America, Let's Embrace PTOs
Day 511, 17:20
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Published in USA 
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by
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by Publius
Executive Summary: We’re limiting our ability to advance as a country by working within a system of morality that others don’t abide by. If we are to be successful, this attitude needs to change. Sign-up to join my movable voter squadron so that we can develop the organization necessary to counter our enemies’ use of political takeovers and start to act to advance our own interests.
We’re quite fortunate to have our country located in eNorth America. There hasn’t been any permanent territory shuffling, our neighbors pose a limited threat, we have high regions of most natural resources, and we have had extended periods of calm that have allowed us to focus on developing our economy. It’s great that we haven’t faced the serious threat of losing a region, but security has bred complacency.
Until recently, we hadn’t figured out how to sustainably fund our military and we didn’t have any program in place to rank up our large population. We have those now, and that’s a start. However, despite our potential, we’re still lagging behind the great powers because we are limited by our reliance on constantly taking the moral high ground.
eRepublik is a social strategy game, and as such the world will inevitably fracture into alliances as nations work together to further their interests. That’s just basic game theory. Since we don’t possess enough military might or population to dominate the game on our own, we have to work with our allies to coordinate military strategies. We’ve chosen sides—ATLANTIS is our team and we have to constantly butt heads with PEACE.
I have no doubt that had the admins chosen to randomly divide and name the regions of the world, people would be in this game to win at all costs. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it has turned out. By naming regions and countries after their RL counterparts it is fundamentally impossible to separate our RL biases from our in-game decisions.
From what I’ve seen, the eAmerican attitude and perspective is unique, relative to our enemies and some of our allies—we impose a moral framework on a game that is intrinsically amoral. It makes good press to claim that the admins favor one side or one country, but the reality is that this game has set rules that are evenly applied. It makes no discrimination based on country of ebirth, alliance affiliation, or RL IP address.
Yet we impose limitations on ourselves. Everyone wants to be on the side of truth and light and to feel like they are a part of the benevolent alliance. To achieve these feelings we too often focus on the process rather than the result. NeilP99 recently summed up this attitude best when he said, “I would rather lose every battle I ever fought than win it through underhanded tactics that require us to abandon our ideals.” Now, if the game has clear rules for how territory can be acquired but we choose to shelve some of the best, legal tactics for territory acquisition, we have handicapped ourselves in this struggle.
Nearly every eUS citizen wants our country to be a superpower. I certainly do. To get there we have to free ourselves from artificial constraints born of RL biases. If the government is unwilling—or unable because of misplaced political ramifications—to take the steps necessary to advance our interests across the globe, the responsibility falls to the concerned, active citizens.
The leading countries in this world already have this mindset. It’s about time we engage our enemies both on the battlefield and at the ballot box. It’s about time we grow up as a country and receive proper respect and deference.
To this end, I am assembling a movable voting squadron that is willing to defend our allies against political takeovers, but is also willing to advance our interests through proactive missions. Sign up today.
.
We’re quite fortunate to have our country located in eNorth America. There hasn’t been any permanent territory shuffling, our neighbors pose a limited threat, we have high regions of most natural resources, and we have had extended periods of calm that have allowed us to focus on developing our economy. It’s great that we haven’t faced the serious threat of losing a region, but security has bred complacency.
Until recently, we hadn’t figured out how to sustainably fund our military and we didn’t have any program in place to rank up our large population. We have those now, and that’s a start. However, despite our potential, we’re still lagging behind the great powers because we are limited by our reliance on constantly taking the moral high ground.
eRepublik is a social strategy game, and as such the world will inevitably fracture into alliances as nations work together to further their interests. That’s just basic game theory. Since we don’t possess enough military might or population to dominate the game on our own, we have to work with our allies to coordinate military strategies. We’ve chosen sides—ATLANTIS is our team and we have to constantly butt heads with PEACE.
I have no doubt that had the admins chosen to randomly divide and name the regions of the world, people would be in this game to win at all costs. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it has turned out. By naming regions and countries after their RL counterparts it is fundamentally impossible to separate our RL biases from our in-game decisions.
