On Retention & Military Units
Betafoxtrot
Retention is one of the key things within any country in eRepublik and it is something that most nations struggle with. We’ve not been helped in recent months by admins introducing change after change that has raised nothing but issues amongst the community and, like V2, have completely destroyed most decent populations. Unfortunately for us within the eUK, we have our work cut out. If you take a look at the Balkan nations that are the top countries in the eWorld, or the likes of Spain for example, the nations that succeed and have decent populations are pretty nationalistic countries. For us in old Blighty, this isn’t the case. We had an increase in numbers when we were invaded by Ireland, Canada and France but that is a situation that in other countries has caused baby-booms that have greatly changed the appearance of geopolitics. And baby-booms are truly the holy grail of our little island. When I first joined and HRH Stephen Fry was the “King”, lots of people sent messages to Stephen and his management hoping for one small shout out on his twitter account and who knows if he ever saw the messages; he never shouted about us or the situation. So it’s fair to say the odds are against us – I’m fairly confident we’ll never have a baby-boom the likes of which Spain and Brazil have witnessed.
So, if we’re not going to have a baby-boom, what should we do to improve the country? Frankly we have to put all effort into keeping as many people who sign up playing the game, and so we come back to retention. Anyone who puts the eUK before anyone or anything else should be helping to improve retention. The majority of the things I’ve done have aimed at new players to make them stay longer and in my time I’ve learnt a thing or two about how to improve things. Unfortunately with the turn-over of governments and people of opposing opinions it’s not easy to do, and amongst all the squabbling and party politics, new players are forgotten, and ego and proving yourself right has taken their place. If we want a decent country, then it’s about time we change that but in order to do so we have to work as a community and keep at it whether our party is CP or not.
So what can we do? Anyone who’s seen any of the stuff I’ve done would have noticed that most of what I do are in-game articles with guides and news aimed at people who don’t really know or understand what’s happening, who people are or what this game is. Quite a long time ago I something just for this which I called the Library Project (which you can see here) and the point of it was to have one article with all the relevant information that acted as an archive so that with one link people would have access to any guide they wished to read and all anyone would have to do is provide one link to one article. The benefit to this is simple, just like how people complained about the external congressional forums, this would keep everything in the game. And so this is what I propose; A community project where people write guides and articles about what they know about and we put them all in an article that anyone and everyone can show people whenever they need help with any aspect of the game. We have a lot of talented article writers in the eUK and they shouldn’t go to waste! If you want to help or think it’s a good idea, please vote, comment and show other people this. We could even expand this to other countries and work together to make the eWorld more educated!
So as I may have hinted, one of the ways to increase retention is through education. Those that understand the game and can find information easily are more likely to stay longer. But this isn’t the only way to do so. Like so many people, the thing that kept me playing was community. With the advent of private Military Units and a lack of a true eUK Military we’re severely lacking in any decent community and have to rely on the infighting parties which as time goes on will only make the divide in the eUK worse. Recently Legion was reinstated as an “official” MU with applications for other units that wish to follow suit. In my opinion, unless the rules that have to be followed to be official are stringent, this is a mistake. A single place for new players to be directed to that is large, apolitical and full of friendly people is exactly what community needs. I’m not saying that Legion has the best and most open setting – and this is something that certainly needs to be worked on – but it is the closest we have at the moment and every effort should be put in to make it welcoming to new players and open so that people can meet others, make friends and ultimately go on to stay and help other new players. The only thing that can save this country from culturally imploding is one apolitical area that people can rest in knowing that the “us” vs “them” fight doesn’t affect them in one solitary place. People who can take a break without actually leaving the game is what we need to achieve. Once they leave, they may never come back!
So again, I ask if you want to help out, please vote, comment and spread the word and we might just about do this.
Thanks for reading,
Betafoxtrot
Comments
Votes and comments appreciated :3
Good points Beta. We need more articles that are welcoming to ALL new players with helpful information devoid of political posturing. If we truly want to increase our community then we need to leave behind the bickering and get back to the spirit of healthy and respectful competition.
Kudos to you for your continued efforts in keeping up an ingame informational campaign
Long time ago, when I first joined eRep V2, I signed up as French citizen (I know... but I'm a French guy living in UK IRL).
They had a dedicated website which they advertise in there press/Game website/news... The aim of the website was to force new player to first register in it prior registering in eRep.
Experience player then took care of them and invited them. They played kinda godfather. Giving tips, free food, weapons...
Two nice advantages, first eFrance tend to keep new players active longer, and experience player had Society builder medal more easily.
This is just an idea 🙂
I think it's a great idea.
I doubt it will have much impact on retention like everything else, but could definitely help new players interested in learning about the game.
This game used to reward time and effort, now the guy wit
the credit card wins. New players work this out within a few
weeks and unless they're loaded they leave. Not sure there's
much we can do about that, the Admins could, but they won't!
Horice ):
The eUK should set up three official MUs: British Army, Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force!
You've got some really good points Beta same for you KC and I think both ways of doing things are needed to help heal eUK's politically inflicted social wounds.
Also outside ways of thinking might be just what this country needs so a foreign exchange system might be an idea if we have our allies go along with it since their young and middle aged citizens would benefit from seeing what other countries cultures are like as well as the benefits that their different ways of thinking can bring.
Oh and I'll be sure to spread the word as far and wide as I can.
I'm personally not sure that 3 official MU is what a new player fancy.
When I first join, I wanted to be part of a small MU that I could help growing and be "recognize" along MU's players.
I think one is enough and make more sense for new players.
Everyone would think differently on that point I guess.
Its because everyone wants variety and if we have one in the top ten and one that stays in the top twenty we can have one focuse on the front line battles and the other act as the rear guard.
Voted o7
I agree.
The Legion is currently only one of two units I'd consider making official. The other is Liberty, they are non-party affiliated. All the other large MU's are associated with a party, which means they should be ineligible for the "Official" title
FFS 😁😁😁^
cant remember what i said but it was fuckin good
Voted. Looks like a great idea to me! I hope it helps.
One problem I have begun to notice is that those young people who sign up, well a good amount of them at least, want instant satisfaction. They don't want to spend the time. It's the older, more mature crowd that tend to spend the time and effort in the game to finally earn the end result.
Baltic = Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Balkan = Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, etc
I think you've gotten them mixed up, the Baltic countries have a combined population slightly larger than the UK, it's the Balkan ones that are powerful : P
Perfectly good reasoning here.
The only issue with the conclusion is that Jamesw is doing a very good job of ensuring that The Legion isn't unaffiliated. It's still being clearly touted as an ESO mu and treated as though it will always be so.
But a national MU is an important thing for so many reasons, a nice welcoming environment is definitely one of them.
@Danie, dammit you're right : P and to think one of my proof-readers is a current MoFA too xD
retention is going to be an increasing issue the younger generation are use to interactive adrenaline scorching graphics and action as well as building a supportive resource population base. They currently don't get that here they don't have the time or wish to use it for other things and money isn't all that ready and available either. The IRC channels are where all the moving and shaking goes on apparently if u can get past all the i'm right listen to me ..... or have the time to indulge in such past technological wonders. So stop dreaming of getting them and work at appealing and reaching those that will be interested.
Jamesw is simply trying to get ESO the credit it is due for giving up their MU for the good of the country. If I'd seen proof that the Legion was affiliated to ESO then I'd certainly be one of the people bawwing about it.
@ Gamechanger, Tank Nation is non party affiliated.
Best of luck with the retention attempts