Interview with Admin

1. Trendo: Please introduce yourself to the readers.
   Admin: Hey, im Caldeira, also known as Cicero.
   Trendo: Cicero feels like going after some ancient philosopher vibes. Do you ever feel like you are your own toughest critic?
    Admin: Cicero nickname was a choosen because of the Greek culture vibes that the game has. Eclesiar name itself comes from Eclesia which was the name of the assembly of the citizens in ancient Athens. In our Alpha stage of the game, we used gods as country names, and Regions were based as heroes / creatures.

2. Trendo: Who is Admin outside the game?
   Admin: Im a Developer that works as a hobby, my life is kinda resumed to, Work, go to Gym, Sleep and repeat.
 
3. Trendo: What inspired you to create Eclesiar? What keeps your drive high to continue?
    Admin: As some of you, i was a former eSim player, but a very noob one, i never got very deep in the game, this because i was like, "This concept is awesome, but i dont like this game", I got triggered by the fact of how a Political game could be resumed to Wars, not even politics really existed, they were like "start ally" , "close ally".
 Also, in the past, way many years ago, i developed one of the best gamemodes that GTA San Andreas online (SAMP) ever saw, my gamemode was quite famous, and the game was about, Roleplaying, very much how i saw eSim.
 So yeah, im very attracted to Roleplaying games, and wanted to do one, that players could play more than fighting Wars, Deep economics, and mechanics that will run out of the war spectrum (but probably still linked) were one one the most important focus for me for initial version of the game... so... you can see.... Building system, is the Begining of a Eclesiar personal touch to the gender. And we will for sure improve the game more and more and more with time.
 Regarding my motivations... Well, even more than 10 years ago, at the time o GTA, i simply did it because i enjoy the fact of people enjoying my work... so, my motivation is seeing you enjoying Eclesiar, straight as that, Having you all playing the game, is what keeps me strong and wanting to invest more and more in the game...Every time a player says that invited his friends, and i see community growing, by the effort of all of you... Thats for sure my fuel...it gives me motivation to do what i know, deep dive in the code, and try to deliver upgrades to the game that make you feel that you decided correctly in making Eclesiar your home.
   Trendo: Do you envision the game evolving into a direction of spheres of influence, treaties supported by game mechanics, world organizations like United Nations and its organs like Security Council? Or what kinds of mechanics do you envision as essential to a true ‘political’ game?" Theres a vast political dimension that can be filled with roleplay, and actual game consequences.
   Admin: The sky is the limit, i must say that we did not brainstorm regarding new features, since we still working in the current features to make them work better. But for sure, everything that you said is totally valid. Even some crazy ideas of creating some new type of businesses in totally diferent logics, for example, "Services Businesses" where you could setup things that would be accessed by players in certain regions... for example, a casino :o
  Anyway, nothing was ever discussed enought for me to know what's to come, but really, the sky is the limit, and yes, i love roleplaying things.
 
4. Trendo: Through the game's development journey have you faced any key challenges that shaped the game?
    Admin: The bigger challenge for sure wasnt technical, the biggest challenge for me, is having to deal with 10 people suggesting solutions to one thing (that may, or may not be broken in my prespective), and knowing that, accepting the suggestion of 1, its the same as refusing the suggestion of 9. That 9 people will hunt you down like you were trying to destroy the game, because you want to.
 So yeah, managing feedback is for me, the worst and harder thing in the game, since early alphas until now.
   Trendo: Sounds like a walk in the mine field. Do you have some secret tactic for balancing what the players want and what the game needs?
   Admin: I keep to my vision of the game, and thats my direction, and my tactic. If player suggestions fits in my vision, and solves some real issue of the game, then we are good.
 
5. Trendo: If you had the power to instantly do 1 change to the game, what would it be?
     Admin: Design!!!! For sure, Design! i would love to improve all game design into something more modern and professional. Sadly, its something that requires a lot of work, and investment. This improvement will come, but gradually, mixed with many other updates. Sadly im developer with an awful design taste, thats for sure my weak side, i will need to hire some support to this.
 
