by Krevt, Interviewer
Krevt: Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen! Today I am joined by General Robespierre of the North Pacific Army, who has been recently sworn in as the Minister of Defense here in the North Pacific. How are you doing, Robes?
Robespierre: I’ve been doing decently I’d say, although the past week has been exceedingly busy in comparison to most any other week for me. Nonetheless, I’m very happy that I was able to set aside some time for today’s interview as I’m sure it’ll be a good one!
Krevt: Indeed, I’m sure it will be and the Spotlight is great to have you on for this month’s issue. So… We've seen you serve in a lot of positions around the region lately such as Minister of Home Affairs, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Deputy Minister of Communications, Deputy Minister of World Assembly Affairs, Election Commissioner, etc. Mind you, this has all been done in such little time, How has the journey been thus far for you over the last four or so months?
Robespierre: It’s been nothing short of phenomenal and I’m happy to have embarked on it. Lots of great people here to help apply pressure in the right places for what I should be doing and overall a very good regional aura here. I’m very proud to call myself a TNP guy.
Krevt: I’m glad to hear that the North Pacific has been good to you in these times, but when you first Joined TNP did you expect yourself to become the most rapidly growing trend amongst the citizens? I ask this because of how quickly you've attained the above-mentioned positions or were you curious about what the region's government and forums had in store for you once you got here?
Robespierre: This may sound a bit arrogant, cocky, or whathaveyou, but please do bear with me as I make an attempt at answering this question. In some ways? Yes, absolutely I expected myself to become one of (if not the) most rapidly growing upstart(s) amongst the citizenry and I’ll tell you why: In my opinion, it’s a mindset thing. You have to go into a given environment truly believing that you’re going to get your name out there and that you’re going to make things better. If you don’t legitimately feel as though you’re the best around then you won’t be - it’s as simple as that. Think of it a lot like you would the quote I have on my main nation’s page that reads “The Secret of Freedom Lies in Educating People.”
If you desire that freedom and you’re looking for a way to unlock that type of potential then a great first step would be to educate yourself about your surroundings. By that, I mean getting a feel for the region, becoming involved early on, seeking out opportunities instead of waiting for those opportunities to pass you by. Who are some of the more well-established individuals in your region? I’ve been fortunate enough to see my profile skyrocket in recent months but I couldn’t have gotten there if I hadn’t put the work in myself and given people the results they were hoping for.
There’s nothing underhanded about being strategic and playing the game smart. If you know where you want to then be upfront about it and actively pursue your goal. This is becoming more and more like a motivational speech so I’ll cut it short here, but what I’m basically saying here is that if you want to be the next Todd McCloud then go ahead and strive for that. I’m no Todd McCloud, obviously, but the point still stands that I’m proof of someone getting to where they’d like to be.
Krevt: Very inspirational! Hopefully, some of our newer faces will be following in your footsteps in due time. I’m sure after reading this they’ll have something to gauge off of, but since you claim to be ‘extremely active’ and ‘exceptionally proactive’ how do you keep yourself motivated for NS? A good example is how some people tend to resign their posts because of work, external pressure, real-life commitments, and a wide variety of other factors.
Robespierre: I don’t think I’ve ever had to resign a government position in the past five years, but I could always be wrong. Usually my memory holds up, so it’s unlikely that I would have, but in either case, I’ve always found that in such scenarios it’s best to concentrate on what you actually enjoy doing. That way, when you come online, you’ll be greeted by something that’ll fulfill you. If you’re busy then just say so, I think people are fairly understanding of that. As the saying goes it’s RL > NS and that rings true always, so don’t get your head in to deep or be up a creek without a paddle. I stay the way I am because I dedicate myself to things I actually enjoy. That’s why I pride myself on being versatile and doing so many things: because I love the community here and I’m happy with my place within it.
Krevt: I’m sure people appreciate your versatility and in many ways, I think that makes you a regional asset. Now, since you’re the incumbent Minister of Defense, I'll ask some major issues which I think should be addressed.
Robespierre: Go ahead.
Krevt: First off, what are some reforms that you’d consider to make NPA a more efficient organization? Regional security is already top-notch, obviously, but there is always room for improvement wouldn’t you say?
Robespierre: Definitely, and that’s always the objective I have in mind when making decisions for my Ministry. I want to make the North Pacific Army a more efficient entity, but at the same time, I also want to make membership to it a more engaging experience. There are a great many ways that the High Command can go about doing just that, but I’ve chosen to have the server undergo a lot of internal renovations that’ll take our updating to the next level regardless of what kind of operation we’re scheduled to be on. That, combined with minor policy changes, is what’ll enrich the experience for soldiers and keep them interested in our affairs.
You can already see this being done with the new NationStates cards incentives that I announced informally at last night’s Executive Staff meeting, as well as with the creation of new ribbons for officers who meet certain requirements tied to mission leadership. All and all, it’s about leveraging positive reinforcement and making ‘work’ not work.
Krevt: As a Sergeant of the North Pacific Army I must confess that I’m excited to see how these new rewards programs will be implemented and what effect that’ll have on participation. Secondly, I’ve noticed the operations that occur nowadays have less NPA participation than they did when I was here before. A look back at military sign up thread will tell you that there are far more soldiers recruited than those who are participating, without much matter be it at major or minor updates. That being said, how do you think you can rectify this issue of less participation?
