Aersoldorf for Lyonnesse East

[Aersoldorf]

My fellow Islanders,

My name is Aersoldorf and I would be honored if you were to allow me to serve you as the Senator for Lyonnesse East. Many of you know me and are aware of my many years of service to the region as well as my unwavering dedication to TITO and my loathing for those who choose to bully the weak through raiding.

For those of you who are new to the region or who may not have ever gotten to know me in the past, I will tell you a bit about my history here to explain why I would love for you to vote for me and why I believe that I’m fully qualified for the position.

In early 2011 a coworker of mine asked me to check out an online nation simulator game that he enjoyed playing. We had quite a bit of free time during the workday so I logged in and created my nation. Like most of you, my inbox was soon full of telegrams inviting me to join various regions. My coworker, while he enjoyed running his country, never really got involved with any regional activities and so he didn’t attempt to entice me to join his region. I read through all of the telegrams that I received and was most impressed by the one inviting me to join 10KI, so I moved here within a few hours of creating my nation. For the first couple of weeks I would simply log in once per day and make selections for the issues that faced my country. Needless to say, this became rather boring after a while and so I decided to look for other things to do within the region. Naive noob that I was, I decided that I would endotart until I had wrestled the position of Delegate away from Markanite, who held the position at that time. I don’t remember who it was, but someone sent me a very demeaning telegram when I asked if they’d be interested in trading endorsements with me. I was pretty upset at first and decided that if the people playing this game were all that rude that I’d be better off quitting and spending my time on other pursuits. But right before I closed my browser and walked away from the game, I realized that I had never once looked at the offsite forums that the region advertised. I’m a very introverted person and had never been on an online forum but something inside me made me curious about what I would find there if I looked. And so, somewhat nervously, I created a forum account and opened up a whole new world. The rest, as they say, is history.

During my time here I have served the region in many different ways and received a variety of awards for my efforts. I was chosen as RoQ after six weeks on the forums and since then I have served as the Senator for Himes West, as Minister of Immigration, and as Delegate. I’ve been appointed Mayor of Taco Island, I’ve taught at our University, and I’ve been an emissary to several regions and served as a Buddy to new Islanders. I have also been a recruiter for the majority of my time here, I’ve earned over 150 battle stars as a member of TITO, I’ve been fortunate enough to win the title of the region’s Poet Laureate seventeen times and I’ve served as a Tactical Officer. I’m the only person who is ranked in the top three for number of posts on our forums, recruitment telegrams sent and number of recruits brought to the region.

Sadly, real life sometimes forces us to do things that we’d rather not do, and such was the case with me. I reached a point in my life a few years back where I was forced to choose between this game and my family, so while I was sad to walk away for a time, it was certainly for the best. The depression that accompanied this period led me into a downward spiral of alcohol abuse that eventually cost me everything that I held dear. My job, my family and even my freedoms vanished in an instant. Rather than succumb to defeat, I chose to make the necessary changes in my life to try to rebuild the relationships that I had lost and to get back on my feet. I’m proud to say that I have now been sober for over a year and have managed to heal the broken relationships with my family. It’s only because of this that I recently felt that it was time to return here, to the region and friends who have meant so much to me for so long.

A lot has changed since I was last active here, and not all of those changes were for the good in my opinion. It’s my fervent desire to apply myself to helping turn things around and find a way to return us to our former glory. I believe that I have some ideas that will help achieve those goals, but I need to develop them a bit more before bringing them before the Council, but I give you my word that I will work tirelessly to increase our activity levels, increase our population with an emphasis on recruiting and retaining more WA nations, and breathe new life into some of our establishments that have fallen by the wayside in recent years. I further pledge to you that I’m back for the long haul and have no intentions of taking any more extended breaks.

I thank you for your time in reading this and I humbly ask that you would consider voting for me. If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer them.

[HumanSanity]

First of all, welcome back Aersoldorf! I've considered you one of my friends in this game for many many years and one of the people I missed when I went on my own recent hiatus. I'm elated to hear you're doing better now. I'm confident this game will still bring the friendships and joy to you that it once did, and I'm glad to hear it can finally re-enter your life.

I'm also glad to hear you are interested in running for office again. While the below questions are still important, I believe there is very little you could conceivably say to make me not fully and unambiguously support you. You've always been an upstanding Islander with the best of intentions and your years of high quality service leave me with no doubt that you're coming back to the game in earnest and with every intention to serve and lead.

