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There have been a lot of complaints about V1 so far. I am not going to repeat them. Everyone can see for themselves the major inadequacies within v1.While I was reading through some of the more recent articles I saw 1 comment which caught my attention:"What was the point of the beta if the admins decided to start from scratch"?I think this is probably the most valid question that anyone has asked so far. Why do you run a Beta for almost 1 year and then decide to pretty much start from scratch? I know that this is V1 and a lot of improvement needs to take place, but usually when a company releases a version of software that is labeled 1.0 it is at least usable and has some resemblance to Beta versions. I have worked in the online media industry for almost a decade and the way eRepublik has been handled is very disappointing.So I decided to do a bit of research and try to find out what eRepublik was all about. What makes it tick, and all importantly,"Why did the developers abandon the Beta?"Well a quick search around the Internet leads me here:http://www.crunchbase.com/company/erepublikYou will see that the beta version has been up since November 2007. The company is gaining some good investors and seems to be doing well. Nothing out of the ordinary so far.Things get more interesting when you read the press release at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately it has now been removed since the servers have been changed. But Good ole' Google cache can solve that problem at least for a short while:[1:url=http://64.233.183.104/search?hl=en&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.erepublik.com%2Fparts%2FEN%2Fpress-releases%2F080610%2520Erepublik%2520BA%2520round%2520Release%2520ENG.pdf&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=]Press Release[/1:url]Dear readers, may I please direct your attention to comments at the bottom of the press release:
 
eRepublik's Version 1 will be a significant change to the present beta version that was developed as a proof of concept with the objective of gathering content, ideas, and comments from current citizens in order to design a new kind of social gaming experience."
 
So let's evaluate these claims:
 
1. The Beta was a proof of concept. What does this mean exactly? It means that the admin developed something to show investors, hey look, this works. Give us money, please? In this respect they were successful.
2. The Beta was about gathering content. This was wildly successful as the admins have taken some content written by players and actually incorporated it into the game itself. Do you need proof, just look to your right at the huge blue banner that says: 10 Steps... I remember when i first joined the US DoE sent me an article calle😛 First 10 steps in eRep. I bet the admins didn't even say thank you for that.
3. The Beta was about getting ideas. They did get a lot of ideas, but they also missed out quite a few. Just look at all the complaints around, that should answer your question. Where did the ideas go?
4. The Beta was about getting comments. Well, seeing that the number 1 comments in Beta were, can't wait till V1, hope it rocks, and the comments in V1 are: V1 sucks. I think this was a major failing.
All in all, Beta was not about really acting on ideas, suggestions, or comments. It was about gaining visitors and convincing investors that they could invest in something like eRepublik. The investors have jumped on so Beta is no longer needed. All they need now is for unique monthly visitors to increase. How can that happen? By making the game more Web 2.0 even if it means alienating a lot of the older players. In the end the really hard core younger gamers will probably stay on board since they want their "power" fix.
I wonder if this article will be reported or how long it will last, but please vote it up, get others to read it, and spread the truth about Beta and the fact that all they want is your money.