January 14, 2016

The Voice of Freedom

For those that require a refreshing view of the modern age, the Freimarkan brings it to you in ample supply. Exclusive interviews with a massive variety of individuals, in-depth analysis of current events, and much more may be found within this text. If you are interested in an interview, please contact me (/u/bbgun09, or bbgun09 in-game) for information.

Interviews

From Zero: Bonkill

Now that the war with Arcation is finally over, and the non-aggression pact is in place, what will your relations with Arcation be?

Have you seen Arcation’s activity levels lately? There isn’t anyone left to have relations with.

While you are very prominent in international diplomacy, not much is known about Zero’s internal affairs. How do you run your nation?

I run my nation with an iron fist. My lads know the deal when they sign up. They listen to me or they get dealt with harshly and efficiently. Nokka fucked up quite publicly lately. He had to go back to the nation he stole the sugarcane from, place the sugarcane back, fully grown. In addition he will be mining gold for Nasaghost to pay as an additional penalty. Nasa didn’t demand the gold. He’s getting it because Nokka needed punishment.

You have a considerable amount of personal experience on hardcore civ and faction servers. With the knowledge you have gained in your playtime, are there any tips you would like to give to the newer members of our community?

Hide your items. Reinforce everything.

If you had a chance to completely restart your experience on CivEx as an entirely different person, what would you do?

Not tell the admins my main. People seem to forget I didn’t want to be associated with ‘ShadedJon’. I only got to play with a clean slate for a little bit. I would have loved to entirely start over and have it stay that way.

To wrap it up, is there there anything you want to tell our audience about you and your nation?

We’re growing! We’ve put down some roads and our first buildings. The vault is secured and now we’re building the impressive build Azula has made for the surrounding area. It’s going to be truly awesome when it’s over! I’m starting to make a store right now for everyone to purchase stuff from :)

From Arcation: President Gogyst

Now that the war with Bonkill & Company is finally over, and the non-aggression pact is in place, what will your relations with Zero be? Will you simply try to ignore them or would you consider trade relations?

We do not have any bad relations towards Zero members, so developing any sort of good relations with them wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. However, trading isn’t really a thing on CivEx, due to how easy it is to stockpile every single material that you would ever need. Arcation currently only purchases building materials. And that happens on rare occasions, in bulk. I doubt that Zero members would be interested in chopping down a forest for us.

While you are very prominent in international diplomacy, not much is known about Arcation’s internal affairs other than that it is a democratic republic. How do you run your nation?

Arcation’s core consists of a group of people who have been gaming together for years. We aren’t exactly a democratic republic. I currently ‘run’ the gaming group, and I lead the ingame nation as the President. But there are several other members who have just as much say as I do, when it comes to deciding on what to do on CivEx, or in any other games that we play. Of course, we hear out any member of our community if they have suggestions or issues too. We do not have any proper lore, or economy. Basically, our nation divides into two parts: 1. The old community that came to the server. We trust each other completely, and share everything. 2. New people who have joined us on CivEx. We help them out as they are members of our nation. But without going on TeamSpeak and/or playing other games with us, they aren’t really part of the whole Arcation experience.

What was your favorite experience here in CivEx?

Definitely the very start of 2.0, as laggy as it was. It’s been a great time trying to figure the server out and learning all about the different mechanics. We had a blast exploring the land and starting our own nation. Only a few of us had experience from a similar server, so it was a pretty fresh, and fun experience. It’s a shame that a lot of the things that made the server fun are now removed.

If you had a chance to completely restart your experience on CivEx as an entirely different person, what would you do?

I’d let my inner raider loose. Haha, nah, I am satisfied with how things are right now, and I wouldn’t want to go about it in any other way.

To wrap it up, is there anything you want to tell our audience about you and your nation?

What can I say, hmm. Well, simply put, we are a nation full of good and borderline insane people. Be sure to join us if you use TeamSpeak, and think that you would fit in.