From what I’ve seen, the eAmerican attitude and perspective is unique, relative to our enemies and some of our allies—we impose a moral framework on a game that is intrinsically amoral. It makes good press to claim that the admins favor one side or one country, but the reality is that this game has set rules that are evenly applied. It makes no discrimination based on country of ebirth, alliance affiliation, or RL IP address.
Yet we impose limitations on ourselves. Everyone wants to be on the side of truth and light and to feel like they are a part of the benevolent alliance. To achieve these feelings we too often focus on the process rather than the result. NeilP99 recently summed up this attitude best when he said, “I would rather lose every battle I ever fought than win it through underhanded tactics that require us to abandon our ideals.” Now, if the game has clear rules for how territory can be acquired but we choose to shelve some of the best, legal tactics for territory acquisition, we have handicapped ourselves in this struggle.
Nearly every eUS citizen wants our country to be a superpower. I certainly do. To get there we have to free ourselves from artificial constraints born of RL biases. If the government is unwilling—or unable because of misplaced political ramifications—to take the steps necessary to advance our interests across the globe, the responsibility falls to the concerned, active citizens.
The leading countries in this world already have this mindset. It’s about time we engage our enemies both on the battlefield and at the ballot box. It’s about time we grow up as a country and receive proper respect and deference.
To this end, I am assembling a movable voting squadron that is willing to defend our allies against political takeovers, but is also willing to advance our interests through proactive missions. Sign up today.
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munit haec et altera vincit
I'll be staying in congress. Best of luck with your endeavor though.
>eRepublik is a social strategy game
I like how you warmongers only focus on the strategy and ignore the social part. People can and will turn each other against you if they can. Why do you think so many people tried their hardest to take out Pakistan, GOONS, and The Party? And you write off the fact that we're based on irl as if it's not a factor, but it is. Ask any Aussie how he would feel about working with Indonesia. Hell, they couldn't even contain themselves long enough to sit through their first few diplomatic meetings. People take it personally, and you need to keep that in mind.
Also, nice America is the fucking best slogan there. I could care less if we're a superpower. I'm not here to FUCK YEAR AMERICA, I'm here to play as a bad motherfucker with a chip on his shoulder. And you know what? I'm winning The Game.
Excellent article Publius!
Well said.
We need to be willing to use the same tactics our enemies use, or we're fighting with one hand tied behind our backs.
What the fuck are you talking about? What enemies?
"From what I’ve seen, the eAmerican attitude and perspective is unique, relative to our enemies and some of our allies—we impose a moral framework on a game that is intrinsically amoral."
From what I've seen in my short life, eUS invaded eMexico while ePortugal, a nation that vowed not to do invade sovereign territory, rescued it and is giving it back as soon as eMexicans ask for it. Don't be so quick on claiming an exclusive in the high moral ground. Do you somehow think that the rest of the world lacks decent people?
The government in eSpain has had a history of being quite imperialist, in part because if was taken over by an army of multi accounts, but there are many eSpaniards (currently, the second party in the parliament) that repeatedly condemn imperialism and explicitly reject the TO "strategy".
Emerick wins this article, and at life.
Emerick also wins at ad hominem attacks.
We can embrace PTO's but thats what the CIA is for (in real life). If we do want to have a PTO lets set aside an agency which will do the dirty work. When I say CIA, I don't mean go around posting "PTO going on in suchandsuch country" I mean a secret group of individuals in a network who are told what to do by their "boss". This is the most efficient and allows for PTO's to happen without warning.
In real life, when american's are involved in poltiical takeovers, no one cares because they don't see it going on, but when we declare war its transparent and no one likes it.
I completely agree. Like it or not, PTOs are part of the game mechanics, and of all the countries in the New World, the eUSA probably has the most potential to rock at it.
Not, or rarely using this option puts a severe constraint on the power and influence it could wield in eRepublik.
And why not use it? Because of "imperialism" and an overly defensive attitude towards your reputation.
@Emerick : What enemies? Last time I checked you're still part of Atlantis, and that makes PEACE nations enemies of the US
P.S. I'm in the Romanian army, but I recently moved here from the US. I speak only for myself 🙂
Would you like to be a member of a small nation, and have it wrecked by PTO? You wouldn't. So don't go around doing it. A successful PTO earns you some gold, but it also earns an enemy for life.
"Moral high ground", as you dismissively call it, is a legitimate and powerful weapon of war. It's worth keeping.
