WarErZA - Interview With MoE Juicy_Joe 24/8-26

YOUR. VOICE. MATTERS.

“The Economy Behind South Africa”

THE QUIET MACHINE

WarErZA's Election Week turns on Day 2 to the machinery that funds almost everything else. https://app.warera.io/user/69f72b433d641e9efdbea2cf has served as Minister of Economy for the past three weeks, after previously completing a term in Congress under https://app.warera.io/user/69196f4f6021f881e21f90fb. His brief is not always glamorous: Strategic Resource agreements, Paper, Oil, cash reserves, market data and the costs attached to keeping a country moving.

We spoke as South Africa faced pressure from DRC/Portugal and a new complication in the Pill market. For JuicyJoe, the test of economic policy is simple: whether the country can keep fighting, keep its agreements and still have something left in reserve.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Responses have been lightly edited for spelling, grammar and formatting only. Meaning and tone are unchanged.

“The economy is the backbone of the country: the quiet machine that keeps everything else moving”

- JUICYJOE ON WHY ECONOMICS MATTERS

INTRO. To begin, could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little about who you are and your role in South Africa?

- I'm Juicy Joe, currently serving as South Africa's Minister of Economy under President https://app.warera.io/user/69ee3b2f915e8c144eb6662d and Vice President https://app.warera.io/user/68e52840f23d7a975dd7988d. I've been in the role for the past three weeks. Before becoming MoE, I served a term in Congress under https://app.warera.io/user/69196f4f6021f881e21f90fb.

01. What would you say the role of the Minister of Economy actually involves in practice, and what takes up most of your attention?

- The main job of the MoE is to keep the country economically stable and look for ways to improve its finances. In practice, that means managing Strategic Resource rental agreements and their payments, making sure we have enough Paper for battle orders and laws, enough Oil for bunkers and military bases, and enough liquid cash for bounties and contracts, with some extra to help our allies.

The most time-consuming part is analysing the economy properly. You can't make good decisions based on gut feeling alone; you need to understand where the money is coming from, where it is going, and what could hurt us next. Managing the SR rentals can also take a fair bit of time, but I built an app to help me track them, so that part is far less painful now.

02. Looking back at this presidential term, what do you consider your biggest achievement as Minister of Economy?

- The MoE doesn't really have one big, flashy achievement. It is more about getting a lot of smaller things to work together so that the country's economy remains stable. We are fortunate to have friends and allies around us who are willing to work together, rent us SRs, and help us improve our production bonus and income.

One thing I am proud of this term, though, is our Pill campaign, successful thus far, touch wood. Since I joined WarEra, I don't remember Pills being both properly profitable and stable. It was usually the sort of company you ran because you needed Pills for war, not because the returns were particularly attractive.

That changed after we specialised in Pills. South Africa currently has a 26% Pill production bonus. At Sunday's data freeze, Pills ranked fourth out of all 20 company types in my profitability comparison and second for the Fidelity 10 gross employer break-even ceiling. By this morning, they had moved down to eighth in both, which shows how quickly these rankings can change. The encouraging part is that the Pill price itself has barely moved in the snapshots I've checked since Thursday, from about 36.96 BTC to 36.81 BTC, a drop of roughly 0.4%.

Again, that is not my achievement alone. It is ours. We have built a solid block of friends who are prepared to work together and help make Southern Africa a formidable force. We deliberately chose not to specialise in a leading product such as Steel, Iron or Concrete. Those products can bring in loads of money, but they can also turn you into the alliance ATM and put a massive target on your back. We have tried that route before and were wiped for it.

Instead, we have created a cosy income from an underrated specialisation that is currently earning enough to hopefully help us put up a decent fight when needed. We are now staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, with DRC/Portugal on their way towards us, so only time will tell whether the strategy pays off.

“Those products can bring in loads of money, but they can also turn you into the alliance ATM and put a massive target on your back”

- JUICYJOE ON CHOOSING PILLS OVER THE BIGGEST MARKETS

03. One concern in countries like South Africa is getting newer or lessestablished players involved economically. Do you think we're doing enough to help people build themselves up and contribute?