From Mandis: Governor Sirboss001 of Grios

Being an incredibly neutral yet rather powerful nation, how do you view the international policies of various nations? Are there any patterns that you noticed?

Haha, well I wouldn’t quite say Mandis is a powerful nation. Influential maybbee, definitely neutral, but I’m not so sure I would refer to us as powerful. That being said, international politics play out on this server in a unique, but sometimes predictable way. The larger nations, generally follow a policy of creating allies, strengthening bonds, and occasional shows of force. I dare you to find noticeable differences between the foreign interactions of Metepec and Coastaro, no offense to either of course. Smaller nations, and there are exceptions to this, generally serve under the wing of a larger nation, and don’t get very much involved in foreign politics, outside their neighbors. Take everything that I have said with a grain of salt, for it is all generalization of my opinion.

While Mandis has established itself as a prominent player in international resolutions, not much is known about your internal affairs, other than that you are a democratic republic. How is Mandis run?

The Federal Republic of Mandis is that — a Republic. There are three states: Caldera, Grios, and the Capital District, Nulicia. We also have a Territory — Antiquitas. Our Head of State is Conman577, Governor of the Capital District Nulicia, but he does not have much more power than the other Governors. Each state has a Governor, that can be elected if possible, and these Governors form a council that vote on most major issues. As Governor of the state of Grios, I am still given a large amount of power and autonomy, and even if a proposed bill doesn’t pass the Council, I can still enact real and independent change in Grios. I just can’t do anything too outrageous. I wouldn’t say we’re as much a confederacy as Reijeka though, and the federal government has a good amount of power. Most people know that we are neutral in almost all external affairs, and this means no allies, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t voice our opinion about things we either agree or disagree with, and you’ll see that sometimes. Our nation is the largest contributor of foreign aid and support in the server, and with MandisAid, we help deliver food, supplies, infrastructure, and vaccines to foreign nations in need all the time. We practice armed neutrality, which means that while we are never aggressive with other nations, if attacked we have the ability to defend ourselves quite well. The economy is pretty straightforward, capitalist like most societies on this server, though there are generous government benefits of living in Mandis, like free housing, food, healthcare, etc. In fact, foreigners visiting the Nation are entitled to these benefits as well, and many can speak of Mandis Hospitality. If you’re looking for power in Mandis, there are a few ways to go about that, you can be a Mayor, a Minister, or a Governor. Each town has a Mayor, and there are a variety of Minister positions that are specialized in focus (I’m Minister of Foreign Relations and Minister of Tourism and the Environment, for example.)

What was your favorite experience here in CivEx?

That’s quite a hard question, and it's hard to answer. From that first trip across the ocean to UOS, opening a cathedral, hosting a Harvest Festival, poortea’s trial, or just having a beer with Tass, there’s been a lot! This server really does open you up to an endless world of possibilities. I would say there are two times that really stand out to me as super terrific. When Walkers was pearled, basically the whole server over-reacted, and sitting on the bridge with ComradeTaco, waiting to sound the sirens (MandisDefense) and to see Arcation riding to invade Zer0, that certainly was a good time. Another time was a couple nights ago, Tass came over to Grios to help me with my brewing operation, we got kinda drunk, and like an hour later ncordo came and we all sat around a hot tub drunk with each other. It sounds silly, but it really was a good time!

If you had a chance to completely restart your experience on CivEx as an entirely different person, what would you do?

I mean, I was really, really, really lucky I think. I didn’t spawn in some arctic wasteland, or the middle of the ocean, I spawned just a little south of Antiquitas, AND a few Mandis members were on to lead me to the nation and show me around. I wouldn’t do it differently, but I can see myself joining Arcation, doing some evil, getting pissed at someone, and creating an in-game nuke with like, a chest full of TNT blocks. Then joining Freimark or something and living the rest of my days as a monk. Yeah, I got lucky joining Mandis, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

To wrap it up, is there anything you want to tell our audience about you and your nation?