As you yourself said "Everyone wants to be on the side of truth and light and to feel like they are a part of the benevolent alliance." Being morally right increases your own strength, and decreases your opponents.
@Eugene, beautifully written, I couldn't have said it better myself.
I will still I will write though because it is something that ticks me off. Taking the moral high ground is something unique that our nation holds, well should hold at least. I hope we don't shoot it to ribbons and join the other countless nations trashing nations before they even have a chance to defend themselves. It is effective yes, the admins because Romania can forever benefit from it haven't fixed it yet, but still does it make it right? I am all for a movable voting corp, I'd be the amongst the first to join it, but use it as a tool to defend the liberty of others, not crush it beneath our feat.
>@Emerick : What enemies? Last time I checked you're still part of Atlantis, and that makes PEACE nations enemies of the US
Oh right, because another group of allies exists, they must be our allies. Sure is us vs them around here. I've been wondering why it's been so high-strung around here recently, turns out it's simpletons in power claiming that whoever isn't with us is against us. and you know what guys? Only Sith deal in absolutes.
Anyone who really thinks about it in an honest way knows that PTOs are not a fair tactic and are not supposed to be a part of the game. No, they are not against the rules and the admins haven't done anything to stop them, but if you're really honest with yourself you know that they should be against the rules. I'll say the same thing that I said on the forums, until you live in a small nation that is vulnerable to PTOs you will never have any idea of how much fun they take out of this game. So I stand by my qoute (Which you didn't ask to use, not that I really care). I would rather lose and know that I didn't cheat, whether officially or not, than win as a cheater.
@Emerick
Why are you constantly such a pissy b*tch that appears in the comments on every p significant article? Your attitude and comments are not befitting of someone championing peace and a moral high ground, and are relegated to ineffective puffery due despite being prolific because you are constantly so negative. No one listens to people like you -- either here or in RL.
I think this is another example of people forgetting the long term benefits of soft power.
Portugal has an extremely loyal, long term, ally in Mexico now because they did something that appeared to be against their immediate interest in a "realpolitik-type" calculation. RL equivalents are things like the Marshall plan, the extension of our nuclear umbrella, etc. Simply put, we can do well by doing good.
Can I say, "Told you so"? Look at this like a collective goods problem: it is in every nation's direct self-interest to conduct PTOs and take territory for themselves, but if every nation were to do this, the world would very quickly descend into utter chaos. Alliances would be fragile, brittle things, and every country would need to be constantly alert. No one nation would get ahead of the others because, as soon as they could garner some modicum of power, they would become a target for everyone else. It would be in everyone else's direct self-interest to strike them down and eliminate the possibility of a superpower holding a sword over their neck.
No, I, for one, say the key to winning is to stick together. Endgame will not be one tyrannical country ruling all others through force and oppression, but a global society based upon common human decency. If we all work together, victory is a given. Sure, there will always be those that try to ruin this through pathetic lulz, but the acts of rampant individuals cannot be allowed to reflect back upon their countries. Peace will prosper. It is in the interests of all to work together.
I don't think we should ever endorse tactics that would be considered 'criminal' if done to us. If there is no law against election fraud (or election terrorism like PTOs), there should be.
Publius, what is the purpose of this group you are organizing? Who will control it, you or the gov? Will it do defensive PTO's at the request of the local gov/people or aggressive to take gold or conquer territory?
I don't know if you guys have noticed this, but you can politically take over any country if you want. But why don't you do it is beyond me. Maybe because you do enjoy what respect you get from other nations, but who knows.
It's outrageous, and you're making America seem nothing like what America stands for. Political take overs are ridiculous and for backstabbing nations that might as well go the whole 9-yards (eRomania).
Please don't stoop to your Ally's level. Be the voice of reason.
Be fair and use the military instead.
I believe morals to be highly important in certain areas even in games, I think political takeovers are a sneaky cutthroat tactic something I can't entirely get behind, unless used solely on enemies who use the exact same tactics.
>I can has cheeseburger guy
>claiming that some one else is a joke
I'm with Emerick on this. This is a social strategy simulation game, and 'winning' isn't defined as military conquest (actually, winning isn't defined, just as in RL.)
I won't participate in PTOs because I don't think I'd enjoy 'em.