Interview with SMTaishan

1. Trendo: Please introduce yourself to the readers.
   SMTaishan: Hello, I am SMTaishan, current president of Sweden. Usually I prefer mostly doing internal country things like the Minister of Finance role in government, but this mandate I am president and have more contact with people. It is quite distracting from my usual economy focus in these games.
 
2. Trendo: Who is SMTaishan outside the game?
    SMTaishan: Just a 40 year old southern Swede who likes to stay indoors by the computer. One time when I had vacation time from work I didn't leave my apartment for 7 days. It was great. Hope I can do it again soon.
   Trendo: I am definitely getting behind that xd
 
3. Trendo: Why did you stop the invasion of North Macedonia?
    SMTaishan: Funny story. Sweden has been bullied by Macedonia for a long time and we thought we saw an opportunity to fight them alone because of the WW1 NAP. Apparently everyone involved missed the fact that according to section 4 or something in that NAP, USA can actually defend Macedonia despite Macedonia not being part of any side in the NAP. So after USA pointed this out we decided to abort. Since then Macedonia went for an excursion to the Swedish Colony of London and found some hostile vikings. Look it up!
   Trendo: Looking at country statistics it seems that MKD has about 50% less damage than Sweden, how have they bullied you?
   SMTaishan: North Macedonia is within 75% of Swedens damage done now, so they are definitely strong and organized. Well, they began after we in their eyes broke some imagined NAP they believed they had with us because there are a couple native swedes in Macedonia, even though they were in an opposing alliance during WW1. Since then they have been very consistent to intervene in bursts against us wherever we go, like in Germany and Brazil, even though they should probably have helped their actual allies instead. I'd just like to point out that we don't really care about Macedonia. Had they left us alone we wouldn't be in this situation, but constant nagging has got to end at some point.
   Trendo: Excluding USA and the NAP how effective were you expecting your threats to be in fighting MKD solo.
   SMTaishan: Many Macedonia questions now. In general I think most nations in the world don't see Sweden as their enemy. We have proven to be a strong country with a competitive open market. Also, other countries have had the misfortune of facing Macedonia too, so I did expect more nations to support us in this than would support Macedonia.
   Trendo: After scraping the invasion, were you anticipating some counter-measures to happen, such as the skirmish on London?
   SMTaishan: They are very consistent with their hit and run tactics, so that seemed natural. The battle of London just scaled up more than I think either side anticipated.
 
4. Trendo: Is Visby protectorate of Sweden, where exactly is it located?
    SMTaishan: The Grand Dutchy of Visby is a mystical island region led by the archangel Mevek. Visby provides 75% of the cement used in Swedish building projects. True story.
 
5. Trendo: Do you think something should be changed in the game?
    SMTaishan: It is still a new game which needs improvements. This 1.1 patch introduced a lot of good things especially for builders. The roadmap for 1.2 was released as well which also promises to bring more good changes. Personally I think the amount of gold easily obtained in the game is a bit too much. I think for example the buy to win mechanic of Piggy Bank should be removed. I think the suggested premium account should be the only thing people can spend gems on and having that premium account would include the current premium battle pass rewards.
 
6. Trendo: How did Sweden and Germany, two mortal enemies, end up together?
    SMTaishan: Well, to quote Seraf from the 2003 movie The Matrix Reloaded:"You do not truly know someone, until you fight them". Wars activate both countries involved and can have positive effects. I think we both just realised it is better to not fight with your neighbor. The only "Mortal Enemy" we have if we have any is Macedonia, and that is on them, not us.
 
7. Trendo: How much time do you spend on the game?
   SMTaishan: This past week has been crazy. All day, every day. No not quite but it has been too much. I havn't had time to play many other games in a while and I'm itching for some Hearts of Iron IV and Factorio.
 
8. Trendo: How did you come up with your name and avatar?
    SMTaishan: SM is an old clan name from early World of Warcraft times called Swedish Magic, which disbanded a long time ago. Taishan was just an anagram of Shai'tan, which is basically the devil in the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. Later I realised there is an actual region in China called Taishan which as fun fact has some of the most modern nuclear power plants in the world I think. So I kept the clan name SM in front of the nickname Taishan to differentiate from the chinese region.
The avatar was a fun thing I used early on while playing e-sim a long time ago. I always thought many people just do things without thinking about if it is a good idea or not, so.. anyway I like it.
   Trendo: Would you say its poetic justice that the bearer of such avatar would be the one to bear the large miscalculation of interpreting the Global NAP?
   SMTaishan: Haha, even the best intentions can fail. At least it is not only on me because no one involved noticed it.
 
9. Trendo: If you have watched Game of Thrones, you remind me of Tormund Giantsbane, do you agree?
    SMTaishan: I have watched all 6 seasons of Game of Thrones. Sad that they never finished it. It was so good. Oh well, probably for the better. Tormund you say? I'm not sure about that but I guess it works. I identify more with Jon Snow and Ed Stark.
 
10. Trendo: What is the most fun thing you did in the game? And/or most fond memory.
     SMTaishan: This whole game is mostly nostalgia for me. The Swedish community consists of a lot of old e-sim players I got to know ten years ago. Have been waiting a long time for a good similar game to come out and I'm happy many of them decided to try this for a while.
 
11. Trendo: What is your zodiac sign?
    SMTaishan: Honestly no clue. I'm not superstitious. I think Ox maybe? Is that a thing?
    Trendo: Ox is chinese zodiac xd you can just google your birth day and birth month to see which western zodiac you are.
 
12. Trendo: Do you have something to say to our readers?
     SMTaishan: Don't take things too seriously. Try to have fun. We only live once. The goal with life is to play as much video games as possible, right?