Since the dark days, our great nation has known only peace. Ours is an elegant system, conceived to nourish, and protect. Your nations represent the body, Mandis is the beating heart. Your hard work feeds us, and in return, we feed and protect you. But if you resist the system, you starve yourselves. If you fight against it, it is you who will bleed. I know you will stand together with me, with us, with all of us. Together, as one. No JK that’s just the speech from the Hunger Games.

From Picarona: Pontifax Devonmartino

As an admin, what is your least favorite part about CivEx, and how are you currently going about addressing that issue?

Honestly, if I had a least favorite part about CivEx, I probably wouldn’t still be playing here. As an admin, though, I’d have to say my least favorite part about CivEx is public opinion. It’s a constant uphill battle for this staff team (especially considering the act we followed), but I think we’ve really done well considering we haven’t been run out of town. I started as a moderator on a staff team in shambles (PR-wise), and now I’m leading the best staff team CivEx has had (with the exception of the original staff team, those guys are dope). Public opinion is a rocky sea at times, though- there was a dubious accusation of sexism pointed at me recently. Fortunately, I’m of the mind that when it comes to figures of authority, if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear- hence the fact that I decided against removing the post. And the public response to that post really confirmed that I was doing a good job. I’ve always given my best- which is why I’m confident that public opinion will remain where it should be, in favor of the mod team. After all- no server can survive if everyone hates the badmins!

While your nation has some of the most extensive and grand infrastructure on the server, not much is known about Picarona’s internal affairs. How is the nation run?

While we have been fairly secretive about most of our internal affairs, I’m happy to try to clear the air. Originally, Picarona was a theocracy- I was the leader of the nation when it came to politics and foreign affairs, and internal day-to-day things were Poulet’s job. Once I realized I was probably going to become a server moderator, I knew I might have to make decisions that could harm Picarona’s reputation, and would have less time to play- so I publicly handed the reins of the nation over to Poulet_Poulet (/u/SuperChicken42 ). Now, I would consider Picarona to be a theocratic oligarchy. Poulet manages trade, construction and acts as the leader in-game, especially when I’m not around. I provide Poulet with advice and act as the leader of the Cubist church (see /r/CivExCubism for more on this fantastic religion), by far the largest religion on CivEx, dealing with the diplomatic and political aspects of the nation.

You develop a lot of lore for in the community, especially concerning the religion of cubism. Did you have any previous experience in lore writing before coming to CivEx? With your experience, are there any tips that you might want to give the newer members of our community about creating lore for their nations?

