Join the new world

It’s been awhile.

Block of text alert. Luckily I brought my...
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reading glasses.

...no seriously.

An Overview

Three major changes, non?

Tax Changes...Empires…Determination

Since everyone’s already hounded the details of the changes to death, and because eRep decided not to save my draft, I’ll keep this part brief. Essentially, there are new benefits to both small and large nations. The empire title doesn’t provide anything in of itself (it’s merely an aesthetic move for showmanship), but the moves required to earn the title are certainly extremely rewarding. In addition to resource bonuses, extra congressman, and the idea of owning an entire continent, conquering land also provides cash. It robs up to 80% of the conquered nation’s tax money, proportional to the amount of regions occupied. Seems awful, right? The game’s unbalanced enough without taking even more from the weak. This isn’t Victoria: you can’t simply beat up the poor and expect to get by.

Yet, it’s obvious that Plato and his crew of demi-gods had some semblance of logic when implementing the changes, since now here comes determination, designed to keep the game from growing stale, at least in its current form. Many players argue that it’ll just generate ping-pong wars, but though that may be the case, it seems a lot better than no wars altogether. Even the crappiest nations with minimal damage will get their regions back given a high enough multiplier. Of course, the multiplier won’t go to obscene levels barring a long period of occupation, so most likely, this will be the last time we see 5.99x multipliers, at least in as common a manner as in the present. Yet, now with the bonuses and extra incentive for gold hunters (Freedom Fighter medals on top of standard BH and merc hunters), no country will stay permawiped, which is what would kill the game. There’s some worry that this in some way would reward suckdom, since everyone sees the ridiculous bonuses and that it will somehow protect even the worst nations from failure. Yet, bonuses only get so high after months of occupation, which not even the most deficient nation would want, and while bonuses don’t die immediately, they don’t last too long, so it won’t be too easy to abuse the new system, at least for a bit.

What Will Happen

The short-term benefits are already unravelling. The traditional powers, long owning large amounts of territory, will not suddenly be dead, but this is as close to a reset as possible (without actually resetting the map). The staples of the game, such as the Pink Cloud, the Serblob, the Chinese perma100/100, and the ABC India are gone, or will be soon. Nations that had lost hope, such as puny North Korea, Malaysia, Philippines are finally free.


A soft reset - as close as you’ll get

What does this mean for the game? Certainly, the most powerful nations will still be powerful, but they will no longer be as horrifically dominant as before. Countries can no longer go conquer and keep conquering on mere whims (looking at you, Poland), since it is much easier for a mighty empire to collapse. And in the same fashion, the more ordinary nations of the game won’t feel quite as pressured to kiss up to powerful neighbors as before. Perhaps direct core region borders will still be dangerous, but the weaker nations now have a net to fall back on, so it won’t be as easy to muscle into peace deals.

Of course, what most likely will happen currently is the end of the large colonies across the world. But after that, it makes sense that they will return, at least in some smaller fashion. It’s unlikely that we will see as sprawling empires as beforehand, but if there’s a limited enough amount of territory conquered, nations should still be able to hold onto the regions for months at a time. Due to the mechanics of determination, countries will have a couple of days to win secure RWs, and because group RWs are a much more viable option than before, it will be more important for the occupied nations to synchronize moves to ensure a fighting chance. Though the current 5.99x multipliers are absurd, we will not see as much of these, as most nations will no longer stay wiped for months at a time. Much more reasonable and balanced multipliers of up to 1.5x to 2x will show up, depending on the might of the nation. This will cause much fairer battles, and reduces the occupier’s position in a peace deal, seeing that a country will most likely still be able to win congress thanks to the bonus.

What else will change as a result of this? The obvious change is that nations will not be quite as pressured to ally with powerful neighbors. But one aspect that has not been touched upon is the rental. Rentals come in two basic forms. The first is simply the harmonious kind, where the more powerful nation holds regions from its direct or secondary neighbor, either out of friendship or as the end of a peace treaty. Ultimately, while it’ll still be more difficult to hold onto the regions, at least the larger nation can come back to take the region again. The same is not true of the second form: the airstrike rental. This is mostly a defensive move for nations too weak to hold onto core regions, yet see greener pastures elsewhere. Most notably ABC India and United States of Canada, these moves may soon be infeasible, potentially harming smaller nations.

