Join the new world

This is my small entry into the Contest on How People Would Change Features.

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Government

The Government really lacks depth on eRepublic and I think Minister's need more powers, to make them more than a glorified title with an org for articles if they can be bothered.

The CP should be able to change the Minister titles and appoint upto 7 I think, but these 4 should be fixed and have set roles;

Minister of Foreign Affairs;
-The power to propose MPP's as well as the CP. Whilst this may be abused, it would mean the MoFA actually has a role in foreign affairs, and needs to be trusted enough to propose costly MPP's without relying on CP's alone.
-A voice in Alliances. The MoFA should be the official Ambassador to any alliance a nation is a member of. With a link to the Minister in the Alliance member page just like the link to the CP. The general idea being the CP leads whilst the MoFA represents the country to both foreign nations and the alliance.

Minister of Defence;
-The power to approve Resistance Wars. The main issue with RW's is they can be both abused, rogue and ignorant of plans in place between Governments. In real life, resistances have leaders who have plans, and in the place of resisting a foreign occupation and taking regions back, the Government or if occupied by hostile nations (shadow Government) would be involved in organising the militia to take back castles/regions. The MoD should have a cost to pay. but could pick a region to support an RW in if multiple regions have reached 10/10. The idea being once regions get 10/10 supporters, the MoD can at any time endorse one for 500 cc and that RW starts, only when endorsed, to show a resistance war to take back a region from a hostile nation is more organised than 10 blokes paying 1k each 😛

Minister of Education;
-The power to propose a new welcome message along with the CP. Often this role is about guides, and who better to produce a message for new members than the person behind the guides, support, assistance and advise themselves.
-A fixed 'Getting Started' newspaper, which the MoE edits, and which is on the homepage of all under level 30's. This paper can be used for guides, competitions and apprenticeship advertising.
-Command of the official 'Apprenticeship' feature I propose below, with the duty of approving apprenticeships and keeping an eye on them long term to ensure they are working.


Governor;
-The power to issue a Congress motion on donations and issue money.
-A national Bank, which is not just an org the CP can lock people out, but which is controlled by the Governor and everyone with CS can see where money is spent & where it comes from, and the password is automatically shared with CP and the Governor by Admin.

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Apprenticeships

The most daunting thing for a new player is starting out, figuring out the country situation, joining MU's, joining parties and getting involved as much as possible, along with that first article.

The easiest way to help new players is offering them an official Mentor through a national apprenticeship scheme.

Mentors;
Level 40's and over who sign up to mentor an apprentice. They would have the job of supporting the apprentice, giving them advise, help and tips, along with a financial award for if the apprentice makes level 30 (5 gold and a Mentor achievement)

Apprentice;
Any new player under Level 30 should be able to sign up for a mentor. The mentor would help them with the basics of the game, direct them on what they should do each day, what they should avoid, which MU may suit them and which party may match their ideology. Their should be a one off award for reaching level 30 with a mentor of 2 gold.

Feed and Chat;
The mentor and apprentice should have both their own chat room on the in game chat, and a shout feed. This will make guidance easier. If possible, it could even automatically shout new articles, any joining or leaving of MU's/Parties, and any achievements/decorations/level ups so these can be recognised by the Mentor.

Minister of Education;
They should manage the scheme. They will accept new mentors and pair new apprentices who sign up with a mentor in the roster. They will keep an eye on levels, and get feedback from both members on how the Apprenticeship is progressing, so they can ensure the Mentor is doing something and the Apprentice is progressing.

It would require its own section for maintaining, but it could be a real boost to the in game retention of new players.

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Military

The game is so heavily focused on the military, that there is much room for improvement, including but not limited to overhauling Divisions completely, so that it is based on strength (using SS medals to work out which division) rather than level.

Strength over Level;
6 Divisions based on strength (0-10,000/10,001-20,000/20,001-30,000/30,001-40,000/40,001-50,000/50,001+) with the automatic opponent system choosing someone within 1,000 strength of the attacker to make sure the number of hits needed is proportional.

Battle Hero;
Reserves – Div 1 – 1 gold
Regulars – Div 2 – 2 gold
Snipers – Div 3 – 3 gold
Artillery – Div 4 – 4 gold
Bombers – Div 5 – 5 gold
Tanks – Div 6 – 6 gold

MU's;
Each regiment would elect a Captain, who would appoint a Sergeant. The idea being the Captains sets DO's, the Sergeant helps rally the troops.

A Commander would appoint 2 Second Commanders.

Captains can set DO's, Commanders and Second Commanders can set CotD orders. They have a private chat for MU Command.


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Political Flavour

Politics is great, but Congress in game has become a bore. Why, because the only real role they have is taxes, MPPs and natural enemy. This can be expanded with flavour proposals, even those that do not have a massive impact in game, but set a political and idealogical tone for the country. For example, keep ALL the current laws, and add;

-Smoking Age
-Drinking Age
-Legalised Marijuana
-Driving Age
-Gun Law

These would have no effect on the game, but would give Congress an RP perspective that means parties need ideologies and policies.

Unemployment Benefit;
Their could be an unemployment benefit, which should be a daily amount of the minimum wage, set as a percentage by Congress, and comes out of the country accounts. Or, Congress can set it to 0% and leave the poor in the cold, as this is all about flavour in welfare state.

Pension;
Players could set their account to 'Retired', meaning they can not join an MU or run for office (Congress, CP or PP) whilst retired. Instead, as above, Congress can opt to give them a daily amount of the minimum wage, set as a percentage, and comes out of the country accounts. Or, Congress can set it to 0% and leave the poor in the cold, as this is all about flavour in welfare state.

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Loyalty Beyond Money Spent

Birthday awards of 5 gold and free weapons or guerilla fighter material. Lets recognise those who stay with the game. Only whilst 'alive'

Perhaps a long with the hard worker medal, a DO Medal (which recognises when you have hit your DO for 30 days in a row) and a training medal (for training 30 days in a row)

Remove captcha after the 1 year birthday. For every year they remain a member, they get 1% additional gold on all purchases or awards. This resets if they become a 'dead citizen'

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Political Parties

The Parties need more depth too, the quickest way would be to give the PP the power to kick and ban someone from party membership, and if the above plan for political flavour was introduced, then the Party page should have a manifesto section.

Manifesto;
The manifesto should detail where the party stands on laws. So, where they stand on all taxes inc Work, VAT and Import. Where they stand on donations/issuing money. Their ideal number of MPP's. Any nations they would NOT sign an MPP with. Any nation they really want an MPP signed with. So people know what they are voting for and parties become ideological groups rather than gangs of players.

Party Finances;
Membership should cost an amount of CC set by the PP so any member pays that. The party can pool this money, and accept donations in their party account. For every Congress candidate they field, it should cost 10 CC. They should pay 1000 CC to field a CP candidate and 200 CC to support a candidate. To cover electoral deposits.

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These are just some ideas flowing around, there are more but I don't think they are fully developed yet and I am intrigued to see if the Admin's take anything from this contest anyway.

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Well, that is it from me, please vote, shout and subscribe if you want 😃

Many thanks,

Aka
Current Minister of Defence (July-Aug Term)

5 Years an eUK citizen
Scottish and South West England Liberator
Former UKPP Congress Member and Chief Whip
UKPP RPS Champion
Impeacher of the BigAnt