Join the new world

The New World...

I've been around in eRepublik for some time now, roughly 2 1/2 years. I won't lie though, I haven't actually BEEN around the WHOLE time, but I've gotten on and off eRepublik in the same fashion you'd try to quit smoking. This game is like a dirty habit. As such I've decided to start playing again after taking a pause during the vacation, and (I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when saying this) I'm quite unsatisfied with what we have going on here today.

For those who remember Day 500 (and from what I hear the "magical realm" of the "first year"), eRepublik has really gone to s***. The modules (apart from the military one) are all f***ed up, and society has become annoyingly cynical. Am I in grade 4? Why do I need a 10 gold limit on everything I do from donations, to purchases, to monetary market transactions? But whatever, let's put that aside, and focus on one of the most important factors, society.

Why is this game like a dirty habit? Because although it's become a horrible gaming experience, somehow it's very hard to stop playing. You always manage to create goals and hopes of things that never materialize, or play because you like the idea behind the game and can't find any other substitute for it. But the problem is new players don't even realize how good this game used to be, and live sort of like an animal born in a cage, unaware of the freedom that lies outside.

I have faith that the modules will eventually work themselves out. Either this game goes bankrupt, or it's financial success will propel it to find better managers who have a better feel for wtf they're doing.

So what is ultimately the most important factor is our society, and it's definitely a disaster. My experiences however, tell me that there are certain elements that have gone missing over the time, and which we need to get back otherwise we'll keep going downhill from here.

1. We need more role-playing

Cynics like "PimpDollaz" who like to viciously smash their way through the Fourth Wall with sledge hammers, have worked over time to destroy the element of role-play.

When I first started the game I was excited to learn a few things about real world politics and economics in an online simulated environment. Although I realized that economics side wasn't all that great, the political and social environment really got my attention.

However today we're all too smart for that stuff anymore. Apparently "pretending is for losers", although I don't see how university or high school students participating in clubs like "DECA" or "Model UN", are "losers'. In fact they're experimenting with a simulated environment to prepare for the real world. This game lost that appeal; it lost the simulation, and replaced it with douchness of epic proportions.



2. New Players are the answer

Us older players need to somehow work to restore the role-play factor in the eyes of new players. That's how we not only create a virtual future worth spending some real world time on, but it's also how we retain new players and "advance as an eNation".

If you don't like the game, don't play it. Personally I don't own an XBOX or PS3, I've never played World of Warcraft and I've only played Runescape from grades 6-8. eRepublik is fun for a different reason, it's fun because you get something out of it. For example, what other game would have me WILLINGLY write this much? Definitely not Counter-Strike.

3. Recreate the Past

We need more serious writers, we need better government with all the role-play involved with the "constitution" and "congressional code of honor" and other sh*** like that, we need a more socially oriented CAF (Canadian Armed Forces), and we generally need people to stop moronically pointing out the fact that we're playing a GAME. I mean wat douche says "THIS IS A GAME GUISE" every 5 minutes when you're playing monopoly?

4. How to do it

Not really sure exactly how we'll do what I'm proposing we do, but I do think it involves groups of players agreeing with the principles I stated and then trying in various ways to implement them. For example we could have writers try to create the same style of "somewhat worth reading articles" that we once had in the past, or we could have people generally acting nicer and assuming the role of citizens in a new "eWorld".

Generally we need to get back the sense of community we lost, and that's only possible through teamwork, something we also completely lost as well.

Like I said I didn't work out all the details here, but if anyone reading this agrees (and I'm sure there are people out there like Coda, who do), please work together and let's rebuild what we lost.

To conclude

I urge those who wish to help rebuild a new eCanadian society to start by building the pieces that are missing. We need writers to take up the task and commit to writing articles that are not just based on 3 sentences, trolling, or formal updates. We need politicians to reform government and bring back the sense of responsibility that once existed with being in office. And we need certain players to stop acting like d*****bags.

Selfish cynics like Rolo Tahmasee need to stop being followed because they offer an alternative that seems slightly less boring than what we have today. We need to start creating our own alternatives. Until we create that alternative however, Rolo will have a very strong case in claiming that eCanadian society is so weak that he can virtually do anything he wants with it. So long as there is no will to stop social degradation, it will not be stopped.

This "movement" if that is what you want to call it, cannot and should not be organized. It should be done through decentralized forces working in different ways on the same principle.

Do not underestimate the power YOU as a new or old player have in making this change possible. Put away all the 4chan memes and start pretending like this really is a simulated political, social, and media environment (I left out the economic because Admins REALLY f***ed that one up for now). In order to create a better "New World", we need to bring back the pieces of the past. Your move.


Ok maybe not ALL the 4chan memes...