There will also be a series of broken agreements, and annulled treaties. Now that the oppressed finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, all treaties will be reviewed to see if it makes sense. No doubt, while nations value having sovereignty, they dislike the idea of sacrificing regions to do so. This is hope, a backup system, a safety measure that no matter what, one misstep won’t be the end all, and nations can always come back. Is that good or bad? If it keeps players active, it might just be a solid move.

Possible Updates and Strategies

Thanks to the changes, there will be further moves, both from Plato and the players. Both sides will have to adapt to what they’ve learned from the new era.

Personally, I’m of the belief that a lot of eRepublik is still inaccessible to two-clickers. Often, players have to dig through meta or various foreign articles to get what’s going on. There is always going to be a benefit for the most passionate and well-informed, but at the same time, there should be a more open system in order to increase retainance. While this game will not always be right for everyone, a lot of people are put off by how unclear the game is, and by bringing more facts to the light, it’ll be much more helpful.

One thing that would be helpful is to display determination on the map. It’s great that it’s easy to find where the empire points are, but determination is hidden until the battle starts. Since resistance wars are going to be an increasingly powerful tool for occupied nations, it’s already enough of an annoyance that we can’t see how many people have contributed to a potential RW. How can a nation know where to strike if it’s not readily available what the determination is? I recognize that it’s possible to see how long a region’s been occupied, but first off, it’s not directly linked, since a region freed for a day then reoccupied would not start from no determination yet, and second, it’s still too much of a hassle to have to go through several clicks to see each province. It’d be ideal to have a mapmode where the map would be broken up into the core regions, and each region displaying its determination. At the very least, a region’s determination should be visible from the province page.

One thing I’m also curious over is the possibility of expanding peace treaties. As of now, peace treaties are mostly handled outside of eRep proper, mostly in the form of Google Docs, national forums, and hidden IRC channels. But it may make sense to add a new element into a potential peace deal. What about slowing determination increase for regions? And what about changing the tax received?

Example:
France conquers United Kingdom. France and United Kingdom agree to peace, and United Kingdom agrees to rent Cornwall to France. The rental part will be handled in the metagame. If the regions were securely rented, it would allow for powerful nations to just occupy babies until they get to rent whatever regions they want, breaking the game. However, United Kingdom agrees to 50% taxes from the region. This is a decrease from the 80% normally expected from an occupation, and it would be a balance between the winning country getting regions and cash and the loser not being completely skewered. And United Kingdom agrees to halve determination.

It makes no sense for the game to allow completely shutting off determination, because that would just leave the same problems we have now. But allowing a nation to voluntarily lower determination by a fixed amount would let victors to hold regions for longer without issue, while avoiding permanent issue; the region would return to normal determination after liberation. But it would allow some sense of balance while avoiding overpowered mechanics for either side. And this allows for the rental agreements that often save weaker nations. As a Canadian with a couple anikis staying with us, it’s a very notable issue. Right now, the rental agreements will not last. But with this, it could at least extend the lifeline just a tad, while not absolutely breaking it one way or the other.

Additional things would include being allowed to break the treaty via congressional vote for both sides. The attacking side could break the treaty, but risk an easier revolution, while the defending side might break it for a shot at freedom, but obviously has a long road ahead of them.

I don’t know, just an idea, eh?

Certainly, as is it now, the traditional rental agreement won’t last. Even with amicable relations, the combination of BH hunters and Freedom Fighters will wreak havoc on any region swap or rental, especially one that can’t easily be recovered, such as ABC India. One change that nations have to do for now is the roaming rental. Simply put, instead of a permanent border change, the nations switch the regions being swapped every few months. Poland, for instance, needs fruit from Germany. Rather than simply taking Saxony or Berlin for the resource, they occupy Berlin for a couple of months, then Saxony while releasing Berlin, and so on so forth. It’ll make region swaps much more of an annoyance, that’s for sure.

What’s even worse is for the rental4congress nations. Now, instead of having a nice haven, it’s a problem that gets worse and worse as it goes. Beforehand, a resistance war would be difficile, but with enough planning and a little bribery on the defender’s side, there would be no issue for the most part. Now, the renting nation will have to declare war and move every few months like a nomad. The renting nations usually aren’t the strongest - why else would they need to rent to live - and having to deal with a progressively stronger RW is a whole lot worse than simply a static one. Now, these nations will have to move around every few months to survive and avoid the penalties with settling down.

