Interview Flash Baron

Hello everyone. よろしくお願いします。
Thank you for inviting me to the interview, Ahileus.

- Tell us something about yourself?
Hello and nice to meet you all. Those that do not know me yet, I'm Flash Baron and I reside in Sweden, taking care of all the military duties (route planning, OH organisation, organisation of RW openings, communication with allies regarding military matters, et cetera) that come with my position in the government.
I am no stranger to this type of games as I used to play other versions in the past, but with different names. In some I was a mere observer, in others active participant in politics and military matters. Each game, new name and with it new adventure. :)

- Who is Flash Baron in RL?
I'm a 23 years old econ. graduate (they said with high honors or something :poop:). Never gave much importance on those papers though. Nowadays we can obtain knowledge in so many different ways (few professions excluded of course). Anyways, some friends outside of this eDom world call me by the nickname Yuta. At the moment I am working myself to death (just kidding) by expanding a business and making preparations to move. I am moving to more of an inner Tokio if everything goes to plans.
I am an avid reader. Business-related and non-fiction things aside, I enjoy reading fantasy or works that offer a blurred line between fantasy and reality as the story progresses (genres that draw similarities to magic realism). I ocassionaly pick up a light novel or manga if my schedule shows me some mercy.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/001/390/820/11d.jpg
Equal genders aren't a thing in Japan, especially rural areas. Shows in things like that xD

- Why did you choose this nick? And what is this one you hava on discord?
Flash Baron (Licht Bach) is main protagonist of manga and anime series Plunderer. He is one of the Legendary Aces, heroes that played a crucial role in a war 300 years ago before the beginning of a story in manga, in a world that is ruled by numbers (or a count, that increases or decreases depending on the deeds people do and are unique for each individual).
'When Flash Baron takes on the true power of his Ballot (objects that increase holders count), his personality shifts to an unwavering bloodlust and desire to kill all enemies'. Lets say, he goes in obsessed mode just like I do when it comes to opening RWs :D - people underestimate the the value of this. I guess its easier to start a script and spend billions defending RWs or battles and later complain how the world is unfair when battles are being lost.
The name that I use on discord (the one next to an ID) is a nickname my friends gave me. I use it for the sake of convenience as I do not use discord only for eDominations.

- What is most fun thing you did in edomi?
If I could pick one thing, it would probably those Croatian RWs that I raised over a year ago, soon after I registered in-game. I remember that they were wiped and could not open RW properly for two consecutive weeks. We were allies back then, and I simply could not watch that farce anymore. I remember opening about 10-15 marked RWs a day to enemies altogether with those on Croatian cores without a fail for about a week till enemy 'strategically' retreated with no terms and no obligations :P. It was quite a challenge to track everything but more importantly being consistent. When you set a goal, you need to stick to it. Good organisation and consistent work always bring results. Something that players, or let us say 'politicians' and 'war generals' lack tbh.

- Yeah, I also remember you raised lot of RWs when we had that event lately, so people were really pissed off on you...
Many people in this game think that they are entitled to the rewards by showing no effort whenever the admin adds something. Event required some effort. I understand that some people were angry, because they could not complete it, but just like in wars there is always a winner and a loser. Imagine having this event and afterwards a real war breaks out. :drama:
Always put yourself in a position to succeed. If you don't know how to do something (like opening a RW) ask someone else that does or simply practice more. I assure you that every government looks for active people. This is a community-driven game afterall.

- Do you have idea how many RWs you started so far? Where is your financial interest in that, they cost much to start... Are you often asked by country leaders or govs to raise them or you do it for fun?
I believe that the biggest amount I spent in a week for opening RWs was 1500-2000ish golds. Considering I have about 200 RW medals, I would say I probably opened 1000-2000 RWs so far (admin I would love to have this stat :P). Success rate is quite bad because there are not many good OH teams that would consistently challenge the enemy in the RWs.
I open RWs mostly because I think it's an underdog task that plays a vital role in every campaign. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Right, Papiga? :D
Sometimes I am asked to open few important ones by Govs, but more times than not, RWs are opened on my own judgement and initiative.
I sustain it with selling a pack, here and there. Majority of the RWs are opened with my gold.

- What aspect of game you like the most and why?
I like a war module a lot. I was part of organised units in other games, which enhanced the gaming experience a lot and kept my interest level high. That being said, I believe we need to give more emphasis to journalism too. Articles with game-related content provide a value and better overall in-game experience, may it be in the form of war analysis, econ. analysis or interviews (social stuff). Journalism gives support and has a connecting role to other activities and events that happen in the game. Too bad the game doesn't have more journalists.

- You play for Sweden, you are MoD there. How is community there?
I must say that I've been having a lot of fun in eSweden, ever since I joined this community. Really versatile and interesting guys. We consist of few players that use discord and some that do not use it daily. For daily matters, we mostly communicate on discord, and when wars break out I inform players that do not use discord often, separately. Our community has always proved to be invaluable, regardless if players use discord or not. With some effort, OHs can be done with both groups. We have players that want to make the most out of the f2p module and some of us that spend money. As someone that takes care of military stuff, I always look for the optimal solution when it comes to state or/and individual help to those that do not spend any money to have fun. Thanks to our 'big guns' everyone has a chance to tank, contribute in OHs and enjoy the game.

- Some call Sweden adminland, why you think is that?
I think people look for a scapegoat, when something doesn't go according to their plan. What I find amusing is that sometimes Greece turns into so called adminland, then Turkey few months ago. Depending on who you ask, when do you ask and so on.

- What do you don't like in (some) other players?
I dislike people with excuses, watching them not even trying to put themselves in a position to win. If they believe that putting themseves in a position to win is not worth their time, perhaps they do not deserve to emerge as victorious. When situation was reversed many months ago I wrote this in my article:
'One can for sure say that todays leading force of a game might not be tomorrows. Someone just needs to cast excuses aside :)'

- What do you think needs to be changed in this game? What would you like?
Some things (in terms of mechanics) need to be altered, while others changed to be more user friendly, but what this game needs the most is people. The more, the merrier. The reality is that game needs a clear strategy for the growth of the population as it will give us more people to interact with, more ideas and a bigger pool of people that would be able to lead countries.

- How much time you spend here?
During wars, I spend more time than I would like to admit, but during peace, an hour is enough to do a few ACs, deal with daily correspondence and take care of other routine activities.

- Tell me how is your character in game alike you in RL?
I believe I am far more serious and strict in real life. I like order, things set in place properly and activities executed systematically. In a game, we are lucky enough that in case something goes south, and the worst thing happens, it does not affect our assests in the other world and with it our livelihood. In other words we have nothing to lose. We can afford to follow the gut more than we probably should.
Overall I try to help people whenever I can. I try to analyze the problems from different angles and look for the most optimal solution. Good intuition with some analitycal thinking is a best combo - here and in real life. :)

- Do you think politics in game is like that in RL?
Politics in-game is not even remotely close to the one in a real life. The game is a great simulation of some aspects of politics. The latter is by far nastier, at least from my experience.

- Have you some message for other players?
You are here to have fun, right? Have fun then. You  are the one that can create it without admins interference with events and whatnot.