Last Leaves on the Tree
Gnilraps
Last Leaf (Mandatory listening)
Day 2550 of the New World
13 November, 2014
As leaves keep dropping from the trees of eRepublik communities, and as I am still hanging on, I wanted to offer a few thoughts about “what happened”. How did a game with such enormous promise, in an environment where internet gaming is on the rise, become such a poor shell of itself?
The briefest of answers is this: Plato slowly and steadily made this game revolve around what he would do next and as a result there is steadily less to care about what the other players will do next. That is the tl;dr version.
Tragic move #1 – V2
Little Drop of Poison
V2, as a disaster storyline, has been covered in so many eRepublik newspapers that there is no fresh perspective I can offer. In brief, Plato redesigned nearly every aspect of the game all at once, and did so with his usual lack of information enabling citizens to be able to make wise choices regarding how they should respond with their gameplay.
There were suddenly multiple options for what kind of military “equipment” your citizen would specialize in, multiple options for specialized company workers, and a battlefield that required intricate teamwork leading to success. In every way, V2 was designed to be exactly what eRepublik promised it could be, a community-oriented game which rewarded teamwork foremost.
But the community did not embrace V2. And I believe it is Plato’s misinterpretation of why we didn’t embrace it that has greatly influenced the game’s decline.
The Real Problem
With absolutely no way to estimate the lasting effects of your decision, when V2 came you were forced to make a permanent choice. Would you be a “Producer”, “Marketing Manager”, “Project Manager”, “Carpenter”, “Builder”, “Architect”, “Engineer”, “Mechanic”, “Fitter”, “Technician”, or “Harvester”? Think about it, if you were forced to choose right now based on not having any clue whatsoever what the market demands or earning potential would be for each of these jobs, what would you do?
Well many just rolled the dice, picked something, and because there was no real way to be invested in their decision they lost interest altogether. This was especially true if you found out that you had chosen a crappy career which you were now more or less stuck with. True, you could “train” your way into another, but you were then giving away the bonus you received by staying within your trade.
This was the problem both in the economic module as well as the military module. Nobody knew what the hell was going on, and those who gambled successfully by choosing what would end up being the best military and economic paths benefitted while many others simply quit the game.
In other words, the real problem with Version 2 was the near complete inability for the citizens to make wise decisions regarding their eFuture. This played very badly among people who were investing their most valuable personal resources – time and energy – into a game. There were plenty of other games which offered better information.
Plato’s Misinterpretation
But Plato got it all wrong. He mistakenly assumed that the reason players were leaving V2 is because it was too complicated. Here is a direct quotation from the (former) eRepbulik Insider newspaper:
”So... here's the thing. We've messed up some features in the gameplay and we've complicated the game too much. We are admitting this to you…" (Bold emphasis added)
There was nothing “too complicated” about V2 at all. In fact, Plato’s assertion that V2 was too complicated is really nothing more than a veiled insult… an inside view of what Plato thinks of you and me… we are simple.
And so Plato began to take eRepublic on the trajectory that has led to its demise: oversimplicity.
Tragic Move #2 – De-design
Yesterday is Here
With a greatly reduced community, Plato tried to revert the game back to V1 but with some slick new graphics.
One of the problems we all encountered, though, was that we had to “migrate” our V2 citizen – with their diverse attributes – back into the more simplified V1 type. Why was this a problem? Because not all migrations were equal. This is where some of us found out, much to our chagrin, that we had made been screwed over by the V2 process and we were now competitively behind those citizens who had lucked out with their choices.
But this was not a problem of lack of information, this was simply a take-it-or-leave it approach. As you look at my citizen today, for instance, you will notice that I am quite eOld, but if you compare my strength to other players who are as old and active as I am, I am not as strong. This, despite the fact that in 5+ years I have missed about 2 days of max training. Again, why am I behind? I got screwed by V2 and migration.
But many of us just swallowed the bitter pill and played on. After all, V3 still had lots of interesting features, among them was “worker skill”, a dynamic similar to military strength. The higher your skill, the more you produced for your employer, and the more salary you made. This made company management far more interesting than it is today.
But here began the slow dying.
Day 1207 brought the first set of “Missions” (everyone remember “El Dorado”?). Of course Plato was totally unprepared for his own missions and servers crashed repeatedly throughout the day. And while on the surface these missions seemed like a good way to generate activity, it was a bellwether of Plato’s new M.O. From V3 onward, Plato himself would become the story.