Canada’s Moves

Now, I must discuss my nation. I’ve been taking a little break, and I’m glad to see that the country hasn’t completely fallen apart, despite what some people make it out to be. My stance is very simple: play for fun. But no, it doesn’t mean simply going gung ho wherever we want. I want to make sure it’s fun not just now, but later, and being wiped doesn’t seem fun, and neither does being a Spanish underling. So either we find a neighbor to beat up, airstrike to find a playtoy, or help out our allies.

As for neighbors, it’s the same schpeal. Of course, we have the issue of our NAP with Spain, and whether or not to renew it. However, remember that this deal was made before the tax changes and before the newest changes. Renting out regions actually costs us money, and determination means we’d stand more of a chance in a combat, and we wouldn’t be threatened by a permawipe. This is no way means I propose backstabbing an agreement or quickly attacking Spain for the lulz, because while it may be fun now, it won’t be fun in a month when we’re all occupied, biding our time before the modifier gets high enough. Yet, now that the previous deal would be more costly, and we have more of a chance, it makes sense to revise any agreement we agree on, rather than simply renewing the old one. As the times change, so must the gameplan. I would be open to a peaceful NAP without territorial change as a starting basis, though honestly, seeing the friendly French border we now have, it might be a bit too preemptive to do even that. But I’ve never been fond of giving up regions indefinitely, and this new change confirms this. With our new leverage, we have no reason to cede territory. Rent? We could talk. Give up forever? Sign me up for the resistance.

So what can we do in terms of neighbors? Honestly, not much. I like our chances of defending if we ever need to fight Spain (step 1: MPP Argentina; step 2: RW Azores; step 3: Rylde buys 399 gold packs; ??? step 4: profit), but I doubt chasing after a more powerful enemy alone is a great idea. It might be smarter for both sides to let bygones be bygones.

As for other neighbors, France and Ireland are pals, so fighting them is pointless. Portugal is too pro-TWO and friendly to us to fight, especially since we both have a bad taste in our mouths from Spain. And of course, USA might not be the wisest idea. Though if y’all have the huevos, go ahead. United Kingdom is interessant as an idea, but let’s see how the dust settles before making any moves.

So if not a direct attack, how about an airstrike? There are plenty of nations we could attack for the hell of it. We can easily go for someone like India just for the hell of it, though I doubt it’d be much use, since we’re not running for congress. Instead, the ideas are for Iran, Israel, Slovenia, Taiwan, and Lithuania. The first two are to help out allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Slovenia to help out Italy and Croatia, Taiwan for South Korea and Japan, and Lithuania for revenge. I don’t see any airstrikes that will benefit us, if I’m to be frank. But if it means helping out an ally and having fun while doing it, why not?

So about our allies. Allies should be both able and willing to help us in our conflicts, and it must be someone we can rely upon. Obviously, a country like Serbia would be a beast on our side, but they won’t fight our enemies, so oh well. And though a country like Singapore might be awesome, what point is there? A country that can be so easily taken over politically, if not militarily, isn’t much help, as much as emotions argue otherwise. So let’s see what allies make sense.

Friends
note - this is no way a reflection of favoritism besides the top three

Saudi Arabia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
South Korea
USA
Mexico
Ireland
France
Germany
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Russia
Italy
Croatia
Albania
Macedonia
Turkey
Bulgaria
China
Japan
Indonesia
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Netherlands
Switzerland

Pick and choose maybe 15 nations from this list, and you’ll have great allies that won’t betray you. Now that countries won’t be permawiped, it makes more sense to foster these relationships, since MPPs won’t be totally worthless for months at a time. It’s high time that the empires of yesteryear pay their dues, and the only way is to support allies. From long-time allies like Ireland and China to liberated nations like France and Bosnia to powers like Macedonia and Turkey to small nations in need of a boost like South Korea and Saudi Arabia, it’s essential that our nation support our allies as much as possible, and develop new friendships. After all, what’s the point in sitting around? Hell, if that’s the case, I’d go back to my animé.

I’d ally the nations currently at war, and the 5 strongest at all times. The rental agreements we have will give us money we haven’t had access to beforehand, so we can afford more MPPs. Fight for allies as if it’s our territory we’re defending, since ultimately, their success parallels our own.

Also, I picked Saudi Arabia and South Korea cuz bros. 😁

Anything else? *cracks neck* Been a long time since pressing this butto

Until next time, take care!

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