back to the salt mines with you.



Mass Attacks Continue

There were two more mass strikes earlier this week - one on Wednesday at 900 eRep time and one earlier today at 1200 eRep time. Both are building on the successes of previous strikes. These strikes will continue into the foreseeable future. The next mass strike will be this Saturday, July 14 (eRep day 3,889) at 1500 eRep time. Watch the eUSA national feed on your eRep home page for announcements of the target close to the announced time. For added fun, join in on Discord. In the meantime, put these times down on your calendar:

Wednesdays at 900 eRep time.
Thursdays at 1200 eRep time.
Saturdays at 1500 eRep time.



Epic Battles



So I hope that most of our readers realize just what a n00b PigInZen has become. Maybe it's the many years I've not played. Maybe it's the overall advancing state of his age. Yeah, it's definitely because he's old. That mind just isn't what it used to be, which is exceptionally sad since there wasn't much to begin with. And that was before college where serious brain cell death occurred!

But I digress. In our last issue we went over the Weekly Challenge and its importance. Today we're covering another vital part of military game play: the Epic Battle!

I'll be honest. I never paid much attention to the tactical side of the game. I fought, did my food fights, trained, repeated. That was the old game. Now, there's so much more to which to pay attention. The Weekly Challenge article really opened my eyes concerning the link between ranking up, Prestige Points, and rewards. Here's the really cool thing: fighting in an Epic battle will DOUBLE the prestige points haul for that battle. Let me repeat that: fighting in an Epic battle will award you double the normal amount of prestige points.

Why is this important? Well, think back to our last issue of this paper where we covered the Weekly Challenge and ability to net 100 or more energy bars by being smart and fighting wisely and regularly. Epic battles make this easier to attain! Remember, we're trying to un-wipe ourselves. We need to fight smart and collect those energy bars for when the shit really hits the fan.

(Correction: Feynmann has helpfully pointed to the content from his recent article on Fighting Strategies for further information. Specifically the section on Epic battles, of course.)



This is the Epic bar.

Every division have a specific damage threshold, beyond which the division of that round goes EPIC and stays epic till the end of the round.

If a Division of that round reaches 100% epic it gives some additional benefits:

• Every player hitting in that division 2x Prestige points per hit from the point the round goes epic till the division is won by one of the sides.
• Battle heroes (on both sides) of that division double gold reward for their medals
• MOST IMPORTANTLY - it a division goes full epic it doubles the Campaign Points reward for that division for the winning side.

(Thank you Professor Feynman. I might want to interview him in a later article.)

Regular battles become Epic battles according to two sets of criteria: total damage by division and having the wall between 49.5% and 50.5% after the total damage by division threshold has been reached. In order words, both sides need to be dishing out a colossal amount of damage and the battle has to be close! Usually these things are planned in advance so as many people can take advantage of the opportunity as possible.

If you're interested in Epic battles you can watch your eUSA country feed in game *OR* join Discord where there is a channel devoted to reporting all the Epic Battles that are occurring!

Resources for further reading:

Epic Battles:
1. https://wiki.erepublik.com/index.php/Epic_battle
2. https://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-fey-fighting-strategies-guide--2675430/1/20



Pets of the eUSA Feature:

Evidently either none of you actually read this paper or not enough of you care enough to send in your pet pics. So you have left me with no choice but to subject you to my pets. This issue we're highlighting [drum roll]... BUSTER!



Some of you astute readers will recognize this puppy. This pic was taken almost 9 years ago and appeared in my personal newspaper right here on eRep. He's all grown up now but still kinda cute. Good thing he is, because he ain't that smart! Here's a more recent pic:



Honestly for the life of me I do know how any animal could sleep like this. But Buster can; as long as his chin is resting somewhere he'll fall asleep.

Dogs iz weird.




^{WHPR | Pony | PotUS | Interior | Education | DoD | Congress | Pacifica | Forum | Facebook}

Be sure to watch for our Sunday edition!

Namaste,
PigInZen
Secretary of Media