- On The Outside Looking In :: A Look Into The Social Paradigm of Erepublik -

Day 1,067, 18:26 • Published in USA USA • by Justinious McWalburgson III

I've played, or umm, been a member of erepublik, for longer than 99.9% of the people who will read this article, but that does not mean I know more than anyone. My guess is that every single person who votes, comments, or even reads this article will know more about what is going on in The New World then I currently do. This aspect has really got me thinking about new comers to the game and the daunting and confusing task infront of them.

In my personal situation, game mechanics or locating features is no problem at all. I feel I could (and might actually) write a duplicate version of erepublik in my spare time. The real issue the social aspect of erepublik. The social layer is where this game is won and lost at every level of competition. Elections and Wars are dependent on quality communication between vasts amount of people, but even beyond those familiar aspects, this social layer is the gem of erepublik that keeps us all here. Despite what everyone says, if you are an active member of this game, it is because you have found friends (or enemies) that you can play with or against. It is what brings the game to life and it is what drives our passions. So why am I saying any of this? To explain a few points. To talk about how hard it is to actually break into that social layer. To discuss the problems we have with engagements, and possible ways of fixing it.


- The Social Scene is a Walled Garden -
For as long as I can remember, the largest problem we have had with erepublik has been the 2-clickers. The lack of a large and engaged base population has always been a hot topic for us, and for the admins as well. Overtime this engagement has shifted in both directs, but my theory is that its been fairly steady, even as our population as a whole has risen and fallen back some.
There was a time when we would (with the help of Pearl and his lovely scripts) track the active population of every country and compare that to the total population, it was always some dismal number below 30% in most cases. Then if you considered the forum population as a percentage of the total population, you could half that activity amount. Those who frequent the forums (or irc) are in the elite group of active players, and it may seem like those are the only people who play the game at times. If you don't see someone around the forums or irc, it is really easy to think they no longer exist. Case in point Me.

I've been alive and well (sorta) for the past few months. I never let my character die, but he got close a few times. I've heard tons of people tell me, that they thought I had died (ingame) and a few even thought I had been banned at some point in time. However, without articles, forum posts, or irc visits, its impossible for me to prove otherwise. I've been 2clicking my way through life for nearly 18 months now. As I go back and look through my past articles, its almost painful to see my "valiant attempts" at a comeback. Getting into this game is very hard, and once you've done it all, its harder for it to stick with you.

We (as a game community) have made great progress in attempting to engage the population, but a forum link just seems like extra work to someone who is only tentatively engaged in the game. Real connections with real people is what will draw people into the game. Sadly programs like Big Brother Big Siister, and Mentors really do not scale well. Besides, who really wants to personally message (none of that automated crap) 15 people every few days to make sure they are okay. Its fun, but until they are your friends, its just another ingame chore and duty. There is a divide between those who are "in" the social aspect of the game and those who are "out". They read articles, but do not comment. They vote, but do not campaign. They work, but do not own companies. This game is only mildly interesting to them at best, and as a passive player it is very easy to just die off.

- Engagement, Fullfillment, and the Return of Justinious's Wall O' Text -
I will have to break off part 2 into a separate article. I wanted this to be a nice concise article about how weird it is feeling like a new player who has been around for ages watching everyone else play out their game and not being able to join. However, as usual I got carried away and the scope and length of the article got away from me. Come back tomorrow for part two, and I hope you enjoyed the read.

Please disagree with me, I want to debate someone 😉

- Justin