Interview with Maryam Q

Day 2,605, 10:11 • Published in Belgium United Kingdom • by Pargali Ibrahim Pasha


1. Please tell me about youself?


I'm not sure what you would like to know. I'm a RL American woman with a grandson older than some eRepublik players, all of which has been public knowledge for some time. I started playing a little more than 5 years ago because my son asked me. I stayed, and he didn't.

2. How you com to eBelgium?
One my friend who are RL eBe citizent (I never say who) say me Mary Q come for PTO , She make PTO Group in USA and She make PTO.
2. How you com to eBelgium?
One my friend who are RL eBe citizent (I never say who) say me Mary Q come for PTO , She make PTO Group in USA and She make PTO.

Your friend has a distorted version of the facts. I came to eBelgium shortly after the break-up of eUNL. I was directed there by an eAmerican group called Strategic Air Command, having previously been in eUK for a little time. I did not create this group, and honestly had no idea what was going on in ePolitics at the time, nor did I know what a PTO was. From my perspective, I was assigned to keep eBelgium neutral as it was not possible to move around as easily as it is now, and you needed neutral countries to move between countries in different alliances. I joined Res Belgica because I was told to do so, really liked the people I found there, and resigned from SAC within a few weeks. By the time I first ran for Congress, I was committed to eBelgium, which I think I have proved by my long service to the country.

3. What is " New Generation Foundation " ??


New Generation Foundation was created by Laura Andreea with the idea of helping new players regardless of country or alliance. She asked for my assistance, which I was happy to give because I liked her ideas and ideals. Unfortunately, my involvement was short for the simple reason of timing, as the events that led to my present barely active state were playing out about the same time.


4. What do you think about gay people?



I'm not sure what the relevance of this question is; however, I will say that several members of my RL extended family are gay, I have multiple RL friends who are LGBT including quite a few in my very supportive church, and I know several people in eRepublik who are either openly gay or still closeted in game and/or in RL. This has no bearing, in my view, on how well they play the game or whether they are good friends. As far as I am concerned, this should be a non-issue.


5. What you know about new CP candiat in eBelgium?


I have not been following ePolitics lately, and do not really have anything to say about candidates in this election in any eCountry.

6. So my readers would get know better history of new World - can you say me about eBelgium history?

I first became involved in Belgian history in April 2010. At that time, the largest and most active parties were Res Belgica and Belgium for Belgians. There was still some upheaval following the breakup of eUNL. The game was still in V1, and things were very different. Candidates ran individually, and in specific regions. I made my home in Brussels, and first entered politics in the summer, when my Flemish student friends from RB were on holiday and urged me to run. Even though I was not well known, I was elected with one of the highest vote counts, probably because I am a woman and that was an advantage at that time. Note that the highest vote went to someone else playing as a woman from BfB who consistently got high vote counts even though she did very little once elected. In that same freshman Congress class from RB was A Vegan, who had come as a refugee from Belgian Communist Party because control of it had been lost to a Serb PTOer. AV and I became allies in that first term in our objection to a plan to sell the CP medal to a French player who only wanted the medal and agreed to immediate impeachment.

Despite considerable opposition, this plan went through with the support of BfB and ThomasRed. It should be noted that this election happened simultaneously with the transition to V2, and there was a great deal of upheaval, with many players leaving the game in frustration. Nevertheless, Alpha, the elected CP, was impeached right after election, as agreed, and his opponent, Thore Thoreson took office. Although I had done some government work helping new players under the direction of Hugo Lilly and Mudduck, it was under Thore that I had my first official government position. I remained in government and/or Congress more or less constantly from that time forward. Our active community was small, and in spite of political differences, fairly tightly knit. In the fall, I made my first run for CP. Theneka, the sitting CP, had again lost control of his party and did not receive a nomination for a second term. Kylero, who might in fact have made a decent CP, had made some unrealistic promises that made people nervous, and several people asked me to run. After talking it over with players I respected, I entered the race and won. In this first term, I have to give a great deal of credit to ThomasRed for his guidance and support, and also to Boklevski, my MoF, who discovered an irregularity in the country's accounts immediately after we took office that eventually resulted in a long-term scandal with many accusations and counter-accusations, some of the echoes of which continue to present-day eBelgium. However, this is becoming too long, and I refer you to Jofroi for a more detailed history. Suffice it to say that the divisions between those professing to be communist and the established core of eBelgian government were set then, and have continued pretty much to the present time. I will note that many of those who have influenced eBelgian history on both sides I have counted as friends, and most of those I still regard as friends I met through eBelgian politics.


7. How did you manage to break through here?

This question is pretty much answered in your previous questions. I have been blessed by success. I owe this to a combination of supportive players/mentors who were willing to give me a chance and my own willingness to work with everyone with an eye to the interests of the community at large. Most of those who have succeeded politically in eBelgium have done so because they were willing to give more than they got in return, and many of them have been repaid in a lot of abuse rather than the respect they deserved.
You have a many succes? Your profil talk about you 😃

8. What is the secret to your success?

I have loved eBelgium and eBelgians and have tried hard to be a team player and to help those around me. There's not much secret to it.


9. Please say something for end 😃

I know it's become fashionable in the game to accuse those who have worked and given all they could to build something good in their eCountries. The game itself has made it harder to do this, and many players have only made it worse. However, I urge you to take a look at what older players have done and what some of them continue to try to do to make it possible for younger players to have a decent game experience. eBelgium is a small place, too small to support constant hostilities within its borders. If you want an eCountry and a community to play with, learn to respect one another and work together while you still can. It is, after all, the community that makes this game worth playing, and if you lose that, you have lost everything.