BUPA and BigAnt
HebronGazelle
The TACO alliance of parties is already making it's mark on the political scene. The new planned BUPA scheme to rival the government funded NHS has backing from players both in and out of the alliance, but many still has problems with the BUPA scheme. This article looks at the announcement of BUPA in this article, and questions asked BigAnt, the PP of the Radical Democratic Party.
BigAnt was the first person to annouce this new scheme so I decided he would be the person to ask the first question,
Why would players be willing to sign up to the political run scheme when the government already runs the NHS?
The service is free for all under lvl 29.
Its backed by TACO members because we have our concerns. But i MUST stress that any contact with these players (i.e. via weekly updates) I will show this message to the CP and MoH in position at the time.
BUPA will offer many benefits that NHS does not. - BigAnt
The fact that it is run by a few political parties which have argued with many others in the eUK in the past will put off some players. However, BigAnt does believe that this can succeed, and with cooperation with the CP and MoH of our country corruption should be lowered within this scheme. Nothing is a guarantee yet though, so players will look to the future to see what BUPA will do.
It is clear from the annoucement that TACO had a vision for BUPA and the eUK, but why couldn't they just help to improve the NHS instead of creating a controversial new scheme? I asked BigAnt the next question,
The NHS could do with some improvements, so why doesn't TACO improve the NHS instead of creating a new scheme?
TACO members have donated in the past and been slammed for "not donating" again I think this is just part of the smear campaign.
So we have distanced ourselves from the problem.
Also past MoH has been terrible. Granted things have improved this month with Cotton and for that I thank her. But still we feel its best to protect new players ourself. With that having two services can only benefit new players even more. - BigAnt
Both this response and the annoucement article show that TACO members have had problems with the NHS in the past. Hopefully this is a wake up call to the government that citizens of the eUK are not completely happy with the way the MoH is working at the moment, and the NHS could improve in the future.
This scheme does not only rival the NHS but the annoucement article shows it to be possibly better then the NHS. This would be tough to do and many players wondered how this can be funded,
BUPA promises food and weapons for those in the scheme. Can the scheme be expanded even more in the future, and how is it funded?
Currently BUPA is funded by TACO. Nothing stops anyone donating, but in all honestly I cant see that happening until I can prove the BUPA is awesome and that will take weeks and months.
Having run the NHS for 6 months I know how this works. As for the future, well we will take one day at a time. - BigAnt
With political tactics used by individuals in TACO in the past, it is no surprise they have the money to fund this scheme. I would like to see other citizens donating to BUPA since any eUK member under level 29 can join the scheme. BigAnt has experience to run BUPA as well, so it should be in safe hands until the scheme grows and the running of the scheme is passed to another TACO member.
With the scheme to be started off only financially supported by TACO members they must have a lot of money. Do they have enough the support the NHS as well? I put the question to BigAnt,
TACO must have a lot of food and money stockpiled up if the scheme is expected to work. Will TACO donate to the NHS, and will individual members be encouraged to donate to both schemes?"
TACO has plenty saved for all events.
As for donating to NHS I have never told anyone not to. I suppose they have seen and noted the same as me, NHS at times esp in the past 2-3 months has been very poor. Why would they hand over cash/food/supplies to something that fails to achieve its number one goal.
Having said all of that, it is changing now. So maybe you will see more TACO members donating when trust increases. - BigAnt
If the government can improve the quality of the NHS and match BUPA, we could see TACO being major supporters in both schemes. Hopefully other parties will support both schemes as well and show that the eUK can unite to improve the gameplay of newer players. This could be the start of a bright future.
Overall, the scheme looks to be well supported and have the right ideas and people behind it to make it succeed. TACO may now have the edge in supporting newer players, which will surely increase the three parties member counts. TACO may be running BUPA but they also want to support the NHS if it shows to be a worthwhile cause. Hopefully the whole of the eUK will get behind this scheme. If you want to join BUPA, and you are under level 29, click this link. Players under level 30 can also sign up to the NHS through this link..
This article was written by CheetahCurtis on the 2nd of August 2013. Please subscribe for more great tips and info.
Comments
Why not?
Cracking article
You explained your reasoning behind the questions, took your time to actually speak to a main person involved and gave a decent assessment of what was said.
A lot of bawww would be saved if more players took a leaf out of your book o7
Excellent article, well explained. Turning down the crazy dial is what TACO and everyone else needs.
"Both this response and the annoucement article show that TACO members have had problems with the NHS in the past. "
The problems been largely when members of TUP etc were the ones running it... When Big Ant was running, there were no problems...
"...the annoucement article shows it to be possibly better then the NHS."