Since Aerso is modest I'll highlight one of many major, game changing accomplishments of his: Unambiguously, Aerso invented the modern lottery system. Automatic reinvestment accounts, two different regular drawings, weekly draws, etc. were not a part of the Casino when I started but were after Aerso started. For many years after Aerso left his Himes West posting, the drawing numbers came from North Carolina because that was his home state. It's spectacular to have created such an institution only through leading by example through a Senate seat.

My question to you Aersoldorf is: When you write "not all of those changes were for the good in my opinion" could you be more specific? What changes were not for the good? Would you fight to reverse them, modify them, or would you allow them to remain in place to play out? Additionally, you say you want to "breathe new life into some of our establishments" - can you specify which? I know you're still working on ideas, but a sample might help.

With much unending gratitude and respect after many years
HS

[Aersoldorf]

Jul 6, 2019 10:46:11 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

My question to you Aersoldorf is: When you write "not all of those changes were for the good in my opinion" could you be more specific? What changes were not for the good? Would you fight to reverse them, modify them, or would you allow them to remain in place to play out? Additionally, you say you want to "breathe new life into some of our establishments" - can you specify which? I know you're still working on ideas, but a sample might help.

First of all, thank you very much for your kind words, I have always enjoyed working with you, whether it was on our newspaper, in spamming together, or in the Co9 writing legislation together. I still consider the original House Achievement Plan that we co-wrote to be one of the best legislative achievements of my time here, and I believe that it further demonstrates why I am seeking this particular Senate seat.

The changes that I spoke of are for the most part not legislative in nature, so please forgive me for being a bit vague in that regard. I simply meant that I was less than happy to see how far the regional population had dropped, how much the activity levels on the forums have declined, and how some of our long offered activities have simply ceased (I could be wrong but I believe that our stock market has ceased functioning, along with the lottery and the rich list updates).

I’m further sad to see that we are still relying on a single person for the most part when it comes to recruiting. I don’t mean this to be critical in any way of Escanaba’s determination and dedication, far from it. I simply believe that the region would benefit from expanding the number of people who are dedicated to the cause of keeping the accelerator as clean as possible throughout the day. Naba sending telegrams to nations that are several hours old because he had other things to do in real life is still commendable on his part, but not as effective as if we had others willing to stay on top of the job when Naba is busy.

Another change that I find troubling is the shift towards actually politicizing our political parties and the electoral process. I will quote from the OP of the two largest and oldest parties still operating.

From the MSPP thread:

MSPP is fun!: We at MSPP don't take ourselves too seriously. Keeping with the spirit of our namesake, the late Mayor of Taco Island Shelter from the Storm, MSPP is a party that parties! At thousands of posts of partying and spam and counting, here and in our sub-board, we're just getting started!


And from the TIP thread:

I'm creating a new Political Party. We stand for Defending, Justice, Peace and Tacos for All! Not to mention Recruiting. Actually recruiting is our motto. Also Spamming is the name of the game, if you're a spammer then this political party is the one for you!

I thought it might be fun to start a political party based on what we're so good at doing... having fun!



Both of these quotes make it perfectly plain that the parties were founded simply to provide another outlet for having fun. Never in all of my years here do I recall such a push to abandon the founding principles of these institutions in favor of ideological identities that have caused a lot of contention of late.

I would prefer to see a return to the roots of both parties and a drastic reduction in the angst between them.

Hopefully this explains my earlier statements, but feel free to ask more questions if anything comes to mind.

[Aersoldorf]

My thanks to Louisistan for pointing out that the stock market plugin that he coded does still work. It’s the one that ProBoards offers that doesn’t work.

[Louisistan]

An excellent candidate for a Senate seat very close to my heart.
Aersoldorf, I happily endorse your candidacy.

[Sargon Reman]

Aersoldorf you would obviously be a great addition to the co9. I supported you from the beginning. Good luck.

[Lenlyvit]

Aerso, during my time here I have met very few XKIers as dedicated to the region as you. I wish you luck, and fully endorse your candidacy

[HumanSanity]

Thanks for your thoughtful response Aersoldorf! Dedicated public servants and friends like you are why I love this game.

I'm excited for the ideas you'll bring to the Co9 on these issues. Having old heads loop back around brings the right combination of experience and new perspective that allows the region to move forward.

[Isles of Nixon]

Pardon me, I am not eligible to vote in the election, but I pop in from time-to-time to make sure everything's on the up-and-up.

