The Economist ~ Defence is not an option
Spite313
Dear friends,
I spent over a year in sole control of UK citizenship. The general procedure was that all congressmen referred applicants to me, I checked the person’s country of origin, history, credentials. If they seemed non-threatening and from a friendly country, I let them in. I stopped a lot more players than I allowed, simply because with a country the size of the eUK, it was better to be safe than sorry. Of those I did let in, most (three quarters or higher I’d estimate) did not stay long and eventually returned to their home country.
At the time the fear was always of an EDEN sponsored Political Take Over (PTO), so we watched citizens from Croatia, Romania- even America. Some of those countries are now allies, and thus of a lower threat. What isn’t mentioned much however, is that even then the Shoe People and certain other PTO groups from allied countries were blacklisted. I actually wrote an article condemning the group whilst they were attempting to PTO the USA, even though arguably the USA’s misery at the time would have been to our benefit. That’s because PTOers are not constructive players, they’re destructive players. They don’t play for their own sense of accomplishment but to ruin it for other players, and thus they’re a two edged blade that can turn against the one that uses it- as Serbia found out when the PTOers robbed Serbia a while later.
Toward the end of the period when I was citizenship ‘Czar’ there were steadily increasing calls for the position to be abandoned. Players from UKPP and later New Era simply began ignoring procedure and nothing was done by their party leadership to stop it. To this day, with the threat of PTO looming, nothing has been done to put a system of citizenship approvals in place. In the fights to remove me from my position, I was called paranoid, scaremongering and deluded. There was no threat of a PTO and congress should be able to decide as they like. They let in a number of people who were blacklisted as traitors and though that was bad (since it removed the only punishment we have as a community for betrayal) it wasn’t the worst part.
The worst part came when citizenship became weaponised. Realising that they could not outright win an election with every hand against them, New Era’s leadership decided that instead of following the moderate path UKPP followed and working with other parties they would sign a deal with the devil. Their justification for their actions is that TUP has let in foreign citizens to be members for years. This however is a major misapprehension- although TUP does have foreign citizens, they are a tiny minority as a percentage of the party. Most of them are senior citizens in foreign countries who, like me, move for diplomatic reasons to establish closer relations with allies. There is and never has been a mass movement of the ordinary citizens needed for a PTO.
Now that New Era has begun to allow PTOers into the country both individually and by allowing them congress seats, they’ve weaponised the situation. This is because the golden rule of PTO is you cannot defend against a PTO, you can only attack it. By killing the source of citizenship approvals, you kill their ready supply of labour. Every month the pool of votes available to the group gets more reliant on bots as the real citizens return to their home country, or to aid in PTOs abroad. Bots are vulnerable. Once it becomes apparent victory is impossible, they give up.
Still a long way to go
This is the harsh lesson America learned, as it tried to defend at first before simply systematically PTOing every party that broke a very harsh set of rules. They laboured for a year with little to no democracy because of this. The worst part is, we didn’t learn their lesson. When I brought up the USA again and again as an example of a worst case scenario, I was ignored or patted on the back like an eccentric uncle. Now we actually have a PTO active in the country, and to me it is absolutely inevitable that one of our great parties will fall on the 15th. It could be ESO, UKPP, UKRP, PCP. They have the numbers. With enough division from other domestic candidates, even TUP could fall. New Era would I think willingly embrace it.
At times like this it’s hard to forgive and forget our petty disputes, but that’s what we have to do. Doing this however does not mean that every native eBritish citizen is on our side. The Serb PTO got a hold on our country through the actions of New Era’s leadership. Those people are on a par with Ajay Bruno in the eUSA as traitors and manipulators, and they cannot be part of any solution. Although Don Dapper and his “friends” are primarily responsible, perhaps the most dangerous domestic threat comes from Goku Jones. Probably the UK’s oldest and most successful manipulator, he’s spent year after year conning people into believing he’s sincerely concerned about their welfare, when ultimately all he cares about is himself. Self-aggrandizing in the extreme, he will present logical arguments to win you over, but you can’t expect him to follow that logic himself. He’ll do whatever he wants in the most vindictive way possible.
