Oakvale/Snowguy for Atlasia: Concession; Congratulations to Tmth and Dallasfan!

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

Oakvale, what is your opinion of the Foreign Policy Reform Act of 2010?

[Oakvale]

I echo Vice-President Kalwejt's call for a day of mourning after the tragic events in Nyman.

Mr. President. I'd like to urge you to declare a period of a national mourning following GTO bombing.

Your deputy.

Obviously my sympathies go out to the family of Millie Cooper and those injured in the attack.

[Jbrase]

A question from The Porcupine:

If you were president right now, would you veto or sign into law the current Progressive Tax bill proposed by Antonio?

[Oakvale]

A question from The Porcupine:

If you were president right now, would you veto or sign into law the current Progressive Tax bill proposed by Antonio?

I'd veto it. A 75% marginal tax rate is somewhat counterproductive, I think - although well intentioned.

I'm not opposed to the principle of the bill, but the rates need tweaking.

[Oakvale]

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The official language of the JCP is Dutch, not gobbledygook, Kalwejt.

I would have no objection to changing the official language of the JCP to gobbledygook.

[Purple State]

I've been kinda spotty checking the forum this past week so I'm not entirely sure if I'm an idiot and missed it, but do you have a platform I can check out?

Snowguy owes me some more intelligent debating.

[Oakvale]

I've been kinda spotty checking the forum this past week so I'm not entirely sure if I'm an idiot and missed it, but do you have a platform I can check out?

Snowguy owes me some more intelligent debating.

No, that's my fault! I never got around to writing up the formal document, since I'm lazy and easily distracted (the first debate drew my attention). That said, I outlined my ideas in the debate earlier (and will elaborate in the second one ) but here's a summary. I'll give you a quick outline of my "out of character", if you will, ideas for game reform.


1) I agree with what I'm pleased to see has become the consensus view amongst the candidates. The GM is regularly ignored - there was a massive economic crisis happening for weeks while Badger banged his head off the wall.

I'll quote from one of my debate answers, which I think lays out my position pretty well.

It's a GM issue - we need to get the GM posting in the Senate, we need regular contact between the administration and Secretaries and the GM, we need the game running according to some kind of actual plot. One of the biggest flaws in Atlasia is that laws go into a legislative black hole and are never heard from again - this is especially prevalent on a regional level.

As President, I'd also give the GM a small team of 1-2 assistants, focusing on regional issues, something that my fellow Governors would agree has been ignored for too long.

2) Increase Senate activity. Tighten requirements of office - if you're going to be a Senator, you have to post regularly, and our current "grace period" is too lax. I think the issue of legislative slots is a red herring, and doesn't address the, uh, apathy of some Senators.

I should also add here that I'm unfortunately not in favour of you and M's idea of an "executive slot" (apologies if I got the terminology wrong). Separation of powers and all that.

3) I'm going to copy one of my achievments as Governor - giving the Vice-President (well, Lt. Gov) something to do. Put him/her in charge of mantaining the wiki. It's worked pretty well in the Pacific, and kills two birds with the proverbial stone - we get a decent wiki, and the VP has something to do.

4) The question that occupies pretty much everyone - how to attract new members. The immediate answer presents itself - let's bump down the post requirements - both for registration and holding office. A quantity over quality approach isn't great - remember when Junkie, one of our best members, was disqualified from running for the Senate on a technicality?

I'd also encourage the regions to create as many elected positions as viable - elections are, after all, the foucs of the game and many a newbie can get fed up and leave after months as a private citizens.

As I said in the debate, though, I'm against the idea of off site recruitment. It's too easily manipulated by partisan politics, IMO.

Hope that helps.


PS: Here's a tl;dr version. 

1) Two GMs, require them to interact with the other offices of the game - post in the Senate, talk to the President, and so on.
2) Tighten the requirements of being a Senator. Senators post regularly or are removed from office. Meddling with legislative slots, term limits are misguided ideas.
3) Put the VP in charge of the wiki, but the AG should focus on the Statute page.
4) Lower requirements for membership, holding office. Encourage regions to increase number of elected positions.