The missions had absolutely nothing to do with playing eRepublik, they were just activity generators. They stuck out like a thematic sore thumb. These and every set of missions ever since have been the eRepublik equivalent of the candy in the grocery check-out aisle. Nobody goes to a grocery story for a snickers bar, but there it is so you grab it. Among the roast beef, milk, bread, vegetables, fruits, and cereals, the snickers bar is a total non sequitur. The problem now is, the entire damned store is snickers bars and you can't find a loaf of decent bread to save your life!
Then just three days later Plato introduced “storage”, and with it a streamlined approach to doing “economics”. This truly spelled the end for orgs, and the new simplified approach put an end to the kind of creative tinkering it took to run companies well. It was easier, yes, but making a strategy game “easier” is like painting all six sides of a rubiks cube the same color.
Thanks, Plato. Tons of fun.
What has followed ever since has been a stream of simplifications:
The removal of Worker Skill.
The Goldification of training and production.
WAM.
Destroyed Congressional Elections.
Removal of International Markets.
Massively increased daily food fights.
Unlimited Energy Bar consumption.
Weekly Rewards based on fight clicks.
Etc.
Do you see? At this point the only interesting question is, “What will Plato do next?”
And eventually people stop asking.
Watch Her Disappear
Now there is no doubt that the community has shrunk to a new low just as it continues to shrink.
I think Plato has killed it.
And now as I watch you all disappear, I remember some of the great names of my ePast… names like Chutley, Jon Malcom, Joe DaSmoe, fingerguns, bigcdizzle,jerseygirldani, Hadrian X, PigNZen (yes, now edead), Vanek26, Blank Keating, s0beit, Darkskye, Emerick, Dutch Marley, CRoy, FireSand, Stanley Ibcus, ligtreb, dogpyle, SpeedcatMcNasty, Devin Kesten, AidenAstrup, Salinger, Soren Nelson, fluffydoorman, Mr Andrews, Mr. Booboo Kittybottoms, Samuel Seabury, General Robert Lee, Robert Grosseteste, Aeroner, stewy, and omg so many, many others… And these just off the top of my head…
But I am still with you here… the last leaves on the tree…
You may now return to your regularly scheduled clicking
Comments
Who will be the Last Leaf?
Probably me.
GO HOME PFEIFFER WE HATE YOU
Every time I reach a new goal I set myself another... so maybe I'll be here (even if only 2 clicking at times) until they finally flick that final off switch...
I guess that final switch came prematurely.
🙁
Will the eUS ever become an empire or are we going to go out with a whimper?
Let's stick to the tradition & elect a dumb Potus - Gnil4CP!!
I'm not THAT dumb
Oh yes, and you suck !
Imagine if Plato removed Str and made damage according to level so there is another reason to spend gold 😃 .OMG this actually sounds like Plato.I hope he doesn't actually do this because its the best way for him to make money and to lose more players.
might as well keep drinking until the end
Good article. I've been away from the eUS for a while, but it seems that even Ajay has given up on eRep conquest. That's gotta tell you something.
He didn't give up. He was defeated. Game mechanics such as they are make it almost impossible for him to get back up.
you can;'t defeat someone who's goal is purely to piss people off.
Great article o7
It all started with WAM because WAM is Pandora's box, you can revert other changes somehow but can't revert back to work at a company per day after people invested in that much.
Pity dunno figures but maybe V1 and V2 were already financially disastrous (which may even be on purpose to ensure player retention to later turn them into paying customers) , so such no-brainization was inevitable.
But what I get from recent interviews is they really regret missing golden ages of Facebook gaming (as was "busy" with eRep at that time) , eRep is no longer jewel crown of well eRep Labs.
nope, everything started with v2 where they've introduced the concept of infinite tanking.
of course, wam didn't really help, either.
Excellent article. o7
No one's even left alive to comment on the article :c.
Fantastic read.
The congress system change I actually like, but it's sad to reflect on all the changes. They were made to monetize the game as much as possible, and because there were players willing to spend enormous amounts of money I don't think Plato ever really cared about the majority.
The worst part of it all is the attitude that the eRepublik staff took to the players - evidenced by censorship of complaints, and countless support horror stories. It's a smug condescension and a deep insult to the loyal player base this game has maintained.
The tree may be withered and about to die, but they've profited so much that I don't think they'll mourn it. Which sucks because as you said, this game had the potential to be something so much grander.
At this point the only interesting question is, “What will Plato do next?"
I thought this was the game all along. Events and missions.
For the 4 whole months I've been playing it 😛
Knew most people on your list. (CRoy was not so great in my opinion but what ever. 😃 )
I would that admin would do something completely unexpected. A good portion of the newer players would freak (but it isn't like that's never happened here before). Even some of the old players might get upset. Why not turn the game back to when we had (needed) orgs, no WaM, 100 Strength, regain Strength at reset, Houses and Gifts for the fighters. NOT EVERYONE needed to be A FIGHTER to play the game, etc, etc. In other words what it was when I started, a game that intrigued me, compelled me to learn/do more.
