Join the new world

There have been several periods of time in Austria where events rapidly developed - and long simmering problems burst to the surface. One such time period began on April 26th, when it became clear that the congress of Austria had been taken over. Joining eRepublik on May 2nd, Schwrzwolf says some of his earliest memories in game dealt with this event. “There was a Croatian PTO in Congress, [and] furthermore, Austria was [soon] invaded by Poland and Slovakia [on May 20th],” he said. These events were part of a coordinated effort, with EDEN still eager to let Croatia pass through Austria to get to later destinations.

As a new citizen, Schwrzwolf was effected by the conflict and the loss of territory. “Having started in Lower Austria, which changed hands a lot, I worked for Polish, Slovakian and then Slovenian companies. This is where I got uselessly small amounts of their currencies, which angered me for some time, because I didn't really know what to do with them.” Within the first month of his time in Austria, however, he witnessed the defeat of the PTO, and the surprising defeat of Poland in Austria, with help from Germany and Slovenia - an event he identifies as one of his favorite memories in eRepublik.

Beginnings

While joining in an eventful period of time, he says he didn’t immediately meet very many people in eAustria, noting himself to be “pretty quiet,” both then and now. However, he did manage to meet Teh Famzay, the Minister of Education in the month of May. “The first friendship-request I got was from [her],” he said. “[She] was apparently amused by the many thanks and offers of repayment I gave her for the three pieces of Q1-food she donated me in her function [as the Minister of Education].”

He kept up playing through the summer, partly spurred by some very lucky breaks in treasure maps. “I even got a treasure of kings (which is no small part of the reason I never stopped playing),” he said. Inspiration also came from a surprising offer in September. “Penegrin asked me unexpectedly about my willingness to participate in the government he was planning,” he said. While he declined, feeling he was not yet experienced enough, he decided to become more active, investing his treasure winnings into a new food company in Vorarlberg, and beginning his newspaper. “So [Penegrin] is to blame for my increased presence since then, as he motivated me to participate more.”

Running a Business

As far as opportunities to found a business go, Schwrzwolf feels he started in a good one. “My company was established in a very fortunate time. Food companies were scarce in Austria and the change in food consumption (the possibility to eat food up to 300 wellness-points), as well as the presence of Lower Austria for cheap grain guaranteed profit,” he said. “These sweet times didn't last though, as Lower Austria was conquered, leading to grain shortages and high prices.”

But his wise placement of the company in the region of Vorarlberg ensured it could continue selling even as other regions fell - at times leading to a seeming monopoly, a position he was careful not to exploit. “There were many occasions were I offered food for considerably lower prices than my competitors. To me, it's a way of giving back to the people who enable me to make profit.” But with more companies eventually appearing, the grain shortages began to take their toll. “After the company's grain-reserves ran out, it had to be closed.” One of his business focuses now is in establishing a grain depot, “to ensure the longevity of employment.”

Importance of Exports

But the grain shortage is not the only problem for the economy. “There simply are not enough people buying products. A fully efficient company just cannot sell all her products in Austria.” While he says this is “not so much of a problem when profits are high and competiton low,” the current situation is different. “[The] margins are smaller and you have to rely on a lot of sales to afford the wages of your employees.”

To counter this problem, Schwrzwolf feels companies should begin to export out of Austria - and take advantage of the very favorable exchange rates for this. “I bought a license for India [for this reason], which was in a similiar position as Austria at the time, because the INR is worth much more than the ATS and they have frequent, but always futile, battles with Pakistan and the USA,” he said. “The license has already paid off.”

“I would advise other company owners to buy licences too, as long as they have carefully calculated the risks involved and how long it will take them to regain their investment,” he said.

The Future

A real life citizen of Austria, studying history, Schwrzwolf is happy with his current situation. “Thankfully, I can make ends meet,” he said. Also noting the recent events with the surprising victory in Vorarlberg against Italy as one of his favorite memories of eRepublik, he has clear economic advice for where eAustria needs to move forward. “The economy will not recover/ become strong unless the demand for products in Austria increases dramatically.”

“In eRepublik this means, that there have to be battles with Austrian involvment, which would mean signing [MPP’s] with active states. Another way could be the companies having a lot of licenses to sell their products in such states,” he continued. “That could maybe be even more expensive however, as the state would surely have to subsidize companies.” While he declined the initial offer to be a part of the government, one can’t help but imagine additional offers will come his way as eAustria works to regain its economic footing.