Stars and Stripes Journal
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The "Stars and Stripes Journal" ( S&SJ) is the newspaper of Lieutenant Scheisskopf, and has become well-known as an impartial and in-depth source of primarily military news. The S&SJ combines news from around the world and knowledge of gaming mechanics to provide the latest in New World wars with less bias than other papers. For this reason, the paper is only one of 45 to achieve an impressive five Media Mogul medals and attracts a large following of readers from outside of the eUnited States and EDEN countries.
eRepublik Innovations
Although the Stars and Stripes Journal had been writing military articles for a few months, the paper first became widely read while producing an eight-part series on eRepublik innovations, which were very well-received by the public. The ideas included:
-A Nuclear Proposal: Fairly self-explanatory, it laid out the proposal on how nuclear weapons would be built, funded, and what their capabilities and limitations would be.
-Science & Technology in eRepublik: The concept of “Science” as a skill industry in the nuclear article was introduced, and worked out how this skill community and its products would fit into the game.
-Strength and War: This article covered something that had nagged some citizens for a while: that people can go days without training, but their strength isn’t affected. So, “atrophy” would weaken inactive citizens, while “exertion” benefits would incentivize consistent fighting with additional strength.
-Fighting Styles in eRep Battles: Proposed 5 different fighting modes that would change how much experience, damage, or how frequently a soldier could fight in a battle.
-eRep Mass Transit: Offered an idea for Railroads as a new infrastructure that governments could invest in to link regions or allied countries.
-Getting Defensive in eRep Battles: Offered 6 suggestions on how to change the aspects of defense and retreating regions in battle. Also added ideas on concealing or otherwise disabling an enemy’s ability to fight for a short period of the battle time.
-Bringing Civil War to eRep: Provided a concept for eRepublik civil war?, including a “Governors” aspect, hypothetical options for the seceded state, and strict requirements preventing lulz civil wars or Ajay Bruno-like power struggles.
-Passports, and Continuing to Protect the eUSA and EDEN: The first part of this article introduced passports as a feature of citizens’ bios, so that people can see what eCountries they have evisited. This would be valuable for reviewing citizenship applications, and just a fun way to see who gets around in this game (pun intended).
The banner used at the top of each article, an addition to the newspaper first introduced by Lieutenant Scheisskopf in February 2010.
War and "The Week That Was"
S&SJ turned to wartime coverage beginning with the First Battle of Kyushu, and has gained prominence as being a reliable and fairly neutral telling of the war's developments. Each Friday from December 2009-March 2010, the S&SJ released a highly popular summary of the war's actions in a series called "The Week That Was." Combined with its impartial analysis, illustrations of military movements with eGobba's maps, and its coverage of the entire world's war and political developments, became a media staple for many and has been translated with partners into Chinese, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish.