[Jayhawker]

I agree with most of your points, Oakvale. I do have one question: When you say give the Vice President the assignment of updating the Wiki, what specific pages do you want him updating?

[Oakvale]

I agree with most of your points, Oakvale. I do have one question: When you say give the Vice President the assignment of updating the Wiki, what specific pages do you want him updating?

I'd encourage the regional Governors to do what I did () and appoint, or delegate, someone to mantain the wiki pages relevant to their region, so hopefully the VP would be free to focus on "federal" stuff - election records, keeping the pages on the various federal institutions up-to-date, that kind of thing.

[Purple State]

I appreciate you putting that together Oakvale.

I actually am very much in favor of your third point. One thing that we have fixed recently is the decrepit nature of the Statute page, but the Wiki is much more than just that page and making sure a prominent official is charged with maintaining is a good idea.

[Oakvale]

What the hell happened in the last few hours to make Marokai drop out of the race?

e: Hmm, I get the impression he and Purple State became disillusioned with the campaign. Needless to say, I had my differences with the ticket, but I'm genuinely sorry to see them both go.

[Jbrase]

Reporter from the The Porcupine

You, sir, agreed to an interview and come hell or high water we will get it.

I suppose in public is as good a place as any. Ignore the person with the shotgun standing behind me.

1st question: Recently Marokai and Purple State withdrew from the race leaving only one ticket on the left, so we ask - How does it feel being elected President of Atlasia?

[Oakvale]

Reporter from the The Porcupine

You, sir, agreed to an interview and come hell or high water we will get it.

I suppose in public is as good a place as any. Ignore the person with the shotgun standing behind me.

1st question: Recently Marokai and Purple State withdrew from the race leaving only one ticket on the left, so we ask - How does it feel being elected President of Atlasia?

Fail! The UDL is still going to field a candidate, and Tmth is at least even money to beat me even if they didn't!

[Jbrase]

Question 2: Recently Vice (and acting) President Kalwejt fired the SoIA for inactivity. If you were president would you have done the same?

[Oakvale]

Question 2: Recently Vice (and acting) President Kalwejt fired the SoIA for inactivity. If you were president would you have done the same?

Yep, I would.

 I think Kal did a pretty great job in the brief time he was (sort of) President, and while I have a lot of time for the former Secretary - ironically, he was very, and commendably, active early on in his position - I don't think the Cabinet should be somewhere where you can sit around twiddling your thumbs and enjoying your title.

That said, though, there's a reason SoIAs are often rather inactive - it's a, uh, weird position, after all, and I think any "in character" position is very demanding on someone. It also raises a point I've made time and time again - "in character" stuff in Atlasia has a habit of disappearing into a black hole and having no impact on the world again. This makes a job like SoIA rather unrewarding. As President, addressing this pretty major issue would be one of my top priorities.

[Jbrase]

Question 3: As I have asked all other candidates, its only fair I ask you this too. Why in your opinion have we not heard back form the SC whether or not I have been admitted to the bar, after two month's while others have gotten a response in just a few days

[Badger]

I'll give you a quick outline of my "out of character", if you will, ideas for game reform.

1) I agree with what I'm pleased to see has become the consensus view amongst the candidates. The GM is regularly ignored - there was a massive economic crisis happening for weeks while Badger banged his head off the wall.

I'll quote from one of my debate answers, which I think lays out my position pretty well.

It's a GM issue - we need to get the GM posting in the Senate, we need regular contact between the administration and Secretaries and the GM, we need the game running according to some kind of actual plot. One of the biggest flaws in Atlasia is that laws go into a legislative black hole and are never heard from again - this is especially prevalent on a regional level.

As President, I'd also give the GM a small team of 1-2 assistants, focusing on regional issues, something that my fellow Governors would agree has been ignored for too long.

PS: Here's a tl;dr version. 

1) Two GMs, require them to interact with the other offices of the game - post in the Senate, talk to the President, and so on.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record , I'll restate my own preferences on the issue:

I think multiple GMs is likely to cause more headaches and confusion than not. Its been suggested to have one for domestic issues and another for foreign affairs, but these theatres interact too closely in today's world to have two chefs trying to cook the same stew. Regardless of inevitable jurisdictional disputes, its preferable to have one GM to develop long term plans and storylines that may interact.