Prior to creating Cubism, I kind of had the Roman Orthodox Muslim church in 1.0 fall into my lap. There was a smaller thing I did for a time with a schism there, but that was mostly an excuse to mess around with acronyms (the post-schism church was called CD-ROM). Aside from that, though? Surprisingly, nothing. Cubism was my first real foray into lore from scratch. (Not bad for my first time, eh?) I do have a few tips for people looking to write lore for their own nations: 1. Don’t be afraid to pull from real-life lore for guidance/inspiration- but don’t plagiarize. If you’re writing a religion, you can pull Biblical examples. Wasn’t there someone who was awoken by an angel in his sleep and told to become a prophet? Well, maybe in this universe that guy was a heavy sleeper, so the angel asked his next-door neighbor- you. The possibilities are endless. (Personally, I recommend going with Old Testament stuff. If you’re going with doom-and-gloom apocalypse stuff, read Dante’s Inferno or the book of Revelations.) If you’re writing lore for a system of government, feel free to borrow a policy from a historical government, write that your people disagreed with Elbonia’s policy and formed a new state, and you’re good! HOWEVER: if your nation’s history is just the French Revolution with all the names and dates changed, people are going to see it immediately and laugh at you. Don’t plagiarize someone else’s work! You wouldn’t do it in school, because thanks to TurnItIn you’re going to get caught. So why would you do it here? You can’t exactly change schools to get out of lying on the Internet. I’ve seen enough /r/quityourbullshit posts end in the liar deleting his account to know that Internet justice-boners are real, and they are scary. Don’t be that guy! 2. Account for the details. Why does your nation have the system of government it has? A monarchy could be descended from a line of famous warriors to which all others are loyal. A Pope could claim divine right to rule following a call to lead from a deity. You don’t explicitly need this part, but it makes your lore more powerful to have a foundation. 3. Big names need to have meaning. You can never, ever change these, so give them meaning. Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure; Hedonia is the Goddess of Humanity. Georges Braque was a major Cubist painter; Braquesburg is the birthplace of Cubism. Coastaro is on a coastline. Plus, it sets the tone for your nation: Ironscale, Iron, Scale, is powerful and grand. It’s not that hard to do, people- but it’s extremely important. 4. Remove any and all holes: This is specifically for people trying to create a religion. Make an exhaustive list of things people can and will do in CivEx. Then, categorize them. People might ask you, “I wanted to make a nation revolving around [for example] fishing, and I wanted to make a shrine to one of your deities. Which one should I pick?” You will need to be able to answer that. Whether it’s Merlin, God of the Sea (see what I did there? Mer is French for “sea”) or Akira, Goddess of Intellect (man created technology: the fishing rod), you should be able to come up with some sort of answer. If you’re floundering (sea jokes!), you’re going to have a bad time. This tip goes for plot holes, too. Make sure your characters dictate the story, not the other way around. (I could go on for HOURS about this.) Show your story to someone else, if that helps, and tell them to tear your plot a new one. If they ask, “Wouldn’t it have made more sense for King Dajondesh to just destroy Cantoria instead of accepting peace?” and you don’t have a good answer, you either have a bad character or an out-of-character action. Possibly both! Plot holes are just as important as coverage holes. 5. Tangents can be your friend: I have ADHD, so tangential thought is my bread and butter. Sometimes your brain will just come up with a simple idea, and you have to make the Executive Decision™ of whether to follow the tangent or scrap it. A tangent is like a tunnel: your train of thought can choose whether or not to go into it, but you might not know at first whether it’s going to take you to the Inspiration Station or not. My advice? You’re not really under any serious time constraint (I hope!), so FOLLOW. EVERY. ONE. There are no mistakes here, only happy accidents. Cubism started with one simple inspiration from Minecraft: the cube. Let your mind run free, like a wild pony! Or a tame pony! Or like nothing, because your dad never gave you a pony. Loser. I might actually make a post teaching people how to write really good lore, but for now that’s all I’ve got.

If you had a chance to completely restart your experience on CivEx as an entirely different person, what would you do?

Well, I started in 1.0. I probably wouldn’t have joined ROM, since that resulted in me losing most of my wealth (but not all, because I know to dropchest my goodies). I probably would’ve joined Lakeheart, and done my best to convince the leaders not to start that “criminal reform” program, which was little more than a gang of thugs (TOTALLY not just saying that because they pearled me and vaulted me FOR LITERALLY NO REASON). In 2.0, assuming Picarona doesn’t exist, I probably would’ve joined the Reach. Those guys are pretty great, and to be honest I wouldn’t be mad (or surprised) if they ended up taking Arcation AND 6ix down someday). Plus, their memes are pretty great, and they’re definitely not holding a gun to my head right now! Ha ha! Yes.

To wrap it up, is there anything you want to tell our audience about you and your nation?

You know, a lot of people get the idea that they have to adopt Cubism as their religion and worship the Eight in order to join Picarona. But that’s really not quite true. While we’d greatly prefer that you do so in order to live in Braquesburg (x-1100, z-4100), you can still settle in nearby Perrona or the jungle island colony of Draconis (x-600, z-1100). You can stop in Braquesburg or Draconis anytime and get a free stack of melon slices with no obligation to join us. This applies to anyone, old or new, who’s in need of foodstuffs. (Don’t abuse it.) And if anyone needs someone to chat with about anything, I’m here for you. Thanks for reading!

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