Robespierre: I don’t think that you can just look at the sheer numbers of our organization and deduce that conclusion as a result of observation. As any Minister of Defense of the past will tell you: you have to look at how your soldiers are participating and not how many of them are participating. Not everyone will agree with me and that’s okay, in fact, that’s the beauty of it. But I would much rather have a multi-faceted update force capable of being jumping at a second’s notice and a piling force with the awareness and attentiveness to reinforce in under twenty-four hours then an overcrowded barrack full of soldiers who are only tag raiding once or twice a week.
It’s about sustaining constant improvement with the people who are showing up and making sure your active soldiers are consistently developing. That’ll ensure the health of the organization long term; if I can get multiple moving parts firing on all cylinders when I need them to do so. Being in a game-created region means that I’ll never have a shortage of personnel and in turn, I have a lot to work with. So instead I’m focused on managing the development of those who do show up.
Krevt: A very nice answer to an interesting dilemma, and one that I hadn’t yet considered to be of relevance to the topic. Do you think the promotion mechanism of the NPA requires some overhaul and to be more linear? Linear in the sense that there can be an activity tracking system by which a soldier can be tracked of his/her achievements and participation and given points. and on the basis of those points, a soldier should be given a promotion. That’s my opinion anyway, so I’d like to get your thoughts.
Robespierre: You may or may not know this, but there is something that tracks that. It tracks various statistics actually, like operation participation, rank, operations lead, alias notes, etc, I don’t think that it need be a linear progression system though, because I’m the Minister of Defense and who gets promoted is entirely subjective and at my discretion. There’s more to look at then just numbers, especially for evaluating leadership potential. So no, I wouldn’t say I agree.
Krevt: Is there something other than NationStates that keeps you nearly as energetic and proactive as you are here? How did you first find yourself coming onto the site?
Robespierre: It’s a funny story really, albeit a boring and underwhelming one, but a funny story all the same. I would imagine that most players are referred here either by their friends/family who already play the game or by Reddit postings. For me, it was different, as I actually sought out the game before the game could be advertised to me. I’ve always had a passion for politics and my desire to discuss and debate the opinions that I hold seems to be undying. Elsewhere, people really aren’t always willing to have those sorts of conversations either because they don’t have the time to do so or because they simply don’t have the patience to do so.
At the end of the day, us talking about all these different ideologies, government types and whatnot doesn’t really matter, right? Well… if you’re me then it does matter and you’d be wrong for thinking otherwise. I think that’s what connects players worldwide and joins them all here on this political simulator game straight out of a web browser: It’s the prospect of being whoever it is that you’d like to be and advocating for whatever viewpoint you’d like to convey unto others. It’s a very powerful thing, I must say, but aside from that my love of business, learning, and music does keep me fairly occupied.
Krevt: What can the people of TNP expect from you and your governance in the coming future i.e what are your future plans within TNP?
Robespierre: My future plans are heavily dependent upon what people would like from me. “Who am I? Well… who do you want me to be?” - the question is: Who do North Pacificans want me to be? If you answer that question I can better answer your question, but for now, I don’t have much to say aside from I’ll do my very best in my current capacity and I’ll continue towards no limit.
Krevt: Ah, I see. That’ll definitely be something to look out for in the near future and I’m almost certain that you’ve got players from around the region who are really counting on you to make an impact in the coming stages of your career just as you have when you first began your time here. Finally, do you have any advice that you would like to give your fellow North Pacificans and soldiers of the North Pacific Army?
Robespierre: You know, as a matter of fact, there is a little bit of something that I’d like to share with everyone reading this. For what it is worth, my piece of advice to you all is this: Don’t ever allow your time on NationStates to become more like a job then it is a source of recreation. If you enjoy completing government work then by all means - please continue to be as productive as some of you guys are being right now. If you enjoy RolePlaying and creating various storyarchs with your friends and foes, then hold onto that because there’s always time for a bit of fun in one’s life. If you enjoy participating in gameplay, raiding and defending, the continue to update regularly and sharpen your skills. Show everyone that you’re the best out there on the battlefield! … While you’re at it, come join one of the oldest, well-organized, most powerful armies that NationStates has ever known.
^^^ I’m totally not bias in saying that, but the point I’m trying to illustrate here is that the game is meant to be enjoyed and that goes for everyone who plays it. If you’re logging in every day and you’re not having fun talking with your region-mates, RolePlaying, tag raiding, spamming, answering issues, podcasting, plotting, or whatever else it is that you do then why even log in at all? I think that the North Pacific especially has something for everyone and I truly do hope that by continuing to play and enjoy myself I’m inadvertently improving someone’s experience of this game. My advice? Always aim for that! Try to enjoy yourself whenever possible and subscribe to positive energy - it’ll serve you better in the long run.
Krevt: Wise words if I’ve ever heard them! Thank you, Robespierre, for taking the time to sit down with the Spotlight this month.
Robespierre: No problem! It’s both a pleasure and an honour to be featured by the North Star and hopefully my long-winded answers didn’t bore all of our readers to death
Krevt: I think it did anything but that, in truth. Anyhow, this has been yet another edition of the Spotlight on the North Star publication! Today it was with Robespierre, but next month it could even be you - find out in coming issues! Good day, and thank you for reading!