Clever guy, Teddy. Rode a mean horse too.
So what now? A list must be drawn up of dangerous individuals, a watch-list. That list has to contain all of the British collaborators who let in PTOers and those that they let in. The people on that list must be prevented from becoming PP or congressmen. As they currently control New Era, that means that party has to be taken away from them. It’s a brutal thing to lose your party- I know better than anyone since my own party has been out of TUP hands this month. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But that list of traitors can no longer be considered British or working for the interests of Britain. As such it makes no difference what their RL or ingame nationality may be. They are all to be viewed as Serbian PTOers now and have to be stopped.
As a final aside, I’d like to say I’ve spent five and a half years playing this game and in that time the alliances have shifted more times than I can count. I began allied with Croatia in ATLANTIS, and now I’m back with them in Sirius. I think without ever once fighting against a UK MPP I could have got the Mercenary medal five times over. We were allied with Serbia for a great deal of that time, and I found the Serbian people IRL to be intelligent, harcore gamers who you can rely on to get your back when you need it. I don’t want to suggest by any means that all Serbs cannot be trusted as a general rule. However people don’t carry ID badges with their honest intentions, so for now unfortunately we have to make that assumption. Don’t take it as a slur against Serbia or Serbians, it’s simply a necessary precaution brought on by the actions of a bumptious minority.
Iain
Comments
Being from a small coutnry, I can relate to your troubles. I wish you much endurance and success in your battle against all PTOers. They suck.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/pto1-2397679/1/20
Iain Keers stopped PTOers from getting into the UK but also used the Citizenship System to boost his own party with voters from other countries like Poland and stopped others from doing the same.
I abolished that and put in place a system agreed by ALL parties and Congressmen. The month after one of Iain's friends vandalised it so then we had no system at all up to today.
The Serbian PTO has been let in by New Era as an extreme reaction to TUPs corrupt abuse of Citizenship. It isn't the right reaction but it's why it's happening.
We need to get rid of both Iain AND these Serbian PTOers.
Also Iain couldn't actually physically stop Congressmen from giving people Citizenship - if anyone wanted to get in then they would and they did.
He tried to stop me returning to the UK after working in eUSA for a year to earn gold. He couldn't stop me.
He could have done nothing to stop this Serbian PTO if he was in charge.
V
tl;dr version: time to take the risk of a PTO seriously
Should have taken it seriously a couple of months ago...
v
V
V
What he meant to say:
"I spent over a year in sole control of UK citizenship. The general procedure was: if they wanted to join TUP, I let them in. I stopped a lot more players than I allowed, simply because they didn't want to join my party; it was better to be safe than sorry when putting my party's interests first. Of those I did let in, most (three quarters or higher I’d estimate) joined TUP before one important election or another. I gave CP medals to some, made ministers of others, but most did nothing of merit really.
...
"Toward the end of the period when I was citizenship ‘Czar’ there were steadily increasing calls for the position to be made more democratic and transparent and less about me just letting buddies in. Players from UKPP and later NE simply began ignoring procedure because it was bias and flawed and no compromise was forthcoming. To this day, with the threat of PTO looming, nothing has been done to put a system of citizenship approvals in place. In the fights to remove me from my position, I was called paranoid, scaremongering, deluded, fascist, undemocratic, manipulative and arrogant. There was no threat of a PTO and congress should be able to decide as they like. They let in a number of people who I didn't like very much when it didn't really matter anyway but that wasn’t the worst part.
