A Funny Thing About eRep

Day 3,914, 09:51 • Published in Canada Canada • by Thedillpickl




Hi Kids!





A funny thing happened to me on the way here today…
One way that comedians used to lead into a joke way back when. Now they say "Bitch got in my face an I bust a cap in her ugly ass head!" and everyone laughs. I don't relate to modern culture very well.

Anyhoo, at the risk of being rude, I've noticed the complaint regarding rewards in the game. True, the game itself is set up to reward gold buyers. The only possible way to rectify that situation is to remove the ability to pay for anything with real money. Make progress happen only by completion of tasks. That wouldn't go over so well.

Other games have no trouble playing without charge. For example, Monopoly. If after two turns a player was allowed to pay the banker $100 real cash to receive Park Place & Boardwalk, then next turn pay another $100 to put hotels on them. Who would play? In eRep we have many banging their heads against the wall, demanding they be allowed to play, without "spending one dime!". Then expecting things to be "fair". There's no possible way to make it fair, admin has proven that many times over with failed improvements.



Air v Tank

Let's face it, Air twas a major attempt to help make new players as wall as older slow bloomers have a chance to win medals and surpass old gold buyers at something, anything. Grandiose plans for Missile factories and Perspective Training were proposed. Then they realised that would only create another elite group that if you weren't on it from the beginning you'd never be able to achieve. So they dropped development.

There are other glaring examples of big things, also not completed, with little chance of every being revisited.


How Do We Fix This?

Back to the point. What about the poor fellow who actually enjoys the game or he'd not be complaining, he'd be leaving. How does anyone “fix” his/her problem. Because it sucks to invest months, even years of playing only to discover it's impossible to achieve anything substantial or even catch up.

Editor Note: These are not original ideas but I would like to reconsider them.

First thought, a simple reset. That's right, zero everything, start from scratch. Do so every two years (as example). No one can say “I never have a chance!” because when at reset everyone has the same chance. My opinion is that within six months the same people will rise just like cream. They can't help but to succeed for the same old reasons. Skill, planning, conceptualization, whatever you call it, they “get” the game. Then some just plain buy it. No way about that either because owners won't pay the electric bill for servers that make no revenue.

Similarly, assuming the original code is stored somewhere on some old hard drive, do eRep II. Leave this game running as is but restart the original separately, stand alone. This time stick with the original idea. Alexis Bonte used to get on the forum to ask what people wanted. This was supposed to be a new concept, people playing the game while helping to design it.

Finally, a complete overhaul. Take each module and either fix it or delete it as needed. This time fix a module how many times it takes until the damn thing actually works. No more “spit & polish” updates. This will cost significant money. I wouldn't expect much on this route unless eRep became pay to play. *gasp* Don't freak out! How many games and apps do you already pay for? Maybe the v1 can be free to see if you like it. Then v2, v3, etc are purchased. Every new version offers substantial improvements to warrant the price. Like other commercial games you could buy “game cards” to unlock benefits. Don't act shocked, it's the way games are done today.



What Can Players Do?

Training Wars everywhere!

I tend to be a bit possessive regarding our NL/Canadian TW. When I see some other country bump a Canadian by a couple million damage just to get a BH I will usually make a point by dumping my load. Thought he'd get an easy one for 25m then returns to find I've done 200m. lol Some don't even stay in their own Division making use of the Maverick Pack to “farm” gold. All allowed by game mechanics so let's not discuss the moral aspect, that's irrelevant.

What can MU Commanders do within the game mechanic restrictions?
Fighter citizenship - you can make the Combat Order available only to fighters with a specific citizenship.
Military Unit - you can make the Combat Order available only to fighters from a specific Military Unit.
Battle - set the … division the order is active for.
Taken from Combat Orders as a Military Unit Commander

So private MUs as well as a government MU do have a path to add incentive for those not able to gain the actual medals. Something as simple as setting a CO for your country's Division 1 players on the daily TW encourages activity, pays for various game stuff not distributed by the MU and just simply allows the player to WIN SOMETHING!


What Else?

After an organized CO distribution focusing on your country's citizens there are contests, communes, programs, whatever you wish to call them. Active, concerned players can organize short and long term ways to reward players.


Hard Workers Achievement

My absolute favorite Award! No I'm not kidding.

When I first started here you had to work 30 days in a row to earn the medal. Work 29 and miss? The counter reset and you wasted that month. Today the count stays, just takes one more day working to get the medal.

Regardless, if someone has bunches of these medals they are the real winners. Logging in everyday (or almost everyday) for more than a decade is at once absurd and awesome. My congratulations to those who log in everyday.