Join the new world

It has been two weeks that I have lived and toiled in eCanada. 14 days in which I've tried to first understand and later participate in the life of this nation.

I came to eRepublik as green as one can be. I started 'living' my alternate life knowing only what was immediately obvious and where the tips guided me. This first newspaper article is meant as a beginners account of the challenges we all face when we join.

Very quickly in eRepublik you go from simply a name to a contributing citizen. The psychology of seeing your level go up almost every action you take is very effective in inciting people to stay because otherwise the attrition rate of new arrivals would surely be higher.

The first day sees you go from levels 1 to 3. At level 2 you can start training and at level 3 you can change location. Training and working soon become the sole focus of the early player. The more adventurous and patient ones start exploring the various wikis, forums and articles. If somehow new players can be encouraged to read and comment, it will boost participation. Because let's face it… working and training takes seconds and grant immediate rewards. Everything else is more vague and difficult to quantify.

Level 4 allows you to invite friends. The lure of spamming your friends and acquaintances with invites only grows with time as each time you successfully recruit a new citizen that stays, you get gold. None of my acquaintances immediately come to mind when thinking of who to invite but I'm considering bribing a few of them in real life so I can claim the bounty.

Level 5 takes a few days to achieve but then you can fight. It should be stressed that citizens should not be afraid to fight. As things stand right now, there are only benefits to participating in your nations wars. A few judicious tips on fighting and healing and a citizens productivity and worth increases exponentially… even without weapons. I wish I had been level 5 already when eCanada first landed in eFrance. That early war actions would have allowed me a few more experience levels.

Between level 5 and 6 is where I encountered my first setback. I had finally understood that you didn’t need to stay at the company that first hired you (especially Government companies that are really trainers). I found myself a good paying job but before I even had a chance to work a single day, I was fired. When I asked why I was told it was for inactivity. For the record, I have 14 days in and 14 days of work. I suspect now it had more to do with my wellness that most have been the lowest of his employees. For a new player though, the rejection can be problematic. Luckily I exchanged a few message back and forth with the manager in question and ended up acquiring more knowledge (though I didn’t get my job back).

Level 6 granted me the vote. My first ever vote was for Tom Hagen to maintain his position as leader of his party.

Level 7 was the right to join a party. You can figure out by the above what my first choice was. I must say… the more I read though, the more I see the need for certain political elements that are not present in current eCanada. I reserve judgement for once I go through a full election campaign but let's just say that Tom Hagen will probably see me applying for congress when the time is appropriate in the future. This is a facet I am anxious to explore.

Level 8 newspaper. I wasn’t too sure what to make of newspapers. Where they useful? Should they be written in character? What should they talk about? After doing a lot of reading the conclusion is… they can be whatever you want them to be. Serious, silly, informative or just a vehicle to relate random facts. I foresee this newspaper becoming the tool by which my thoughts can be shared with the general public and where I can encourage exchange on various topics affecting us all.

Between levels 8 and 9 is where I suffered my second setback. After reading some articles on the economy I wonder if I could play the money markets to my advantage. Now I know that it's possible to generate a profit through the markets but it's not likely going to be me. My first test of the market saw me offer 0.31 gold as a test… only I misplaced the period on my asking price and ended up selling that amount for less than a penny. Well… imagine my embarrassment the next day when I realized it. Lesson learned though and it was a good one. If ever I figure out the economy and intricacies of the monetary market, I'll give it another go.

The defensive war in eFrance has seen me rise to level 9. Now I could start a company, however with 1 gold to my name, that is not likely to happen soon. In the meantime I'll be a hard worker. I'm considering looking for work in land and water (and take the potential pay cut) as there seems to be a very immediate and real need for good workers there. I also researched the possibility of buying a foreign company but the startup costs there just to be able to export back home would be… at my level prohibitive. Yet again though, a challenge to look forward to.

Thank you for your time and I hope you have found this article enjoyable.