6. Trendo: If i understand it correctly, a player asks for refund for stuff he purchased on a banned account, and 6 other requests for refund flag your company as potential scam and freeze your assets for 180 days, then said player gets banned on his current account for doing serious damage to the game? Were the other refund requests made by him, turkish accounts, or other accounts? Is the customer always right?
    Admin: The other refunds were made by byBatu as well. "The customer is always right" is a very old saying, and its not true, the customer is not always right, but the customer is always the customer, and the customer is always the one that pays the bills, so, the customer is always the one that should be heard, and the customer is always the one that should be respected. But the customer is not always right, and the customer is not always the one that should be followed. In this case, the customer was not right, and the customer was not followed, and the customer was banned.
  Rules are rules, and they are for everyone, and they are for everyone to follow, and they are for everyone to respect. If you dont respect the rules, you will be banned.
  Trendo: Asking for refunds from a banned acc is wild. Should players be concerned about the immediate future of the game if the account balance is to be frozen for half a year? Can we do something to help? It looks like in this crucial period of the beginning of the game it will need to rely more on referrals and player`s advertisements than official advertisements.
  Admin: No need to get concerned about nothing, Thank god im able to use my own €€ to push this game forward, and in fact, i was never expecting to be profitable since day one, so i was totally ready to always put my money lol, so yeah, really, dont need to worry... at maximum, the changes that will happen are regarding the budget for advertisement, but i will try my best to not even touch in that.

7. Trendo: How much time do you spend on the game?
    Admin: More than i should, i woke up everyday at 9AM to my main job (not eclesiar), i have a meeting at 9:30AM, and right after the meeting, i start working for Eclesiar lol. All day, with my work laptop in front of my desktop Pc where i work for Eclesiar.
  Once eclesiar things calmdown everyday, normally at night, i start working at my main job again, until 2AM to 4AM, and then i go to sleep. so yeah, i spend a lot of time in the game, and im dying lol. At weekends, i sleep a lot, and you barely see me working (gotta give some time to my Wife)
   Trendo: The work-life balance must be crazy, i believe in that.
   Admin: Totally. But working for Eclesiar is kinda a hobby for me. My personal main objective at this point is to try to stress a bit less with the issues, since i understand now that everyday there is a new one haha...
  We gonna have issues, we gonna fix it, and we go like that, message to me: dont stress, everything going to be fine.
 
8. Trendo: How did you come up with Caldeira, was your family involved with making kettles perhaps?
    Admin: In Portugal, its very common to see family names that are related to professions or something that people had, like Ferreira (Smith), Silva (Forest), etc. Caldeira is a very common name in Portugal, and it means "Boiler", so yeah, maybe way back in the past, my family was involved in making kettles, who knows.
 
9. Trendo: If you have watched Game of Thrones, you remind me of Robert Baratheon, do you agree?
    Admin: Please no, i dont want to die like him, i dont want to be betrayed by my wife, and i dont want to be a drunkard. I dont want to be Robert Baratheon.
  I work and put so much effort in Eclesiar that i totally dont see me as a lazy king that only wants to drink and have fun.
  I cant see me as any of the characters in Game of Thrones, i dont think i have any similarities with any of them. But, my favorite character is Tywin Lannister. Im sorry, you can hate me.
   Trendo: :D The was the king that kept the region functioning by making the hard decisions that even his advisors wanted to delay solving. Are there some qualities of Tywin that you think would be useful in overseeing Eclesiar?
   Admin: Well, im not that big of a fan of Game of Thrones, but i know the character, and i think that the most important quality of Tywin is his ability to make the hard decisions for sure, and the authority he brings to the table.
  I think that having that authority and capability to think diferently and take the decision you want to take and accepting the outcome (even if its bad) is a good quality for a leader.

10. Trendo: What is the most fun thing you did in the game? And/or most fond memory.
     Admin: This question makes me cry.
    Trendo: Creating those memorable moments must be rewarding xd Any surprising player interaction that you weren’t expecting?
    Admin: The most surprising thing i got from Eclesiar, funny as it seems, was, calling my Age of Empires 4 team partner to play Eclesiar, and he actually liked it, and he is playing it until today.
  More than playing, he is addicted, addicted to a point that i need to say "SHUT UP, lets play AOE4!" hahaha
  That player is Calheta lol.
 
11. Trendo: What is your zodiac sign?
    Admin: Aquarius.
 
12. Trendo: Do you have something to say to our readers?
     Admin: I hope you all are enjoying the game. Please keep giving feedback, avoid toxicity and help us to grow game community.
  We are working hard to make Eclesiar a better game for you all.
  Thank you for playing Eclesiar, it really means a lot to me.
  Trendo: It sounds like feedback really fuels you. Do you keep track of your game’s growth in milestones, or is it all about the community interaction for you?"
  Admin: Its about community interaction, totally, and, numbers, my objective is to see community getting bigger and bigger. I dont have milestones, the game already beat all the milestones i had in mind.
  But that doesnt mean i dont want improvements, but totally do not have a milestone in mind. I want to see number of players going up! I want to see dead countries raise. I want to see players enjoying the game!
  and in some years, i want to see Eclesiar being a reference in the browser games world, and maybe, the joke comes even to come true, and Eclesiar 2 comes to life. (Very weird to talk about this now lol)
  but yeah, Improvement...improvement is my milestone. may it be 1% per month or 100% per month, i dont care, i want to see improvement.