The Ministry of Interior and EBC are proud to present...
WHO'S WHO IN EUROPEIA
Mousebumples
WHO'S WHO IN EUROPEIA
Mousebumples
Sopo: Welcome to Who's Who in Europeia! This evening I am joined by Mousebumples, Vice President of Europeia and current World Assembly Delegate. Thanks for being here, Mouse.
Mousebumples: Aw, thanks, Sopo! I'm so excited that you invited me to join you here for this interview.
Sopo: So, tell us, how long have you been playing NationStates, and what led you to the game?
Mousebumples: It's been 11+ years by now. I joined in July or August of 2003. My main nation is an "antiquity" nation, so I joined before they even started recording join dates, so that's an approximation based off of when I joined my first regional forum (early August 2003). So far as how/why I started playing NS ... I had a friend who was active in this "fun nation game," so I joined him in his region - Monkey Island. He only played for a year or two, but I made some great friends (that I didn't know in Real Life), and I've been playing ever since.
Sopo: That's quite a long time. That may make you one of if not the single longest-playing NSer in Europeia.
Mousebumples: I've got Anumia beat. ^_^
Sopo: Is Monkey Island the only region you were involved with before Europeia?
Mousebumples: Depends how you define "involved with." I've had a puppet in Texas since late 2003, early 2004, and I've been involved in their regional affairs off-and-on since then. However, Monkey Island was always my primary "home" and the only other region to host my main nation for more than a few days here or there. I've also got connections and activity of various amounts in a number of other regions, but I'd probably say that Monkey Island, Texas, and Europeia are the primary three that I've been involved in.
Sopo: I know you were WAD of Monkey Island. How long did you serve in that capacity, and what other positions did you hold there?
Mousebumples: Well, when i first moved in, there was a different established WA Delegate, but I was named the Vice Delegate in an election a few months after I joined. I did a lot of recruiting (old-style, pre-stamps/API, so it was all manual) back in those days, and I was eventually recognized for my efforts by being appointed the Minister of Hospitality as well - probably along the lines of a Minister of Welcoming in Europeia.
In February or March of 2004, our WA Delegate decided he wanted to join in the R/D game, so he left the region, and I was elected to replace him. I was the elected WA Delegate for over 10 years then, although we were raided about 6 years ago, after our founder went inactive. We were able to get the region back (thanks, in part, to some WA multi-rule-breaking by a regionmate ... got his olllld nation DEAT
), and even though it was really stressful, I was able to refound the region.I resigned in June of this year, in large part because I felt that being WA Delegate (and an NS mod) made the region a target for some raiders. We had a founder, and WAD Exec powers were turned off, but between being a mod and having 6+ years accrued as WA Delegate "time served," I think that the region is much more secure with other leadership at this time. Plus, in retrospect, that freed me up to run for WA Delegate here in Europeia when Moronist Decisions resigned in July.
Sopo: So you prefered to be WAD here, making Europeia a target for evil/malicious/unholy raiders?
Mousebumples: Well, I was lucky to maybe have 6 endos in Monkey Island
we're a strong, and long-standing region ... but we're tiny. There's maybe 50 nations there, and a few dozen are my puppets
It's harder for an invader force to compile 100-ish endos to beat my endo count than it is to put together 7 to overtake me there. Or, at least, i think that would be the case. I've never done any raiding before, so maybe we should get kraken in here for a consult.
Sopo: Then this was more about consolidating your power in the WA?
Mousebumples: *cough* >_>
In all seriousness, I know I take WA legislation (or, well, GA legislation) more seriously than most Europeians - and that's okay. I know it's not for everyone.
Sopo: I'm sorry, did I tell you this was a gotcha interview?
Mousebumples: And I certainly won't lie and claim that I don't like having 100+ votes to wave around. It's amusing to see some of my WA political opponents bitch and moan about how I stomp (or stack) in opposition to their preference.
Sopo: Of course, and we appreciate your efforts. You didn't show up in Europeia just in time to become WAD, you were active awhile before that. What brought you here?
Mousebumples: Believe it or not - despite how unpopular this figure has become in Europeia since then .... Oliver was the one who invited me here. We met through an IRC channel - #WAElites, I think? - and he invited me to come to Europeia to help educate everyone on GA Stuff. If memory serves, he was newly elected as WA Delegate and wanted to expand Europeia's legislative skills beyond just that of regional legislation.
Sopo: That's quite fascinating, actually. How long have you been in Euro now?
Mousebumples: Per the board settings - Apr 19 2011, 05:38 AM. I'm surprised I was awake at 5:38am that day, but that's mostly irrelevant.
