Join the new world

_{I get a little bit Genghis Khan...}


What is a Party?
When I first really joined eRepublik about a decade ago, I had to the make the choice every new player has to make: I had to decide which political party to join. And back then, when I clicked the list, the very first name I saw listed at the top of the list, the largest political party with literally thousands of players, was the United States Workers Party.

It was... daunting.

You see, there's a subtle art to constructing a political party in this game, and back then the art form wasn't understood by everyone. There were parties that tried to be real life analogues to United States parties. The New Democrats, the Whigs, the Libertarians. Almost one to one analogues who tried to play this game like real life politics was played.

The thing those party creators & members didn't understand is that nobody really comes here to act out real life. This is a game, and on some level we all know and acknowledge that. So having real life parties represented in the game feels... cheap. It's why none of those parties exist anymore. They don't exist anywhere, their histories are long forgotten.

Then there were the parties that tried to not be parties. They were groups who tried to be things like the Christian Party of America, or people who tried to make a party around being cops. Still real life stuff, but it felt like that commonality should've kept things together. But again, it was too close to real life.

Then there were the parties that tried to do something wholly new. A lot of them were cults of personality centered around something either made up or obscure anime references or elaborate fiction. S.E.E.S. was by far the most successful example of this kind of party, almost entirely held together by the few dedicated personalities that drew people to it in the first place.

But once they left, the spirit of that party left.

And the sands of time have washed all of those away.

But when I first joined, there was one clear, dominating force that showed exactly, precisely what the idea of a party should be in this game. And that party was the United States Workers Party.


Look at it. Familiar iconography, with a dash of something new. It's a natural hook. It wants you to learn about it. Why the gear? What does it mean?

A lot of people knew.

As I gained my footing, I discovered not only that the USWP was the largest party, it had a proud and prestigious tradition of turning out party members who were real players. I mean players who got the mechanics of this game, who focused on the mechanical play of how things operated. The USWP represented an elite status: it put more Country Presidents in office than almost any other party in this country's history. The lineage, the history of the party is its players.

Names that anybody familiar at all with the history of the eUnited States will remember, for better or for worse.

It seemed like every player at one point did their stint or got their footing somehow in USWP. It was a kingmaker, a shot caller. It was the place to be.

I didn't join it.

In truth, it seemed like joining the USWP was like setting your game to the hardest difficulty setting. What you were asking to do is subject yourself to the scrutiny of some of the best players in the country. I saw how they wrote, even to one another, on the forums. I was just trying to play a game.

But now?

I'm ready to work.


What is a Worker?
I have long held a reputation as a frivolous player, a burnout, someone with grand ideas, great first steps, and poor follow through. Even my tenure as the President of this country saw a smattering of that. My domestic program didn't quite pan out how I had planned, and there was a lull towards the end, but you know what? I finished it.

And on that last day, before my trolling of Congress, I had people telling me who I had respected for years, people who themselves had been some of the best Country President's our nation has ever seen, telling me "good job." And I knew I had earned it. Many folks who had been part of my cabinet and not Country President would go on to win their elections in the next year, and for a brief time - and certainly for the first time in my entire political career in this game - people respected the decisions I made and my input, and I was able to play a bit of kingmaker myself.

I learned how to uplift others.

I learned what true work looked like.

A worker in this game isn't someone who disregards the meta, not completely. Because the meta is a tool just like everything else. You can be the best tactical mechanics based player in this game and still never come close to being Country President.

A worker in this game also respects their community. The toxic people who took advantage of other's work didn't stick around long. The only true reason any of us still play this game, after all, is each other.

It's all we've ever truly had.

And so, I am proud for the first time in the decade of me playing this game to say that I am ready to work. I have joined the United States Workers Party. I am rallying the cause.

I have seen the state of this country in the time since Paul reawakened my corpse. I have spoken with old friends who have informed me of the state of things. I know what must be done.

It's time for the workers to rise once more.


Stay frosty, crew.