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WHO'S WHO IN EUROPEIA
Lethen
WHO'S WHO IN EUROPEIA
Lethen
Sopo: Welcome back to Who's Who in Europeia! Today I am joined by Lethen, current Supreme Chancellor and former everything else. Thanks for joining me.
Lethen: Thank you for having me. Good thing too; I was getting tired of playing Skype tag. *shakes fist at the Sloth*
Sopo: How did you get started in NationStates, and how long have you been playing now?
Lethen: Hmm...well, it's a funny story. A friend of mine was showing another friend of mine NationStates while I was on a 4-H trip to Washington DC, and I happened to remember NS when I came home after that week. Set up my nation (Lethen) and joined Great Britain & Ireland in July 2006.
Sopo: What was your experience like as a newcomer in GB&I?
Lethen: Pretty stereotypical, I'd say. I really got involved with a few people in spamming and such (MGB - founder of Empires of Earth; and Fenchurch - the Kaiserin of TNI being two of those people on the self-titled "Spam Team"), and eventually decided to run for Minister of Parliament. I was an MP, and I had a paper I organized and ran too called the Free People's Gazette. I clashed a few times with a now-famous penguin, and did eventually make my way into GB&I's Cabinet. My timeline for "newcomer" is a bit skewed since it's so long ago, but I joined in July 2006 and got pretty involved with GB&I, TNI, and the LKE (and EoE, to a lesser extent) that same year. By the time I joined Europeia in 2007, I was still involved in those regions to varying degrees.
Tl; dr version - I think my newcomer experience was pretty typical
Oh, that's also where I met NES. I was extremely lucky in the sense that I had so many friends and role models to learn from that were experienced players like R3n, NES, etc.
Sopo: So, you mention joining Europeia in 2007, how did you end up here?
Lethen: Well, I met another person in my travels who I would quickly befriend by the name of HEM.
He had founded at least two other regions beforehand, but when he founded Europeia he pestered me to join. I kept saying no, but the arrows were pointing that way already. For one, things were winding down in the regions I was involved in. There was less intrigue once we managed to set limits on the Kaiserin's powers in TNI (i.e. no more dynamic between strict Monarchists arguing for absolute power and those that wanted to see limits on that power); the LKE closed their forums (I don't know exact dates, but Onder would know); EoE had been slowly dying; and GB&I was also beginning to die.
My point is that as I lost interest in these regions, I became more and more interested in becoming involved with HEM's latest project region. It was founded in March, and I believe I joined in April. That being said, I did disappear for a bit before returning to Europeia. Lord Alphanesia, an infamous fellow to those who have heard of him or worked with him or spent time near him, was somewhat involved in the region and staged an elaborate ceremony welcoming me back claiming that I had been on some sort of very important intelligence gathering mission for Europeia (complete load of shit that HEM and I were in on). The rest was history.
Sopo: So all of your participation in Europeia was built on a lie?
Lethen: Hah, yes. We can go with that.
Sopo: What was Europeia like in those early days?
Lethen: The Wild West?
Honestly, good question. We had a lot less in terms of legislation, and there was a lot more political intrigue. We didn't have much in terms of seasoned players, so it was pretty easy to imagine that Europeia wouldn't survive the year. I think the mean reason we did last was a combination of luck and hard work.
There was definitely a ruling elite back then. And we had our fair share of crazies, too: Paleomiz, PRA (People's Republic of Ashedo), etc. Hell, Allied Alliances was our Grand Admiral for a while (and a good one too). You could definitely get away with a whole lot more, that's for sure.
Sopo: I miss AA.
Lethen: I kind of do too
Sopo: What was your first job in Europeia? Elected office, or whatever the first thing is you remember.
Lethen: Oh, god...where's HEM when you need him? I don't remember my first job, but I can run off a list of all the jobs I've had. Will that work?
President, Vice President, Vice Chancellor, Supreme Chancellor, Speaker, Senator, City Councillor, Finance Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Grand Admiral, Minister of Culture, Minister of Foreign Cultivation, and I think Minister of Interior, Minister without Portfolio/Chief of Staff, and...that might be it. I don't think I was around to be Prime Minister or whatever government it was that we had in place before we settled on a Senate, President, etc.
Oh I think I was also Attorney General, briefly.
Sopo: Which was your favorite?
Lethen: Well, Supreme Chancellor of course. Who doesn't love ruling over you puny forumites?
I kid, I kid.
Serious answer! Well, I'd have to say it's a tie between Senator (depending on the term), President, and Minister of Culture. Senator was good because we actually had things to legislate and we had vigorous debates back in the early days of Europeia (good examples were the Senate and Grand Hall discussions on legislating the Parliamentary Procedures Act into existence). President was good because there was a lot going on domestically that kept things interesting (Euro was still fairly isolationist back then). And Minister of Culture was fantastic because of how successful of a run I had and how much fun I had running the Ministry (thanks in large part to my fantastic newcomer Assistant Ministers named Drexlore, Shadowlurker/Alexander, and Seven Deaths).
Sopo: Haven't seen much of those guys lately, with the exception of SD.
Running Culture is a lot of fun. I have the priviledge of having something like 14 AMs
Lethen: Lucky you! I had half that haha
Sopo: You mention that you were President of Europeia. What was that experience like for you, and how did you come to hold the office?
Lethen: I've been President a few times: July 2007 to August 2007; November 2007 to March 2008; and October 2009 to November 2009.
The first time I was elected (terms were only a month back then) and HEM didn't think it was a remarkable term since I was gone for the last week or so of said term
The second term was actually two consecutive terms, and I believe that was also a planned run. I don't remember much about the Presidency, since it was so long ago.
The third term was short and unplanned, and here's an interesting address on that topic: http://s6.zetaboards.com/Europeia/topic/1255486/1/
Sopo: Sure, sure. Plan on taking another stab at it?
Lethen: Oh god, never. I am nowhere near qualified to be a President in today's Europeia.
Sopo: Why's that?
Lethen: I don't have anything close to the foreign affairs experience that I feel the job requires, and I am not nearly active enough to handle all the issues that arise on a daily basis. It's a young man's game.
Proverbially speaking, of course. It's also a young woman's game.
Sopo: What advice do you have for the newcomers today?
Lethen: Be patient, be outgoing, and listen to the advice given to you. Don't be afraid to ask questions, too.
Also duck when Drecq is nearby.
Sopo: What do you think your greatest achievement in NS is?
Lethen: My greatest achievement in NS? Europeia.
Sopo: Oh! I nearly forgot. How did you become Supreme Chancellor?
Lethen: I was Vice Chancellor for a while, and HEM resigned as Supreme Chancellor due to regional turmoil where he felt partly to blame. I took over the role with the clear intent to hold the position until he came back, and after sometime the region wanted him back as Supreme Chancellor. I appointed him as a VC, then resigned, and things were right in the world.
Not long thereafter, in one of the most touching NS-related gestures I've ever seen, he went to the Senate and asked that they amend the proper laws to create a second Supreme Chancellor office so that we would be equals. HEM often says that I'm the reason Europeia was able to last as long as it has and blossom, and I've been so heavily involved that oftentimes I feel like a de facto co-founder myself. It was an amazing honor.
Sopo: The region is lucky to have you with us, Lethen. Thanks for agreeing to do this interview.
Lethen: Thank you for having me on the show, Sopo.
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