The worst part came when NE started fighting back against the one-party state that I created after I forced the eUK into choosing an alliance without so much as a "how's your father?". Realising that TUP had a monopoly on letting their mates in at will to bolster their numbers, New Era’s leadership decided that instead of following the moderate path UKPP followed and working with other parties they would sign a deal with one of our oldest and most reliable allies in the history of this game; eSerbia. "
...ctd
"Their justification for their actions is that "two can play at that game". This however is a major misapprehension- although TUP does have a lot of foreign citizens, multis and "returning players", we're hypocrites; plain and simply put.
Now that New Era has begun to allow eSerbs that don't like me very much into the country both individually and by allowing them congress seats, they’ve weaponised the situation. So now we must kill New Era ! Hurrah!
The truth is I only care about TUP and making myself richer whilst camped out in ePoland.
This is what I said on the eUK forums about the ATO:
'I've got no interest in having anything to do with this ATO effort at all. If the UK is going to solve this problem it'll be without my help. And if the place collapses into PTOd ruin it's because you deserve it.'
http://forums.erepublik.co.uk/index.php?topic=88362.0 [source]
But now DC have PTO'd my party, I've returned to help fight for my darling TUP.
Now we actually have a PTO active in the country (that I care little about), to me it is absolutely inevitable that one of our great parties will fall on the 15th. It could be ESO, UKPP, UKRP, PCP. They have the numbers. With enough division from other domestic candidates, even TUP could fall. New Era would I think willingly embrace it.
...ctd
"At times like this it’s hard to forgive and forget our petty disputes, so I don't intend to. Instead I want to declare war on Goku Jones. Goku is a very bad man, worse than Ajay, worse than Stefan1992, worse than them all. He has very little respect for moi and I firmly believe that forwarding my petty dispute agenda against him will help save the eUK \o/
So what now? A list must be drawn up of people that don't like TUP or me or Kravenn., a watch-list. That list has to contain all the names we want on there. I know there's already been one of these lists before but this one will be better \o/ Anyone associated with New Era must be made to wear a yellow badge avatar that states "New Era". Unless they respect moi authoritar and submit to my one-party rule from my castle in ePoland they must have their party taken away from them. It’s a brutal thing to lose your party- I know better than anyone since my own party has been out of TUP hands this month (sad face). I wouldn’t wish it on anyone 🙁(( But this new superlist of nasty people can no longer be considered human. it makes no difference what their RL or ingame nationality may be; until they are willing to bend over and take it I won't be happy.
As a final aside, I’d like to say .... oh enough already !
Thanks.
Iain x
hmmm, this story seems more accurate.... but I am biased, you know.
Sven is just butthurt because we kicked him out of TUP. He's been whining all over the media ever since.
you kicked me out of TUP? that's a new one. I seem to remember leaving under my own steam because you guys killed the Navy, surrendered to eIreland then lied to the country about it.
Ne the only party that lets you have a free voice as long as you say what the likes of Dapper, Sven, Winnie and co tell you to say. The only democracy that NE believe in, especially those who dictate to the ordinary members, is the democracy on their terms which cannot be questioned ever otherwise you're a dirty TUP multi, bully, cheat, whatever else they can manage to accuse you off.
Surrendered to eIreland? The last time that happened was a very long time ago.
Speaking as someone who's served as the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs more times than he's been in congress....
'it is absolutely inevitable that one of our great parties will fall on the 15th. It could be ESO, UKPP, UKRP, PCP.'
Forgot to list the WRP there, don't worry, I forgive you.
I think it would be the best for all if you start putting names instead of labels on large groups of people. Lets see some faces here! Be a responsible journalist.
TUP way is divisive by nature, white or black, goku or not goku, intelligence or stupidity
First on the list:
Ser Fartsalot
List for what? Don't be absurd.
http://prntscr.com/3h57k9
http://prntscr.com/3h57ua
http://prntscr.com/3h582z
So? Did a bulb light up in your brain when you saw I was in BSU? I have no position there and know no one.
I achieved half of that damage for eUK in just one day. Oh but that wouldn't fit your narrative so you omitted that part.