People used to scream because it was "too hard" to save 20 gold to by a grain farm. Then the turds gave everyone 3 grain farms and a Q1 food factory. All of a sudden there is out of control overproduction and prices crash. duh!
Reversing course might kill the game off or save it with new people (that aren't spoiled) that are again intrigued with the game. At least it will be better than turning it into a funeral procession.
We just want an "I survived eRepublik" badge. That's why we are still "playing" the game 🙂
\o/
I think you nailed what a lot of us have said since the Beta days. By not telling us anything that is happening, how it affects us, or asking us about it before putting it in place Plato has removed the players from the game. Or at least removed us from the most important part of the game, which is the development of the game. They tell us we're building a society in this game but the society is built for us and we're forced to either live in it or die and leave it. If at any point Plato had asked for public opinion before instituting changes then we would have been part of the community, but instead we're just cogs in the wheel that he controls, and controls rather poorly I might add. The days of this game are numbered therefore.
Everything about this game and website sucks badly these days.
The missions tho take the biscuit. "The missions had absolutely nothing to do with playing eRepublik..." This is ever truer. The concept behind this game is supposed to be we're playing in some virtual world, a reflection of our own. And that's what I find most crap about the Missions: the fact they shit from a great height on this concept. People 'save damage' for missions, countries plan ahead for them knowing the kind of advantages they can get (meaning they dictate policy), and when one is on national and alliance-loyalty is often forget as individuals fight on either side in epic battles to generate as much PP as possible for themselves etc etc., it's all totally absurd and not in the spirit of what this game should be about.
I think fundamentally the idea behind a game like this is sound, the fact we all continue to play this one despite its problems supports that. But the people behind Erep aren't the kind of people you'd want running it.
I linked a recent South Park episode in a WHPR a couple days ago.. no one commented on it, so I gotta figure no one watched it.
our problem with eRep is very well represented and explained in this story about an RPG game based on Philip and Terrance.
"Freemium Isn't Free" http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s18e06-freemium-isnt-free
That would be because anyone RL outside of USA can't get to that link to watch it 😛
It’s so strange that autumn is so beautiful, but everything is really dying
10/10 would frolic in the piles of leafs
i know so many of those dead leaves. Pity.
I am somewhat slightly offended that I'm not on that list.
But the leaves always grow back. I've "quit" multiple times now and every time I come on back to do at least 2-clicking.
Some leaves will stick through the winter, they'll stick it till spring. And when spring comes, more leaves will join them into glorious and beautiful summer.
Do I remember El Dorado? Surely you jest:
http://i.imgur.com/hEVTNOu.png
(Yeah, I never had the heart to drag other people into this hole with me.)
But seriously though, I was eBorn in V2, and I liked it, but I completely agree with your points here. This game started going downhill when it stopped being so much about the players, and while I'm proud to be one of the "last leaves" hanging on with a deathgrip to this old tree, thinking about all those who have already been taken away by the wind does bring back a lot of bittersweet memories.
My friends list is more like a graveyard these days.
So very well said and I so totally agree.
my leaf has wilted
They have pills for that now.
lmao
It's probable that the explosion in online gaming has hurt this game, as there is more competition, much of it of the mindless fingerclicking variety. To play it properly, this game requires interacting with other people, and that can be time consuming and frustrating. They have messed it up, though, by making it about gold, gold, gold. There is a small market of people who would be interested in a game like this to begin with, and then they reduced that market even further by essentially requiring new players to buy gold, or be irrelevant. I understand to them it's a business, not a game, but it seems they've tilted way too far to the business side.
Gnilraps leading an EDEN revival?
Harpoon!!!!
The worst is the pay to win.
Less of that with maybe a new server (and new division mechanics) could be the answer for a better game.
We have been transformed to pathetic dogs waiting for Plato to throw us a bone, at an ever increasing rate. It's time to end this bullshit.
I was heavily disappointed when V2 was dropped and couldn't imagine that they would simplify the game more and more. After v2 dropped I couldn't explain anyone, why I'm still playing this game. I think it was some curiosity to see what will come next.
Never, I have invited real friends, why? .......
I am one of the few who loved V2, but I think I made wise/lucky choices in career and military. Add to that unlimited fighting if you found the right battlefields with hospitals and you'll see how I skyrocketed up the military rankings during V2 🙂
FIST
To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!
and... Let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee.
Nice article.
Though disagree on many points in it.
The list of people at the end is so sad,
and yeah the erepublik insider lol