Many moons ago, in the period between mid-2007 and mid-2008, we faced a serious issue with political parties aiding and abetting the rancor that was displayed in our elections. I readily admit my role in fanning those partisan flames. It wasn't until I became chairman of one of the political parties that I got together with the opposing party's chairman and we decided to disband the parties for the betterment of the region. Some time later, the MSPP and TIP were formed and as Aersoldorf stated, their initial purpose was to have spirited fun.

I do have some questions, posed strictly as a casual observer. You've identified the problem. Now how are you going to work on it? How are you going to ensure the parties return to their roots? Moreover, have you consulted with Dominion of Compassion, the senator directly responsible for maintaining the political parties, and if not, do you plan on doing so?

[Aersoldorf]

Jul 9, 2019 16:21:58 GMT -5 Isles of Nixon said:

I do have some questions, posed strictly as a casual observer. You've identified the problem. Now how are you going to work on it? How are you going to ensure the parties return to their roots? Moreover, have you consulted with Dominion of Compassion, the senator directly responsible for maintaining the political parties, and if not, do you plan on doing so?

First of all, it’s good to see you again IoN. Always a pleasure having you around.

As for your questions, I find them well thought out and insightful. For starters, no, I have not discussed any of these concerns with DoC yet, but if elected I would definitely do so seeing as how he is in charge of the party system. As for how to remedy the situation, I am hopeful that by encouraging open discussions with all of the heads of the respective parties that we can identify the root causes for the shift that has occurred and collectively agree on some steps to take that will help to move us back towards a more lighthearted and fun approach to the electoral process. It is my belief, and anyone is free to correct me if I’m mistaken, that the current climate arose due to confusion about what certain parties or individuals were planning to propose in regard to perceived massive changes in our governmental system, with two of the rumored changes being a change to a parliamentary government with far more than the current 9 voting members, which would either eliminate outright or relegate to a non-voting status the 3 ministerial posts, and a possible move to remove the veto power from our Chief Executive. Again, these ideas may have never been anything more than items of curiosity that someone wanted to run by a few friends to gauge how they might be received, and I could be incorrect regarding their importance in causing the problems that I perceived, but for the moment that’s my understanding of where the issues began. As for how to correct the problem, I would try to convince the party leaders to encourage open communication within their own parties regarding any legislation that would change either the makeup or operations of the Co9. I believe that by having such discussions in public, even if it’s within the password protected sub boards of those parties that have them, rather than via private messages or via other outlets such as Discord, that much of the confusion that has arisen recently can be avoided. I would also stress the importance of remembering that this is just a game. There are no decisions to be made here that are important enough to cause the levels of angst that in real life can arise over discussions regarding such topics as abortion and LBGT rights. That’s not to say that I feel that nobody has the right to discuss legislative ideas privately, I just feel that if the proposed idea would have massive ramifications for our government that it would be best for everyone to do so publicly in order to avoid any possible appearances of being shady or revolutionary.

I do hope that my answer satisfies your curiosity, and if anyone has further questions please feel free to ask.

[Isles of Nixon]

Sunshine is always the best disinfectant and your answer certainly embraces that concept and I thank you for it.

Identifying - and then rectifying - this unfortunate situation will need to be a top priority, in my opinion. As previously stated, I saw what happened back in the day. It started with one contentious election in July '07 and that disturbing pattern continued until the May '08 election (again, guilty as charged for being the main instigator. In my defense, I had just joined in late June '07 and thought the rancor was par for the course and I was just participating in that. It wasn't until some time later when I was told that the elections used to be mundane exercises that I realized I had made a terrible mistake.) All that said, who knows what kind of examples the islanders are providing to new nations interested in joining our region.

I thank you again for your prompt responses to my questions and wish you all the luck in your endeavors.

[(TCP) The Circle Party]

After consideration and debate TCP is proud to endorse Aersoldorf as candidate for Lyonnesse East. Many of our members have had long, friendly relationships with him, and have supported him for past delegate and senate races. We also appreciate his honesty and candor in his approach to politics. His notable affirmation of the functional roles ministers and senators play, make him an ideal candidate for the job. We wish him the best of luck in his race and all the best in his job overseeing our House System!

[Louisistan]

Congratulations, Senator.

[Paffnia]

Congrats Aersoldorf!

[Sargon Reman]

Congratulations Aersoldorf!

[MinnaCaroline]

Aersoldorf Congratulations Man!! Way to Represent!!!