Anyhow, I was active then and participated in the City Council some. I went inactive when life got crazy, and came back again around the same time that Swak was remaking the City Council into the Citizens' Assembly. I served as one of his first Deputies (since he was the first Chair of the CA), officially in charge of WA Affairs. I was around for a few months before things got crazy again, and I resurfaced (most recently) last fall ... just in time to run for CA Chair myself.
Sopo: And your service as CA Chair really launched your career in Europeia, did it not?
Mousebumples: Maybe? It's hard for me to say that since I didn't think I did any better than, say, Swak did during his first term. But I suppose anyone getting compared to Swak would be pretty high praise.
A part of me really thinks it was my work as Minister of Interior that gave me such a good reputation for getting stuff done - but that might have been from being able to reinvigorate two different "departments" (Citizens' Assembly & Ministry of Interior) in a row.
What do you think?
Sopo: I'd say serving as CA Chair put you on the map for the MoI position, and that position really solidified your reputation.
Mousebumples: Okay.
Sopo: Of course, now you're the Vice President. How did it come about that you joined Mala's ticket this past election?
Mousebumples: If you remember back in late August, early September, Imperium officially resigned as MoI - even though he'd barely been MoI since Drecq had been filling in, due to his injury, etc. I ended up volunteering for the position for Kraken, and - before he nominated me - Mal approached me to ask if I'd be interested.
I was still trying to navigate my responsibilities gameside as a Forum Mod, and I wasn't sure how the balancing act would go, so I asked Mal to give me a week as MoI again (once I was confirmed), just so I could make sure I'd have time to commit to the position for 10 weeks.
That first week went well, and so I happily agreed to join his ticket. Mal's been great to work with, and we were both pretty confident that we'd make a good team, thanks to our previous collaborations when he was VP and I was MoI.
Sopo: And you won the election with ease. Were you surprised that no one ran against you?
Mousebumples: When no one really challenged me for the WAD position, that was less of a surprise. (Although I did hope that CUSA would reappear on the RMB and mount another amusing campaign.) I don't know how many people really want the role, and as WA Delegate, you can't participate in the ERN - and I know that's popular with a lot of players. But the fact that no one else wanted to make a run at the Presidency? Yeah, I was surprised.
Sopo: Do you think a more energetic opposition would have helped or harmed your ticket?
Mousebumples: I honestly don't know that Mal and I really needed a challenger, per se, but I think that a challenger would have been good for the political activity in the region. I was looking forward to participating in a VP debate - or at least observing a presidential debate.
However, I will say that I'm encouraged by the good turnout for Senate elections. Glad to see we don't have 6 people running unopposed for 6 seats, at least.
Sopo: I am as well. That being said, what do you think your greatest accomplishment has been to date in Europeia? Why?
Mousebumples: Ooooh, tough question. Honestly, I think I'm probably proudest of the work I did in the Citizens' Assembly. I wasn't terribly active in Euro for more than a few weeks before I ran, but I largely ran because I saw so much potential in that body. I felt it was being largely ignored and underutilized.
While its activity levels still wax and wane, naturally, I really think that I made a number of substantial changes, in terms of what people can and should _expect_ out of the Citizens' Assembly, and I think it's done a great job of working to prepare newcomers for future service in the Senate.
Sopo: It's probably encouraging to newer members to know that your most valued contribution came earlier in your career.
Another fact about you that people may find interesting is that you've never participated in NS families. Is there any reason behind that?
Mousebumples: Largely because Monkey Island never did anything like that. I still think it's sorta strange, honestly. I get that it's a Big Thing in Europeia, but it's never really appealed to me.
And, also, when I was here one of the previous times, someone who I barely knew, asked if I would marry him. I said no. He asked if I would reconsider. I said no. He asked if he could post that we were married in the Marriage Registry forum - I wouldn't have to do anything except confirm. I still said no.
I understand that there aren't a lot of women in NS to marry and the like, but it felt like he didn't really care about _me_ or getting to know _me_ ... he just wanted to find someone to marry.
So that probably turned me off of the process as well.
Sopo: It's kind of like the Old West, where there are too many horny men and the few women are, unfortunately, constantly propositioned.
Mousebumples: Yeah, and that's not anything new in NS either. However, that doesn't make me any more inclined to participate. I could almost see being someone's "sister" - like a BFF thing - but even then, I don't even play at "we're like sisters" with my RL friends, so it just seems strange to conflate friends and family like that, to me. *shrugs* I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm okay with that.
Sopo: Ok, one final question.
Will you marry me?
Mousebumples: Aww, you're such a romantic, Sopo. While I appreciate the offer, I feel I must decline. However, you and your slothy ways will always hold a special place in my heart. (heart)
Sopo: SADNESS. REGRET. HOW COULD I HAVE KNOWN THAT YOU WOULD SAY NO?
Anyway, it's been wonderful talking to you! Thanks for your time.
Mousebumples: haha, thanks for a great interview!
