Join the new world

needful things

No spectacular report or fancy graphics for you here (as much as I wish I were as adept as some of my favorite eRep journalists and authors.) Instead, a personal Thank You from me to you and a request for your support.

Let me get a little RL junk out of the way, this past week I was faced with my own mortality and let's say, reality bites. Sparing you all the gory details, I visited my local Q2 hospital last Wednesday night and quickly found myself undergoing emergency surgery. Not. Fun. At. All.
So, I've had a 5 day break from eRep and a lot of time alone to think.... about priorities, family, friends, etc. and so on... and, I realized how very much I enjoy this game and why.

Q: Why do I love eRepublik?

Generally, in game, I am very soft-spoken and communicate primarily via PM's and on IRC. I've had good fortune to find some incredible people within eRepublik, people from all over the world who have had a genuine impact on me. Yes, this strays from a toughened game mechanics stance but I really don't care.
I want to say Thank You! to every player I've had opportunity to share a laugh, a game tip, a debate and even an insult with. Personally, I've spent a fair amount of my elife trying to help others, either by working for/with newb programs or donating stuff/gold or offering encouragement or advice. I have loads of respect for all the individuals who put so much time and effort into creating opportunities for newer players and I try to volunteer to help when and where I am able and encourage others to do likewise.
If you are a newer citizen, I'll offer this bit of advice towards your game success....continuously seek information and don't forget to share when you discover something you find useful or interesting. It is, in fact, a SOCIAL-strategy game...so by all means be SOCIAL. (Otherwise, you'll likely die a sudden death of boredom.) Don't be afraid to challenge the status quo...this is YOUR game, so have fun with it. Be curious. Be friendly. Be creative. Be respectful. (To further clarify, it is perfectly acceptable to be respectfully disrespectful...just try to have a little class if you wish to accomplish more than being labeled an ass.) And, if being an ass is your goal, please do it with style. (I miss you, Emerick)

end motivational speech

Congress and Me

Listen, Congress is oftentimes a joke. (ok, most times) but it's a great opportunity to take a more active role and help shape your nation.
My views on a few key issues:

Economy: Admittedly not my strongest area, however I know it's important to place individuals who are intelligent and responsible in the right positions to manage our budget. For those who have the interest and spend the time doing the math, my hat's off to you. I tend to be more of a watchdog when it comes to our economy. We are a wealthy nation and should be fiscally responsible to all of our citizens.

Infrastructure: Hot topic lately, again. This is an area of frequent debate for sure. I personally prefer the Fortress system we have in place now but am not opposed to placing additional hospitals in key areas as a trial. Since I have worked first-hand with the programs that work endlessly to relocate new citizens, I can see both sides of the issue pretty clearly. Even though I am a socialist and would be elated to see every new citizen thrive upon entering this New World, I have to say there must be some personal responsibility taken by new players to find out why their wellness is poor and how to correct it. Aid programs can be slow to respond or overwhelmed at times, so considering the efforts being made to create big baby booms, it wouldn't be a bad idea to do more to ensure new citizens' survival. That said, I disagree with weakening ourselves (by reducing our population numbers in fortress states) on a “maybe.” Somewhere in this argument, there must be a satisfactory middle ground. I'll keep watching demographics and thinking about it.

War and Diplomacy: Make war, not love!
Yea, yea...so, eRepublik is/is not a war game. Who are we kidding? War does great things. It makes businesses thrive, adds excitement and competition. Instant gratification, right? But, wait, what about....diplomacy? Boring? Not necessarily. Diplomacy is extremely important, first off, it demonstrates you can be a team player (which is “sorta important” in a really good social-strategy game.) It's better for all of us to make more allies instead of more enemies, so showing a bit of respect for other nations isn't unheard of. It's also a great way to meet some p great people who may even enrich the time you spend here. Anyway, no one really likes a bully, so try a little diplomacy along with your Q5 bread.

Come the end of the day, if you have a vote to spare, I'd appreciate another term representing the fine State of Connecticut.

P.S. We need a War.

We need a war,
we need a war to show them,
we need a war to show them that we can,
we need a war to show them that we can do it,
whenever we say we need a war.

If they mess with us, if we think they might
mess with us, if we say they might
mess with us, if we think we need a war...
We need a war.

We need a war (if we think we need a war)
We need a war (if we think we need a war)

A war to make us feel safe,
a war to make them feel sorry,
whoever they are.

If they mess with us, if we think they might
mess with us, if we say they might
mess with us, if we think we need a war...
We need a war.

We need a war (if we think we need a war)
We need a war (if we think we need a war)

Can we do it?
Sure we can.

We need a war
We need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war
We, need a war


Answer: you.