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Skal😛 Why do you play eRepublik?

Mr Woldy: If I’m honest it’s hard to put my finger on why I play. And I’m sure there’s some that would tell me I don’t even play, because I rarely fight and sometimes don’t even work or train. But I think it’s a little bit of the fact that I’ve played for so long and was active during the Golden Age and like to drift through the news and see what’s going on and mostly to see who is around.

But it’s a bigger bit to see where the players I’ve met along the way (and those who I am just meeting) are and what’s going on in their parties or nations and just finding a way to help out those who are more involved in eRep than I am in whatever way I can that gives me motivation to stick around. I always liked to help new people thrive and see what becomes of them so try and keep up that spirit in a game that struggles to retain people.

Skal😛 Your thoughts on pay to play.. positive, negative or neutral?

Mr Woldy: Pay to play is crap (assuming you mean gratuitous gold buying rather than something I haven’t heard about yet). It’s crap for two reasons, one which we always knew and one which has become evident as a side effect over the past few years. The first reason is because it’s gotten rid of the sense of coming together to fight a battle with your friends, pushing walls in last minutes (who remembers the walls?) and having old school tank squads and had replaced all that with MasterCard pariahs whom the rest of us can only but hope of even witnessing. Battles can be bought and that has undermined people’s willingness to engage in the military module. It has greatly assisted some nations - those which for various reasons are happy to spend lots en masse whilst it has completely condemned countries without that luxury.

The side effect of all this has been a constant bleed of players, which began with the mass exodus when v2 was launched (I can’t remember the figures but I huge chunk of the global player base all quit) and lives on today in the fact that of the six or so players that might sign up in a week you’re lucky if anyone of them stay because they don’t want to part with their cash to try and keep up before they’ve even sussed out if the game is any good. So for everyone but the people throwing their money around it has cheapened the experience of eRepublik.

Plato being driven by gold doesn’t help the user experience and has just driven to exacerbate the commodification of conflict in order to milk those who will pay of all they’ve got. This strategy and mustering are all but gone from the game and we are left with huge MPPs and massive clashes where everyone just throws their coins into each other whilst Plato hoovers them up. You can’t really blame them for adopting a business model that is clearly working, but it has killed off a lot of the community and has certainly dulled politics and war to all those who won’t or can’t pay.

Skal😛 The current eUK, calm and considered or silent but deadly?

Mr Woldy: I’m tempted to say neither, if that counts as an answer/isn’t treason. It’s definitely become more inward looking but I think that is the nature of all smaller countries who really have a choice between trying to get a stake on the work stage on the understanding that they are dispensable or just creating their own drama to try and keep things interesting internally (Occasionally you get a country that does neither and you wonder what they do all day).

We have some great players and heavy hitters but most of my intrigue comes from the politics which sways between the regular kinda old players running things business as usual and doing their best/the best the eUK can expect to do, and anti-establishment types who I think get more enjoyment out of rocking the boat than anything else. As a spectator that keeps things interesting but I also see that as somewhat an inevitability when the kind of grand campaigns and strategic battles I could put the eUK through back in ‘09/10 can’t happen anymore, so the only way the eUK can make its own fun (or do anything anyone has a vested interest in) will be national and not international.

Skal😛 Asteria, beginning of the end or a new beginning for eRep?

Mr Woldy: I don’t want to be that guy again but probably neither! Alliances always come and alliances always go. Two sides can fight each other tired and when the income dips the powers that be will find incentives to keep everyone fighting - grievances will open up and alliances will shift, whether due to boredom or vendettas and the dice will be rolled again. It’s just a question of whether the players or Plato precipitate it. But have patience and it will happen!

Skal😛 Discord and it's impact. A slick new way to connect/communicate w/ other eRep players or a wretched hive of scum and villainy? (e.g clandestine plots and schemes)

Mr Woldy: Discord is I suppose the essential medium for all serious goings on in eRep (should those goings on be between more than three people). It used to be forums and IRC, then there was something briefly in between for about a week then everyone used Discord. People have always found a way to plot (and see other people’s plots) it’s just the medium that’s gotten sleeker! I would generally advise people get on it though, if the eUK is anything to go buy if you’re new and you show up in a channel they’ll whip you up into congress in a moment.

Skal😛 RL Nationalism, the only way to play or eNay all the way? Or other?

Mr Woldy: RL Nationalism has been a fantastic incentive for people to join up and get fighting for as long as I recall. All the powers these days have gotten their through baby booms brought about by tugging on the heart strings of national sentiment. But now that war and occupation are more of a constant it doesn’t seem to have much of a place because nothing military *really* matters in eRep anymore. It just passes us by, so I can’t see that nationalism makes people care all that much about who or what they occupy, and it certainly doesn’t make people care much about who is occupying them.

The community is the only thing that brings real interest and fun into eRep and I think that exists without/independently of nationalism, so the ‘other’ that I would say drives eRep is RL sociability. We are all either spectating social groups celebrating wins or getting our pals together to get the wins. Without the communities everything would be meaningless. Nationalism is however not a doctrine I buy into IRL and I’m always a bit dubious of, but it’s presence and application on eRep isn’t necessarily to say that it represents people’s idea in RL and that it doesn’t have a role in the game.

Skal😛 As a member of eUK's and indeed eRep's old-guard, what's your take on eUK/eIrish relations today?

Mr Woldy: (Speaking of UK-Ire relations. Hi Moomoohead sup). That’s a good question. And it’s probably not one I can answer with much accuracy because I haven’t paid much attention to eGeopolitics. I would say though that when tensions have emerged between the two countries it tends to have been along alliance lines, or because the Americans were doing something. But otherwise we are a typical soap style on again off again country, and we should just get it on and become best friends. It makes the most sense to consolidate efforts and work together in a formal way. I’m sure we can find someone else to pick on other than each other.

At one point during one of my administrations (or at least a time I was in cabinet, I can’t remember) we actually discussed merging with Ireland, to be one big country. It’s a great idea because RWs could be easy TWs, but I would guess people would argue on which flag to unite under (yours would be better). Maybe one day the interest in that will come round again and their might be movement on it, but it would certainly breath some fresh air into politics et al, even if it doesn’t last forever.

Skal😛 Your thoughts on Training Wars, the slow pastoralization of a war sim or a useful whetstone for future conflicts?

Mr Woldy: I suppose this taps into what I was saying for your second and fourth questions. I think warfare in eRep is totally pastoral now (maybe some really eager beavers in the super powers still care). Most of us just wanna do our clicks and skill up but I’m not sure there’s a massive incentive to really go tooth and nail in any context now, because you hardly notice when you’re conquered, and it seems to happen all the time. As such we may as well be doing it, but as far a whetstones go it’s less sharpening our swords and more sharpening our dancing shoes. Still there’s some small reward in becoming stronger and ranking up and it might be marginally useful one day - ultimately it’s probably better than not doing it at all.

Skal😛 Finally, your thoughts on the future of eUK? How'd you see it going vs how'd you'd like to see it go.

Mr Woldy: Well I’d always say it would be nice to see some fresh political forces stir things up but I’m not sure if that’s practical. I’d choose neutrality over alliances, and merging with Ireland over not merging with Ireland, but who knows if that’s what the rest of them think!

Skal😛 What's your poison?

Mr Woldy: I’m an eclectic drinker so on some days it’s a pint of Wainwright IPA and on others it’s a Godfather (Amaretto & Whiskey with Lime) or a French Martini if I want to look pretentious. You can probably give me anything and I’ll drink it (if it’s a legit beverage)...

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