A Couple Observations

Day 686, 19:27 • Published in USA USA • by Lowell Kennedy

A few quick thoughts that I’ve had recently about eRepublik. They’re in no particular order and could perhaps form the basis a longer and better article when time permits.

1). The economics module was rolled out too early. It hasn’t worked for me for the past week and is simply a rehashing of the beta arrangement. I don’t often complain about the work of the admins because I think they’re doing the best possible job and doing it fairly well, but here they should have held off and ironed out some more of the major issues before releasing into open gameplay.

2). Something needs to be done about the job offers market. I’ve gotten stuck with some ridiculously low wellness people recently and have been taking bad losses on them. I would argue that it should be a two step process. Keep the current setup as the first part except the applications would have to be approved by the general managers. It protects the employers and also allows for higher salaries to be posted without fear of repercussions, benefiting those high productivity workers.

3). The same people rehashing the same programs (mentor program, NAU, etc.) is great in the short term but they should hand off the duties after a month or less; otherwise, the programs dropoff until they are rehashed in a cyclical process. The burn out rate sees these programs go through a vicious cycle of commitment and then fall off, leading to inefficiency.

4). I’m a big fan of Josh Frost’s SEAL Team 6 because it is a lot like the independent armies I advocated long ago. Romania’s setup is one I still believe should be what America moves towards. This is moving in that direction.

5). American media is dead. I thought this a while ago but haven’t had the opportunity to write more extensively on the subject like it deserves. And as such, I’ve moved away from the more in-depth and critical articles because of the time commitments they require to write.

6). Linking to the preceding paragraph, the time put in to writing does not translate now. At most, an article will be among the top 5 most recent for an hour and it will never reach the top 5 overall without being written by a select few newspapers. That’s part of the reason many of my recent articles have been short, sarcastic, or satire; I don’t think it’s worth the investment right now. And with a few exceptions, it leads me back to the statement: American media is dead.

7). The wars are winding down somewhat. I expect increasing focus on politics, with the older players trying to tell the newer players about unity and the newer players ignoring the older players. ‘Cuz some things never change.

😎. That’s in part because America is full of real life teenagers and I know you can’t always tell them what to do. America is probably younger than most other countries and doesn’t have the same acumen as some of the foreigners playing the game. America certainly doesn’t have as many self-proclaimed millionaires pouring money in the game. The investment that most Americans can make is time, for better or worse. And believe me, there is good and bad in this.

And I have a couple quick hits:

9). Jack Flufferton is the American Glados.

10). Emerick will probably go down as the greatest president.

11). It’s possible to win a battle hero and come out in the black. I did it.

12). I really am holding out for PvP but I kind of expect to be disappointed.