That said, the GM job is huge if done properly. The idea of two assistant GMs is excellent, maybe even overdue. I believe the relatively underutilized jobs of SoEA and (especially) SoIA are perfect for these roles which should be incorporated into their job descriptions. This not only gives the GM's Office needed help (especially on domestic budget/economic number crunching and research), but gives these offices an equally needed expansion of their duties and tangible influence in policy decisions.

[Oakvale]

Sorry folks, had kind of an unscheduled (and unexpected) absence there, but everything's under control.

To prove I'm back, here's my campaign symbol:

[Oakvale]

Since the election's getting close, I'd urge all of you to ask any questions you have here, and I'll get back to you ASAP.

I'll give you a quick outline of my "out of character", if you will, ideas for game reform.

1) I agree with what I'm pleased to see has become the consensus view amongst the candidates. The GM is regularly ignored - there was a massive economic crisis happening for weeks while Badger banged his head off the wall.

I'll quote from one of my debate answers, which I think lays out my position pretty well.

It's a GM issue - we need to get the GM posting in the Senate, we need regular contact between the administration and Secretaries and the GM, we need the game running according to some kind of actual plot. One of the biggest flaws in Atlasia is that laws go into a legislative black hole and are never heard from again - this is especially prevalent on a regional level.

As President, I'd also give the GM a small team of 1-2 assistants, focusing on regional issues, something that my fellow Governors would agree has been ignored for too long.

PS: Here's a tl;dr version. 

1) Two GMs, require them to interact with the other offices of the game - post in the Senate, talk to the President, and so on.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record , I'll restate my own preferences on the issue:

I think multiple GMs is likely to cause more headaches and confusion than not. Its been suggested to have one for domestic issues and another for foreign affairs, but these theatres interact too closely in today's world to have two chefs trying to cook the same stew. Regardless of inevitable jurisdictional disputes, its preferable to have one GM to develop long term plans and storylines that may interact.

That said, the GM job is huge if done properly. The idea of two assistant GMs is excellent, maybe even overdue. I believe the relatively underutilized jobs of SoEA and (especially) SoIA are perfect for these roles which should be incorporated into their job descriptions. This not only gives the GM's Office needed help (especially on domestic budget/economic number crunching and research), but gives these offices an equally needed expansion of their duties and tangible influence in policy decisions.

Well, your opinion as GM is obviously one I'm going to take into account. Given your feelings on this, how's this - I'd be interested in implementing the "assistant" idea for a trial period of a couple of months, see how that goes, and then decided whether to further tinker based on the results.

In other words, if an assistant or two (whether in the guise of the relevant Secretaries or otherwise) makes the position work a little better without the need for a second GM, we can always leave it at that. If not, a second moderator might be the best route forward.

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

Post a pic of your girlfriend, please.

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

What is your opinion of Kalwejt's endless hunt to obtain pictures of Atlasian political figures' girlfriends, possibly for self-pleasure?

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

What is your opinion of Kalwejt's endless hunt to obtain pictures of Atlasian political figures' girlfriends, possibly for self-pleasure?

My request must be answered first, Teddy.

[wormyguy]

What is your opinion of Kalwejt's endless hunt to obtain pictures of Atlasian political figures' girlfriends, possibly for self-pleasure?

My request must be answered first, Teddy.

While it would be hilarious to let you make a fool of yourself a little longer, considering the imminence of the election I must regret to inform you that his IP check works out.

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

What is your opinion of Kalwejt's endless hunt to obtain pictures of Atlasian political figures' girlfriends, possibly for self-pleasure?

My request must be answered first, Teddy.

While it would be hilarious to let you make a fool of yourself a little longer, considering the imminence of the election I must regret to inform you that his IP check works out.

Said a great expert who accused Junkie of being Hamilton.

[Oakvale]

Post a pic of your girlfriend, please.

Those records are permanently sealed.