Confirmation Hearing: Enduro for GM

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Congratulations on your nomination, Mr. Representative. A few questions:

1. If I recall correctly, your past experience in public office is limited to a brief stint as the Northeast Secretary of Veteran Affairs and a single, unfinished term in the Northeast Assembly. How can you assure us that you have the necessary experience and knowledge of Atlasian affairs and federal policy?
2. Past GMs have struggled to balance the desire to create "dramatic" stories with the need for realism. How do you intend to assure that your actions as GM add excitement to the game without being completely ludicrous.
3. On a similar note, can you assure us that you will remain impartial in exercising your powers as GM - that is, you won't use your narrative authority to remake the world in your image or sway events to benefit a particular party or candidate?
4. Will you provide regular updates on the state of the economy (unemployment numbers, etc.)? How will you determine these figures?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

One can never know everything that has happened in Atlasia, I do know as much as I could know. I'll actively try to increase my knowledge of the game.

In terms of your experience, though - given that you've only ever served in Regional government (and then only for a short time), do you feel that you've been around long enough to know how the system works and what is and is not under the domain of the GM?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Question: How, if at all, do you plan to interact with regional governments?

I would be interested to hear this as well.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Along the lines of Senator Yankee's question: do you intend to "shake things up" primarily through high-profile, dramatic events or through more subtle tactics? If the former, what purpose do you see these events playing beyond giving everyone an adrenaline rush?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I cannot support establishing the advisory "triumvirate" proposed by Mr. Kingpoleon: such an arrangement would be inefficient and serve mainly to undermine the office of the Game Moderator. If we're going to give the Senate veto power over the GM, we might as well abolish the office entirely. Policy makers don't get to pick the results of their actions in real life, and it makes little sense for this to be the case in Atlasia.

That said, I am not certain that the nominee is ready for such a consequential appointment. For all his obvious integrity and ambition, it worries me that he has so little experience on the public stage. He is, in essence, an unknown quantity - he has never been subjected to a 'trial by fire,' never forced to endure the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." It is these experiences that bring out the best and the worst of us and that reveal our true character: for Mr. Enduro, this post would be his first such trial. I applaud his enthusiasm and work ethic, but I think it neither wise nor kind to place a man in the GM's chair who is still learning how to operate the levers of power.

Furthermore, while I am all for a proactive GM, it worries me that the nominee seems to be endorsing chaos for the sake of chaos. I think it's important to note that, while Governor Blair is correct in saying that governance is more often the art of reacting to various crises than following a personal agenda, these crises are often not the high drama, attention-grabbing narratives that have sparked the imaginations of past GMs. A timeline where the country is constantly battling against any combination of famine, civil war, invasions, terrorist insurgencies, etc. is not realistic, nor is it creative. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the nominee here, but from his response to my and Yankee's questions it sounded to me like his main goal was to give everyone a buzz, not to simulate realistic events that make the game more interesting and true-to-life.

At this point, I could still be persuaded to support the nominee, but I have not heard anything that would assuage my concerns thus far.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Allow me to relieve of your concerns; I never meant to give the impression that I was planning on basically destroying the nation, I want to have a main issue that would be media's main focus for a month or two, combined with a few smaller issues, and then move to a new one. Also, I don't plan on having things out of nowhere; some things can only happen out of nowhere, like a hurricane, but I do want to build up to somethings, let them develop over time.

Makes sense - thanks for clearing that up.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Dkrol, I share some of your reservations, but you're becoming needlessly vicious. The last two questions above are particularly inappropriate: this is a nonpartisan office, not a patronage job. This kind of behavior is unbecoming of a senator and does no favors to your position.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

AYE. I have my reservations, but given the nominee's willingness to learn and obvious ambition, I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.