What has Europeia Taught You?
A Look at Europeia's Real Life Impacts
Written by Lime
Europeia is a hobby and like all hobbies, we play this game because we enjoy it, not because we want to improve a skill or learn something new. Reading is a fantastic activity to do, it improves your vocabulary, it improves memory, boosts your concentration skills, allows you to think more analytically and has even been shown to help reduce the risk of dementia. There are dozens of more benefits of reading, yet none of us read a book because we want these benefits, we read books because we enjoy the story or are interested in the topic it is about; the benefits of reading are just happy add-ons. The same is true with Europeia. We play this game because we enjoy it, it might be because you are interested in politics or law, you could enjoy writing or maybe you like roleplaying. Some people enjoy debating issues be they real life or something to do with the game, while others just enjoy the community and talking to people across the world. Whatever it is, we are a part of Europeia because we enjoy this game, not because we expect to gain something from it. However, just like reading a book, I think we do improve certain skills and are receiving real-life benefits from Europeia even if we do not realise it. Many a person has said that their writing skills have improved since joining our region, and some have even said that their school grades have increased because of their improved writing ability. I’ve thought a lot about this and wanted to see if Europeians themselves believed that playing this game had improved some real-life skill of theirs. This article shares the experiences of some Europeians who believe that Europeia and NationStates (NS) as a whole, have improved either a real-life skill or in some cases even helped to change their entire lives.
The ability to communicate with others is the most important skill we have, our entire world revolves around it. For most of us, verbal speech is the way we communicate, however in a text-based game, this simply is not possible. Therefore, our writing skills are immensely important while playing this game. From writing legislation, creating campaign platforms, writing articles, presenting a court case, arguing about an issue, enjoying festivals, or talking with friends, writing is our primary tool. It is unsurprising, therefore, that many players believe their writing skills improve while playing the game. One such person is our Grand Admiral Dax who told me that she had seen a “great improvement” in her writing skills since joining NS with the quality of her school essays increasing as a result. Others have noticed this improvement, when writing her First Minister reports she told me that she would always have Istillian check them over before publishing, and he told her that with every report her writing quality increased. It is not just writing where Dax has seen an improvement since playing NS, she also believes that it has improved her ability to form her own opinions and voice them. NS, she believes, has increased her awareness of real-life events and politics as well as her understanding of these issues, to the point where her family will ask her to explain some of the political going-ons in the world. As well as increasing her awareness of real-life issues, she also believes that NS has helped her to believe that she can voice her own opinion more often when discussing issues with others.
Another skill that we use constantly while playing NS, but likely don’t think much about, is our data interpretation skills. We use this skill a lot through analysing poll results, looking at recruitment levels, watching and analysing election results, as well as in the World Assembly and when conducting military operations. One Europeian known as an expert in data interpretation has said that playing NS has helped his skills in handling data in real life. GraVandius, known particularly well for his data-driven newspaper, the Europeian Research Institute, told me that working on his paper which often uses spreadsheets and almost always data analysis has helped him to “hone those skills to perfection and keep them sharp over time.” While he may have learned most of his spreadsheet skills during his first year of University/College, his work in Europeia has helped him to relearn these skills, while also providing an opportunity to apply these skills to a real situation rather than hypothetical exercises. Europeia has still allowed the development of new skills; conducting analysis on the data as well as thinking of the best way of presenting the data to an audience have been some new learning opportunities that GraVandius has had to deal with while in Europeia.
The final Europeian who shared their story is the one who likely gained the most from their experience in NS and Europeia. Our Chief of State, Malashaan shared with me a very detailed story about how NS affected his future career and his time in law school. Malashaan explained to me how he had always been successful in science while at school and would go on to study physics at university at both an undergraduate and later postgraduate level. Despite being good at physics and believing he would later teach the subject to others, he discovered while doing his postgraduate degree that he didn’t enjoy the academic research. It was while doing his postgraduates that he started to play NS and found that he particularly enjoyed legislating and legal work, but never thought about a legal career. Instead, Malashaan explained that he worked in several different jobs before moving to the USA after meeting his now-wife while on holiday there. After moving he began to look for a job and while at a technology jobs fair he met a partner from a law firm; this surprised Malashaan as he wondered why a law firm would be at a technology jobs fair. The partner explained that he was hiring engineers and scientists to help with the writing of patent applications for technology firms. Deciding to send the partner his resume that night, Malashaan explained to me that he was struggling to find a way to suggest that he would be suitable to work at a law firm having no legal background or qualifications. He decided to add a short bullet point explaining NS and how he drafted roleplay legislation as a “hobby.” While he wasn’t expecting a reply, two weeks later Malashaan had a job interview and during the interview, the partner asked about NS. Malashaan explained to me that the interviewer “seemed genuinely interested” in NS and at the end of the interview “[he] got the job.”
Malashaan told me that “it became apparent that NationStates had given me a great head start” with much of his new job involving carefully reading and comparing documents from the client’s inventions to older models and highlighting the differences between them. Experiencing legal arguments in NS where he would argue if a set of facts violated the law or not helped his work at the legal firm. It was while working here that Malashaan realised “I was pretty good at the job, at least partly because of the game, and I finally realized that I should be a lawyer” So Malashaan made the momentous decision to go to law school and pursue a legal career. At law school, Malashaan discovered that his experience in NS and particularly Europeia would benefit him in first year. He explained to me that from his experiences in Europeia and discussions with members who have legal backgrounds had helped to teach him some of the basics of law such as canons of statutory construction and legal arguments. While he certainly had a great deal to learn, like everyone else in first year, his previous experiences in Europeia helped to give him a slight leg up. Malashaan would do well in law school and today still practises at the first law firm he started at, building a great legal career for himself. When asked about how he thinks NS/Europeia may have affected his future career plans, Malashaan replied “It's hard to say how much of my success in law is due to NationStates, but I honestly believe I might not have gotten that first job without it. And I certainly would have had a much harder time with 1L year in law school.”
Working on this project has certainly made me think about the hidden benefits of Europeia that we all get. Yes we get satisfaction from playing the game, but I also think it’s clear there are other benefits we gain from it. I’ve heard experiences of writing skills being improved, data processing skills kept refined, a growth in confidence, and in one case a passion that may not have been discovered if it was not for this game. Europeia is a hobby, and like all hobbies, we enjoy playing this game, but maybe we should also think about how Europeia and NS can help to improve us or already has improved us. Think has your writing improved since playing this game, are you able to make clearer and stronger arguments since joining or have you learned more about the world around you and heard different viewpoints and experiences? I’m sure if you think hard enough, you’ll find Europeia/NS has had a bigger impact on you than you expect.