Also, I have no idea who Djole.Sh is and I did apply numerous times.
Don't be silly now. Things are never that easy.
It is also absolutely inevitable that those on the watch list will claim that they are RL British, that they are unfairly excluded, and that TUP (or whatever party is opposing them at the moment) are the true PTOers. If you want to keep your eCountry, don't listen.
One of the most irrelevant arguments I've ever heard in this game, and I've heard it more than once, is "I'm RL this or that." This is a game, I could care less where you sleep at night. The actions of the character are what matter.
IE: In game, I despise the eBrits. RL, I have many friends from the UK. People need to play the game, IMO, not use it as a forum for real world biases and dislikes.
Amen to that!
Listen to Iain. You have no idea what it feels like to have your home country PTOed and robbed blind. Start working now before it is too late and you have no country anymore.
He does. UK was robbed blind a couple months ago by one of his mates. Probably one of his ex-mates now, but still.
You mean the one NE blindly followed with their support and then produced rather dodgy screenshots saying they didn't trust him, their former PP, to try and distance themselves from any blame for him being a thieving git, a bit like the inner circle at NE
^Yeap, that's the one
Sorry to see another country going down the same path. Low bonus strategy wouldn't work either with the UK; any PTOer you have must be a dedicated one or a multi.
You should establish a system where
-The parties run primaries for the PP position beforehand, and have a single candidate on the ballot for the PP elections.
-If the PTOers sneak a presidential candidate in, you need to make weak candidates in CP elections withdraw, so that it is either a race between 2 candidates, or a single unity candidate.
-You need to shift people from non top 5 parties to top 5 parties to prevent PTO parties to get into T5
-You need to organize regular attacks to PTO parties in order to prevent them from access to a party filled with many inactive players.
-You need to detect and mass-report multiaccounts using all the information available, going through egov and party lists.
It will be tough. Good luck.
lol what have I even actually done in the UK that is harmful Iain?
Judging from his description of you -- a description that could apply to most successful politicians in this game, "manipulator", "Self-aggrandizing in the extreme", "vindictive" etc. -- it would seem he deems you a threat to his and his party's grip on power.
Is their someone independent who can verify all these claims made about the TUP's political opponents, rather than just an actual TUP making them and expecting them to be taken at face value?
It would always help if they actually named what people have done when they trash them in articles, so that a defence could happen.
Basically I'm just intelligent and call them out when they do rubbish things.
http://prntscr.com/3gsefa
forgive and forget bro...
haha classic
Dear Iain nothing you try will work.If you have 150 people that will vote in elections in NE for your candidate you will lose other Top5 party.And I'm sure people won't let you destroy other parties so you can save you and your ass...
If you want to take that risk then be ready
I spent over a year in sole control of UK citizenship
You are a control freak 6 years playing just leave the game for other to play, go find something else in your life
You don't own the UK you are a bully who loves to control the UK members , get lost
10/10 worst response to an in-game plan ever: 'You'ree sad for playing this game'
This is my warning to all other parties if you enter New Era your party will under the same treatment, we will put members in each party , the serbs have not ptoed anyone they started their own party which they hold no feelings for , but you care for your little parties, then we will have all out war I have gone light on you boys if you want to tear apart democracy all your parties will be in danger.
"...if you want to tear apart democracy" bit late for that, you've already done it.
No voting New Era out of congress mailsand acting like a bunch of control freaks bullies done it son.
How everyone can still vote in parties you talk rubbish.
Go on then, explain to me how importing loads people from an enemy alliance into the UK with the aim of changing our foreign policy is democratic?
You only got booted out the mails a week ago, whats your excuse for the past two years?
[removed]
You already did you treacherous cur, we in the UKPP had several former NE members appear when Vuk01 was voted in, and lo most of them turned out to be multies upon reporting them.
Don't lie this is just a pure lie, who are these members stop lying you make me sick with all your lies