- No, I don't think we are doing enough yet, but I also don't think this is only a South African problem. New player retention is a big problem across WarEra.

The in-game chat is not ideal for teaching people how the economy works, especially because the game relies so heavily on external tools if you want to optimise properly. Discord is by far the easiest place to share guides, links, screenshots and advice, but not everyone wants to join another platform just to understand a game.

I would like us to make the first few weeks much simpler: one short starter guide, a basic checklist of what a new player should focus on, links to tools we trust, and an actual person they can ask for help. We cannot force people to stay, but we can make sure they are not leaving simply because nobody explained the game to them.

I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my help to any player, new or old, who wants to optimise their economy. I've spent a lot of time trying to understand how it all fits together. I'm no guru, but if there is anything you think I could assist with or advise you on, my DMs are always open!

So no, we are not doing enough yet. The difficult part is finding a solution that works inside the current limitations of the game.

04. With a presidential election approaching, what economic policies or priorities would you like to see continued, or changed under the next administration?

- I am probably biased, but I think our current economic policies are in a good place. We managed to fund the first wave of the DRC/Portugal attack without emptying our reserves, which is exactly why economic preparation matters.

The next administration should continue the boring but important work: keep sensible reserves of cash, Paper and Oil, honour our SR agreements, review the specialisation against live market data, and avoid spending simply because the money happens to be there.

Portugal has now switched its specialisation from Iron to Pills. It currently has a 25% Pill production bonus compared with South Africa's 26%, while also being at war with us, so we now have direct competition in the market as well as on the battlefield. The next few days will be a proper stress test of our policy and will show us what should be kept and what needs to change.

“The next few days will be a proper stress test of our policy and will show us what should be kept and what needs to change”

- JUICYJOE ON THE DRC/PORTUGAL WAR AND PILL MARKET

05. What would you say to voters who don't pay much attention to economic policy and perhaps underestimate how much it affects the rest of the country?

- Money makes the world go round. Without money in the bank, we cannot defend ourselves properly. We cannot fund bounties and contracts, maintain reliable supplies or help our allies, and if we never help them, we cannot expect them to keep helping us.

The economy is the backbone of the country: the quiet machine that keeps everything else moving. Paper pays for battle orders and laws. Oil keeps bunkers and military bases running. Strategic Resources improve our production bonus and help generate income. When an enemy targets those resources, it is not only taking land; it is trying to weaken the economy behind our defence.

You do not need to love spreadsheets or follow every market movement. Just understand that almost every military and diplomatic decision eventually lands on the MoE's desk with a price attached to it.

FINAL. Lastly, is there anything you’d like to say in your own words that we haven’t touched on?

- Having now seen the game from three sides, as an ordinary player, a congress member and a government member, I have a much better idea of what it takes to run a country.

I often feel that players do not realise how much effort goes into roles such as President, Vice President, MoD and MoFA, or even being a Congress member. As a player, you see the battle orders, the laws being proposed and passed, and bits of the public chats and strategy discussions. I promise you, that is only a fraction of what is happening behind the scenes.

There are endless DMs containing sensitive information, discussions with allies in foreign Discord servers, negotiations, planning, and problems that must be handled before most players even know they exist. I have seen some of our government and Congress members put more than eight hours into the country in a single day. These are normal people with jobs, families and lives of their own.

All I ask is that players show them a bit of appreciation for the work they do. Yes, they chose the roles and probably enjoy doing them but keep that unseen workload in mind before getting upset because there are not always battle orders, when one of them gets upset because our forces are not helping enough, or because somebody takes a little while to answer a question. Remember, they are doing it for one reason: so we can be the best we can be.

I also want to thank the amazing South African community. You guys are an amazing bunch of people, and this game would honestly just be a boring browser clicking strategy game without you! Please join the Discord, get involved in the discussions and, most importantly, continue being as amazing as you are!

“May your shining light guide us through Mordor!”

- JUICYJOE, TO THE NEXT GOVERNMENT

Election Week is a special part of our community: eight days where journalism has one job, ask the questions, examine the answers, and give citizens what they need to make their choice

YOUR. VOICE. MATTERS.