A Funny Thing About eRep
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.
Comments
Kind of long but I feel like it covers the topic of non- gold buyers/noobs versus everyone else. "Fair" is such a fickle concept.
The new determination rules will wipe out most TW as the determination will be to high to continue.
Still, I believe it is not only desirable but indeed urgently necesary that some "thing" be done by admins, players or both if there is indeed a desire to salvage this game. I truely believe the new owners are wanting more than to ride erep into the ground.
Something will replace TWs.
Roll back or change the econ module, put some strategy back in it.
That would help, strategy is sorely missing. However there is a rising tide, or perhaps I just now become aware, of players that have no chance to win at anything here. There is little to do here for them. Previously many spoke of "community", that apparently is drying up.
Changes as well as updates to the game are made. Although very slowly. I might be in a minority here and kind of naive, but I still believe the game will develop in a positive way. Even now, when many are complaining, there's lots of fun to be had in eRep. At least for me, possibly not as much for new(er) players.
Thanks for your article.
Hey, all opinions welcome here. The two reasons I write this now is listening to players that can't succeed because the game is rigged. Unintentionally of course, but doomed to have a few elite at the top. The first to rise remain at the top. It's part of the game mechanics. Second reason, I have come to believe the new owners actually give a shit. Granted, they can't afford to invest a fortune.
After playing this game for 9 years I can tell you few things for sure. This game was awesome and it had too many wrong turns. It is fixable but I don't think they will do it. They don't give a shit.
🤖
Chopp, normally I think you are genius. This time I disagree. The new owners are slow but recent uprades are more than superficial and apparently are not set in stone. They asked what we thought.
Maybe I am wrong and would like to be like that at the end but I lost hope long time ago 😃
Excellent Work...o/
Great article 🙂
I am one of the no-lifers with bunch of HW medals 🙂
о7
i wish admin could do a reset.. to unchain me from logging in day in and out and call it a quit for good.. i cant just quit a game that has not ended
Never go to Los Vegas! Their games are 24/7.
The new owners need to take a look at the past where this game has been prior to V2, or even somethings from beta, This may still be a military game, but it isn't really much of a strategy game anymore.
They need to work on the social aspect of the game, bring back the ads did it get people pissed off sometimes yes but it got people involved and interacting (plus the Admin made a little off them, yo Admin I'm talking money here!) When I started playing in 2009 (yes 2009, what kind of idiot am I to still be here) it was so active, it took me six months just to start to figure out who was who, good, bad, scammer or friend. So Admins for a better future sometimes you need to look into past.
I'm an older idiot then. 😛
I'm just exploring the topic. Hope that admin reads their game. Everyone interested should write their own article, expand the conversation. Admin may be listening!
~hyuu~
Bring back the Boy King Emerick https://www.erepublik.com/en/citizen/profile/77851
lololololololol
~hyuu~
Hey! Long time.
indeed! glad to see ur still working hard 🙂
o7
Voted
102 HW medals
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/30/6c/61/306c61e717f16be5ad6b980eedfb1bd7.jpg
I have 104. I hate this.
Only 90! I must be n00b. lol
GOOD GOD KILL YOUR eSELVES. 104....
91 here Noob
o7
Bring back the hexagonal battle field! At least it's more fun that just clicking all the time! I want battle mechanics that engages the players!
https://youtu.be/ymrYkbEbnEQ
Damn, that was the shit. I used to play it all the time in elementary school computer class.
o7
I used to play another game that did do a hard-reset during its "Beta" phase, when they decided to roll out some major changes after running into similar problems to eRepublik.
It would probably be a good idea for eRepublik to do a hard-reset like that after making out some major changes - combined with some intensive advertising perhaps it could revive the game if they do it properly. However there are two main problems in the way:
#1 - eRep Labs don't really care about the game anymore and have moved onto making mobile games.
#2 - A lot of older players may not be entirely concerned about the game's health and have a lot to lose to this hard-reset.
There would likely be some compensation. You don't take money frome someone for years and then tell them to bug off. Would have to be something not yo detrimental to doing a reset. Possibly offering them some other games at cost.
I think they care more than most think. Been awhile since they bought it, probably not a yop priority.
When i first played this game in the 2000s, I was led here by a guy on another game forums looking to recruit players.
That game was one of the best war-games I ever played. It would reset every month. A few months I donated heavily and won the rounds, which gave me medals that carry over to the next rounds. It was a prestigious thing to have those medals. Most rounds I wouldn't donate, I still kicked alot of ass but it was hard to get into the top 10 without donating.
That was a positive aspect of the game in fact. No one could stack donations for years and outpace the rest of the server. Every month it was a new level playing field.
I'd like to see something like that here, I may not be a top notch player in eCan, but if we reset I challenge you to a duel lol.
I'm not so worried about someone's stats. Activity and participation go a long way with me. 😉
Maybe time for a Fashoda Feature: https://www.erepublik.com/en/article/the-fashoda-project-2263788/1/20
To complcated for me but it is interesting.