Maybe it will prove to be in time, but it will be interesting to see how well it interacts with the NHS... BUPA has promised a lot, but can it deliver?
Hopefully it'll work, but the cynic in me suspects it is ultimately a PR stunt to get people to join NE etc... After all, new players who join it will seek advice as to what political party to join and I wonder what Big Ant and NE colleagues will advise....
For example I do wonder why in his answers, Big Ant has to speak about smear campaigns etc.. He also says "TACO members donating when trust increases" suggesting the failures of NHS is not simply down in inefficency but due to questionable, trust breaking actions...
you don't have to be in New Era, freemasons or RDP to sign up though, there is no pressure on the citizen to join any party
Nice article mate and shed some further light on the idea behind BUPA. People will say this is a dirty tactic to underhand the NHS.
Hopefully NHS will improve as a direct result and I with me getting governments involved they newsletter they receive will be pre-approved.
"to rival the government funded NHS"
The NHS is run purely on donations from citizens, it is not funded by the government at all.
Cotton have you messaged all NHS members and told them to sign up for this?
I have yet to do this. But what a wonderful idea
might as well milk em
And *if* it makes someone more likely to join an affiliated party , then that's boring, normal, standard, everyday run-of-the-mill sponsoring. Group A does something good to improve it's image for people B, happens all the time in rl, everyone wins. Note that I'm not in a position to assert intentions, but it seems crazy to point fingers with slack jaws and cry foul play.
Cracking article
You explained your reasoning behind the questions, took your time to actually speak to a main person involved and gave a decent assessment of what was said.
A lot of bawww would be saved if more players took a leaf out of your book o7 x2
I have to agree I wish the eUK would take a leaf out of your book , and lets focus on politics and substance.
The problem is: "The new planned BUPA scheme to RIVAL the government funded NHS". Can anything at all ever happen in eUK that's not planned, schemed or constructed to rival something else? Is it not possible to build something to COMPLEMENT something that's already existing?
good article. I appreciate anyone willing to donate to newer players. yes there are or were some internal UK problems - let's try and all pull together.
I could not access the link- considered malicious! could we have both links (NHS and BUPA) to distribute to under lvl29 players
The link was to tinyurl and eRepublik didn't like that, changed and should work now. If someone can give me the link to the NHS I will put it at the bottom.
thanks, it works now
I found the NHS link for under lvl30 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEFBUHlRdm5lUFpjMlNVcm5mdzdVamc6MA#gid=0
"With political tactics used by individuals in TACO in the past, it is no surprise they have the money to fund this scheme."
I'm wondering what you're suggesting with this comment.
It is being suggested that a few people in the various TACO parties aren't exactly "clean" when it comes to being in the position of power and that individual members might be guity of the stuff they have accused other parties of... But as a member of TACO, you will know that only TUP is guilty of corruption and that any suggestion that individuals within TACO might have done the same is obviously trolling - even if there is evidence of wrong doing....
no, he's basically stating that TACO members have stolen from the government, which is BS as that's the TUPites realm of expertise.
I am basically saying that certain TACO members have been known to use mass bribery as a recruitment tactics. If they can fund one they can fund the other. And stealing from governments isnt really a tactic.
@Leo
Using one example when a NE member may or may not have stolen from the treasury isn't evidence of no wrong doing. Some members of NE would have known the passwords as they weren't changed for a long time so those NE members are under the same suspicion as everyone else who passed through the office at the time. Big Ant pointing the finger the moment the TUP government announced they had discovered unaccounted reduced money and shouting "IT WAS THEM, IT WAS THEM! TUP HAVE STOLEN THE MONEY" is not evidence of wrong doing fromTUP. (Members of TUP may or may not be guilty. but I'm not in the camp that something is true because it is Big Ant's opinion)
Don't forget this is the guy that locked other directors out of the NHS gDoc when he had a temper tantrum. This isn't about helping the eUK or the 'new players'. This is all propaganda and the hallmark of a BigAnt CP run in the future. It's the same method used in his first CP outing and how he was able to gain support for his ESO PP term.
TACO and BigAnt could very well make the NHS scheme a much better place. By getting involved in it and using their 'wealth' and 'lolexperience' bring the NHS up to standard . Instead they would rather use it as a political football. A way to score cheap points, while giving the impression to the new players that they sincerely care about them rather than just wanting their votes for a power crab!
the nail has been hit on the head.....
Good approach and a professional presentation. I see the word smear campaign thrown around in some of the responses, this is an interesting choice of word given the 'us and them' mentality that some people have adopted; if a smear campaign has been going on it is definitely a two-way street, and comments/articles from both sides will illustrate that.
I do think at times the "smear campaign" has been only one sided though, with people most of the time confusing "having a different opinion" as trolling...