I am pleased to bring you an interview with an OG or Original GEWarrior, indienestmonnom, who provides an interesting reflection on wider and higher goals for GEWar.
How did you first get into GEWar?
I jumped into Gewar in August 2005, around the 15th, i believe. I had just discovered GE and i was searching for a wargame using it. I found GoogleEarthHacks, Mickey and... It has began. I’m 39 years old now, and since i was a child, i’ve always been a fan of the Risk game, and saying, a fan of every kind of wargame. Gewar still be the best for me.
What newbie mistake(s) do you remember making?
Making other alliances’ cities as a waypoint (and being attacked outside, of course), attacking with only one huge army, forgetting to put a nukeshield on high value cities, believing that i’m the strongest... All current noob mistakes...
What are the good things about GEWar, what are the bad things?
It fits exactly the ergonomy of the GE’s rounded map, rules are simple and efficient, and the network worldwide process brings an incredible psychological and diplomatic dimension to the tactical game. This last point can make anykind of board wargame evolve to a RPG, and we often see how it can affect individual egos...
Because, worse in GEwar is... Its players ! Most of them are young guns, very proud and mindless, too much self-determined, acting without any consideration for their own alliance, always fantasizing about absolute power... But, most of the time, when they keep playing after one year, they learn about self-effacement, about patience and solidarity...
This makes me come to my main opinion about Gewar. What misses the more to this game is a political approach of playing. Look, there are a lot of alliances. Most of them are poor and not very active. In the top ten, we see un-determined alliances’ relationships. I mean that we fight each other (when we’re compelled) without any conceptual, or idealistic reasons. We fight because we used to be enemies (we could also be allies without any more reason), or because we’re defending an ally, or because we don’t like some other players... But where’s the goal ? Be the top one ? What for ? Everybody is defeatable, just need the geos. Is it a question of geos, then ? So, money’s everything in both real life and game ?
So, my wishes would be to get more significant policy, as in real life. Not an RPG style (because we’re not exactly playing a role), but a combination of real shared geographic roots, culture, language, political opinions. Let’s try to reorganize alliances like the real world and see if the balance of power ends on same results ! For example, i’m not an extremist in any way, and i’ll always want to fight fascism or dictatorship directly. And i’m quite sure, that there are some players in Gewar who will be my preferred targets if their alliance was formed around those kind of idea... I’ll have a real reason to fight. Our motivation will be strongest both sides, and the process of self-assimilation, who guarantee the success of good stories, will allow GEwar to get to a higher level in 21st century’s games. Except the fact that playground map is copied on real earth, it will become as fame as “Second Life”, but with wargame internal mechanism...
What is the background and vision behind the Federation/Coalition?
This was a part of what is said above. I would like the European continent to be organized, as a single force, like we try to do in real life. And for now, there are opposite points of view between involved alliances in Europe. More or less, two sides, which were called the Federation (Ukraine, SJ, NO and some others) and the Coalition (UN, SSC and some others). Since AO declared war to NO, since SJ left all their cities, since Ukraine came down and SSC met various problems, everybody has its own thing to sort out. You’ll hear more later about the Federation, for sure. The fact is that UN isn’t very active, currently, but that’s another story...
What were the memorable moments for you in GEWar?
Memorable moments are greatest moments of NO:
- when NO was owning the whole European continent and farther, from Scotland to Iraq, from Casablanca to Moscow, all cities were orange !!
- when NO took Atlantis, the mythical and temporary city.
Do you think you will be playing GEWar in 2 years time?
Yes. Definitely. I consider that this game is at its youngest age. Many evolutions can make it become one of the most famous game in the world. Stay tuned !
Many thanks to indienestmonnom!
