Article
This is a long one - best get yourselves a cup of tea and prepare for an absorbing tale of intrigue and deceit.
I joined this wonderful community about a month ago now, and little did I know how much drama and scheming would ensue. Of course, not only do I refer to the tragic death of our treasured food magnate and friend,
jo2000025 , nor the current political turmoil of our country, but also to an incident that I inadvertently found myself at the centre of. Yes, that’s right, the Share Stealing Scandal of the 
International Stock Company (ISC).
There has been a great deal of propaganda and hyperbole surrounding this incident, and as a fairly impartial party who’s been in contact with both people who were vying for control of the company, I feel well placed to report on what happened. I am tired of watching fingers being pointed, with the public having nothing more to go on than one man’s word against another’s.
The company started life in Turkey under the rule of the esteemed, and now infamous,
Conqueror , who envisaged a company spanning the known world. He took the standard approach of issuing public shares to raise capital, so over several days, I chose to buy into his vision with all the gold I had. For the first time, much to my excitement, I was an important shareholder in a promising company. Then the first scandal hit. Conqueror was banned for having ‘multis’. Thus the butterfly of chaos flapped its wings, and the hurricane was on its way.
ArchDukeJohn (ADJ) dreamed of establishing a high-value British-owned stock company, intending to make shares cheap enough that everyone could have a slice and to produce a multitude of goods that would go on to improve the British way of life. 
Ashmodhrav (Ash) apparently shared this dream, and so they both bought large quantities of shares in the company (many having just been liberated from Conqueror). Ash, being so patriotic, even made a comment that prompted the vote to make the company British once ADJ had secured his CEO position.
Indeed, it appeared that ADJ and Ash would form a great partnership, building up the company that we were all hoping for, with ADJ being CEO and Ash being a Company Manager. As you know by now from the resounding country-wide shouts, this is not what happened.
During the implementation of a share price-fixing scheme of Ash’s design, Ash betrayed ADJ and took 27 shares from him (almost 8% of the company at the time), making Ash the leading shareholder, and loosening ADJ’s grip on the company.
Why ADJ would trust anyone with so many of his shares is still a mystery to me, but I’m sure it’s a mistake he will not make again.
Following this, Ash decided to further thrust the knife into the back of his business partner, calling for his sacking from the CEO position. Through bribery and private messages to shareholders and friends, Ash was eventually able to amass a majority of votes against ADJ, and later take the position of CEO for himself.
This was highly surprising to me, given how untrustworthy and ruthless Ash had proven to be with his rather exquisite manipulation of ADJ, and unscrupulous use of ‘cash-for-votes’.
After conversing with Ash, however, it appeared that he hadn’t just bribed his way into power, but had some legitimate dirt on ADJ. He sent this screenshot of the company logs to me directly:
So, after all this time thinking that ADJ was the protagonist of this story, he’d actually been siphoning company funds off into his personal account using the Monetary Market! I couldn’t believe it! I even checked the screenshot for signs of image manipulation, however upon accessing the company logs myself, I saw that it was genuine.
I felt betrayed – particularly after having stood up for ADJ in company shouts when Ash was taking over. The reality was that ADJ had also committed crimes against the shareholders. Of course, I asked ADJ about this (I always like to give people a chance to defend themselves). He tried to justify his actions by saying that he used the gold to buy shares from the company, giving the company more gold! The audacity!
So ADJ takes gold from the company, then uses the gold to increase his own share proportion. End result – he gets a greater stake in the company at no personal cost, and the company has the same amount of gold as before! ADJ hasn’t paid back anything at all, as the company is no better off and the shares he bought with stolen company funds could’ve been bought by someone else and the company would have increased its overall gold reserve.
Due to ADJ’s high-profile position in our government and media, he was able to widely publicise the version of events favouring his side of the story, and gradually turn people against Ash. The anti-Ash sentiment (also fuelled by Ash's mismanagement) grew so strong that he had to flee to Israel, selling all of his shares in the company and discarding his UK citizenship.
Ash did however make a huge profit in the selling of these shares, so the cynical side of me finds it hard to believe he was selling his shares for the good of the minor shareholders, as he claimed, given that it very much appeared to be for the good of his wallet.
Remember that many of these shares were essentially stolen from ADJ in the first place, so this appeared to be more like the final step in a money laundering operation - crystallisation of the value of assets acquired under illicit circumstances from the company and ADJ. Furthermore, if he truly cared about the shareholders, he should not have tried to sabotage the company by downgrading its holdings and attempting to extract its entire gold reserve via a reckless dividend payment during his short time as CEO.
It is noteworthy that ADJ actually took company money again more recently, though is currently making efforts to repay the gold he owes, so his crime is being reduced from outright robbery to merely an unsolicited loan. If he continues down this path, and in this way restores his integrity, I personally feel that he can be forgiven.
If anyone wishes to correct any assertions I have made (I admit that I probably still don’t know the whole story), I invite you to comment or write your own articles. Please include evidence (there has been a lack of it up to now).
Finally, I would like to emphasise that this is not a personal attack on anyone, just logical conclusions I have arrived at based on the evidence at hand.
To the continued glory of the UK,
Alcesco
Next article:
A Declaration of Love and Harmony (9 years ago)
About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.