Sw33t's Easy Fixe$ #2
Sweet Drinker
Let's talk about that starving elephant The Economy
Everyone knows something needs to be done, but it's such a tricky module to tamper with. Tinkering with it is complicated and potentially catastrophic (think V2).
Nobody wants that, but everyone wants an economy that lives. Nobody ever called Erep's economy inspired, but lately it hasn't had much of a pulse at all.
That's why I was so happy to see this:
Now I know everybody logged in, saw that update and immediately said "Well that's stupid, everybody is just going to lay-off tanking until this is over", and ofc you're right that was many's responde.
Then to nobody's surprise Plato sends out some encouragement:
So why would I be interested by this apparently a lack-luster attempt?
How would the playerbase respond to the removal of WaM? That could be catastrophic, too much invested in it.
How about the release of Q8's? Don't think they haven't considered it. But it'd be a last straw for tons of hardcore players. They promised 'the last upgrade' with Q7.
Do you want big changes to tax structuring? Oh Yay..
How'bout 100% more health? Or 100% faster regeneration? These both counteract themselves due to the proportionate increase in WaM potential.
More specials? When everyday is special, no day is. But a very very Happy un-Birthday to you regardless.
It's not so easy to find a 'solution' that won't have the community in uproar, which is affordable to impliment and administer.
How about a simple adjustment of production/consumption rates that effects every producer and consumer proportionately?
Doesn't sound too bad compared to the alternatives.
Nobody's investments gets taken away. They may reduce the amount of units you can produce, but everybody else in your marketsector faces the same. Consumers will face higher costs, but their enemies will also.
Adjusting base-line production/consumption ratios isn't very tramatic. It can be tuned like a radio dial as easy as any company could hope for.
Graduate production rates down, consumption rates up. Eventually you'll reach the spot where the pool of career producers don't have enough available energy to weigh down the global economy with WaM.
RM prices begin to rise taking product values with them. Self-suppliers won't be able to do so as well, but its everybody's issue to deal with. Soldiers might not be able to tank so easily, forced to save up for important battles, but we're all really just doing that with EB's now aren't we?
I'm not selling this as the magic bullet for our dream economic module, far from it. But you have to be practical for a payerbase our size.
This would do quite a lot for the game experience with the smallest of mechanic changes. Prices will rise but the amount of actual money in the system won't be increased. That makes things much easier to manage. It will effect gold/cc value ratios, but it doesn't effect the amount of gold entering the game. Which is understandably a sensitive issue for E-Labs.
That's why I'm hoping
While Economy Days isn't the right spot, it at least shows that Plato is looking in the right general direction,
eLife is,
Sw33t
Comments
If it was a permanent change it would, at least, make economic investment viable again...
Yes! "at least"
It's not revolutionary, but it'd work better and is truly "the least" work possible to fix anything. It might be as easy as changing the value of a few Integers.
There are of things Plato could do actually, he seems to want just more and more money..
The flip-side of that is if Plato made more money he could invest more into the game. This little series is about improvements that wouldn't take a huge amount of work and don't effect Gold Scarcity.
Realistic options for possibly reverting the population trend.
Indeed
I like.
What to do whit that stronger country leaching the weaker , and tragedy is that all agree whit that rule. It is in favor of costumers ofc o7
Balancing the entire world is gonna take a hell of a lot more article than this!
aya
Voted! Great insight as usual Sweet!
v
this game have no hope..
good article but I think that more than just the economy cries to be fixed in this game.
Sure Economy is the major part but also the War Module, Political Module, Customers service and especially the taxation rules are terrible in this game.
No Congress -> No budget -> no money for CO -> feed the occupier everyday with your taxes - > no freedom ever!
that is just stupid!
indeed! But this is part of a series of articles about easy patches to improve the game. Not make it amazing (that would require a lot of investment) but to make it function better without massive upheaval to the community, and with little effort on E-Lab's part.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/sw33t-s-easy-fixe-1-2477874/1/20
^Is about making wars meaningful again using a little alteration of the Goldmine mechanic they've already coded.
much will be improved in the game play if the announced changes in medals brings actually changes in the MM (like 1 gold=300 cc or more) especially in the RWs
The Medal Reward change is about lowering the amount of Gold flowing into the system. It has more to do with Plato's RL position than playing erep. The change should bring a drop in cc values, raising prices. But those price rises are illusion. The weapons market actually responds to gold value. A zero-sum trick. Commodity values might actually lose relative value while their prices rise.
gold for gold buyers..
TP, FF and mercanries medals are nerfed BUT 10xG for BH is so cooooooool for economy and environment!
😑'
The x10 system does boost gold in-flow, but at very definable ranges.
There are only so many campaigns possible in 1 day, only so many BH/CH possible from a campaign.
An administrator would find that easier to moderate than a trul open ended influx system.
well, I think your opinion is good, but, there is also some bad effects which will happen from your suggestion:
1) less people fight as they lose a great amount of money due to double consumptions. even completing DO costs too much for some people(or maybe they will start to use zooks to complete DO, except for tankers, it only barely affects them...)
2) then, a great amount of players will stay 2-clicks and get bored
3) more players will stay 2-clicks, coz they think it's too damn expensive to fight and, it will hurt economy.
4) more people will leave erep as a result coz it's too damn expensive.
5) somehow reward from BH is meaningless, you know it only gives 2g/d1 3g/d2 4g/d3 5g/d4.
your suggestion only works if the fight rate doesn't decrease, but what if the fight rate decrease as a result?
maybe, giving interesting rewards in weekly challenge or/and make something interesting in military module so people will start to fight and the effect will increase the consumption rate.
o7