Join the new world

Hi everyone.

Time for a new regular interview. For this time I have chosen someone who has a very old account, created almost at the beginning of eRepublik, and I got some really interesting answers from him. He is called certacito and here is what he has to say...


1. Tell us a few words about your real life self.

- I live in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the borders of Wiltshire, Dorset and Hampshire (in SW England). I spend a considerable amount of time travelling; my main office is in London (Canary Wharf) requiring a commute of around 2.75 hours in each direction, and I undertake a certain amount of international travel (Lisbon, Amsterdam, Sofia last month). I am currently writing this from my 24th floor hotel room on the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago.

I have been married for 21 years (to a long legged half Italian REDHEAD Oxford graduate – Neil note) and have two children, a daughter of 20 and a son of 16 years.

2. About eRepublik certacito. Your eBirth was on Dec 03, 2007. How did you discover eRepublik basically at the beginning of it?

- I first encountered Erepublik whilst visiting Madrid where I was speaking at a Technical Summit. Finding myself with a few hours spare before my flight was due to leave, I decided to go and visit the studios of one of my favourite internet TV stations – with the intent of getting myself on the UK show. Whilst visiting I encountered Alexis Bonte, founder of Erepublik, who was recording a piece on the game. Fascinated by the combination of commercial. Political and military play I signed up there and then.

I quickly got into politics, initially standing for local government (Mayorship – a part of game play long gone), then Parliament/Congress as a member of one of the first Political Parties formed in eUK – the UK Reform Party. I have now served over 45 terms of office in eUK Government (note – the term counter was added to the user interface some time after the start of the game – so does not reflect the true total).

Due mainly to increases in workload, I took a leave of absence from the game for about three and a quarter years, before rejoining last year. During this time the game experienced massive ‘Strength Inflation’, fuelled by an Admin desire to maximise revenues from players. Consequently, whilst being relatively old (the oldest surviving eUK citizen?), my strength is relatively low. Having progressed rapidly from Division 2 to Division 4 I find my operational options severely limited by lack of hitting power – with no legal way of increasing strength faster…

3. How do you see your future in eRepublik? What are your ambitions after this many years?

- I aim to focus on the Political and Commercial components of the game; I am standing for the position of Party President of the UKRP, a party which I have been a member continuously since it’s formation! I hope to apply my knowledge and wisdom to provide stable and profitable Government, whilst maintaining the FUN factor!

4. eUK's future? Any suggestions to the current and future governments?

- eUK has always had a bit of a bumpy existence – our location between Europe and North America and our relatively small population have meant that we have spent an above average amount of time engaged in military operations on our own territory. Also, because of our native language (English) we have a long history of welcoming (and assimilating) immigrants from overseas. This is a very healthy thing (in most cases) – and some of our best military commanders and political leaders have been incomers from abroad.

As our primary object we need increase our domestic population/military and commercial strength in order to liberate the rest of eUK from the domination of the Argentinian invaders. This is not a trivial task, as militarily they are much stronger than we are; consequently we are going to have to focus on diplomatic (building alliances) and commercial (buying support/liberation) means to regain our sovereign territories.

5. eRepublik's future? What would you change?

- Some of the game play is dire – in particular, I would like to see improvements to the political system, possibly with a return to the old system whereby individual Congressional candidates were individually voted into positions, rather than having Party Presidents choose who can be elected. Under the current arrangement, a bad PP can simply ‘de-select’ Congressional candidates that he/she does not like – thereby completely distorting the democratic process.

Also – as I spend much of my time travelling, and frequently join the game using mobile devices, I would like to see much better optimisation for such devices. It is simply not possible to play quickly and easily using a mobile phone – and the ‘mobile aware’ site [http://m.erepublik.com] is definitely sub-optimal!

6. Who is your favourite person in eRepublik and why?

- So many faces and personalities over the years – here are a few names that stand out:

- Horice – who never fails to improve morale.
- Appleby – the ever faithful Civil Sergeant
- Scarfar – smart and dedicated liberator of eUK
- DishMCDS – long term friend and politician (Now deceased)
- Wookie – a really great guy – and cuddly to boot
- Sambo – ‘the boy’ – who is in RL a married solicitor (and not a 13 yr old as everyone suspected)
- Jhorlin – grumpy old git that I miss to chat with in Parliament
- And hosts of others to numerous to mention…

7. Any person you dislike and why?

- Anyone who commits crimes against the nation and infringe the rules of the game. There have been many names associated with such activities, most notable of which are currently active:

- Ajay/Margaret Thatcher/Winston Churchill/King William (and others) – who has made the role of the Erepublik megalomaniac multi-operating politician into an art form
- Dapper/Prince Harry (and many other names) - conman, thief and generally of bad character.

Without ‘Baddies’ Erepublik would be a much less interesting place – so I applaud and thank these individuals for filling the role of VILLAIN – for they provide us all with something to rally against and stimulate discussion/debate.

I would very much like to re-do and online interview/chat with dear old Ajay – (we did one some time ago – and it was most enlightening).

8. A few words about your military history.

- I have commanded a number of units, including the Royal Guard. More recently I commanded the FyreCG, but quit to join the RN for the duration of the Regiment Rumble. At present I am reasonably ambivalent toward the military module; my comparatively low strength but high experience limit my military game play options. I received the eUK Military Cross for ‘Valour on the Battlefield’!

9. A few words about your political history.

- I do not really have enough time (most of my Erepublik experiences are limited to 5-10 minute quick encounters using mobile devices whilst travelling or between meetings) to take on a really demanding Government or Diplomatic role – but I am well equipped to fill the leadership role within my Political Party (the UKRP). I think that my track record suggests that I am one of the least likely people to rage quit or steal the treasury!

10. Do you lift?

- I used to in my younger days, but now my lifting activities are confined to picking up cocktails and providing taxi services for teenagers!


11. Your message to the community.

- Keep the faith, respect each other. Live long and prosper!



Thank you certacito for your answers o7