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Obligatory Vocaloid

Gold, gold, gold. We get medals for the little chunks of virtual metal, and buy and sell it on a regular basis. We save up large amounts to purchase our little factories and make all sorts of goodies. It, essentially, runs the game. No wonder tons of players spend their cash that they won in the lottery poured their blood, sweat, and tears to get in the cruel mistress that is real life.

Now, let's discuss the latest wunderbar addition to the world, the gold mine. Essentially, the world is split up into various regions (Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania), and the nation that does the most damage in that region gets a gold mine. Everyday players from that country can have an obligatory quest to find gold, where the little shiny specks will show up in their pockets. Sounds nice and harmless, no? A simple influence battle?

But le twist? The gold mine is not some arbitrary bonus simply gift-wrapped for the winner, but is placed in their real life capital (whatever the hell real life is). And the best part? Whoever owns the region reaps the profit. So yes, if Croatia won the European bracket, the good ol' Serbs would enjoy the benefits. Ain't that sweet?

Now, for most regions, it isn't too big of a deal. USA has the Americas bonus all locked up, and barring a super invasion from everybody and their third nephew twice removed, it's unlikely that anyone will take it off their greedy hands. In similar fashion, Serbia should be safe from enemy invaders in Belgrade for the foreseeable future. The other three, however, will be quite interesting. Geopolitics in a nutshell, folks!

First, the Asian bonus. With the current Serbian-Turkish war, Turkey is pulling out all the stops in their war, dumping metric tons of influence in hordes and spades. Traditional powerhouse China is stealthily close behind, a failsafe for the EDENites to secure gold, but the current situation is causing headaches for EDEN. Turkey has to do anything it can to win its battles, yet by doing so, it makes itself a juicier target by adding a gold mine in Central Anatolia. Can the Turks realistically hold onto the gold mine? Or is it better for EDEN to tell the Turks to stand down so the gold is secure? hehe

Anyways, off to Africa, a vastly populated continent brimming with hundreds (of thousands) of civilian-soldiers dying for their glorious nation and natural resources. But in eRepublik, there are but two nations representing the African people. South Africa is essentially Brazil's vassal. With very strong relations and Brazil's protective nature over their friend/colony, it's not unrealistic to imagine that Brazil would try to broker some deal if their south side homies won. On the opposite side, while South Africa is relatively secure as long as Indonesia is shooed away, Egypt is essentially a colony for the taking. Greece and Bulgaria are passionately battling over the nation with fervor, knowing that the territory is suddenly extremely valuable. Expect many fights for Cairo if CoTWO can push the influence Egypt's way.

And finally, the Oceanic region. Another two nation region, the Aussies and kiwis battle it out for the bonus. But with the Aussies likely to win, it creates great interest from a CoTWO standpoint. Chile essentially owns Australia, and thus the bonus, but while its hold on the island nation is relatively secure from EDEN or Argentina alone, with another influence it would suddenly be unstable. And thus the latest near-disaster in CoTWO relations. Starting off as a joke, the idea of Poland attacking Chile for the Australian bonus got more and more serious, as all of a sudden Lithuanian and Chilean MPPs got turned down as Poland geared up its airstrike. Luckily for CoTWO players, Chile averted the crisis, redirecting the Polish airforce at Ankara, the likely destination of the Asian gold mine.

Another crisis averted for CoTWO! Yay?

But see, admins? See what happens when there are resources that are sparse enough that even superpowers would want? It creates conflict and interest!

Cracks are showing, CoTWO 😉

And not just cuz you're mooning us 😛

Until next time, take care!

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