Article
Greetings, America.
I saw some murmurs of unrest in the comments and thought I would take some time out to address them, in the full public view. But, firstly, some good news!
While it may be very easy to look at the map and be depressed, this actually paints a misleading picture of things. I'm pleased to report that we succeeded, yesterday, in liberating Central Mexico and then again this morning in defending it from a Portuguese attack.
You might be saying, 'So what? We're still occupied. Why do we care about Mexico so much when we're not even liberating ourselves?'
There are several very good answers to this question, but I would first like to make my argument with a picture.
That alone speaks volumes. This was an important fight and, if you think I'm just b/sing you in the hopes of raising morale, just take a look at that. I assure you, Portugal would not have unloaded a quarter billion damage on a fight that didn't really matter that much. I sure wouldn't.
But, to speak to the question more directly, Mexico is a fantastic ally and they are an ally we failed when they were invaded in the first place. That reason, alone, is enough for an responsible citizen to want to free Mexico, regardless of our position. But, if you take a very hard-nosed and self-interested approach to Foreign Affairs (a bad approach, I assure you), this victory has successfully debuffed Portugal in the United States and gained initative for Mexico to attack. This means Portugal will have a 20% penalty in defending from Mexico's attacks.
So, with that said, I want you all to prepare yourselves for the coming days. Our strategy will be to take full advantage of Mexico's foothold and they will push North into US core regions and recapture them from Portugal. I am telling you this now, because I don't want anyone freaking out and saying we're being occupied by Mexico. This is my idea and Mexico would not be doing it without my OK.
We will liberate the territory behind them easily enough as we eliminate Portugal's ability to respond. Please don't worry and please don't waste your damage fighting in Resistance Wars against Mexico or Portugal. We need you to fight for Mexico. Besides,
Ciia makes a mean fajita and promised to bring enough for everyone.
Foreign Policy Questions
Whenever things are going badly, it seems the first instinct of a lot of people is to point at Foreign Policy and complain about our allies. This is not necessarily invalid criticism. It's true that CIS has eroded away to near-nothing and that we've suffered from a lack of leadership recently in Foreign Affairs. These are indeed problems and problems that are being addressed, however, Foreign Affairs is hashed out behind closed doors and for good reason. Shifting allies and alliances is disruptive on a large scale and, for that reason, these discussions are not public knowledge until they have been agreed upon. Though you may not see me working on this, you will have to take me at my word that it is being worked on.
I find this line of thinking troubling, though.
DHL posted a comment about how our problems stem from weak allies and went on to say this was not a problem 'the people' could do anything about and that it was 'the government's responsibility.
This is a false dichotomy, and not only for the vague reasoning that 'the government is formed of the people', but for much more direct reasons. It is a problem the Government needs to address, true, and citizens are not generally in a position to directly create relationships with foreign nations (although this happens more often than you would expect). However, what is important and what this argument misses is that my ability to leverage our position with other members of the world community is directly related to how much damage you do and how effectively you do it.
Consider this, if you drive by someone on the street with a sign that says 'Homeless' do you give him $10? You might, but you certainly don't expect him to be able to help you in the future. Now, consider another person, who is also homeless, but knocks on your door and says he will rake your leaves for $10, points to your neighbors yard and indicates that he raked theirs. Do you give him $10? Maybe not, but in most cases, you're more likely to help a person who can demonstrate utility than a person who just wants help and might not even really help him in the long run.
Foreign Affairs is very much like that.
A country that is layed out in total defeat will find themselves few people willing to put forward the time and effort it takes to liberate a country that cannot demonstrate their ability to challenge a stronger opponent. For this reason, I made the decision that I would not pursue changes to our Foreign Relations until we could demonstrate our utility and enter these sort of conversations from a position of power.
That, perhaps more than any other reason, was why liberating and defending Central Mexico was so important. We demonstrated that we could challenge a much stronger opponent head on and, indeed, that we could triumph. This has been noticed on the world stage and has already drastically altered the perception of other nations and of what they believe we are capable of and, by extension, what utility we can provide to them if they pursued a formal relationship with us.
And that power comes directly from you, not me. Without your damage and without your damage being used effectively, we do not win the round. If we do not win the round, we lose the battle. If we lose the battle, we do not degrade Portugal's position. If we do not degrade Portugal's position, we are not worth the effort to liberate. If we are not worth the effort to liberate, he will ask for a glass of milk. If you get him a glass of milk, he will want you to tell him a story... wait a second, I got a little off track, somewhere.
Anyway, you get the idea.
Now, I cannot help but notice that the people presenting this criticism are not people I recall seeing on IRC and I am sure they are not people I supplied to fight. Please understand, this is not hard criticism. Perhaps they do not have the time and perhaps they don't know how to use IRC (which they could learn about in This Department of Education Article I wrote.) Whatever the case, I do not begrudge anyone the right to play the game as they see fit. It is just a game and for a lot of people, there's only so much they're willing to invest into it.
But, at the same time, when making the criticism that 'the government needs to do something about it', it must be tempered with the understanding that my ability to 'do something' is directly dependent on your willingness to 'do something'.
When I ran for President, I wrote an article that said I can't win for you but that I could find the path to victory and I would challenge you every day to walk that path. This is what I meant. The Government is, really, nothing more than a wallet and a government's effectiveness is really nothing more than how much wisdom the people who hold the wallet use in spending the money.
We've spent quite a lot and, fortunately, we have always been a financially responsible nation and can afford to spend a lot. If it came down to it, we could simply spend Portugal into oblivion. But I'd much rather fight them toe to toe and send them home with their butts hurting more than their wallets.
If you want that too, you have to earn it.
Believe me, it's much sweeter to see Central USA free when you know it would not have been free if you hadn't taken the time to free it. Yourself. With your own hands.
I feel confident that we will win this war and I believe I have the tools in place and am making the connections we need to win it.
The bigger question, now, is what does that victory look like? Will you be there, next to me, watching it come down the road? Or do you wake up one day and read an article I wrote saying it's over and wonder what happened?
This has been an amazing fight and has been an absolute blast to coordinate, even for as much work as it's been.
If you weren't there, struggling through lag and tension, watching the battle bar push back and forth; if you didn't see everyone's excitement as the timer hit 0:00 and everyone exploded at once; if you don't know the hair-raising feeling of power as the victory washes over you...
If not, you are missing out on everything that makes this game worth playing, in my opinion.
Love,
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
